Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Great Pumpkins

TRANSCRIPT: GIANT PUMPKIN WEIGHT-OFF AT THE TOPSFIELD FAIR
BY LINDSEY LARSON
TRACK:

THIS ARENA HAS A DIRT FLOOR, AND IT'S CROWDED WITH PEOPLE. SMALL CRANES ARE BUSTLING BACK AND FORTH. THEY'RE CARRYING GIANT PUMPKINS TO INDUSTRIAL SIZED SCALES. EVERYONE'S EYES ARE FIXED ON A SCREEN OVERHEAD WHERE RED NUMBERS BLINK BRIGHTLY.

THESE PUMPKINS LOOK SWOLLEN, LIKE GLOBS ABOUT TO BURST. THEY'RE AWKWARD, OVERWEIGHT VEGETABLES.

THE SIZE OF SEVERAL BEANBAG CHAIRS.

HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE GROWING THESE VEGETABLE FREAKS. AND, A LOT OF THEM GOT INTO THIS BY ACCIDENT. HERE IS A TYPICAL STORY. AN AVERAGE GARDENER PLANTED A PATCH WITH PLAIN OLD PUMPKIN SEEDS. THEN, JUST BY CHANCE, ONE OF THEM GREW INTO WHAT LOOKED LIKE A WHOPPER.

SO THE EAGER GARDENER ENTERED A CONTEST EXPECTING TO WIN...ONLY TO GET SQUASHED BY PUMPKINS TEN TIMES BIGGER.

SOME ADMIT DEFEAT. FOR OTHERS, THOUGH, THE SEED OF AMBITION HAS JUST SPROUTED.

MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO GROW PUMPKINS LIVE INCONSPICUOUSLY IN AVERAGE SUBURBAN HOMES. BUT, INSTEAD OF A MANICURED LAWN, YOU SEE BACKYARDS CARPETED IN A SEA OF BRIGHT GREEN PUMPKIN LEAVES. AND JUST TWO OR THREE MELLOW ORANGE BLOBS.

PRIZE WINNING PUMPKIN SEEDS COST OVER FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS EACH, SO GROWERS CARVE OUT A BUDGET AND SPEND BOTH MONEY AND TIME.
BABY PUMPKINS WILL GUZZLE FIVE HUNDRED GALLONS OF WATER A DAY. AND THEY GROW

FORGET SUMMER VACATION. SERIOUSLY. THERE'S ENDLESS WEEDING. PEOPLE ERECT LITTLE BURLAP TENTS TO SHIELD THE PUMPKINS FROM THE SUMMER SUN. AT NIGHT THE PUMPKINS ARE COVERED IN BLANKETS--LITERALLY TUCKED IN.
AND THAT'S NOT ALL.


HARVESTING COMES IN OCTOBER. GROWERS CUT THE FIST-THICK STEM AND IMMEDIATELY ATTACH IT TO A GALLON JUG OF WATER, SO THE PUMPKIN CAN KEEP GAINING WEIGHT.
LIFTING THIS GIANT IS AT LEAST A TWO PERSON JOB. AND IT TAKES SPECIAL EQUIPMENT...SOME PEOPLE USE AN OLD TRIPOD THAT ONCE MOVED GRAVESTONES.
THE PUMPKIN IS THEN WINCHED ONTO A PICKUP. AND IT'S OFF TO THE FAIR!
MC: ARE YOU SEEING...OK, LET'S LOWER IT DOWN...LET'S WATCH THE NUMBERS.
THE WINNER THIS YEAR?

EVERYONE SWARMS THE UNSUSPECTING PUMPKIN. IT WILL NOW REST ON A PEDESTAL IN A GLASS CASE FOR PEOPLE TO WONDER AT.
RON WALLACE, IS STANDING ON THE SIDELINES, OVERWHELMED BY HIS WIN.
WALLACE: WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE WHEN YOU PUT SIXTEEN YEARS INTO DOING SOMETHING.
WALLACE: PUMPKINS DON'T HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT. IT'S EFFORT; IT'S WORK; IT'S HEARTACHE...TO FINALLY GET SOMETHING THAT WINS, WHAT CAN YOU SAY?
A WEEK LATER, ANOTHER PUMPKIN FROM WALLACE'S PATCH TIPPED THE SCALES AT A RHODE ISLAND WEIGH-OFF. THAT ONE SET A NEW WORLD RECORD?OVER FIFTEEN HUNDRED POUNDS?A RECORD THAT WILL PROBABLY LAST UNTIL THE NEXT GROWING SEASON.