Gourd almighty
John de Jong and Neil Jackson, together with their friend Peter Hobson, are bringing the mega pumpkin-growing competition to Motueka. Photo: Elise Vollweiler.
An idea that sprouted over a beer between three old friends will hopefully, by autumn, mature into an abundance of girthy gourds.
John de Jong, Peter Hobson and Neil Jackson were gathered at Hotel Motueka recently when they found themselves reminiscing about the Māpua mega pumpkin competition, which ceased about a decade ago.
“We’ve got really great memories of that time, and we thought it would be cool to bring it back into the community again,” John says.
The idea took root and the trio decided that, in the spirit of creating a great family event, they would revive the competition, with the weigh-in to take place at Hotel Motueka on Sunday, 6 April 2025.
Your garden-variety blue crown won’t be pushing the scales into triple digits, so a special giant pumpkin seed is generally used for such competitions. The resulting gourds are no good for soup or pies, but they make glorious stock fodder.
While the name of the game is to grow the heftiest pumpkin – the Māpua record was more than 600kg - John hopes that people don’t get too hung up on that as the sole target. He says there will be several other categories, so that even if your pumpkin isn’t particularly plump, it might still take home the accolade for the ugliest or the average weight. There will be an under-12s section, and he is encouraging young and old to “just have a go”.
The trio has already got a raft of sponsors onboard, including Abel Tasman Seashuttle, Ngārua Caves, Stonescape, Mitre 10 Motueka and Hotel Motueka. The aim of the event is to be a fun family day out, says John, and if additional funds are raised, they will be donated to a community organisation.
He reckons that now is the time to start preparing your pumpkin bed, with lots of information to be found here.
Giant pumpkin plants will be on sale from Mitre 10 Motueka in early October, and there is a cost of $10 for each, which includes the competition entry fee. John says that people are also welcome to grow their own plants from seed and register on weigh-in day.