Henry Swenson is not your typical pumpkin farmer, and he doesn’t use a typical farmer’s tools. Handsaws, forklifts and flatbread trucks may not be the first thing to come to mind when picturing the October staple. But Swenson doesn’t deal with your typical pumpkin.
At the end of this month, he’ll be hauling a half-ton gourd to the Topsfield Fair to enter its 38th annual pumpkin weigh-off.
20-year-old Swenson told Boston Public Radio that he doesn’t expect to win this year’s competition — last year’s winner clocked in at over a ton — but he is aiming to beat his personal best, which weighed in at about half that: just over 1,100 pounds.
Swenson has already tasted success with gargantuan gourds. He holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for growing the largest butternut squash at 65 pounds.
“I actually cooked it up for Christmas Eve with my family. My cousins and I, we all shared it. It took about four hours to cook,” Swenson said. “I actually had to cut it up in large chunks and people were getting a little mad they couldn’t get their dishes in [the oven].”
Swenson says that he doesn’t come from a line of green thumbs. He only got into the hobby after attending the Topsfield Fair at age 13 and has relied on the guidance of giant growers from across the country. While he has sold some of his pumpkins for show, he says money isn’t the point. It’s all about the process of watching something he’s created grow.
On Sept. 30, Swenson will show his 1,070-pound pumpkin — and still growing — to kick off the 11-day Topsfield Fair, the oldest county fair in America.
