It’s a quiet, sunny Sunday morning in southern New South Wales at the foot of the Snowy Mountains, and thousands of people line the river for a spectacle.
It’s a show they, and the world, have seen before: a man rowing a giant pumpkin down Tumut River.
So, how do you actually grow a pumpkin large enough for an adult man to row like he’s the character in a children’s nursery rhyme?
You need a scientist.
Mark Peacock is a Tumut local and a horticultural scientist, although members of his family may opt for “mad scientist”.
He is the man responsible for growing both pumpkin boats to have made it down the Tumut River.
No stranger to awe, he also held the Guinness World Record for the world’s hottest chilli in 2011.
“If you are going to do something you may as well overdo it,” Mark says.
A prized hobby
Mark has only been growing Atlantic giant pumpkins for about four years after deciding his family needed a project during the COVID-19 lockdown while living overseas.
“We had a crack in North Carolina, and we grew a 340-kilogram pumpkin,” he says.
Mark has since grown a 407kg pumpkin, which was the prized Big Backyard Pumpkin at Sydney Royal Easter Show in 2024.
This year, he grew a whopping 426kg pumpkin, which won top honours in Tumut Show’s newly created giant pumpkin category.
Getting it to the show, Mark believes is a “great exercise in resilience” as there are many factors that could mean your giant pumpkin becomes a giant mess.
“I’m obsessed with the weather, whether it’s raining, whether it’s hot,” he says.
“About three weeks before we harvested the fruit this year, we had a horrendous hailstorm.”
Not just showing and rowing
To grow a huge pumpkin, soil quality, frost, pest, and disease issues come into play long before the plant starts to sprout.
Mark says even placement of a pumpkin plant is vital.
“I often put sand under the fruit because as it grows it’s a little bit like when they built the pyramids sliding the stone blocks across sand” Mark says.
“It needs low friction, so it can actually slide and grow to get to its full shape.”
Growing a giant pumpkin starts small.
Mark’s kids named the pumpkin Te Fiti, from the movie Moana.
Te Fiti continues to grow. At seven days after fruiting.
Te Fiti is a 10th of the way to its full giant potential.
Te Fiti at 22 days of growth since fruiting.
Te Fiti at 72 days of growth, not quite ready to be harvested.
Too much UV light will also harden your pumpkin skin too early, something that Mark uses a tent to prevent from happening.
Mark says being vigilant about culling new growth once you have a fruit will help the plant focus on growing your pumpkin nice and strong.
He says this includes stems, leaves, and new fruit.
A growing rivalry
Mark’s sister, Emma Peacock says she’s proud of her big brother.
“He’s one of the mad scientists in our family,” she says.
Since his new-found fame of being the “big pumpkin man”, Emma says Mark has a new crusade.
“Mark is trying to encourage other growers in the region to get on board the Giant Pumpkin Express,” she says.
A new category at the local show has encouraged other growers to grow big pumpkins, and this year five pumpkins were shown, including Mark’s.
“What I really like is the community smiling and enjoying it and just kids wanting to grow stuff,” he says.
Mark has now set up a grower’s group with more than 20 members where he shares his expertise, wisdom, and even seeds with locals to grow anything.
“I like teaching people, you know, what they can do with their gardens and with their plants,” he says.
Ethan Buckley is a member of the grower’s group and grew a giant pumpkin this year.
“We got 142kg off our first go,” he says.
Ethan says he tried to grow a pumpkin big enough to row down the river, but it was about a quarter of the size of what it needed to be.
“I was going to try and fish out of the pumpkin,” he says.
Ethan has grown food since he was seven, but now he has one goal in mind in his pumpkin-growing journey.
“To beat Mark,” he says.
