HALF MOON Sound, Calif. - Scratch Kennedy is hitched with two children under age 8 and a task as a venture supervisor for a San Francisco tech firm, yet he gos through endless hours developing tremendous pumpkins for rivalries, with the end result of in some cases tending his fix until late.
Kennedy, 37, states, "It's definitely a full-time job." It resembles raising a family.''
That devotion took care of last year when Kennedy and his developing accomplice Ron Root set a California standard with a 2,497-pound behemoth at the Half Moon Sound Big showdown Pumpkin Weigh-Off, which returns Monday as the preface to the town's famous workmanship and pumpkin celebration.
The challenge, one of handfuls across the U.S., is charged as the Super Bowl of such occasions and draws contenders from all through the West Coast states, mostly due to the business driving award cash presented by title support Safeway grocery stores: The winning gourd costs $9 per pound, while a world record costs $30,000. When Kennedy and Root came in second last year, they took home $4,000 each.
In any case, is that the very thing that drives adults to neglect different exercises and empty their endeavors into cross-pollinating, taking care of and supporting extraordinary pumpkins of sizes Charlie Brown and the Peanuts posse would never envision?
Even though award-winning pumpkins can fetch up to $2 per pound in post-contest sales, which typically go to hotels or state and county fairs that might want to display them as fall attractions, the growers claim that's not the case.
Root, the Half Moon Bay champion in 2010, stated, "This is a very expensive hobby." Every year, we put thousands upon thousands into our patch, so any money we can recoup is helpful. However, I do this for no gain. Nine times out of ten, I would fail miserably if I attempted it for profit.
Score with "Pohaku" Root, 64, who said he started growing pumpkins years ago as a way to get outside after being injured at work and having to quit his job with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. In 2021, Kennedy reached out to him because he was no longer participating in contests and was looking for a mentor to teach him how to build a pumpkin patch that he could share with his 7-year-old son.
Despite the fact that neither of them grows for a living in a commercial setting, they both grew up in families with avid gardeners. They quickly combined Kennedy's data and technology expertise with Root's extensive knowledge to apply variables like ground moisture, nutrients, shade percentage, and soil and tissue levels.
Kennedy stated, "I often compare the growing of giant pumpkins to bodybuilding, because these things look like pumpkins on steroids."
At their patch in Sacramento County, where the gourds may gain 60-70 pounds per day, the partners only take December off to grow four pumpkins annually.
Root and Kennedy could easily tell right away that their entry from last year at Half Moon Bay was special because it stood out like the youngest of four brothers who grows much taller than the others. Kennedy compared its dimensions of 7 feet by 612 feet and 45 inches to those of a Smart car, which can be as small as 812 feet by 512 feet and 61 inches.
The pumpkin was given the name Pohaku, which means "stone" or "rock" in Hawaiian. It beat the state record by nearly 200 pounds and finished second to the 2,749-pound monster brought in by three-time champion Travis Gienger of Minnesota.
Root claimed that he later discovered dozens of online photos taken by individuals who spotted them taking Pohaku to the competition last year.
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