Young giant pumpkin champion back to defend her title

If your bathroom scale is crying at 120kg, spare a thought for the Swarts. Last year, seven-year-old Lelani Swart won the Maxima Pumpkins Growing Challenge in Stutterheim with a pumpkin tipping the scales at 216kg. And her family is back to defend the title when the competition returns on March 29 at the Stutterheim Country Club.

Lelani’s winning pumpkin — affectionately nicknamed “Peter Pumpkin” — earned first prize in 2025 and helped turn pumpkin growing into a full family affair in the Swart household. Lelani’s father, Fredrick Swart, said entries had jumped dramatically, with 67 growers already signed up compared with 18 last year. “We are very excited about the numbers this year, because last year we had only 18 entries and now we are already at 67,” he said.

Swart said the challenge had become a hands-on project for his children, who were growing their own pumpkins alongside him. “Though mine is smaller this year, my son Fredrick has grown a pumpkin that is currently about 130kg, and my daughter Lelani’s pumpkin is around 110kg,” he said. Growing giant pumpkins took patience, planning and a bit of luck.

[paywall]

“Sometimes things don’t always go as you expect,” he said. “The full process takes about six months, but the actual pumpkin normally grows over about 100 days.” To improve their chances this year, the family sourced seeds from overseas.

[/paywall]