Napa grower’s 2,195-pound pumpkin sets Elk Grove festival record

Linden Fowler knows a thing or two about patience.

For four months, the Napa grower spent four to five hours a day tending four giant pumpkin plants, watching their vines, nurturing their fruit and waiting to see just how big one of them might get.

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On Saturday, he got his answer.

Fowler’s 2,195-pound pumpkin tipped the scales at the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival, setting a new site record and earning him the event’s top prize of $7,000.

The win came in just Fowler’s fourth year growing giant pumpkins: A pursuit that began as a hobby and gradually became something of an obsession.

“I started getting obsessed and fascinated with the hobby or sport,” he said. “But it’s a great way to spend time outside, see sunsets and just connect with nature.”

There was plenty of time spent outside this season.

Fowler devoted hours each day to his pumpkin patch, often with his dog, Max, tagging along. Max would wander among the plants, occasionally disappearing beneath the giant leaves that can grow taller than he is.

The work may have been solitary at times, but Fowler says the giant pumpkin community has played an important role in his success.

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He stays in regular contact with three other growers, sharing photographs, comparing notes, talking through problems and exchanging advice as the pumpkins grow.

“Like most things in life, the more community and support you have, the further you can go,” Fowler said. “I think that’s what helped get me to where I made it this year.”

That sense of camaraderie is part of what makes the annual Elk Grove festival about more than simply weighing unusually large pumpkins.

Cosumnes Community Services District Board President Peter Sakaris said the dedication to growing the pumpkins is inspiring, but the community’s support is equally remarkable.

“Bringing people together is at the heart of what Cosumnes CSD does, and the Giant Pumpkin Festival is a wonderful example of that,” he said.

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