New York green thumbs growing more giant pumpkins

The Columbia Journalist, 29 October 2008

Randy and Debra Sundstrom with their 1248-pound pumpkin in Cooperstown, N.Y. (Photo: Randy Sundstrom)

WALTON, N.Y. — Ten years ago when a neighbor challenged Randy and Debra Sundstrom to see who was the better gardener, the couple took to the soil behind their home in Walton, N.Y., to show off their green thumbs.

“It was 1999, and the state record for the largest pumpkin had just been set at 900 pounds,” recalled Randy Sundstrom. “Deb said, ‘I’m gonna have me a pumpkin like that if it’s the last thing I do.’ ”

Hundreds of pounds of fertilizer and thousands of gallons of water later, the Sundstroms produced their first giant pumpkin.

They can’t seem to get enough. This year they raised four giants, with one tipping the scale at 1,459 pounds, earning it a place on the list of ten largest pumpkins grown in the U.S. in 2008.

The Sundstroms’ pumpkin may have been the only New Yorker on the list this year, but enthusiasts say more Empire State growers will rise to the top in the future. Interest in raising giant pumpkins has been burgeoning across the state thanks to the Internet and New Yorkers’ healthy appetite for competition.

“It’s really, really taken off,” said Andy Wolf of Little Valley, N.Y., secretary of the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, a group that maintains standards for giant pumpkin weigh-offs and records in 20 states and 13 countries.

“Back in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, everybody used to know others in the hobby by name,” Wolf said. “It was a small world.” Not anymore. The membership roll of the New York Giant Pumpkin Growers Association has grown eightfold since 2004 to nearly 300 members today.

“Many new growers have shown up in the last few years because of the Internet and the ease of getting growing information and superior seeds,” said Joe Pukos, vice president of the association and a grower in Leicester, N.Y.

Message boards on sites such as Bigpumpkins.com offer novices and experts the chance to exchange information about soil preparation, seed exchanges, fertilizing and watering.

This has encouraged a more diverse group of Americans to participate. “We’re not all farmers by any stretch of the imagination,” Wolf said. Members of the New York association include doctors, lawyers, teachers and retired truck drivers.

“A lot of growers started growing to give their children or grandkids a big pumpkin,” Sundstrom said. “Others saw a giant pumpkin or knew a giant pumpkin grower and then got hooked. Once you start growing, it’s very hard to stop as those big orange globes have a way of getting in your blood.”

Giant pumpkins grow during the warm summer months of July and August and are usually harvested in late September.

“Cool nights and daytime temps below 90 seems to work best,” said Pukos. “Most of New York State fits that bill perfectly.”

During peak season, the pumpkins can grow 20 to 40 pounds per day, spreading their vines two to four feet.

“You can see the size difference morning to night,” said Sundstrom. “It’s mind boggling to watch these things grow–absolutely amazing.”

Growers say each plant typically needs as much as 150 gallons of water per day.

But despite the care and attention growers give their plants, many don’t make it to a weigh-off competition.

“They are like an anemic little sick kid,” said Sundstrom. “A couple of beetle bites, and it’s dead. Abrupt weather changes, and it’s dead. They are very susceptible.”

Sundstrom called the loss of a pumpkin late in the season “gut wrenching” because of the time, energy and money invested in each fruit.

Growers say the costs of raising each plant vary, but typically exceed $100 per year, plus costs of water.

To finance their hobby, some growers produce and sell field pumpkins, while others try to find buyers for their giants.

Karen and Ronald Noxon, who own Frog Pond Farms in Bainbridge, N.Y., have bought a giant pumpkin from the Sundstroms for each of the last seven years.

She said giant pumpkins help attract visitors to the farm and also boost sales. “Everybody expects it,” said Karen Noxon of her customers.

While giant pumpkin growing is not a profitable industry in New York, farming field pumpkins is huge business.

The state ranks third in the U.S. in the value of its pumpkin crop. The 2007 crop was valued at $22.7 million for 110 million pounds of pumpkins grown on 7,000 acres.

But giant pumpkin enthusiasts like the Sundstroms say they aren’t in it for the money.

“They’re just neat looking things,” said Randy Sundstrom. “Nice orange color, nice round shape. They have that appeal an ear of corn just doesn’t have. Pumpkins have become a prize of the garden.”

The real prize for Sundstrom would be a new state record, which he hopes he can set next year.