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‘Pappy’s Pumpkin’: Pine Creek man showcases over 500 pound pumpkin, credits grandchildren for milestone

By TAMMY COAKLEY 7 min read

PINE CREEK -- Phil Fox has a pumpkin in his patch that tops most pumpkins in size. The giant gourd weighs 552 pounds.

Fox, who has been growing hefty pumpkins for many years, will be using this year's giant pumpkin as the feature to his Halloween decorations in his Pine Creek yard at the home he shares with his wife, Laurie.

Phil's desire to grow a big pumpkin began when his oldest granddaughter, Jordan, was just a toddler. She is 18 now, "and now I've got two littler ones," referring to his younger grandchildren, Marlena, age six, and Everett, nearly 3 years old.

"They just love the pumpkin patch, and helping me out there and they like watching Pappy's pumpkins grow bigger and bigger," said Fox.

Phil credits his first pumpkin growing experience to an elderly neighbor, Bill Myers, who grew giant pumpkins in his yard.

"Myers was known to grow some mighty big pumpkins over the years. His biggest was a 1,000 pounder," Fox said of his former neighbor, who died some years ago at the age of 99.

After driving by his neighbor's home each year and seeing the large pumpkins that Myers had grown, Phil finally worked up the nerve to stop at the Myers' home one day. At the time, Phil worked at the Jersey Shore Steel Mill, from where he'd eventually retire, and was wearing his monogrammed work clothes.

Myers presented Fox with his first giant pumpkin seeds and a good friendship between the two was formed.

Fox recalled from his first visit that Myers made the statement that he'd work harder growing big pumpkins than he ever would at the steel mill. Fox doubted that statement back then, but not anymore.

Fox is retired from the steel mill now, and focuses a lot of time and attention on his pumpkin patch, trying to be certain he gets at least one huge pumpkin each growing season.

"It's not easy, and I put a lot of time into making sure to do what I can to keep the pumpkins alive and thriving, but I enjoy it and love doing it," Fox said. He lavishes many hours of attention on each of his pumpkins, caring for them, ensuring pests stay away, keeping the weeds at bay and providing plenty of water as they grow.

"Pumpkins like plenty of water, and used coffee grounds," he said, so he makes sure to provide those nutrients during the growing season.

Fox said that he places an order each year in January to the St. Croix Growers Association, a seed company in Wisconsin, and anxiously awaits their delivery to his home. This year's pumpkin comes from his selection of seeds from the 1800+ Giant Pumpkin Seed collection. It is white in color with tints of green and gray.

"The seeds can be pretty pricey. I only got five seeds for about $55," said Fox. "Some seed offers are as high as $100 for just one seed."

A giant pumpkin seed is about the size of a nickel.

Then Fox waits for the ground to thaw, and readies the growing bed. He uses bagged cow manure from Lowes and a 5-gallon bucket placed over the pumpkin seedlings that acts as a greenhouse while the frosts are still coming. Fox will carefully lift the bucket every few days to check on the seedlings progress and give a watering, and before long he sees the green sprouts poking through the ground.

From there, the work and worry continues.

"I have to thin the blooms and only go with one pumpkin on each vine to give them a better chance at getting real big, so I choose the ones I think are the healthiest, pluck the rest off and hope I made the right choice," Fox said.

Over the years Fox has had numerous pumpkins ranging in the 25 to 50 pound size, and last year he grew a 280 pounder. Before this year's giant pumpkin, his personal best had been an orange 330 pounder grown in 2021.

"Phil is determined to grow one that reaches 1,000 pounds," said Laurie. He didn't reach his goal this year, "but we'll keep trying," she said.

Because the hefty pumpkins are not easily able to be lifted and settled on a scale, Fox uses the method designed by giant pumpkin growers for determining the weight -- three pieces of string that are measured around different parts of the pumpkin.

Phil's measurements this year came in at a total of 288 inches. Using the Giant Pumpkin Growers chart, the measurements show a weight of 552 pounds, and the chart is proven to be accurate within a 10-pound range. Fox said the stem coming out of the ground was as big around as his fist.

Fox shared news about his big pumpkin to his fellow church goers at Pathway to Christ Church in McElhattan. Each week someone would ask about the pumpkins, and his conversations sparked the interest of Pathway's pastor, Laura Gilbert, and her husband, Nate, so much so that one Sunday afternoon they drove to the Fox residence on Big Pine Lane near the Venture Inn to see the Fox pumpkin patch for themselves.

Pastor Laura was impressed with the size of the 'still growing' large pumpkin... and a few weeks later the Gilbert's returned for another look. The pumpkin had grown so much in the short period of time... so much so that Pastor Laura vowed to return again a couple weeks later for another look at it.

"The size of the pumpkin is just amazing," said Pastor Laura, who immediately suggested that Fox call her friend at the newspaper about it. Pastor Laura also wanted to have the giant pumpkin brought to the church for their Pumpkin Patch event that was held after morning church services on Sunday, Oct. 11.

Fox agreed to having the pumpkin transported, "as long as there were enough men to carefully lift it onto the trailer," he said.

The pumpkin arrived at the church safely and Pastor Laura came out with her loyal canine companion, Muncy, to get her photo taken with the massive, light colored pumpkin.

Those attending the church's Pumpkin Patch event were also in awe of the giant gourd. Despite the rainy afternoon, many wanted to have their photo taken with the huge pumpkin.

And now the pumpkin will be moved back to the Fox yard where it will be the centerpiece of their Halloween decorations.

After Halloween and when the pumpkin starts to wither, Fox will pluck the seeds from its insides and dry them to plant next year. "I share them with family and friends who want to try their hand at growing a big pumpkin, too."

"He would give seeds to our two sons and to his buddies at work and they would bet on who could grow the biggest one. Phil always won!" said Laurie, proud of her husband's pumpkin growing accomplishments.

Fox has a personal goal to best his old friend's (Myers) record of producing a 1,000 pound pumpkin. Each growing season when he orders pumpkin seeds and as he carefully tends to the vines and pumpkins, Fox keeps that goal in mind.

As far as the Pathway to Christ's Pumpkin Patch, it was a success regardless of the rain. Children got to pick out their very own (small) pumpkin and decorate it inside the church. Refreshments were provided and fellowship shared. Ironically, the winner of the "Name the Pumpkin Contest" was Everett Fox, who simply refers to the massive gourd as "Pappy's Pumpkin."

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