Backyard Pumpkin Harvest Yields Half-Ton

For Kirkwood resident Luke Puricelli a bet and some seeds has resulted in three pumpkins weighing a total of more than 1,000 pounds. 

This is the first year, Puricelli grew pumpkins, of the Atlantic Giant variety, at his new home in Kirkwood. The pumpkins weigh 350, 400 and 500 pounds.

"Last year, a friend and I were at Lowes and saw some seeds and decided to do a bet on who could grow a bigger pumpkin," Puricelli said. "Since then, it's looking to be a yearly hobby."

This is Puricelli's second year growing Atlantic Giant pumpkins.

In February, he built a 1200 square foot pumpkin patch in his Kirkwood backyard and began working on getting the soil correct for planting the Atlantic Giants.

"My yard is surrounded with large tree and the garden only gets 5-6 hours of light a day," Puricelli said. "They would have grown bigger had they gotten full sunlight."