Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 10/16/1995 All articles from this issue

Little Los Altos girl grows a big, big pumpkin, wins Nut Tree prize

printer friendly version

By Chris McCrellis-Mitchell / Town Crier Staff Writer

When asked to describe what she did for the summer, Megan Bohlo's answer may turn some heads. While most 5-year-old girls spent their time playing with Barbie dolls or watching the Lion King for the 100th time, she was out in her back yard creating Linus' holiday hero, the Great Pumpkin.

By the time the Oak School kindergartner and her parents, Tom and Tracey, were done this year, they had two huge gourds.

Megan's 410-pound specimen was enough to earn her first place in the youth category of the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth international competition held Oct. 7 at the Nut Tree in Vacaville. In under-18 category, Megan beat out the next closest gourd by 109 pounds. Tom's 374-pounder wasn't as lucky.

"We went there last year and knew there was a festival there. We also knew they had the biggest pumpkin," said Tracey, an account manager at HealthNet in Oakland. "It was always on our mind that we wanted to enter the contest up there."

Megan's green thumb, or orange in this case, started three years ago when she saw pumpkin seeds for sale at Home Depot. Tracey said it started off as "just a hobby. One of those things a determined little girl decided to do."

Megan said she likes growing pumpkins because it "makes Halloween."

When Tom, a software salesman for Resumix in Santa Clara, came home each day, Megan would be quick to remind him it was time to water and measure the pumpkins. When dad was away on business, Megan made sure her mom or nanny helped to keep the gourds growing.

In their first year, the Bohlo's patch produced average-sized pumpkins, but after checking into the art of pumpkin growing, their success has sprouted. The next year, the biggest pumpkin they grew weighed 100 pounds.

According to Tracey, they received a tip from a farmer who said chicken manure worked like Miracle Grow on the orange gourds. But to get the vegetables to grow properly they require watering three-to-four times a day. The vines also have to be constantly pruned to make sure all the nutrients in the soil go to the largest ones.

Another step in the Bahlo's success formula is hunting down and getting seeds from the largest pumpkin available to use for planting.Their preparation paid off in the form of a $500 first prize check which Megan's parents put into a college fund. "She was more confused when she won," Tracey said. "She was looking around for her prize. Kids don't know what a check is. She was asking 'Where's my prize?" However, Megan did like the ribbon she got to wear for being a contestant.

To get the pumpkin up to the Nut Tree, the Bahlos had to order a special pumpkin moving tarp. It took six men to load the heavy vegetable in to the family jeep. At the Nut Tree, the pumpkins were rolled onto a forklift with a wood pallette for weighing in.

Megan's pumpkin, along with the 839-pound California winner, and the 936-pound international winner, will be on display at the Nut Tree's Pumpkin Patch through the end of the month. The pumpkin will be carved by the Nut Tree before the Bahlos pick it up in time for Halloween.

"We'll definitely have the largest pumpkins on our street," Tracey said.