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Scott Wilber, who is also the president of the Boone Farmers' Market, said he attended the Iowa Fruits and Vegetables Association Annual Convention and Trade Show in Marshalltown during the winter. While there, he said he attended a seminar called "Growing Giant Pumpkins for Competition," where attendees were given seeds from a 1,100 pound pumpkin.
"They give you three pumpkin seeds to plant. I planted mine on the 10th of June. Two of mine germinated and this one is the only one that made it. This one came back about the 10th of August and started growing," Scott Wilber said. "It would have got a lot bigger if it had a fighting chance, but it got flooded three times."
Scott Wilber said the market is holding a contest to guess the pumpkin's weight and when the first frost comes, it will be cut from the vine and officially weighed in. The person with the closest guess will receive a prize. Every child who comes out to guess the weight will also get a free mini-pumpkin.
"It's still growing and as long as the frost doesn't kill it, we would like to see how big it can get," Scott Wilber said. "Its official weight will be the weight after the frost comes. We will weigh it then."
Scott Wilber said he had his son pull the extra blossoms off the pumpkin to focus the growth on the main pumpkin. Also, Scott Wilber said he fertilized the pumpkin and watered it every other day to increase the growth.
Scott Wilber feels that pumpkins are an important part of autumn as well as Halloween.
"I think it has a lot to do with the family. You carve them with your family and roast the seeds," Scott Wilber said. "Nothing beats putting your hands in the gunk, carving it and then seeing a candle glow in it when you're all done. It's a very family-orientated thing."
Also available at Wilber's Northside Market are pre-picked pumpkins of various sizes as well as the option to pick one's own pumpkin, watermelons and various types of gourds and squashes fresh from the patch. Wilber's Northside Market, 2407 Marshall St., is open Mondays through Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to dusk, Fridays from 3 p.m. to dusk, and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to dusk. Produce from Wilber's Northside Market is also available at the Boone Farmers' Market, held each Thursday from 3-6 p.m. in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 1815 S. Story St.
For more information on Wilber's Northside Market, call (515) 432-9038 or visit www.wilbersproduce.com.
