While Halloween is just around the corner, Thomas Keenan began preparing way back in April.

What started as a plant in his basement and later a vine that he planted in his backyard, the Swampscott resident has now raised a giant pumpkin for the eighth time since 2012. Keenan grew a 2,000 lbs pumpkin, which won third place in the Topsfield Fair’s weigh-off competition. 

“The thing took over the whole backyard,” Keenan told the Swampscott Tides. “It was quite amazing. All the peppers and tomatoes got run over.”

The All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off began at the Topsfield Fair in 1984. That year, the winning pumpkin was grown by Wayne Hackney of New Milford, Connecticut, and it weighed 433 lbs. Hackney joined Hugh Wiberg and Tom Cone five years later to form the New England Pumpkin Growers Association (NEGPGA), and the Topsfield Fair was the official weigh-off site. 

Today, all entries must weigh at least 300 lbs to qualify. In 2008, the top 25 entries, out of 56, weighed over 1,000 lbs. Alex Noel of Abington, Connecticut set a record at the fair this year with the first place pumpkin, weighing in at 2,507 lbs.

Across the pond in Reading, England, however, twins Ian and Stuart Paton set a new world record for the heaviest pumpkin, at 2,819 lbs. 

“It wasn’t too long ago that 2,000 lbs didn’t sound possible,” Keenan said, adding that it seems that the new goal is to grow a 3,000 lbs pumpkin. 

Keenan, who has lived in Swampscott his entire life, said his family always had a vegetable garden in their backyard. So when his children were young in 2012, he thought it’d be fun to add a pumpkin to the mix. 

That first year, Keenan grew a pumpkin to weigh in at almost 1,000 lbs. 

Now, Keenan has perfected his trade within his small, residential neighborhood backyard, as he called it. 

“You have to have a long season. These pumpkins have to be about 100 days old,” Keenan said. “Here in New England, we don’t have that much growing time.”

Once the plant begins to grow in his basement, Keenan transfers it outside around mid-May. He’s built a “mini house,” tricked out with heaters, fans, plastic covers and a fence to ensure the best habitat for the gourds to grow. He has to be careful with the vines while also eliminating any pests or weeds.

“They’re like little children in your backyard,” Keenan said, sharing that the work is to also prevent rabbits, turkeys and coyotes from getting to the pumpkins. “It’s a tender young plant. It can get killed so you have to nurture it.”

Keenan hasn’t been a stranger to the giant pumpkin prizes in the past either. In 2023, Keenan’s 2,074 lbs pumpkin won second place. He took home second place prize in 2021 as well with a 1,943 lbs pumpkin. 

“I’m in this because it’s fun,” Keenan said.

The pumpkins stay at the Topsfield Fair until the festivities end, which was Monday, October 13 this year. In the past, Keenan said that when the pumpkins stay in good condition the Swampscott Police or Fire Departments have displayed them.

This year the pumpkin is going off to the circus and will be carved, Keenan said. 

Keenan, however, is going to keep trying in the future for bigger and better pumpkins.

“It’s hard to say once it becomes spring that I’m not going to do this,” Keenan said. “It would be nice to win the Topsfield Fair.”