What began as a simple question on Facebook earlier this spring has grown, quite literally, and turned into one of Dunn County’s most remarkable agricultural stories of the year.
When volunteer coordinator Kathie Metzger asked for help at the Dunn County Jail Garden on Facebook, local grower Shannon Engel posed a follow-up question that changed the season, “Do you have space to grow a giant pumpkin?”
The answer set in motion the creation of MABEL, an Atlantic Giant pumpkin now weighing more than 1,100 pounds, cultivated through months of hands-on work by Huber inmates participating in the Jail Garden Program.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jail Garden Program is staffed by community volunteers, headed by Kathie Metzger, volunteer coordinator, and Heather Pyka, Dunn County Program Manager, Dunn Co Sheriff’s Office.
A NEW EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
The Jail Garden Program has long served as a community-supported initiative, but adding a giant pumpkin introduced a unique educational component. Staff approved the project and the seed was started on April 22.
For the Huber inmates and community volunteers involved, the pumpkin became a season-long lesson in horticulture, responsibility and teamwork.
Daily tasks included burying vines to promote secondary root growth, controlling weeds, monitoring plant health, and managing irrigation. Huber inmates also measured the pumpkin throughout the season, learning how competitive growers track progress.
RAPID GROWTH AND CAREFUL TIMING
MABEL’s growth timeline reflects the coordination behind giant pumpkin cultivation:
-Seed started: April 22
-Transplanted: May 25
-Pollinated: June 26
-Harvested: October 1
After pollination, MABEL entered her rapid growth phase, gaining 22-25 pounds per night, roughly 175 pounds per week. At harvest MABEL was more than 12 feet in circumference.
Staff have commented, “watching MABEL grow throughout the summer has been wonderful!”
WHAT’S NEXT
On October 1, MABEL was lifted with a skid steer and transported to the Anoka Halloween Great Pumpkin Expo in Anoka, MN, where she received her official certified weight. (Editor update from Shannon: Official weight is 1103 lbs).
After a brief return to Menomonie she will begin a statewide tour that includes a high-profile trip to Green Bay “Titletown” and Lambeau Field. There, MABEL will be featured in the Green Bay Packer’s fall festivities and later carved for Pumpkin Palooza and the Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys game on Sun, Oct 18.
Organizers hope the pumpkin will appear on NBC Sunday Night Football, highlighting the efforts of the Dunn County Jail Garden growers on a national stage.
ABOUT THE GROWER BEHIND THE PROJECT
Shannon Engel has been involved in giant pumpkin growing since 2001, when he first saw the Topsfield Fair Weigh-Off on the Martha Stewart Show. His first official pumpkin weighed in at 374 pounds.
Engel is co‑founder of the River Prairie Ginormous Pumpkin Festival in Altoona, WI, and president of the St. Croix Growers Association, which supports the Stillwater Harvest Fest, two of the Largest Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Offs in the World, often getting pumpkins that weigh over 2500 pounds. Each spring, Engel mentors new growers with the goal of helping them reach the weigh‑off scale.
Engel also grew a variety of pumpkins at the Jail Garden this summer, donating them to Stepping Stones, where all produce grown at the Dunn County Jail Garden is donated.
If you would like to volunteer at the Dunn County Jail Garden next summer or find out more, please contact Heather Pyka, Program Manager, Dunn County Sheriff’s Office at [email protected].
Shannon Engel can be reached at [email protected] or www.gr8pumpkin.net
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License CC BY-NC (enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, so long as attribution is given to the creator). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
