Red Deer garden yields massive pumpkin for family
Published 7:56 am Tuesday, September 29, 2026
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A Red Deer pumpkin patch is getting a gigantic reputation.
This season, Lily Ramage, 14, with help from her father Sean, grew a 54.9-kilogram (122-pound) pumpkin in their backyard garden to eclipse their previous record of 30.3 kilograms (67.4 pounds).
“It’s two-times larger than our last pumpkin,” said Lily, who earned $200 from a 50/50 draw among friends and family who attempted to guess the pumpkin’s weight.
Grown from Dill’s Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds, the circumference of the pumpkin is almost 1.8 meters (six feet) and is destined to become a jack-o’-lantern.
Sean said a smaller pumpkin painted like an eyeball will be placed inside the big pumpkin for trick or treaters.
“We did a cat’s eye and with the light in there, it looked pretty freaky,” said Sean about a jack-o’-lantern design they carved for Halloween a few years ago.
Some of the seeds from the star of the pumpkin patch will be kept to plant next season. Seeds will also be roasted to eat.
Lily, whose giant pumpkins have also been previously featured in the Advocate, said pumpkins adapt to the local weather which is why seeds from this year’s pumpkin will be used next year.
She maintained the garden and protected the pumpkin whenever her dad was away at work.
“I’d watch the pumpkin and make sure it didn’t get sunburned or eaten by the deer because the deer like to come in here,” said Lily who would cover the pumpkin with towels when necessary to protect it from the sun.
Roots that grow along the lengthy pumpkin vine also had to be buried. Germinated flowers needed to be protected from bees to prevent cross-pollination, and a dollop of molasses was added to the water can before watering.
Sean suspects that spreading six-year-old compost from his uncle’s farm in their garden could be the reason for the size of the pumpkin this year.
He added that now that they have surpassed 100 pounds, next year’s goal is to grow a 200-pound pumpkin.