This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories, and you're listening to our Halloween special.

And what's more associated with Halloween than pumpkins?

Today, we have the story of competitive pumpkin grower, Joe Jutris.

Joe is a retired cabinet maker from Rhode Island.

Since his retirement, he has dedicated most of his time to growing

giant fruits and vegetables. In 2017, he broke the record for the largest green squash ever

grown, coming into 218 pounds. Here's Joe with his story.

I've been growing giant vegetables now for the last 25 years.

Got started years ago just by accident. I started growing vegetables in my backyard. I threw in a giant

pumpkin seed. I grew it to 124 pounds, and from then on I was hooked.

A couple of years later, I got hooked up with a gentleman here in Rhode Island.

His name is John Castellucci.

He's like the godfather of pumpkin growing here in New England.

He started in the early 90s.

He had great success, real gentleman, helped anybody that wanted to learn how to grow pumpkins. So my friend Steve Sferri and I, we spent a lot of

time in his house just drinking some beers and learning how to grow pumpkins. And from then on,

we just got hooked and enjoyed growing, met people from all over the

world.

This hobby attracts people from all strains of life, from cabinet makers to scientists.

There seems to be an addictive quality to growing these giant fruits and vegetables.

It's remarkable how many people you meet that all have the same interest of growing fruit

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