When it comes to pumpkins in 小蓝视频, they don鈥檛 get much bigger than Jeff Pelletier鈥檚.
For the first time ever, North Vancouver鈥檚 gargantuan gourd grower has put his prize pumpkin on display on the North Shore.
Pelletier sourced the seeds for 鈥淢uriel鈥� (named for his late grandmother) from a TV meteorologist in his home state of Maine. Sadly, Muriel didn鈥檛 grow to the same size as the 1,649-pound monster she descended from. When Pelletier called in a crane to move the pumpkin to his front yard on Saturday, it weighed in at 923 pounds.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have the best growing season this year. It was quite cool and wet during the late spring and early summer,鈥� he said.
Normally, Pelletier enters his backyard behemoths into the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth Competition, held in Langley. The pandemic put a stop to that this year, so Pelletier asked a master carver to come and transform Muriel into a work of art for the enjoyment of his Queensbury neighbours.
鈥淣o one in the neighbourhood really gets to see them except for peeking over the back fence,鈥� he said.
Carver Robert Turriff chose a Xenomorph from the Alien movie franchise as his inspiration.
With a preservative solution, Pelletier expects the pumpkin will last until Halloween, after which time he鈥檒l harvest the seeds and compost the rest.
The seeds aren鈥檛 for roasting, though. It鈥檚 more like a champion steed being put out to stud. Pelletier has buyers lined up for Muriel鈥檚 seeds in Japan, Korea, France, the United Kingdom and all over Canada.聽Money raised from seed sales is how he funds his habit.
