It's Stoneham's version of the Great Pumpkin
Published on October 18th, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - It all started out as a simple project for his eight-month-old granddaughter, a little Halloween surprise for her first encounter with the spooky holiday.
But the trick-or-treat surprise that grew in his home garden swelled to such an unexpected and monstrous proportion, that its plump orange hide will serve the family far beyond the Halloween season.
According to Forest Street resident Ersilio (Leo) Zullo, he planted a few pumpkin seeds in his garden this past Memorial Day in the hopes that he could give his granddaughter Liana her first very own little trick-or-treat surprise.
Little did the proud grandfather know, by this fall, the eight-month-old wouldn't have a little, orange, Autumn offering to perhaps cart around and admire, but a 150-to-200 pound giant that so dwarfed the infant, she could actually sit and dangle her legs of the gift.
"I never grow pumpkins because they take-up too much space in my garden. But this year, I decided to do a special one for my first granddaughter," recalled Zullo, who now realizes the quite-literal massive irony behind his decision to drop his self-imposed prohibition against growing pumpkins.
"No. No. Not that big," laughed the Stoneham resident, when asked if he ever expected such a huge result. "I just put in the seeds in thinking it was going to be a small one. But it just on kept growing and growing and growing."
Although Zullo has never actually weighed the pumpkin to determine its exact weight, he's virtually positive that the fruit weighs between 150 and 200 pounds.
Specifically, the Forest Street resident explained, he and his strong son struggled to carry the huge gift out-of-the garden, leaving him with little doubt as to just how heavy it had gotten.
"I can pick-up a one-hundred bag of cement like its nothing. And I had to have my son come over to help me move it. My son is a very strong kid and we had a hard time picking it up," he gardener recalled.
According to Zullo, who grows various fruits and vegetables in his home garden, including Zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, among others, he's always had a bit of a green thumb. Born in Italy and raised on a farm, the Forest Street resident had a childhood familiarity with gardening, and he quickly took up the hobby upon coming to the United States in 1975.
And although he didn't quite expect on this most recent success, he's happy with the result, especially given the special person he germinated it for.
"I came here in 1975 and I've been doing a little gardening ever since then. I grow a little bit of everything," Zullo explained. "I put these seeds in around Memorial Day, and then it started to come out of the ground maybe towards the end of July."
Despite his tendency to stay away from planting pumpkins in his garden, which is usually reserved for more common fruits and vegetables, the Forest Street resident has a tip for those who hope to maximize the size of their own Halloween decorations. According to Zullo, once the vine starts to sprout out-of-the-ground, clip-off all the other growing pumpkins, but one, so that the germinating seedling can maximize the amount of nutrients it receives.
"You just snip it so it keeps on growing and sprouts more flowers. If you do that, they will grow bigger. So have three or four [pumpkins starting to grow on the vine, they won't get that big," the grandfather recommends.
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