It's official. The biggest pumpkin in northeastern Ontario (that we know of) weighs 522.5 pounds.
That was the word from Myrna Barager, project manager with Northern Ontario Agri-Food Education and Marketing, which sponsored the contest.
Growers brought their pumpkins to weigh-in sites last weekend in Lively, Mindemoya, Desbarats and New Liskeard.
The winning pumpkin was grown by Rene Gravelle of Hanmer. He drove the vegetable to the Anderson Fall Fair, where children spent the day climbing all over it or at least standing beside it.
Gravelle planted three pumpkin seeds indoors in April. He mulched his garden plot with different manures, dead leaves and grass clippings.
He moved the plants outdoors at the end of May and covered them with plastic to keep them from freezing. With all the rain this year, the pumpkins prospered. "They take a lot of water," he said.
Gravelle harvested the giant vegetable the same day as he took it to the fair - with the help of a tractor.
It's still a toss-up whether the pumpkin will become Hanmer's biggest jack-o'-lantern or sit on display outside a store.
"I don't know yet," Gravelle said.
