BURST
When Dave Chan set out to cross the U.S. border on Sept. 26 with two giant pumpkins strapped to a flatbed truck, he was understandably a little nervous.
What about tariffs and the border crackdown? Would the pumpkins be allowed across the border or be detained like some unwelcome interlopers?
“I was worried,” said Chan, who was headed to the Carpinito Brothers Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Kent, Wash., with the behemoths he had grown in his backyard.
Chan, the current Canadian record-holder for heaviest giant pumpkin, didn’t need to worry .
“I had the most pleasant border guard,” said Chan. “He asked a few questions, then he just smiled and waved me through.”
Chan credits what the ineffable magic giant pumpkins seem to exert on those lucky enough to feel their power and magnitude up close. A kind of allure he feels, but has trouble defining.
“It’s inexplicable. Maybe it’s the humour of growing something strictly for fun, something that is not necessary, that is the size of a small Volkswagen. Everyone loves them.”
On Sept. 28, Chan’s 2,088-pound pumpkin earned him first prize at the giant pumpkin weigh-off at the Carpinito brothers farm and US$10,000 in prize money.
On Oct. 4, his 1,708-pounder earned him third prize and US$4,000 at Bauman’s Harvest Festival in Gervais, Ore.
The 80-year-old pumpkin-grower currently holds the Canadian record for heaviest giant pumpkin at 2,252.5 pounds competing in 2024.
The world record is held by brothers Stuart and Ian Paton, of Hampshire, England, whose giant pumpkin weighed in at 2,819 pounds last week.
Chan fell under the spell of the giant pumpkin in the early 1980s when he saw Howard Dill, a grower from Nova Scotia, appear on the Johnny Carson show to explain how he grew a giant pumpkin with a strain of seeds he had developed for the Atlantic Giant Pumpkin.
That pumpkin was small by today’s standards, at about 400 pounds, but Chan was captivated nonetheless. He decided that growing a giant pumpkin could be a fun family activity.
“There was no internet back then, so I wrote a letter and addressed it to Howard Dill, Nova Scotia,” said Chan.
To his surprise, about a week later, Dill replied.
In 1982, Chan and his two sons, then ages four and five, grew a 278-pounder in their backyard.
Chan’s 50-year obsession has waxed and waned over the decades.
“You need a yard, and for a long time I didn’t have one,” said the retired dentist. “To grow these, each pumpkin requires at least 1,000 square feet.”
Eighteen years ago, Chan and his wife, Janet Love, moved to a 1 1/2- acre property in Richmond and his obsession reignited.
His wife was skeptical, said Chan.
It’s a huge commitment: the gourds require babying and tending, precise warming and watering systems and exactly calculated soil infusions of calcium sulphate, nitrogen, iron, copper, potassium and magnesium.
He and Love made a deal: he would grow giant pumpkins every other year, so they could vacation every second summer.
“I’ve grown (them) for 18 years straight,” said Chan, who constructed a giant greenhouse in the yard to grow the pumpkins.
Love’s vacations had to wait.
International weigh-off events are sanctioned by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth , an international grower’s group, and are based strictly on weight, not appearance.
“It could be the ugliest pumpkin in the world and still win,” said Chan.
This year’s big-bellied champions were pale white and lopsided.
Chan doesn’t care what the pumpkin looks like: “I’m a megalomaniac. I grow for size.”
During growing season, from April through September, he and Love go out to the greenhouse with their morning coffee and plan the day’s work.
Now that the weigh-offs are done, Chan hops on his beloved vintage 1975 Kubota tractor every day to break up the soil and clean up the remains.
“It’s all done and the money is in the bank,” said Chan.
His lifetime earnings are over $60,000, more than enough to cover his expenses. Enough in fact, for that vacation he promised his wife some 18 years ago.
“I will be fulfilling my duty with a trip to Europe for us next year,” he said.