Boy's giant pumpkin is a winner at Yapton Cottage Gardeners Society Autumn Show

It may seem like something from a Roald Dahl novel, but there is nothing fictitious about 13-year-old Jack Etherington's award-winning pumpkin which has dwarfed all competitors at a trio of shows.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Oct 2009, 17:53 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 17:44 BST

Jack's monster fruit was the heaviest in its class at the Littlehampton Town Show and the Walberton Horticultural Society Autumn Show before completing a remarkable hat-trick with victory at the Yapton Cottage Gardeners Society Autumn Show on Saturday.

The pumpkin is so heavy it cannot be weighed on regulation scales but estimates put it at an astonishing 400lb.

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Jack's grandfather Michael Fossett, at whose Yapton allotment the prize-winner was nurtured, said: "Jack planted the seed and was here every week '“ he did all the work and was determined to win at Littlehampton after missing out last year."

Jack's 2008 entry was itself a worthy exhibit, weighing in at 80lb and securing first prize at Yapton.

Since then the pair have changed their approach, adopting the American method of surrounding the pumpkin with a trench full of horse manure and reaping the huge rewards.

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