Pumpkins a Family Affair

Imagine growing a pumpkin so large that it takes five people to help lift it... Three Bismarck kids did just that...growing a 419-pound pumpkin in their backyard... Reporter Tracy Fugere has more on why Brandon, Tyler, and Dani Miller pooled their allowance money in an effort to grow the biggest pumpkin... (Reporter Tracy Fugere) The Miller kids saw that their neighborKirby Hausauerwas growing several hundred-pound pumpkins in his yard down the street. So, they decided to give him a run for his money. (11-year-old Brandon Miller) Well, Kirby down the street actually gave us some tips and information but we did all the work ourselves. (Reporter Tracy Fugere) But how do you pay for a project this big? The Millers mowed lawns, shoveled driveways, and raked leaves. Then they used their hard-earned cash to buy seeds and fertilizer. (13-year-old Tyler Miller) Well, it takes a lot of hard work. We were out there pretty much everyday working on it. One really good tip is to cover the vines with dirt because then it grows taproots. And you have to put a lot of work into it with lots of water, fertilizer, and other good stuff. (Kirby Hausauer, Bismarck Pumpkin Grower) They stopped down once or twice a week all summer and I just gave them some pointers on how to grow them. And I stopped down and saw their pumpkins several times too, especially towards the end of the growing season. I was a little bit surprised when I walked into their backyard and saw this 419 pounder sitting on the lawn. I was really surprised but they did a really good job. (Reporter Tracy Fugere) Dani Miller says in one day, the pumpkin grew 24 pounds. (9-year-old Dani Miller) Well, we thought that it was kind of cool because it got really big and we haven’t grown one big so... (Repoter Tracy Fugere) The kids actually grew two big pumpkins. The second pumpkin was 327 pounds. The kids were hoping to at least place in the Papa's Pumpkin Patch contest, and they did. (11-year-old...