A northwest Missouri man decided to go big or go home by growing the largest pumpkin the state fair has seen in at least 24 years.
Colt Ridge, of Grant City, took home a blue ribbon, along with his 936-pound monster, for winning the fair’s largest pumpkin contest.
Ridge said this was the first year that he has participated in the contest.
“I started growing big pumpkins about eight years ago and just kind of for fun. And then I thought, well, if I had one I thought was big enough to take down there, I’d like to take one down there. And this year, I finally had one that I thought would be good enough to go ahead and take to Sedalia. So, I’m glad I did,” he told Missourinet. “We just started planting some pumpkins, having a pumpkin patch, nothing too big, but just something kind of to get the kids interested in and maybe give them some piggy bank money. And I thought, ‘Well, it’d be pretty fun if we could see how big of a pumpkin we could grow.’ And just kind of snowballed from there.”
What does it take to grow a 936-pound pumpkin? He said a lot of water, time, and TLC.
Ridge said he and his family have plans for the orange gourd.
“It should make a pretty nice jack-o-lantern. They’re definitely excited to cut a face into it and to cut it open, to crawl inside, and to take their picture in it,” he said.
As the winner, Ridge sadly did not get a lifetime supply of pumpkin spiced items.
“We’re not too excited about eating the pumpkin so much, but we sure like to look at pumpkins. It’s been a lot of fun to put faces on them and decorate,” he said.
Ridge said this year’s state fair was the first time that he competed in the contest, which is sponsored by the Missouri Master Gardeners Association. Will he compete again? Ridge said if he grows a pumpkin that is big enough to compete at the state fair, he will enter again.
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