DENVER — When Jamie Johnson teaches from the pulpit in the Arvada 2nd Ward, sometimes he shares the Parable of the Pumpkin — a tale about a farmer who despite his frustration trying to grow a prize pumpkin never gave up the fight.
It's a parable about keeping the faith and enduring and persevering even when things get tough.
\"You never know the potential in someone or in a pumpkin,\" Johnson said.
He ought to know.
Johnson is in the business of growing giant pumpkins. The pair he hopes to enter, Pumpkin 1161 and Pumpkin 1236, in this year's weigh-off events are 900 lbs. and still putting on flesh.
His first prize-winning pumpkin weighed 141 pounds. The one that fetched him top honors in 2008 weighed 755 pounds and attracted National Geographic writers who came out and did a story about giant plants and trees that ran in the October 2009 issue.
His 4-year-old and 6-year-old's entry currently weighs 215 pounds and will probably take the children's division in the weigh-off on Sept. 25 in Littleton, Colo.
\"At the end of the day, the weights are based on girth measurements,\" Johnson said. \"The total weight could be 20 percent higher or less.\"
The pumpkins have to be big, but they also have to be healthy. A crack in Pumpkin 1236 had him worried for a while because it could lead to a cavity that could disqualify it.
Johnson carefully scrutinizes his prizes for dents and marks, bleaching out the unsightly and keeping harmful critters like voles away with mothballs.
His \"babies\" are planted with prize seeds on sand, so the water can drain well, and there's no stress on the skin.
The soil is rich in minerals and fertilizer, and the plants are watered well. During periods of rapid growth — sometimes a pumpkin will grow by as much as 40 pounds in a day — he covers them with sheets to protect them from sunburn.
He loves his pumpkins but not more than he loves his wife, Johnson laughs. (He claims he was misquoted in a news article that suggested that might be true.)
And while it's a balancing act trying to do his job as Web developer, keep up with his church calling (he's the second counselor in the bishopric), take care of his family and tend to the giant pumpkins, he says it's a valuable, fun hobby. If he wins a first prize, the pumpkin almost pays for itself, he said.
\"One way I keep things in balance is to involve my children,\" he said. It teaches them to work hard, to work together and to stay with a task.
His wife is recruited to host the annual vine-cutting party once the pumpkin is ready for competition and ready to be loaded by forklift onto transport. (She also dedicates the three months of growing time to all-things-pumpkin; decorating the house and yard in orange, serving pumpkin dishes including pumpkin gnocchi, enchiladas, shakes, yogurt and pumpkin gingerbread trifle for the party.)
Johnson got into giant pumpkins by accident. He was at a gardening center and thought it might be fun to have the biggest Jack-o-Lantern on the street. He looked up the local festival and bought some seeds off the rack.
Today, he uses Atlantic Variety seeds that come with a pollinator pedigree. (He has a website at pumpkinlink.com that actually traces a pumpkin's genealogy.)
\"The pumpkin growing community is very interesting,\" Johnson said. \"They're competitive but friendly. Most will share their seeds. I've got seeds from Europe and I've sent some to Argentina.\"
He learned a lot from books, the Internet and valuable tips from fellow growers.
\"It's really complicated yet simple,\" he said. \"There's real chemistry involved.\"
The extreme temperature variations in Colorado, similar to those in Utah, make growing healthy pumpkins risky. The nights are too cool while the days can be too hot.
But Johnson holds to the truth in his parable.
\"Give it a while before you yank it. It'll come around.\"
e-mail: haddoc@desnews.com