P.E.I. giant pumpkin due to manure: grower

The winner of the P.E.I. Giant Pumpkin Growers Association Weigh-Off credits his victoryto good growing conditions and the aged cow manure on his farm.

Alan Aten of Springvale wonthe 17th annualweigh-off Saturday with a pumpkin weighing488 kilograms, beating second-place finisher Clifford Picketts' pumpkin by10 kilograms.

Pickettscultivated the largest P.E.I.pumpkin on record at 598 kilograms, butit took second place at a competition in Nova Scotiaearlier this month and was not at the P.E.I. competition.

Aten,a three-time winner,saidhe was surprised he beat Picketts.

"I thought mine was smaller, it looked smaller,"Aten said. "It looked smaller but it had a thicker wall on it, I guess." Aten, crediting his farm's calf manure, said it's the biggest pumpkin he's ever grown.

Last week,Aten told CBC News he leaves hisgiant pumpkins on the vine as long as possible.

Shelters to protect from elements

"They lose weight if you take them off the vine earlier than the weigh-off[because] they got no more water going into them," he said.

Most growers of giant vegetables spend five months making sure they get good compost, water and fertilizer, with some building shelters to protect them from the elements.

Aten said he grows seven giant plants each year, but this year three of them cracked.

Connor Barrett of Veseys Seeds, where the event was held, said that a representative from the Department of Agriculture inspects the pumpkins before they're weighed.

"It's a bit of a sciencegetting them from where they're stored to onto a sling, and then hung from a scale so that nothing happens when you're moving such a large, fragile object," he said.