Nurturing Giant Pumpkins – Part II, The Competitors

If you asked me, there are interesting happenings going on in Loretta Buettner’s garden in Flat Rock, North Carolina. In Part I of this ongoing saga, I told you about my brother growing giant pumpkins in his front yard. He is not alone in his community.

It turns out that growing these behemoths  is a really big deal! Take a look at this video!

One of the characteristics I see in Loretta and Terry Buettner’s giant pumpkin “Hope” is the symmetry of the gourd. If this baby continues to grow at the rate it has been, I think that the next Cinderella’s carriage pumpkin could be in the works!

“Hope” wasn’t the Buettner’s first pumpkin. Their first, “Patience,” didn’t survive. It is speculated that a bear may have done it in. But Hope came along soon and is receiving tender love and lots of water, 20-20-20 fertilizer, and what Loretta calls “fish drench.”

That “drench” is one reason why I think eating these giant pumpkins is out of the question. Kiddingly, Loretta says that their water bill has gone up this summer as the gourds are super thirsty.

So my brother Dave and Terry have recently mentioned that if their respective giants continue their expansion, maybe they could get big enough for Dave and Terry to use them as boats and race across the community lake! I am pretty sure that was in jest but as I mentioned eccentricity in Part I, you never can tell… it might happen!

Meanwhile, here are some awesome photos of Loretta and Terry’s pride, Hope, from her growth journey.  Stay tuned as the pumpkin story is hardly over!

Brother Dave and Terry Checking Things Out

Terry Measuring Hope

Loretta with Very Young Hope

Read more about the giant pumpkins in this series at Part I, Part III and Part IV.