It’s officially "Spooky Season," and with it comes chillier weather, sweaters, spiked cider, all things Halloween, and of course, the ultimate symbol of fall: pumpkins. The orange-hued winter squash finds itself in everything from our coffee and desserts to our home decor.
With all their various uses, pumpkins have to be plentiful, easily grown, and harvested. Right? One TikTok dad who lives in upstate New York recently proved just how easily pumpkins can grow. He says, he threw an old pumpkin in his backyard, and was shocked to find that just a year later there were 27 in its place.
It all started on a whim.
Michael Anderson's abundant pumpkin harvest started as a playful experiment. Last year after Halloween, the work-at-home dad noticed the pumpkin he'd used to decorate his family's front yard was rotting on the front porch.
Instead of throwing it in the trash, Anderson had an idea. He suggested to his son that they put it in the corner of their backyard to see if the seeds would grow by the following year.
He never expected what ended up happening.
Not only did the pumpkin they planted grow, so did 26 more. By the next summer, the Andersons had a pumpkin patch growing, not only in their backyard, but also in the yard next door.
Thankfully, the neighboring yard belongs to an empty doctor's office. Anderson showed his yard in August, covered in leaves, vines, and actual pumpkins, on TikTok. He said he had no idea how this happened.
Pumpkins are native to upstate New York.
This October, Anderson gave an update, saying there were 13 pumpkins on his side of the fence and 14 more on the other side. Naturally, he returned the new pumpkins to the same front porch where they started. While Anderson was shocked by the growth, pumpkins are actually native to North America and thrive in upstate New York, where he lives.
In fact, the heaviest pumpkin in North America was just weighed in Buffalo, New York, according to Gothamist.
Anderson gave most of the pumpkins away.
Anderson's story was so popular that many of the 3.9 million people who watched his video had questions. He answered them in an appearance on The Weather Channel. When asked what he was going to do with all of them, Anderson said he gave a lot to friends and family, and used some to decorate other places in the area.
