Wisconsin Life

rooster crows

I am a fifth-generation dairy farmer. We milk about 100 cows and run about 1,000 acres. In my leisure time, I grow giant pumpkins. I enjoy doing it and I couldn't see doing anything else. We get seeds from all around the world. First week in April, we start them indoors. We bring them outside into little greenhouses. We start the growing process that way. This pumpkin is just over 10 days old. You just want to grow a massive root system underneath. The more roots you have, the more water you'll have pushing through. There's a lot pruning, a lot of burying. That's probably the most time-consuming part. When your vines are growing about a foot a day, they can get away on you pretty fast if you don't keep up on it. If you do that, you're going to have the best chance to grow a really big fruit. I take pride in it. I try to do it the best I can, you know. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right I think. They're at about their prime growth right now. I'm estimating they're growing about 30 to 40 pounds a day. I like to keep the pumpkins covered so it shades them. They start growing so fast, they actually will split. Then you're disqualified from competition. So down here is my best-looking plant. I knew that if I could set a good pumpkin on this one that I'd have a good chance at growing a monster. So this pumpkin turned 40 days old today. Some people say that's kind of your halfway point. We measure success by weight. It's not color or shape. It's all pounds.

We take three measurements

137, 85 for side to side, and 84 for front to back. I have my wife with the calculator over there. She's adding up the total inches. All right, so we can estimate that it weighs 642 pounds. The sidewalls of the pumpkin can get about a foot thick. They're not too good to eat. That's a big question we get. We take'em to competitions and show'em off a little bit. So harvesting, obviously, a very exciting time. We bring in a big lift. We get it in place where we want it. So now I'm going to cut the vine and get ready to pull it out of the garden. Okay, I think we're ready to go up. We lift it up... All right, hold on....kind of inspect the bottom. The main thing is probably a soft spot on the bottom that any more than an inch into the pumpkin, you're disqualified. When you look under and there's no soft spots, it's a relief. It looks good. Nice and flat. That's what we want. We can go put'er on the palette. Little bit yet. I like it. It's solid. I've been watching them grow so fast. I really think it's pretty cool.

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We take three measurements

The pumpkin growers are a close group of people. The last week we kind of do a little trash talking. I'm excited to go and see what they brought.

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We take three measurements

Last year when I had my 2,000 pounder, I was very nervous, but this year I know I'm not going to be quite that big but it's a little more relaxed and not quite as nervous. It is not about winning. It is not about the prize money that you can get. It's for bragging rights and just having fun. Mom, this is the biggest one in the world.

Announcer

Coming up here right now is Derek Sippel. He was the winner last year. How much was your weight last year at, Derek?

Derek

2,047.

Announcer

2,047 pounds. Yea, I think my dad thought I was probably crazy and a lot of other family members. When I had that one weigh over 2,000 pounds, I think they were kind of like, "Whoa, that's pretty cool." 1,450.

applause

Announcer

Good size, but not quite as big as last year. 1,450 I guess it's not always about having the biggest fruit. It's just about enjoying what you're doing, enjoying being outside and in the garden. There's always next year. That's the thing. I'm already excited to grow next year.