ABOVE: Weighing the heaviest pumpkin takes skill in Stratheden St in Kyogle.
Susanna Freymark
He did it again.
Dale Oliver from Knockrow grew the biggest and heaviest pumpkin at Kyogle’s Giant Pumpkin and Watermelon Festival today, Saturday, January 21.
This year’s winner weighed in at 674.5kg. While it was a mighty big pumpkin, it fell short of Dale’s win two years ago when his pumpkin weighed 867kg.
Dale said the growing season for pumpkins was a bit cold to start with but conditions changed and his pumpkin increased in size every week.
Travelling three and a half hours from Queensland, father and son Geoff and Tony Frohloff turned up in Kyogle with the back of their ute filled with pumpkins and watermelons.
Geoff started growing and showing giant watermelons in 1988. He plants the seeds in the first week in September.
His record watermelon is 102kg weighed in at the Chinchilla festival four years ago.
Unlike the giant pumpkins that can’t be eaten except by pigs and cattle, the big watermelons can be cut open with a cane knife, Geoff said, and sliced up to eat.
