Earlier this year, we gave each of the team a packet of pumpkin seeds with the objective of growing the biggest pumpkin by Halloween!
Each participant approached this task with their own unique strategy - with the first challenge being deciding when exactly to plant their seeds!
The winner (Matthew Thomas) & runner-up (Harry Ower)
Matt Thomas was first in the ground, wanting his pumpkin to weather the harsh Telford conditions early on so that it could withstand anything thrown at it.
The mind games began as the rest of the team tried to convince Matt he had gone to ground too early. Weeks went by without anyone else planting their seeds, until Ryan Oak succumbed to the pressure shortly followed by Harry, Stewart and Helen.
Tom, convinced that a late Winter frost was just around the corner waited until July before throwing his seeds into the ground and hoping for the best. A call that would ultimately lead to his downfall in the competition.
Shortly after, Ryan announced himself out of the running with the death of his only sprout. Some of the team became concerned after seeing photos emerge of Matt’s progress and decided to club together in an attempt to stop him from running away with this year’s competition. Harry, Stewart and Helen united to get behind one pumpkin that could topple Matt off the top spot. Tom, whose leaves had emerged stuck to his guns and continued on solo - another call that would ultimately lead to his downfall in the competition.
Coming into the home stretch and with just 3 pumpkins left the team started to put in extra hours to ensure the upkeep of their yield, ahead of the final weigh in on 31st October.
Figuring out how to weigh the champions pumpkin!
The day has finally come and we have crowned our winner! Pipping Harry, Stewart and Helen to the post was Matthew Thomas! His pumpkin weighed an astonishing 42kg! Speaking shortly after being crowned, Matt said:
“Winning the Compass Pumpkin Competition has been an ambition of mine ever since Stewart gave me a packet of seeds back in April. Many hours of research and nurture have been dedicated to achieving maximum pumpkin growth, and I think all would agree that the rewards are obvious. This will go down as one of my greatest achievements. ”
The final results are as follows:
1) Matthew Thomas - 42kg
2) Harry - 2kg
3) Tom - his pumpkin turned out to be a weed
4) Ryan Oak - failed to germinate
5) Stewart & Helen - failed to pollinate