A giant pumpkin from a giant heart
SANDTON – Maximilian van Heerden kindly donated his giant pumpkin instead of using it to enter a competition.
Maximilian van Heerden, a 13-year-old avid gardener from Sandton, decided to donate the giant 28kg pumpkin that he grew, rather than entering it into a farmer’s pumpkin competition.
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He donated the pumpkin to the Nan Hua Temple for their Chinese New year celebrations on 29 January. The pumpkin was so big that he had to use a wheelchair to transport it into their kitchen, eliciting fits of laughter from temple staff.
Van Heerden had been hoping to enter a farmer’s competition whereby growers of all ages compete to see who has the largest pumpkin – but he decided to donate it instead.
This resourceful youngster has a worm farm and compost heap from which he fertilises his garden. He began gardening at the age of four and has planted an array of herbs and vegetables over the years.
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When asked why he loves gardening so much he said, “I enjoy it, it’s interesting and I love to watch my vegetables grow from a seed… I also volunteer at Reea’s gardens in Craighall during the holidays.”
The enterprising teen offered advice to other aspiring gardeners on growing giant pumpkins. “You need the giant pumpkin seed variety and lots of fresh manure and worm tea [the liquid concentrate of worm compost]. I didn’t water it that much because it rained a lot, but every two to three days is good.”
He suggested that gardening enthusiasts should try using the dry seeds from the vegetables used for cooking and plant them in the garden so that more people will be able to experience how ‘cool it is to grow food’.
Van Heerden said that he decided to donate the pumpkin to the temple because he felt that it was a good place to assist. “The masters [at the temple] are very kind and generous and have shared many tasty meals with me and even hosted my German Scouts group last year. They always care for many people.”
He is no stranger to community service and this is not the fist time that he has been involved in charitable work. His Scouts group runs a community garden in Parktown.
He concluded that more people should grow their own fresh produce as it not only looks better but tastes better too.
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