Sally Before the Weigh-in

10/3/26 Sally, a 494.5-pound pumpkin, was forklifted onto the pickup for her ride to Carpinito Brothers Farm in Kent.

Ever since 2022 when a pumpkin in Maple Leaf attracted media attention, I’ve been walking a few blocks east this time of year to check out what’s growing. Brooke, who has been growing humongous pumpkins competitively for several years now, also sells pumpkin seeds through Land o’ Giants.

I knew that “Sally,” one of her pumpkins, was being forklifted onto a pickup truck last weekend, but I arrived too late to see the lift (I heard it was a lengthy, harrowing ordeal, especially when the pumpkin was accidentally dropped; fortunately, Sally was unharmed). I did get there just in time, however, to see Sally resting in the back of a pickup while Brooke wiped her off. Shortly after, the pumpkin was tarped for the night. The next day she would be taken to Carpinito Brothers Farms (where USk Tacoma and USk Seattle met recently to sketch the winners) for the competition.

Sally's boyfriend Jack awaits his own weigh-in. 

Weighing in at 494.5 pounds, she apparently didn’t place in the competition. That’s OK, Sally – you still gave it your best! Sally’s boyfriend Jack Skellington, who was resting under a tent when I came by, would go to a different competition later.

I’ll go back in a couple of weeks to see how Sally gets carved. Brooke told me it takes the whole weekend to do the job!