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On a regular basis, we feature a grower somewhere in the world. Our current Feature Grower is Paul McIntyre of Oxford Mills, Ontario, Canada. Paul is a Director of the Ottawa Saint Lawrence Growers Association. He has been growing Atlantic Giant pumpkins for three years, with his largest so far at 897 pounds. Paul finds this an excellent hobby for retirement.

Paul and his wife attend the Ohio Valley patch tour in the end of July each year. They tip their (pumpkin )stems to the Ohio growers who treat them like royalty!

Here is Paul's 835 pounder loaded onto his truck and ready to head for the weighoff in Ottawa, Ontario.

Here is the 835 pound pumpkin at the weighoff in Ottawa with the painted tailgate removed from his truck. You know Paul is one of the pumpkin growing fanatics at this hobby...only dedicated growers will paint their trucks to reflect their hobby.

In this picture, Paul and his friend, Tim Caniff ( the current Florida State record holder from Cortez, Florida) are ready to haul the 835 pounder to the weighoff. Tim and Al Eaton of Richmond Ontario helped to load the pumpkin onto the truck.

This is Paul's largest pumpkin to date, an 897 pound beauty.

Paul's tips: Perform regular pruning of the vines. Prune all new flowers and pumpkins. Provide regular fertilizing and watering along with spraying Sevin to kill off Cucumber Beetles.

Ottawa weighoff is about 30 miles north is by Ward Market in front of the Hard Rock Cafe. There is probably 100,000 people in the market area on that Saturday. Last year there were around 52 Pumpkins entered in the weighoff along with tall corn, giant watermelon, Squash etc.

Do you want to be one of the next feature growers? If so, please write to this site with some specifics about your pumpkin growing adventures and send along some pictures. It's as simple as that. Please note we reserve the right to use any pictures you submit in other pages and articles published by Pumpkin Nook.