Great pumpkin almost squashes the competition

A relative newcomer to pumpkin growing has produced an orange giant.
By MATT BIXENSTINE
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- If Frank Lanterman were to write a book about the art of growing pumpkins, it would probably have two themes: Learn from the best, and use a hill.
The 41-year-old from Austintown, in only his sixth year of growing, came in second in this year's Heaviest Squash Competition at the Canfield Fair and was named reserve champion.
Lanterman did not allow the wet summer to spoil his pumpkin patch. His giant entry weighed in at 713 pounds -- more than 200 pounds heavier than his previous best at the fair.
Just how did Lanterman overcome a growing season marred by unusually heavy rains?
"I lucked out. [My patch] is on a hill, and it drains well," he said.
Who won
Only Jerry Rose, from whom Lanterman got his first pumpkin seed to plant in 1997, beat Lanterman, winning the grand champion title. Rose, of Huntsburg in Geauga County, won with a fair-record 831-pound pumpkin.
"Jerry has been growing pumpkins for a long time -- he's one of the best," Lanterman said.
Now Lanterman's and Rose's giants sit side-by-side in the fair's Pumpkin Barn.
Lanterman, a carpenter by trade, planted his seeds indoors May 6 and transferred them outdoors May 18. He said he could almost literally sit and watch his largest pumpkin grow.
"In 14 days it measured 50 inches around," he said. "It had been the size of a silver dollar."
When it came time to bring his largest pumpkin to the fair, it was much larger still.
Fred Calai of Canfield helped his friend transport the pumpkin. They made a road out of plywood through the patch and then hoisted the pumpkin into Jimmy's trailer, using a jack.
Lanterman will likely use the same process in October when he transports other pumpkins for judging at the annual Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers Weigh Off at Parks Garden Center in Greenford.
A world record
In 2000, Dave Stelts of Leetonia set a world record at the weigh-off with a 1,140-pound pumpkin.
"They're definitely bigger later in the season," said Lanterman, who has had a pumpkin that weighed 845 pounds in October. "They still have all of September to grow."
But for now, Lanterman said he is satisfied with his entry at the Canfield Fair.
The experience has been somewhat of a family affair for him, with his patch situated next door in his father Glen's yard, and many of his relatives having also participated in pumpkin-growing contests at the fair.
Lanterman said his grandmother, Hazel Wilks, who passed away in 1997 just before he took his first pumpkin to the fair, would be proud.
"She always took me to the fair when I was a little boy, and she always wanted me to grow pumpkins," he said. "She'd be happy today."
mbixenstine@vindy.com