While they had to wear masks and stay distant, New England farmers came together for the 20th consecutive year to find out who has the biggest gourds in the region.
Frerichs’ Farms in Rhode Island celebrated its 20th annual Pumpkin Weigh-Off over the weekend, but limited entries to farmers in New England because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sharon farmer Steve Connolly knew he had a winner but was happy to see his 470-pound bushel gourd crowned largest in show.
“I cut it from the vine yesterday around 2 o’clock in the afternoon, so it’s been off the vine now for about 15 hours and you want to get it weighed, get it weighed quick, they slowly lose a little weight, but not much,” Connolly said.
Joe Jutras came from Scituate with an enormous pumpkin, and has broken records in the past with his crops. He said the competition is friendly and celebrates a season of effort.
“There’s no secrets, and everybody’s friends with one another,” Jutras said. “We’ve been doing this so long, really there’s no secrets, but it’s a lot of hard work.”
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