BOUNTIFUL, Utah — On Saturday, pumpkin growers from all over the state will bring their biggest pumpkins to Utah County to be weighed for an annual competition.
Mohamed Sadiq is one contestant who thinks he’s got the biggest in the state this year.
In between homes in Bountiful, Sadiq's plot holds a greenhouse full of leaves and a large pumpkin covered in blankets.
It’s been a labor of love for over four months, and now it’s ready to be picked and sent to the weigh-off Saturday and HeeHaw farms in Pleasant Grove.
“It’s like raising a baby,” Sadiq said.
While he considers himself primarily a pumpkin grower, Sadiq’s day job is as a neurologist for Tanner Clinic.
“I'd like to consider myself a pumpkin grower first, but without being a doctor, I don't think I can afford to raise these guys," he said with a chuckle.
Sadiq says there is a lot of crossover between his patients and his pumpkins.
“It's kind of like, you know, taking care of a patient who's really, really sick — these guys have a lot of need,” he said. “I put a stethoscope on them at night and heard them grow... There's so much water flow in them.”
After all that work comes the most stressful part — moving it.
Sadiq said lots can happen in that process.
"You lift a pumpkin and you find a rod or a soft spot at the bottom, that automatically disqualifies the pumpkin," he said.
Sadiq also said that in the middle of the move, a pumpkin can fall and shatter into hundreds of pieces.
But that didn’t stop crowds from watching on Friday.
Thankfully the pumpkin was successfully loaded and is now on its way to HeeHaw Farms for the weigh-in.
“The thrill of it when you do all of this is just unbelievable,” Sadiq said. “I am very, very proud. This has been an unbelievable season for me. I've enjoyed every minute of it — you know, just barring the little tension and nervousness that just happened."
And surprisingly, this isn't even his biggest pumpkin.
He has one that's even bigger, and he's keeping it growing for a couple more days until it can be pulled and sent to California to be weighed.
FOX 13 News will cover Saturday's weigh-off in Pleasant Grove.
