DAMARISCOTTA, Maine — Each October, the streets of Damariscotta fill with festival-goers eager to admire artists’ creations on giant pumpkins and then head to the waterfront for the giant pumpkin boat races.
This year, coordinators of the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest and Regatta hope to get more would-be farmers involved in the competition by offering giant “plantlets” for free to anyone who will take a bag of magic compost, spend a little or a lot of time and perhaps break a record come Columbus Day.
Earlier this spring, students from Great Salt Bay in Damariscotta planted seeds for the pumpkins, and most were given away on “Seedling Sunday,” May 20.
But not all of them. Mainers still have a chance to grow a giant orange orb of their own.
On Wednesday afternoon, Alan “Buzz” Pinkham still had a dozen or so plantlets ready to go at his nursery, Pinkham’s Plantation.
Pinkham was among the “instigators” who initiated the pumpkinfest more than a dozen years ago. He was more than happy to hand over a seedling, a trash bag full of special compost, and plenty of advice on pumpkin-growing.
Most notably, each pumpkin “seedling” should be buried in a sunny 400- to 600-square-foot area, in soil with a pH of 6.7 to 7.2, and each plant should be fed two to three times each week with a liquid fish and seaweed product.
Add fungicides and insecticides and use a sheet or shade structure to protect the pumpkin from sun during “those 20- to 25-pound per day peak growth periods.”
On the Fourth of July last year, Alice Andrenyak of Brunswick hand-pollinated the tubes of her pumpkin and closed them off “so no bees could get them,” then spent about five hours a day, she said, “feeding it, watering it, trimming it, telling it where it wants to go.”
By October, Andrenyak rowed her 425-pound disco pumpkin across Damariscotta Harbor as part of the annual regatta.
Last year, Elroy Morgan of Charleston broke the state record at 1,756 pounds.
How big can rookie giant pumpkin-growers expect theirs to get?
“It depends on whether you’re willing to give up your life and to what degree you’re going to be satisfied,” Pinkham said. Most will reach 200 to 300 pounds, even without any sacrifice of life.
Pinkham’s pumpkin weighed 1,266 pounds last year. The world record is more than 2,600 pounds, held by a man from Belgium. Previously a person from German held the title, but Pinkham said the U.S. — someone from Damariscotta, in particular — would like it back.
For more information on free giant pumpkin plantlets, visit the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest Facebook page or Pinkham’s Plantation at 431 Biscay Road in Damariscotta.
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