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Smoky summer may have spoiled world record for Calgary-area pumpkin grower
WATCH: The heavy smoke drifting from wildfires in B.C. this summer put a damper on all kinds of things in the Calgary area. As Gil Tucker shows us, for one very dedicated pumpkin grower, it might have blocked out a good shot at a world record – Oct 10, 2018
Eddie Zaychkowsky has been growing pumpkins on his rural property northeast of Calgary for almost two decades, but never anything quite like the giant surprise the summer of 2018 brought.
“[It’s] 2,255 pounds,” Zaychkowsky said, showing off his proudest achievement in the pumpkin patch. “It’s the biggest one ever grown in Canada. We had days of over 60 pounds in a 24-hour period that this thing gained.”
Zaychkowsky figures it might have grown even bigger if Alberta hadn’t been hit by heavy smoke drifting over from summer wildfires in British Columbia.
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“We ran into a snag at the beginning of August when all the forest fires hit because it took away the sun,” he said. “We were running at [gains of] 40 pounds a day and it dropped to six.”
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