Starr was four pounds heavier than in 2007 and was grown from the seeds. A mother-daughter relationship, Starr described, was key to his success. "A little lighter than I expected. Of course, everyone wants a world record, but I'm not going to complain about a record like this," he said, giving an affectionate pat.
Leonardo Urena, of Napa, took second place, and weighed 1,405 pounds. Jim Sherwood, who lives in Mulino, Ore., won third place, and weighed 1,260 pounds.
Of 64 entries, 15 were from San Mateo County and ran the gamut from relatively small (200-pound) entries out of the family to the ones that made the forklift creak with their weight.
The contest may not have set a world record, but Half Moon Bay farmer John Muller set a new Coastside and San Mateo County record with 900-pounds he nicknamed "Gluteus." Muller, a city councilman, was so shocked by his heft that he had to wipe some tears away from behind his sunglasses. Muller and his wife, Eda, each enter the contest every year, they grow in a protected patch behind their Half Moon Bay home. Eda, nicknamed "Big Lo" after their grandson Lorenzo, weighed in at 835 pounds, giving John Muller bragging rights at the dinner table.
Muller couldn't explain his success. "This year, with Half Moon Bay politics, we didn't spend as much time as we should have. Sometimes a little neglect is good, because they have to grow on their own," he shrugged.
That attitude was a far cry from the fastidious attention lavished on Starr this year. A self-described "obsessive nerd," the 41-year-old father of two spent two hours a day with the six giant contenders. He grew in a greenhouse behind his home — adjusting, snipping and watering. He put a heating coil in the soil to keep the roots at a constant temperature of 70 degrees. He mixed a signature fertilizer potion of worm casings, alfalfa meal and molasses and fed every week. And when it came time to make the long, bumpy trip to Half Moon Bay, he appropriated an old futon to cushion.
"I had a greenhouse inside my greenhouse because it was so freezing for a while. I think when you become a giant, you go kind of nuts. Our saying is 'whatever it takes,' " said Starr, who has been growing giant for three years.
In one of life's little ironies, Starr wasn't even expecting to be able to compete, for months was the runt of the litter, but then had a sudden growth spurt and gained 900 pounds in August at an extraordinary rate of 30 pounds a day.
Groups of children stopped to look in the backs of trailers and pickup trucks on Monday.
A mother came by with her kids and gave Starr a long look. "Isn't this just, like crazy?" she asked. "That's about it," he replied.
The winning will be on display at the Half Moon Bay Art Festival on Saturday and Sunday on Main Street in Half Moon Bay.
All I have done with the above story from Mercurynews.com, was to eliminate any phrase with the word "pumpkin" in it or any pronoun referring to pumpkins, and I have corrected the punctuation. I did this because, let's face it, pumpkins are getting too much attention lately.
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