PEI

Backyard pumpkin sets new P.E.I. record

The pumpkin Eddy Shaw grew in the backyard of his Charlottetown home has set a new provincial record.

Eddy Shaw breaks his own mark with 661-kilogram pumpkin

Eddy and Lorie Shaw of Charlottetown each entered pumpkins in this year's contest. Eddy's set a new provincial record. (Laura Meader/CBC)

The pumpkin Eddy Shaw grew in the backyard of his Charlottetown home has set a new provincial record.

Shaw's pumpkin weighed in at 661 kilograms. That's more than the combined weight of seven average-sized men.

Thirty pumpkins were in contention for the top prize at 23rd annual Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off at Veseys Seeds in York, P.E.I., on Saturday. (Laura Meader/CBC)

The pumpkin was among 30 entered in the 23rd annual Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off on Saturday at Veseys Seeds in York.

Shaw also set a record last year with a 603-kilogram beauty. He used the seeds from that pumpkin to grow three more in his backyard this summer.

Finley Weeks, 2, points out a giant pumpkin to his mother Sophie Weeks. (Laura Meader/CBC)

"I just tried it one year and got stuck on it," Shaw said of his pumpkin-growing hobby.

Shaw took home $500 for his winning pumpkin.

With files from Laura Meader