SAN DIEGO — Before 2019 just flies away forever, an East County man was compelled to load something special up in his pick up truck and drive west. "I was walking in my pumpkin patch one day and I said oh my gosh," said Pumpkin Jon "I've been growing pumpkins for 25 years , never have I had a pumpkin shaped like a turkey." Pumpkin Jon has spent a lifetime in a pumpkin patch and has the pictures to prove it but this? "A turkey pumpkin," he said as he showed it off at passers by on the OB strand. "Wow!!!.Ha, ha, ha, that's my take," said one lady.
When people first lay eyes on it. "Ha, ha, that's dope," said one man. "That's incredible, that's impressive," said a couple with a baby. I asked people if they knew what it was. "It's a big turkey?" said one woman. Not quite. "It's a big turkey pumpkin?" she said. There you go. "You can see a lot of interesting things in OB but you've never seen that," I said.
The questions came pouring in. "How much does that weigh," asked a lady on a bike. At 500 pounds, the Turkey Pumpkin isn't Jon's biggest but it may be be his best which is why he's spreading joy and more pumpkins where ever he goes.
"Here's some seeds," said Pumpkin Jon as he passed out giant pumpkin seeds for free. The last time Pumpkin Jon called me he was driving around with one thousand three hundred twenty seven pounder, the largest ever grown in San Diego County. So we figured this time around, if a pumpkin can become a turkey then everyone of us should dream big in 2020.
Here are some of the New Year resolutions we heard:
"To enjoy the Bahamas this year."
"To enjoy each and every day."
"I am going to try to commit to a work out plan and get sexy back."
"To stay healthy and happy."
"To not care as much."
"To let go of things, all things."
And Pumpkin Jon's resolution? "To grow a bigger pumpkin ha, ha," he said. Pumpkin Jon says parading pumpkins has become tradition, "It's my good deed, I get people smiling," he said.
Don't worry, Jon says he wouldn't dream of carving this one up. "No way, that's sacrilegious," he said. Jon knows it was late in the year but figured this was a last chance for 2019's late bloomer. "Happy New Year!!" he said. Pumpkin Jon says the Turkey Pumpkin will live with him until his wife starts to smell it and then it will have to fly the coop.