Lisa Evans
In 2002, Lisa's son, JT, came home from kindergarten on Earth Day with a plastic glove. In each fingertip of the glove was a moist cotton ball and a seed...carrot, radish, corn, bean, pea, and pumpkin. The pumpkin seed sprouted first, was the biggest, and grew the fastest. JT decided he wanted to grow pumpkins. The pumpkin's they planted that summer all died.
In 2003, the family moved to Rapid City at the end of June. With them came a 6 foot long Big Max pumpkin plant in a 16 inch pot. Once in Rapid City the plant went in the ground. It did grow a few pumpkins but none of them made it to Halloween.
They weren't going to give up. By 2004 they moved into a house with a big backyard and tried again. They successfully grew several Mammoth Gold, Big Max, and Jack-o-lantern pumpkins. As Lisa bragged about the pumpkin harvest at work a guy at work told her about his Dad's 400 lb. pumpkin. That's when the drive for bigger and better began!
In 2005, Lisa grew a 362 pounder and JT a 103 pounder. In 2006, Lisa grew a 557 pounder and JT a 301.5 pounder. They were hooked! In 2007, Lisa grew a 705 pounder and JT finally beat his Mom with a 730 pounder. In 2009. Lisa won the First Annual Rapid City Pumpkin Weigh-off with a 723 pound fruit. (Yes, that mean's JT is still ahead!)
In 2003, the family moved to Rapid City at the end of June. With them came a 6 foot long Big Max pumpkin plant in a 16 inch pot. Once in Rapid City the plant went in the ground. It did grow a few pumpkins but none of them made it to Halloween.
They weren't going to give up. By 2004 they moved into a house with a big backyard and tried again. They successfully grew several Mammoth Gold, Big Max, and Jack-o-lantern pumpkins. As Lisa bragged about the pumpkin harvest at work a guy at work told her about his Dad's 400 lb. pumpkin. That's when the drive for bigger and better began!
In 2005, Lisa grew a 362 pounder and JT a 103 pounder. In 2006, Lisa grew a 557 pounder and JT a 301.5 pounder. They were hooked! In 2007, Lisa grew a 705 pounder and JT finally beat his Mom with a 730 pounder. In 2009. Lisa won the First Annual Rapid City Pumpkin Weigh-off with a 723 pound fruit. (Yes, that mean's JT is still ahead!)
Matt Winey
In the fall of 2004, Matt sat at his son's football game and overheard two men discussing their giant pumpkins. Matt thought it was funny and turned around and asked them what it is that makes city folks think they are giant gardeners. One of the men invited Matt to his pumpkin carving party the following weekend. When Matt pulled up and pumpkin was already carved in the yard. He thought it was fake and wondered where they stored it the rest of the year. When he got out of his truck he went over and touched and realized it was real! He immediately asked if he could see where it was grown, and low and behold it was done in the backyard. Matt decided that with his gardening experience he could certainly grow a giant pumpkin even bigger and better. By the spring of 2005 Matt had enlarged his garden area into a well done patch. He grew 7 plants. Only one set a pumpkin, reaching 387 lbs. By 2006, Matt had moved to Rapid City and met Lisa. 2007 was their first year growing together. That year Matt grew an estimated 917 pound fruit that rotted inside and broke when they tried to lift in to take it to the Sioux Falls Weigh-off. It was quite a sight, as water pumpkin guts and sprouted seeds ran all over the ground. In 2008, Matt and Lisa had a bad year and none of their fruit made it to weigh-off time or Halloween. In 2009, Lisa beat Matt by 10 pounds at the Rapid City Weigh-Off. He grew a 713 pound pumpkin and a 566 pound giant green squash.
