Say Hello to Patrick Pucino's 420-pounder

Patrick Pucino displays a pumpkin Tuesday he grew in his backyard at 402 South St. in Northampton. He estimates it weighs 420 pounds.">

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - By any standards, this big pumpkin wasn't a contest winner, but that wasn't the point. For his first attempt to grow a vegetable of the giant variety - which he did in the back yard of his South Street home, Patrick Pucino grew a 420-pounder.

Pucino said he has been a gardening enthusiast for many years, but this was the first year he decided to try his luck growing a so-called giant pumpkin after he found a Web site featuring giant pumpkin seeds for sale in Washington state.

"I decided to grow a giant pumpkin because I have always loved Halloween," said Pucino. "It was great that we were able to grow it to this size right here in Northampton."

To grow the pumpkin, which was still hundreds of pounds lighter than contest winners, Pucino used an underground heating system and gave the massive fruit a lot of personal attention. He hand-pollinated it from two male and female flowers and fed it a steady diet of seaweed and fish powder three times a week.

"I think this is a decent size for my first year," said Pucino. "I am hoping to grow a bigger one next year and maybe enter it into some kind of contest, maybe the Big E."

He said it would've placed 15th this year at the Big E.

Growing the pumpkin in the city was a challenge in itself. But that paled in comparison to moving it to his front doorstep, which required a close friend and a little creativity.

"We looked at it, and my buddy and I decided to move it like the Egyptians did when they were moving slabs to build the pyramids," said Pucino. "It wasn't easy."

Another problem he faced when growing the pumpkin was the variety of local wildlife that found and snacked on it, and Pucino said he found some bite marks he thought were left by a raccoon.

"After a while we put a lot of hot pepper wax on the outside of the pumpkin, just in case a squirrel or some other animal came by and got their hands on it," said Pucino.

Pucino said he plans on carving the pumpkin at some point before Halloween but doesn't plan on selling the valuable seeds found inside.

"A lot of people want seeds from this pumpkin," said Pucino. "We are planning on giving the seeds out to our friends and family."

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.