October 1, 2008

Zach Westhauser poses with his pumpkin Puffy. The pumpkin started out as a single seed in a 4-foot garden plot. Today, it weighs more than 300 pounds. Initially it was putting on 10 pounds per day. In late July it grew from 90 to 160 pounds and grew another 65 the following week.

It’s the Great Pumpkin

Cambrian family’s single seed yields enormous squash

By Carol Rosen
Editor

In early May the Westhauser family, including 4-year-old Zach, planted a single pumpkin seed in their 4-foot square backyard garden. The pumpkin soon outgrew its plot and took over the backyard. By late September the gourd weighed more than 300 pounds.

Thank goodness they didn’t plant a beanstalk!

Zach and his father Ron tended the pumpkin daily, providing water and some obviously magnificent tender-loving care. “A friend gave me a giant pumpkin seed and encouraged me to try growing it,” said Ron. “Zach and I took care of it every day, watching and watering the vegetable. In August it was drinking 10 gallons of water per day. “

Puffy the pumpkin began as a single seed planted in a four-foot garden plot.

Once the critter started growing, it grew like a cartoon. By its second week in the ground, the pumpkin was gaining 10 pounds a day. At the end of July it added 90 to 160 pounds in one week and 225 pounds the next week.

Then it began to grow more slowly. “Last week it only gained 25 pounds and it continues to drop its gains,” Ron said, “and the vine has started dying.” Zach and Ron continue to water the squash but have cut back substantially as its growth slows. “We still check it and feed it daily, and we are all very excited about it.”

Zach has named the pumpkin Puffy, and Ron says no one in the family has the heart to carve it. In fact, he is trying to figure out how to get it to Zach’s school—St. Timothy’s on Camden. “Zach wants to take it to school and show it off to his friends. But I’m still working on how to get it there without breaking it,” Ron said. “I’ve talked to some friends with a pickup truck and we have a dolly, but it will be hard to get into the truck with its weight.

“A friend has offered to loan me ahorse trailer,” said the pumpkin’s grower Ron Westhauser, explaining how he intends to move the massive gourd.

“Another friend has offered to loan me a horse trailer, which is lower to the ground and may be the answer.” Either way, the Times wishes them luck—that’s a large load to haul.

Zach, who turns 5 on Oct. 23, has three brothers sharing in the fun. Two call the family often to find out how much the pumpkin has gained—they are at Chapman and Lehigh universities. Another brother is a junior at Bellarmine College Preparatory and is sharing his brother’s excitement at home.

Ron noted that the pumpkin’s growth has brought friends and neighbors over to check on it. When asked about Thanksgiving pies, he said, there’s enough pumpkin there to feed an army.