Lunenburg Pumpkin Wins National Compost Award

There's a dilly of a pumpkin in Lunenburg and it's getting national attention. The 184-kilogram pumpkin is the winner of the Composting Council of Canada's third annual Great Pumpkin Growing Contest.

"The compost that helped this pumpkin grow so big came from the homes of Nova Scotians who regularly put their organics and recyclables out for collection," said Environment and Labour Minister Kerry Morash. "I'm pleased the Composting Council of Canada has given us this opportunity to highlight the commitment of our citizens, businesses and government to keep Nova Scotia clean and beautiful."

The gourd was grown by Dave Daniels, solid waste operations manager of the Lunenburg Regional Recycling and Compost Facility. He used Howard Dill seeds provided by the council and nurtured the pumpkin patch with compost from his facility.

"The secret to our success, naturally, was compost," said Mr. Daniels. "We have a garden at our composting facility and we add compost to it every year. The results, of course, speak for themselves."

Mr. Daniels received his $500 prize for the biggest pumpkin today, Oct. 25, from council chairperson Barry Friesen. The money will be donated to several local garden clubs at a later date.

The Composting Council of Canada created the pumpkin growing contest to raise awareness of the advantages of using compost to improve the quality of soil for gardening.

"It's important to remember that when we separate our organics for composting, we accomplish two very good things," said Mr. Friesen. "We reduce the amount of waste sent to our landfills and incinerators, and we produce a product that's beneficial to our soil."

The contest is sponsored by Miller Composting, Visions of Utopia, All Treat Farms, and Procter and Gamble. Municipal World, Solid Waste and Recycling, Composting News, Recycling Product News, and BioCycle also support the contest.