SANTEE FAMILY GROWS BIGGEST PUMPKIN IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY HISTORY

By Miriam Raftery

October 27, 2019 (Santee) – The Fredricks family of Santee has grown a whopper of a pumpkin, tipping the scales at 1,531 pounds.  The giant gourd is the largest ever grown in San Diego County, according to Sarah Fredricks. 

It took second place at the Pumpkin Competition weigh-off at the Irvine Railroad Park on September 21, however, missing the all-time Southern California record by just two pounds. (The largest in Southern California was grown by Chris Dunn and weighed in at 1,533 pounds. The biggest statewide was entered by Ruben Frias of Napa, who won with a 1,758 pound pumpkin.)

“I have grown giant pumpkins on and off since 2001,” says Jim Fredricks, who grew the giant gourd along with his wife, Sarah, and their boys, Andrew, 5, and Joshua, 8.

“This was the first growing attempt I did with my two boys. I got into growing when I was a child and my biggest pumpkin was 2 lbs! “Jim Fredricks writes in an e-mail to ECM.  “When I got older, I ran across a website for growing giant pumpkins and I had to try it. My first fruit was 250 lbs.”

Asked the secret to his success, he replies, “ There are no secret's to growing and I readily share what I know with others. Hard work, lots of work in the patch every day, disease control, lots of water, the right seeds, good soil and a little luck.”

The term “Great Pumpkin” was popularized by Charles Shultz, author of the popular “Peanuts” cartoon strip in which Charlie Brown waited each Halloween for the Great Pumpkin to appear. Appropriately, the Fredricks family posed with their prized pumpkin wearing Charlie Brown T-shirts.

Back in 2012, Fredericks and a friend grew a 1,116 pound pumpkin which held the county record until 2018.  That record was broken in 2018 by Vince George with a 1,328 pounder.

“This year, our 1,531 pound pumpkin smashed the record again and might be very hard to beat for a while in San Diego County,” says Fredricks.”  Why?  He explains, “These pumpkins do not grow well in high heat areas like where we grow in east San Diego County. This strain grows much larger up in northern climates around the world.”

Even that, however, is far from the biggest pumpkins ever grown.  As of last year, the world record belongs to Steve Geddes of New Hampshire, who grew a 2,307 pound pumpkin, according to the website BigPumpkins.cot at http://www.bigpumpkins.com/WeighoffResultsGPC.aspx?c=P&y=2018.

How long did it take the Fredricks family to grow their prize-winning pumpkin? “The fruit grew in only 85 days and maxed out at 43 lbs. a day at one point,” says Fredricks.

So how do you move a pumpkin that weighs over three-quarters of a ton? 

“Loading and transporting is not easy!” Fredricks says. “We craned our fruit into the back of a U-haul trailer for the ride up to Irvine for the weigh off. “

What happens to the giant pumpkin after the weigh-off?  “ The fruit stayed up at Irvine Railroad Park for three weeks for display and was brought back down to El Cajon to be displayed at Shadow Mountain Church,” Fredricks says. “After that, it will be cut up and the seeds will be retrieved.”