DUNNSTABLE TOWNSHIP -- Some people grow pumpkins and then there are people like Jon Baker who *really* grow pumpkins. Jon planted his pumpkin back near Woolrich in June.
"It comes from a breed that's called the eastern giant," said Baker.
Now, the orange gourd weighs about eleven hundred pounds.
"Yea that is the great pumpkin. It doesn't get any better than this it’s big round and it's orange because most of them aren't orange,"
Growing pumpkins is a hobby baker got into about 5 years ago thanks to his neighbor, Jeff Patrick. Patrick’s known by his friends as the ‘Pumpkin Man’.
Patrick grew a pumpkin this year too. His weighs over 800 pounds.
"I've been growing these over 20 years and I never had one this big," said Patrick.
It took tens of thousands of gallons to water this gourd, but that's not all. Baker says he bought a couple rabbits right before he planted the pumpkin their manure helped grow it.
"He is very proud of it and I think he should be," said Audrey, Baker’s girlfriend.
When Baker first started growing the pumpkin Baker’s girlfriend wasn’t too happy.
"[I called it] Stupid pumpkin probably a couple hundred times in the beginning," said Audrey.
Audrey has learned to like the orange blob, now that it's headed to a competition in Altoona, where if it wins, Baker and his girlfriend could win over one thousand dollars.
"If you get into the next stage of the game, take it to Ohio, first place is 15 thousand," said Baker.
Once the competition is over, Baker plans to sell the pumpkin. Unfortunately, after that Baker says it will probably be thrown away.
Baker says the pumpkin weighed in at 1375 pounds.
