Inside Kent State University's Herrick Conservatory, behind Cunningham Hall, lurks the Great Pumpkin of Kent State.
It's an annual contest sponsored by the conservatory, Melissa Davis, director of horticultural facilities, and students from the Department of Biological Sciences, in which people are invited to guess the weight of an enormous pumpkin. "It's a fun way to get people interested in gardening and plants," Davis said. "Students and the greater university community always have fun making guesses and coming back to see the actual weight of the pumpkin."
The contest, along with the preparation for it, provides opportunities for experiential learning for students and a festive, fall activity.
Davis told Kent State Today the gigantic gourd is grown in a garden in Streetsboro, which is owned and managed by the Garden Club of Kent. Davis is the current president of this nonprofit organization. She also is the advisor for a new student organization on campus, the Kent State Garden Club.
Davis shared that in the World Pumpkin Championship in California this month, a grower from Minnesota won for the second consecutive year with this year's pumpkin weighing in at 2,749 pounds!
The students grew their own pumpkin this year from giant pumpkin seeds, which is also on display next to the larger, contest pumpkin. At the conclusion of the Herrick Conservatory's contest, students harvest the seeds from the great pumpkin and process them for next year's growing season. Davis hopes that next year, the pumpkin for this contest can be grown on campus.
Winning guesses will be awarded with a "special fall surprise" during the week of Halloween.
Special thanks to Jim Maxwell, assistant director of marketing and communications for the College of Arts and Sciences, for providing these photos and Davis for sharing the details of this annual collaboration between Kent State student gardeners and Kent community gardeners.
