Most years we have a small household competition to see which of us can grow the biggest pumpkin.  These contests are often decided by a growing disaster, such as a broken growing tip or the plant that inexplicably started to die back leaving a promising pumpkin in early August no bigger by mid-September.

Our first effort was titled “shrimpy” to reflect its diminutive stature.  The following year we did rather better – the larger size earning this one the title “prawny” and also first prize at the village show.  At about 45kg this is still a midget in the world of giant vegetables, but big enough to impress the neighbours’ kids!

Prawny

One of the great things about pumpkins – like most of the cucurbits is the speed at which they grow.  This makes them great candidates for enthusing new growers (providing that you’ve got a bit of space).

The pictures below show how one of our plants has developed over the past few weeks.

Pumpkin plant 19 July – before a fruit was selected

Pumpkin plant 9 Aug

Pumpkin plant 16 Aug

Pumpkin plant 24 Aug

Hiding away is the selected fruit.

Pumpkin 9 Aug

One week later it has grown noticeably…

Pumpkin 16 Aug

… and after a further week it looks as though the slab underneath it may not be big enough if it continues to swell at this rate.

Pumpkin 24 Aug

So fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong now!