Brothers Jamie, 8, and Adam Torey-Toth, 11, of Warrnambool, measure up a pumpkin before guessing its weight.
A GIANT pumpkin is creating plenty of interest in Warrnambool.
The one-metre wide vegetable is on display at Piccolo Coffee Roasters in Norfolk Plaza for a good cause.
“Kids press their noses against the window. People are coming in to talk about it,” said shop owner Carmel Brady.
“This is the biggest pumpkin most of us have ever seen.”
But it’s not just the size of the pumpkin that is attracting attention, but the generosity of grower Peter Tieppo.
Mr Tieppo donated it as a fund-raiser for the Peter’s Project cancer centre campaign, backing his truck up to the shop’s front door and enlisting three butchers from the neighbouring shop to help roll it inside.
It is now on display in the front window and people are being invited to make a gold coin donation and guess its weight.
A knife sharpener by trade, Mr Tieppo has also donated a quality carving knife as a prize, with Piccolo adding some gourmet items to the mix.
“I grow pumpkins every year because I’ve got a bit of space around the home,” Mr Tieppo said yesterday.
“I got the seeds from the Diggers Club in Dromana and grew it over the last summer.
“I’ve got another one that’s not quite as big but it’s still connected to the vine.”
He plans to harvest the seeds and then donate both huge pumpkins to the city’s soup kitchen to help feed needy people. Mr Tieppo said there were no great secrets to growing the fruit.
After planting the seeds in a small pot, he waits until there are a few small leaves and simply “sticks them into the ground”, watering them with a splash of seaweed fertiliser.
He laughs at being called a green thumb, although he admits to having two maidenhair ferns at home that he has been nurturing since 1975.
“I can’t kill them.”
