Jeff Pelletier poses with Grawp, his silver-medal winning entry in this year’s Great Pumpkin Commonwealth. photo supplied, Rhiannon Nachbaur
Grawp, the massive pumpkin grown in Jeff Pelletier’s Queensbury backyard, weighed in at 1,167 pounds on Saturday, the second biggest gourd grown in B.C. in 2017.
Pelletier’s pumpkin was a runner-up in the annual contest held at Krause Berry Farms in Langley.
The winner was a B.C.-record breaking 1,543-pounder, although Grawp holds the unofficial title of being the largest pumpkin ever grown on the North Shore.
Pelletier said he was happy with the results.
“My mentor, former North Shore resident Glenn Dixon, was onsite at the weigh-off and proudly proclaimed that the student has surpassed the mentor,” Pelletier said in an email.
Pelletier germinated Grawp’s seeds indoors in April and planted them in his backyard on May 1. The massive pumpkin put on an average of just over 11 pounds per day. Grawp will later be carved into a work of art at the It’s About Thyme nursery in Burnaby and Pelletier intends to harvest the seeds for next year’s competition.
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