800 pound pumpkin grown in Mancelona is worth a double take
MANCELONA, MI -- We found something amazing on "Craig’s List."
A pumpkin that weighs more than 800 pounds, right in our back yard!
It’s tough to hoard this gourd.
800 pounds of pure Mancelona pumpkin.
“It was something, every day, it looked like it was 10 inches bigger!" laughed neighbor of the pumpkin, Marty Robbins.
“It's like raising a small kid man!" admitted Scott Bennett, who grew the pumpkin right in his back yard.
“Normally, every day, he's out there with those pumpkins," said Robbins.
And hard work along with a little hope has yielded the latest winner at the Antrim County heaviest pumpkin weigh-in. I had to know, what goes into pumpkin production like this? Bennett said quite a bit. He bought special seeds, watered it with 80, yes 80 gallons a day, fertilized it with a truck-load of cow manure, and he even put blankets around it at night.
“It was like magic, you could see it actually grow!" said Bennett.
The growth of this giant was unbelievable!
“In 24 hours, it would grow 34 pounds, in one day, was the highest I got,” explained Bennett.
On day 30, the pumpkin was 102 inches around and weighed 288 pounds. In 10 days, it grew to 124 inches and added 190 pounds. By day 60, it was a plump 759 pounds. It didn't grow much after that, and last Wednesday when he cut it, the final weight was 814 pounds. Since then, it lost water weight and slimmed down to 800. The crazy thing is, he also grew a 410 pound pumpkin and several that weighed 300 this year.
Scott says if you're interested in purchasing one of these huge pumpkins, you can, the price has to be right, and there's also another stipulation you have to carry it out.
But for whoever buys it, he says it'll make one heck of a jack-o-lantern and probably enough pumpkin pie to feed a small city like Mancelona. Oh, and by the way, it takes Scott and five others to move it.
To see the Craig’s List listing, CLICK HERE.
