Victoria woman grows 323-pound pumpkin, shares journey on social media
While Carmen Spagnola puts a lot of effort into making and tending to her flower garden, the same couldn’t be said for growing her first pumpkin.
"It felt like this random miracle that just happened," Carmen smiles.
Despite doing very little, the pumpkin grew relatively big.
"I’m so in awe of what nature can do," she says.
So Carmen started searching for what she could do to help a gourd grow even larger next time, and found a picture of record-breaking pumpkin producer Dave Chan.
"It looked like he’d won the Super Bowl or something," Carmen smiles, pointing to the photo of Dave with his arms raised in triumph beside an almost 2,000-pound pumpkin.
After contacting him for advice, Carmen went to work on a pumpkin patch that quickly seemed to devour her driveway.
"It just became this relationship that I couldn’t stop tending," she says.
Carmen measured the pumpkin daily, while her husband Ruben calculated its estimated weight and captured her reaction on camera.
The roughly 323-pound pumpkin is shown.
While the pumpkin grew 10 to 20 pounds a day, Carmen’s exuberance also increased.
"All the love and attention and care I was pouring into it was immediately paying back in dividends," Carmen smiles.
So Carmen decided to pay the positivity forward by sharing her pumpkin’s progress (and joyful reactions) on social media.
Along with the exhilarating high of the pumpkin’s rapid growth, Carmen says she experienced the terrifying low of its potentially deadly split stem.
She found solace in a soundtrack of inspiring songs from the 1980s.
"Peter Gabriel’s 'Don’t Give Up' to 'Don’t Stop Believin' by Journey," Carmen laughs.
"And when I was hot pepper spraying it, to prevent a rat from eating it, I started inhaling it, and the song that came to me was 'Take My Breath Away' by Berlin!"
Whether she’s sharing her pumpkin playlist on Spotify or pumpkin pampering on TikTok, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
"When I’m feeling joy, it’s triggering hope and possibility in other people," Carmen says. "And that’s not just a cliché, that’s neuroscience."
You see, Carmen works as a trauma therapist and calls joy "emotional nutrition."
"It’s really important that you don’t minimize or negate [joy]," Carmen says. "Whatever delights you, you should share it."
Which is why Carmen’s going to keep the gusto for gourds going and keep it growing past its current weight of 323 pounds. After harvesting this one for Halloween she’s striving to cultivate a record-breaker next year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Air traveller complaints to Canadian Transportation Agency hit new high
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
LIVE @ 1:15 PT B.C. premier to give announcement related to public drug use
B.C.'s premier is scheduled to give an update Friday about public drug use in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
AFN chief says Air Canada offered a 15% discount after her headdress was mishandled
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid says he has Bell's palsy
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
DEVELOPING Bird flu outbreaks: WHO weighs in on public health risk
The current overall public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus is low, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but urged countries to stay alert for cases of animal-to-human transmission.
Island near Mull of Kintyre for sale for US$3.1 million
An idyllic 453-acre private island is up for sale off the west coast of Scotland and it comes with sandy beaches, puffins galore, seven houses, a pub, a helipad and a flock of black-faced sheep.