The great pumpkin: Lloydminster man grows 2,500-pound pumpkin
A Lloydminster man has set a record for the largest pumpkin ever grown in Canada, according to a pumpkin festival.
Donald Crews grew a gourd that tipped the scales at 2,537 pounds.
He’s no stranger to the pumpkin game as he’s been growing and showing them at the Smoky Lake Pumpkin Festival for two decades.
He says he fell in love with the hobby after he planted his first pumpkin.
“We got this little pumpkin and I said, ‘Well, that’s awesome because look how fast it grew,’ and then the next year I said, ‘Well, let's do it again,’ so I grew another one that was a lot bigger, and I said ‘Wait, wait, I have to figure out what I’m actually doing here, because this looks like it could be fun.’ Then the next year I grew one that was like 200 pounds and I thought, ‘Wow,’ and I was completely hooked.”
A Lloydminster man grew a record-breaking pumpkin. (Source: Donald Crews)
Every year he works at beating his previous record.
“It’s like a personal challenge, right? It’s like, ‘Oh, I know what I did wrong, I’ll fix that,’ and then the next year you find something else you did wrong, and you fix that.”
Crews said you need perfect conditions, and a lot of hard work to grow a large pumpkin.
“Who knows what perfect is? That’s the real trick. What is perfect?”
He says he knew this one was special early on.
“I had a pretty good clue that I was onto something good this time.”
Over a few weeks, the pumpkin grew by leaps and bounds.
“It starts to grow well at about the 15-day mark and then by 20, that’s about when it's starting to hit its peak growth. So then it ramps up quickly from 20 to 40 pounds a day,” he said.
“You have to hit over 50 pounds a day for an extended period of time to grow something over 2,000 pounds.”
By the time the pumpkin was full grown, Crews knew he had a winner on his hands, but proving that was more difficult than he anticipated.
A Lloydminster man grew a record-breaking pumpkin. (Source: Donald Crews)
“I was pretty nervous, right? Because you’ve got to get this thing to the weigh off.”
“I had to make a bigger lifting harness because we sling them up, right? You have a strap system and you have a tripod and you have to get them up on a pallet and you have to get the pallet onto the trailer.”
But the hard work paid off in the end.
“What happened? I won the fair.”
A Lloydminster man grew a record-breaking pumpkin. (Source: Donald Crews)
And according to the Smoky Lake Pumpkin Festival, he set a Canadian record as well.
“It’s a good feeling. Everyone knows it’s only temporary, it’s only a matter of time before someone beats it, right? Hopefully it’s not this year.”
“There’s lots of good growers out there, and they’re all doing the same things I am.”
But Crews hasn’t forgotten his roots.
“I couldn’t have done it without all my family and friends helping me.”
“My wife does everything that I can’t do around the house and yard when I’m spending too much time with my pumpkin.”
Now Crews and his family are faced with a new challenge: what to do with all that pumpkin.
“Pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies and pumpkin soup and I’m thinking pumpkin ale!”
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Kyra Markov.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Another suspect arrested in Toronto Pearson airport gold heist: police
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Poilievre-led government 'would never' use notwithstanding clause on abortion, his office says
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.
Why these immigrants to Canada say they're thinking about leaving, or have already moved on
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Miss Teen USA steps down just days after Miss USA's resignation
Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.
Cyclist strikes child crossing the street to catch school bus in Montreal
A video circulating on social media of a young girl being hit by a bike has some calling for better safety and more caution when designing bike lanes in the city. The video shows a four-year-old girl crossing Jeanne-Mance Street in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood to get on a school bus stopped on the opposite side of the street
Trump hush money trial: Play-by-play on Day 2 of Stormy Daniels testimony
Adult film star Stormy Daniels took the stand for a second time Thursday as former U.S. president Donald Trump's hush money case continues in Manhattan.
B.C. wildfires likely to spread with weekend temperatures expected to soar, province says
Wildfire and emergency management officials in British Columbia are urging residents to be prepared for increased fire activity as temperatures are expected to soar above 30 C in parts of the province this weekend.