The Return of the Giant Pumpkin

October 17, 2017 | News

Record Breaking Pumpkin

As sequels to movies go, they usually end in disappointment. Our ‘movie title’ news headline in October 2016 “SFS and the Giant Pumpkin” told the story of the UK’s largest pumpkin, grown in Lymington, and flown to the New York Botanical Gardens for a Halloween display.

Well the sequel, in this instance, is a bigger hit!

Picture courtesy of Southern Daily Echo

Our client, brothers Ian and Stuart Paton proudly told us; “next year, we’ll grow a bigger one”, and they haven’t disappointed! On Saturday 14th October, it was announced at the Autumn Pumpkin Festival in Netley, Hampshire that they had beaten last years previous British record of 2254lbs – by 15lbs.

At the Jubilee Sailing Trust ‘Autumn Pumpkin Festival and Scarecrow Avenue’, their giant pumpkin, which took 4 months and 100 gallons of water a day to grow, was weighed in at a whopping 2269.4lbs. For 2017 growing results they are no.1 in the UK and Europe, and only second in the world!

Here are the 2017 figures from the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth

Next step for the giant pumpkin is a visit to the New York Botanical Gardens (NYBG), via SFS once again, using our airfreight service. We are of course absolutely thrilled for Ian and Stuart on their continued growing success, and delighted they chose to partner with us once again for the movement into the USA. The pumpkin will be used in the NYBG ‘Giant Pumpkin Weekend’, in collaboration with the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, where they will be displayed, carved, and harvested for seeds.

But when we say carved… there are some truly talented carvers descending on New York! The image below shows a creation from master carver Ray Villafane – turning a giant pumpkin into a zombie apocalypse !

Pumpkin Carving at its best, by the talented Ray Villafane

Almost looking like zombies, on the Monday following the festival Stuart Green and Belinda Leadley were up at the crack of dawn, to receive the pumpkin at our Southampton HQ and take a few pictures before it embarked on its journey across the Atlantic.