SWAMPSCOTT — In retired pharmacist Thomas Keenan’s backyard, a roughly 1,900-pound pumpkin sits at the center of a 20-square-foot plant spanning half of the yard.
In preparation for the Topsfield Fair, which is scheduled to open next Friday, Keenan has spent the last five months nurturing the gourd from a seed — first in his basement, then in a makeshift greenhouse he built in his backyard.
Keenan began growing pumpkins in 2012 from a seed he purchased at the Topsfield Fair, which he used to grow his first 952-pound gourd. Since then, he has become a card-carrying member of the New England Giant Pumpkin Growers Association and returned to the fair each year with a pumpkin of his own to enter into the giant pumpkin weigh-in contest.
“This used to be all grass,” Keenan said, pointing to the pumpkin plant in his backyard. “We had a little garden over in this area, and one year my son said ‘Dad, let’s plant a pumpkin.’ So we planted a pumpkin using a seed that I got from one of these guys at the Topsfield Fair and took over the whole year. All the other stuff that I planted — tomatoes and all the standard stuff — it all had to be pulled out to make room for this giant pumpkin.”
At the 2021 Topsfield Fair, Keenan’s largest pumpkin yet, weighing in at 1,943 pounds, landed him in second place. Keenan said this year’s pumpkin, which he estimates is roughly 1,880 pounds, is within range of his personal record.
The fair’s record for heaviest pumpkin was set by Jamie Graham, of Tyngsborough, whose 2022 pumpkin topped the scale at 2,480 pounds — only 80 pounds lighter than the national record of 2,560 pounds.
“Just like a runner has a time that he would call his personal best, crazy pumpkin growers have the same personal best. The record in Massachusetts now is about 2,500 pounds — that’s the goal,” Keenan said.
In 2017, Keenan donated his 1,284-pound pumpkin to the Police Department. He said after this year’s fair, he plans to either donate his pumpkin to the town, or give or sell it to an interested business.
When asked if he has a secret trick for successfully growing massive gourds each year, Keenan responded that it’s key to balance the plant’s water and nutrient intakes.
“The thing that a lot of pumpkin growers do is overwater and overfertilize,” Keenan said. “Less is more, too much water will destroy a plant. Leave it alone.”
