TOPSFIELD, Mass. — A Topsfield teen hopes the 1,200-pound pumpkin he has been growing since spring will earn him a prize at the fair this weekend.
Henry Swenson, 17, first sowed the pumpkin seed in April before planting it in a small, outdoor greenhouse in his backyard the following month. He later pollinated the plant, cut the smaller, less desirable pumpkins off the vine and watched his best one grow exponentially since July.
"It's just addicting," Swenson said. "You know, there's no food that can get bigger than a giant pumpkin."
Swenson has spent each day taking care of the giant gourd. In ideal conditions during the peak August season, pumpkins can grow 50 pounds in a day.
"I wake up like 5 a.m., go out there, have about an hour out there, and then I go to school. I come back, look at it again, check the plant," Swenson said. "All day I'm thinking about it. And you have to be out there all day checking on it, because if you miss a day, then there could be issues and the vine could be soft, and then you have to get a fan on it."
Swenson says growing pumpkins isn't a popular hobby among kids his age. But some growers have become mentors, providing advice and materials.
"Most people are older. Fifty to 75 years old," Swenson said. "They're just generous, they're happy to help."
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Based on its measurements, Swenson estimates the pumpkin is 1,225 pounds, a personal record. Over the last two years, soil disease rotted his pumpkins before he could enter them in the Topsfield Fair.
"A week away from the fair, so that made it even worse," Swenson said. "It was extremely disappointing because you put all the effort into it."
But this year, the pumpkin that has become his baby is healthy. He harvested it, and on Monday, in a six-man operation, the pumpkin, secured with rope, was hoisted by chains fastened to a large tripod and lifted onto a trailer.
"I was a bit nervous in school because I was worried the bottom could be soft," Swenson said of the effort to lift the pumpkin. "But lifted it up, I felt the bottom and it wasn't soft."
The pumpkin will be towed to the Topsfield Fair Friday for the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-In. While Swenson knows his pumpkin isn't nearly as big as last year's winner, he is proud of his personal record and hopes to grow a larger one next year.
After this year's fair, Swenson plans to carve the pumpkin for Halloween. He also grew a 1,000-pound pumpkin, which he will be smashing in a pumpkin-drop event in Tewksbury.