Prize-winning pumpkin grower Ricky Atkins (Photo courtesy Virginia Farm Bureau)
“Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere,” Linus tells Sally in the classic Charles Schulz cartoon. But while Linus waits in a field on Halloween, two Virginia growers have taken a more proactive role in coaxing the prodigious squash to appear.
Spotsylvania County resident Hank Houston has been at it for eight years, and he holds the record for the biggest pumpkin at the State Fair of Virginia: 1,340.7 pounds — and more than 15 feet in circumference — in 2015. Ricky Atkins of Southampton County took first place the last two years, with his 2017 pumpkin weighing in at 972.6 pounds.
There can be little doubt about the sincerity of their efforts. Houston keeps a record of his nutrient levels year round, rotating in crops such as wheat to replenish his soil. Atkins says that his land contains sandy soil, which means he has to frequently reapply plant food and insecticide.
“When it rains, it washes everything out,” he says. “The [advantage] is that when it rains a lot, my land drains all the time.”
Each of them grows several contenders for the State Fair contest. And while both expressed confidence about their chances this year, they say they’re mostly in it for fun. After the Sept. 29 weigh-in, the “Great Pumpkin” contest winner will be displayed at the fair through Oct. 7.
