Campbell River Garden Centre hosted its 17th Annual Pumpkin Contest on the weekend.
This year had a lot of challenges for the home pumpkin growers as it was such a late, wet start to the summer and many pumpkin vines withered and died in the cold weather. Garden Centre owners Shauna and Nigel Lambeth actually wondered if any pumpkins would be entered this year, so they were happy to see some arriving on Saturday morning. These gardeners were nothing if not persistent and shared some laughs about the cold start and how they are hoping for the “Big Pumpkin” next year.
Each year the champion with the biggest pumpkin gets their name on the trophy. If you would like to try your hand at growing a big pumpkin you will need some pumpkin seed for a big pumpkin (winners often give seed away so ask the Garden Centre if you are interested), manure and a good sunny location. Remember not to start you pumpkin to early as the seedlings grow quickly and cannot be planted outside until the very end of May or early June.
There are only two rules: you need to grow the pumpkin to enter it and only children who grow their pumpkins can enter in the kids category.
This year’s winners (pictured above) were: Ray Thomas – 1st place adult; Don Bryer – 2nd place adult; Ashton Lambeth – 3rd place adult; Maura Dybwad – 1st place child; Shaylee Willis – 2nd place child; Bryanna Dybwad – 3rd place child.