Pumpkin growing is a serious business in Northamptonshire village...but who grew the biggest?

Pumpkin enthusiasts from across Long Buckby gathered in the Market Square for the Long Buckby Annual Giant Pumpkin Weigh-In on Saturday, October 29.

Ali and Jeff, proprietors of Long Buckby’s award-winning independent craft ale pub, The Badger’s Arms, sponsor the competition by giving out seeds to the competitors in March. Harvesting begins in earnest in October. Ali says, “We give out seeds for unusual varieties, and for pumpkins not normally grown. That way, no-one can cheat by bringing along a supermarket-bought one and passing it off as their own!”

On Saturday afternoon, villagers gathered with anticipation to see who would be crowned grower of the village’s heaviest pumpkin. Each pumpkin was weighed in turn using a home-made seesaw weighing machine, and its weight carefully recorded in a ledger. This year’s winner was Kim Hill who grew a whopping giant weighing in at 60.7 pounds – just three pounds heavier than its nearest rival which weighed in at 57.6 pounds.

What was the secret of Kim’s success? “I pollinated it by hand, using a feather. Then I submerged a plant pot filled with gravel in the soil next to plant and watered through that to deliver the water straight to the roots. Other than that, I just mostly left it alone!”

Artist Sandra Whiting painted a picture of Kim’s pumpkins instead, after her own pumpkin was destroyed by badgers.

You can join in next year’s competition by popping along to The Badgers Arms in March to register and collect the seeds for next October’s crop.

“We wonder, is Kim’s pumpkin the heaviest in the county?” Ali added.