Half Moon Bay, Oct 15: The owner of the gargantuan pumpkin that won first place and $5,900 at the local weigh-off championship Monday is an Oregon commercial pilot who said his hobby has provided him with many rewards.
So far this season Steve Daletas, 43, of Pleasant Hill, Ore., has had at least three victories in different competitions.
On Monday his 1,180-pound pumpkin broke the 30th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off's previous record of 1,173 pounds set last year. Daletas received $5 per pound. The gigantic gourd recorded a height of 3 feet, 2 inches and a circumference of 14 feet, 4 inches.
"I really don't have any secrets. There are some great books out there and lots of information on the Internet. What I do is what everyone is doing, lots of hard work, and seed selection is important, genetics is important," Daletas, who has been competing for six years, said Monday in a telephone interview.
Daletas said he puts water-permeable mats to keep dirt and critters off the pumpkins' bases. Green tarps shade them from the sun and when the nights turn chilly, Daletas drapes the pumpkins with old quilts.
Part of the prize money will go back to the patch, Daletas said, and maybe some will be reserved for a weekend getaway with his wife.
As for the unusual gourd, it will be on display during the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival that takes place Oct. 18-19. After that, Daletas plans to transport it covered in the back of a pickup truck and display it on his ranch.
A total of 80 pumpkins from California, Oregon and Washington were forklifted onto a calibrated 5-ton capacity digital scale for this year's competition. Bureau Report