Expect to see hundreds of pumpkins around Flin Flon this fall, thanks to a unique collaboration between Hapnot Collegiate and École McIsaac School.
Earlier this spring, Robyne Mansell, a staff advisor for the gardening club at Hapnot, received a call from June Reed, librarian at McIsaac.
“She contacted us to see if the plant club would be interested in starting 200-plus pumpkin plants for their school,” recalled Mansell.
Reed’s request came out of an idea she heard about at a library conference in Ontario. She had learned about a community library that handed out pumpkin seedlings to patrons and encouraged them to return at the end of the summer to show off the grown pumpkins. The growers competed for prizes based on the biggest pumpkins, and over time the practice led to a popular pumpkin festival.
Reed thought the idea might work well at McIsaac, so she went to the school’s Parent Advisory Council (PAC) with the concept. The PAC was on board, donating $300 to cover the cost of seeds, soil and pots for McIsaac students and staff.
Reed ordered a batch of pumpkin seeds from PEI, and the project was rolling.
She said the Hapnot Plant Club’s support was a huge help.
“I was amazed that they would grow 300 pumpkins for us,” Reed said.
Mansell said the plants took off right away under the care of the Hapnot students, who grow various types of plants in a greenhouse off the biology lab.
“[The plants] grew like crazy to the point we had to move up the pick-up date by 10 days,” Mansell said.
In mid-May, the Hapnot club sent 290 pumpkin plants, including a few pots with double seedlings, to McIsaac. The four- to six- inch plants were then handed out to McIsaac students and staff, who will nourish the plants over the summer months—a first-time activity for many.
“A lot of [the students] have never grown anything. They don’t have a garden,” said Reed.
She encouraged students without yard space to ask for permission to grow the pumpkins in gardens of neighbours or relatives, or to repot the seedling in an oversized pot or container.
In the fall, the young plant caretakers can bring their pumpkins in to the school’s back-to-school barbecue, where the vegetables will be weighed in a biggest pumpkin competition.
Reed said her main wish for the project is to bring the school community together.
“It’s a chance to come together as a family,” she said.
Reed also hopes that some of the students will pick up gardening skills and perhaps develop an interest in growing their own produce in the future.
