Matthew DeBacco, a science teacher at RHHS, brings his massive pumpkin to the school parking lot every fall after entering it into competitions at local fairs. Throughout the day, teachers take their students to the parking lot to look at the spectacle.
To learn a bit about the pumpkins and their growing process, The Broadside interviewed DeBacco.
DeBacco’s interest in pumpkin growing sprouted in High School. He recalls being able to wheel a pumpkin into the classroom—a stark contrast from his current pumpkins which don’t fit through a standard door.
“It’s a good problem to have,” he said. DeBacco was fascinated by seeing the evident growth of his pumpkins—a satisfying payoff for the work put in. DeBacco said he could, “look at the pumpkin when it’s growing in the morning and then come back after work—it’s bigger.”
DeBacco explained some of the effort put into growing large pumpkins. He emphasized the amount of physical labor involved in prepping the soil and weeding. DeBacco said the soil should always be balanced—too much of one property could block something else and result in a toxic environment.
When growing a large pumpkin, DeBacco said he cuts all but one blossom off the plant. He said that with some luck, it will grow to be a pumpkin. DeBacco begins planting in the spring and by the end of June, produces an 800-square-foot plant with one pumpkin on it.
DeBacco also mentioned the large possibilities of ruining a pumpkin: “mice can eat them, squirrels can eat them, hail can damage the plants… there’s a lot of things outside of your control.”
For that reason, DeBacco considers himself lucky to have consistently grown a pumpkin for five to seven years now, all of which have been more than 700-pounds. He said it took him 10 to 12 years to get his first 1000-pound pumpkin. At first, he had been growing 100 to 200-pound pumpkins and did not enter any fairs at the time because he “didn’t feel like [he] was competitive at the early stages.”
It was not until seven to eight years into his growing career that DeBacco began attending these fairs. He made connections with other growers and got tips on growing large pumpkins; it was especially important in a time when internet groups were not as prominent.
He began as the assistant superintendent at the Durham fair for over 10 years and at the Woodstock fair for three to four years. He helped get the fairs to the competitive level they needed to be by helping get properly calibrated scales. But, due to a potential conflict of interest, he was not allowed to compete while he was an assistant superintendent.
DeBacco no longer does any official fair running; rather, he competes at these fairs, often answering questions about growing pumpkins for the public.
DeBacco has held state records twice so far (and he adds that each pumpkin was grown on both sides of the Connecticut River); both records have been beaten now. DeBacco said he was top 10 in the world at some time. He is working towards reclaiming his title.
DeBacco also said he’s won the prize for having the prettiest pumpkin at least three times in a row, a competition based on color, symmetry, and if it comes down to it: weight.
This year, DeBacco’s pumpkin was disqualified. He said it was because there was a soft spot on the pumpkin. Fairs disqualify pumpkins with these rotted spots because they could mean the pumpkin was genetically modified.
DeBacco said his pumpkin had a soft spot because his plant this year had begun rapidly wilting, a result of a soil-borne fungus. To save the pumpkin, he cut it off prematurely; the soft spot was a result of the pumpkin not being “ready.”
After his fairs (and displaying them to the school) DeBacco says he usually cooks the pumpkins (but not for pies; they’re bad for pies he says) and trades seeds with growers across the world to create an interesting crossbreed. DeBacco mentioned he has even sent seeds to people as far as Germany.
(Photo by: Devesh Karthik)