Each morning in the summer and early fall, you can find Steve Connolly in his Sharon yard, maneuvering around a giant network of vines.
“It’s kind of hallowed ground in here,” Connolly said. “These pumpkin plants are not used to having visitors.”
Connolly’s pumpkin patch is not filled with the type destined to become jack-o’-lanterns. He’s been growing giant pumpkins competitively for decades. The largest one he’s ever grown weighed more than 2,200 pounds, about the size of a 2016 Toyota Yaris.
Connolly is among the hundreds of local giant pumpkin growers racing toward personal bests and heaviest weights. And this is their season. Their Super Bowl is the Topsfield Fair, when the best bring their giant pumpkins to compete for the title and the prize money.
Growing giant pumpkins is a quintessentially New England hobby in a region known for its spectacular falls, but growers live —and plant — around the world. The practice took off when a Canadian man named Howard Dill grew a nearly 500-pound pumpkin using genetically altered seeds. That variety, called the Atlantic Giant, is the grandfather of every giant pumpkin grown today. Earlier this month, twin brothers in England set the record for the largest ever pumpkin weighing in at more than 2,800 pounds.
The sport took off in the 80s and 90s as weights rapidly rose. That’s when Connolly first started growing his plants.
“I saw my first giant at the Topsfield Fair in 1983,” Connolly said. “That big beautiful orange orb that weighed maybe 200 pounds … that was just so neat to me.”
Connolly is a big deal in this world. He’s won or placed in dozens of contests. He’s even in the worldwide hall of fame for giant pumpkin growers. Still, each growing season is stressful for the 70-year-old retired engineer.
“I’m like an expectant parent,” Connolly said. “Everything that could go wrong is all I think about, and I try not to let that overwhelm me.”
Connolly and others know it’s a balancing act during the approximately six-month growing season. Give too much water or food and the pumpkins could grow so fast that they split open, disqualifying them. They worry about the weather, pests, soil quality and disease. Connolly’s routine starts right after sunrise. That’s when he removes the large cloths protecting his giants, checks them for damage, trims and buries their vines and feeds them their daily regimented meal of nutrients and water..
“They’re like big, hungry teenagers,” Connolly said. “If you give them everything they want, they will get very, very big.”
Even with all this attention, it’s common to lose pumpkins. Connolly lost a pumpkin earlier this season to mice. It was well over 1,000 pounds.
He also had big hopes for a giant he grew for the Topsfield Fair. Connolly is a four-time champion there, including last year. But it was taken out by a soil virus. It’s a shame, Connolly said, because based on how it was growing, it looked like his pumpkin would have medaled, if not won.
“That’s how the game is played,” Connolly said.
The Topsfield Fair is one of the grand finales of the giant pumpkin growing season. George Hoomis was one of the weigh-off judges this year, and a long-time grower himself. He helped check each pumpkin for damage when they arrived for the Oct. 3 competition
“It’s miraculous to see,” Hoomis said. “All these pumpkins started out the size of a ping pong ball, no exaggeration, and this is how fast they’ve grown in 90 days. It’s incredible.”
Still, like Connolly, some growers had a tough season. Henry Swenson, 23, of Topsfield, has brought pumpkins to the fair since he was 13. His journey as a grower has been filled with ups and downs. Last year he had his personal best: a 1,349-pound pumpkin. This year, he contended with a soil disease that almost killed his crop, and certainly slowed its growth.
When his pumpkin hit the scales, it came in at 848 pounds. It’s not his best, but Swenson said he’s still proud of himself. Earlier in the season, he didn’t expect to have anything to show.
“It was a really bad start to the year,” Swenson said. “I’m happy to have something.”
Other longtime growers made it to Topsfield this year despite challenges.
“I planted three, cared for three, and got two, and that’s a good record,” Alex Noel said. “You can get zero; it happens.”
Noel, from Connecticut, brought another giant to the weigh off. He’s been competing at Topsfield since he was a kid.
“I’ve loved pumpkins since I was born,” Noel, 34, said.
But he stopped growing in college. A bout of depression followed, and he credits his return to pumpkin growing with helping him feel better.
“I threw a pumpkin seed in the ground again, and it’s been an uphill trajectory since,” Noel said. “So I need to be growing them.”
Noel is a rising star in the competitive pumpkin world. He held the Connecticut state record and has won Topsfield two times. Connolly, the Sharon hall of famer, was Noel’s mentor in the beginning and the two are still in touch. Noel said he’s learned a lot from the veteran grower.
“This is a friendly contest. It’s best grower wins,” Noel said. “What it really comes down to is the grower with the most time wins, the most time to dedicate to these big old vegetables.”
That mentorship has paid off. This year, Noel’s prize pumpkin weighed in at 2,507 pounds — a new Topsfield Fair and Connecticut state record.
“I’m feeling good. It’s a really good day” Noel said after the win.
As evidence of the friendly community, the other growers cheered on Noel as he accepted the title and the prize. The celebrations continued after the weigh off when Noel and a small group of growers slowly moved the pumpkin from the arena to a display case elsewhere at the fair. Onlookers came up to congratulate Noel during the late night pumpkin parade.
The new champion seemed tired, and it wasn’t just because it was a long weigh off. His daughter, Nova, was born the day before. The first-time dad said he and his wife, Liz, were hoping the baby would wait a few more weeks.
“Now we have a birthday that conflicts with one of the most important days of my year. And now it’s the other most important day of my year,” Noel said. “It’s going to be a fun life. We’re thrilled.”
As for veteran grower Steve Connolly, he’s looking forward to next year and more pumpkins. He said he’s taking the advice he often gives to others.
“Don’t get too serious, laugh it off, understand that you’re going to lose some,” he said. “There’s always next year.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org and was shared as part of the New England News Collaborative.
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