CANFIELD — Despite the thermometer reaching 12 degrees below zero, about two dozen people congregated at Parks Garden Center on Saturday morning for a seminar on growing giant pumpkins, led by Tim Parks of the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers.

Among the participants was Diane Eisenbrown of Freedom, Pa.

“I bought the seed two years ago and raised a 300-pound pumpkin,” Eisenbrown said. However, last year was less successful because of the drought.

“This year my goal is to grow something bigger than 300 pounds,” she said.

The current club record belongs to Karl Haist, a bus mechanic in Clarence, New York, whose pumpkin last year weighed 2,741 pounds.

Tim Parks grew up near the garden center and has loved gardening since he was a child. This October will be Parks Garden Center’s 50th anniversary. He said the mission of the club, as well as his business, is to provide education and support to all types of gardeners.

Parks said in order to grow giant pumpkins, “The work is done the previous fall with soil preparation. Soil is the catalyst for growth. It’s important to understand what you’re growing and then let Mother Nature take its course.”

He said the biggest thing to avoid is overmanaging the plants.

“Timing is critical. Starting too early can cause stress to the plant. It’s hard for competitive people to be patient. There’s an edge and then there’s an over the edge,” Parks said.

Jerry Rose lives in Huntsburg in Geauga County. He has belonged to the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers since its inception in 1995 and has been on the board for 20 years. He said he enjoys the challenge of growing the biggest pumpkin.

“We’re friends, but we’re competitive,” he said.

Lee Zappa of Mercer, Pa., agrees. “I like growing big stuff. It gets pretty addictive.”

Rose said the principles taught by the club are not only for growing giant things, but tend to be good practices in general, “everything you want to know from start to finish.”

Quinn Werner of Saegertown, Pa., is another longtime club member. He and Rose have traveled all over the country and even Belgium to monitor weigh-ins. He said growing giant pumpkins has become popular from Alaska to Australia, but our area has “the best growers in the world.”

Although the club has a close association with the Canfield Fair, the local weigh-in does not occur until the second Saturday in October since the pumpkins are still growing.

Werner said despite the name, members of the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers grow everything from watermelons and long gourds to tomatoes.

“Anyone can grow a giant tomato,” Werner said. “It only takes a 5-gallon bucket.”

Pat Kacenski of Columbiana is already a Master Gardener Volunteer with the OSU Extension Office in Canfield. She said she grows regular-sized pumpkins, but thought, “It might be fun to learn how to do this.”

She was undaunted by the weather and said, “If you’re going to come, I’ll come.”

Saturday’s seminar was free, but on March 21, an advanced seminar will be open to anyone who joins the club. For more information, visit www.ohiovalleypumpkingrowers.com or call Parks at 330-533-7278.