Worland’s giant pumpkin guru Jay Richard planted the seeds for this year’s crop of humungous pumpkins on April 6, and the seeds have already sprouted.
Richard says it is definitely not too late for other gardeners to join in on the fun, and he has just the seeds for the job.
He also wants them to join him in the fall with their own pumpkins for the great pumpkin smash when the pumpkins are dropped in a spectacular scene.
Three hundred to 400 of his specially bred giant pumpkin seeds are available online at Generous Roots Garden Company as part of the fundraiser for the Worland Community Garden.
If they are lucky, customers might just score two seeds from Leather Tuscadero, which, although planted rather late on May 9 in 2023, weighed 1,399 pounds and won the 2023 Wyoming State Championship Weigh-Off and Giant Pumpkin Drop in Worland.
“I like to donate the seeds because it's fun to watch people get excited about growing these giant pumpkins,” Richard said. “All the seeds are out of my pumpkins that I've grown in past years.”
Giant pumpkin seeds can be quite valuable and Richard is very careful with his genetics, paying attention to how each one is bred. Many of the seeds he donated this year are from Leather, a pumpkin that Richard said was a real easy one to grow.
“I knew that plant did very well outside, and hopefully we can pass that along to the next people,” Richard said.
According to Janet Hofmann of the Washakie County Conservation District, the giant Atlantic pumpkin seeds Richard donated are worth their weight in golden goodness.
“Giant pumpkin seeds can go anywhere between $5 and $10 per seed, especially when they're proven, like Jay’s are,” Hofmann said. “He has a lot of championship genetics in his seeds.”
They are being sold online for a special deal of two for $7.
Advocate For Growing Community Food
“Jay has been such a great advocate of people gardening and he figures if you can grow giant pumpkins, you can grow anything,” Dr. Caitlin Youngquist said.
Youngquist is the former Washakie County Conservation District director who was the brainchild behind the fledgling seed company before she left to start her own company, Dirt Works, specializing in soil and compost. She still helps out with seed selection and volunteers her time stuffing envelopes full of seeds.
She is enthusiastic about Richards' unique seeds and said that the genetics are amazing.
“You can barely stop them from growing, even with some benign neglect, they still get to be quite big,” Youngquist said. “Of course, with a lot of extra inputs and care, they'll get giant.”
She said that by selling the giant pumpkin seeds, it is a fun way to get folks into gardening and growing food. Her goal is to help people find ways to grow more food in Wyoming and that is one of the main agendas behind the seed company – to help people select the right seeds for the harsh Wyoming climate.
The community garden is a stand-alone nonprofit even though it was started by the conservation district.
“I believe in what they are doing,” Richard said. “To see how the garden has transformed in the last 10 or 15 years from literally a weed patch to an amazing garden is cool to see.”
The garden produced an estimated five tons of food last year that was all donated to people in need and made available to the entire community through the extension office.
“We want to continue to be able to give the food to the community at no charge,” Hofmann said. “Our goal is to be sustainable with our seed company so that we're not always asking for money from foundations or donations from businesses.”
The Generous Roots Garden Co.
The dream is to grow the seed company to the point where it will one day pay for a full-time seasonal garden manager and supplies for their community garden.
Whatever extra money that is made would eventually provide grants to help other community gardens in Wyoming.
The seeds are all pre-selected to do well in Wyoming’s climate, most specifically the Bighorn region, and the packets are all hand packaged by volunteers, including Hofmann’s own kids.
“A big problem with seed selection is that people just didn't know how to select the right seeds for the right growing conditions,” Hofmann said.
Each seed at the Generous Roots Garden Company is selected based on the growing conditions in different areas of the state and some of the unique challenges gardeners face.
Eventually they plan to offer seeds unique to each region in Wyoming.
New varieties that are tailored toward the high plains have been added this year as well as a “small spaces collection” specifically selected for raised beds or pots.
New seeds are being tested each year before being added to the selection for sale. They also look for innovative ways to help their new gardeners by packaging seeds together such as the wildflower selection.
“We have our winter squash trio with three different kinds of squash in it,” Hofmann said. “You can just buy one pack and get all of them in there.”
Richard said that with giant pumpkin seeds, you can grow them either as a regular pumpkin plant or go crazy, like him, and try to grow record pumpkins.
“You can just drop them in and water them and hang on,” Richard said. “If you want to push them and realize what their potential is, you've got to do a lot of extra things to them.”
Extra Help
Richard suggests visiting specialized websites for advice to grow your giant pumpkins and if you want to see their full potential, be prepared to babysit them.
The Washakie County Conservation District and Dirt Works are also both available to answer public questions about any gardening, ranging from soil temperature, mulch to, of course, selecting the right seed selection.
“We've had a very, very dry winter and open winter in Wyoming,” Youngquist said. “We haven't had the moisture or protection we usually get from snow and so getting water into your gardens and landscapes, even well before you plant, is going to be really important.”
Youngquist is also offering free live webinars through her company, Dirt Works, to help people throughout the growing season.
“It's a great opportunity for folks to join in,” Youngquist said. “We'll start at the end of April and we'll go all the way through September with virtual webinars and lots of time for Q and A.”
Richard also offers classes occasionally and said that although people may not become completely self-sufficient, they can move the needle with everything that is grown, especially if it is a giant pumpkin from one of his specialty seeds.
“I just would like to wish everybody a great early season,” Richard said. “I would also encourage anybody that grows a giant pumpkin to bring it to Worland and join us in October.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
