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After eight years of dreaming about having a greenhouse for his giant pumpkins, Jay Richard bit the bullet and built a greenhouse in early 2023. While Richard knew that it was a step in the right direction, it led to more success than he had anticipated.

Richard said that he has always loved gardens, whether he was growing them or just being intrigued by them. When he moved to Worland, Richard's love of gardening continued to grow, along with his family. When his family was carving pumpkins the year his daughter was born and they set her inside of one for a photo, Richard said, "I had to increase the size of the pumpkins if I'm going to put my daughter in it every year." In truth, Richard said they found growing pumpkins to be fun and once he started, he grew pumpkins that eventually got up to 150 to 175 pounds.

Then in 2012, the Lungren Girls Farm held the first giant pumpkin contest in Worland. However, Richard said he had only come up with a 55-pound pumpkin. When local veterinarian Steve Tharp grew a 512-pound pumpkin, Richard said, "I set my pumpkin by his and got a little pumpkin envy. I thought, 'game on, brother!' And since then, I started trying." As he spent more time growing, Richard said the pumpkins, for the most part, only got bigger and better from there.

Fast forward to 2023, when Richard grew pumpkins inside a greenhouse for the first time. While Richard's ultimate goal is to grow a 2,000-pound pumpkin, he said his goal for this year was to grow a pumpkin that was at least 1,000 pounds and to get it on a scale.

Then, in September 2023, Richard said he took his pumpkin named "Marion" to the first annual Center Street Giant Pumpkin Festival in Logan, Utah. When Richard and his pumpkin won, going up against 24 other pumpkins, Richard said, "Everybody gets their 15 minutes and that was mine. That was the pinnacle of what I've ever done with growing pumpkins."

His pumpkin Marion turned out to be his biggest one yet at 1,784 pounds, blowing his previous record and his goal out of the water. Later on, just days before another competition in Littleton, Colorado, Richard said, "I expect to be competitive, but I'm not going to win. There's a bigger population and a lot more people growing, that have been doing it a long time." To his surprise, his pumpkin "Joanie" won the competition on Sept. 30 at 1,686 pounds. Richard additionally won the Wyoming State Championship in Worland on Oct. 7 with his final pumpkin, "Leather," which weighed 1,399 pounds.

Richard said that it's not about winning though. "That's one thing that I do want to stress, is that I don't care if I win or not. I really don't care. I measure my success by helping others. If I help you, and you take a seed and you grow it into a plant that grows into a pumpkin, then you bring a 400-pound pumpkin to the weigh off using things that I got you interested in; that's how I measure my success, is by yours," he said.

Because of this desire to get others interested in growing and seeing their success, Richard hosts a workshop every year in early March. At this workshop, Richard gives out every one of his tips, ideas and pieces of advice he has to offer, as well as seeds from his giant pumpkins. He said, "I put 100% of it out there and am 100% transparent. Why would I not want you to do it and be successful?"

NEW GROWERS

New giant pumpkin growers, Renell Williams with her son Ananias Williams, and Belle Belden with her son Ethan Mills, are just a few out of the many people that have gone to Richard's workshops and started growing giant pumpkins with the help of Richard.

Williams said that last year, her family planted a pumpkin that grew more than they had expected and from there, the family was hooked on growing big pumpkins. After sitting next to Richard at the annual community garden dinner and receiving a seed from him, Williams and her son, who is now 8 years old, began growing their first giant pumpkin on a small patch by their sidewalk. They brought their pumpkin to the weigh off on Oct. 7 where it turned out to be 211 pounds. Williams said that her son is already hoping to get a pumpkin that weighs 300 pounds next year.

Belden, who is an avid gardener and has been around giant pumpkins for years, grew her first giant pumpkin this year as well, with her son Ethan Mills. Belden had gone to Richard's workshops in previous years, but since her 5-year-old son had become old enough to start helping, she decided that it was a good time for them to try growing together. By the end of summer, they produced two pumpkins on the same plant and took great care of them. "Ethan kissed his pumpkin every night and 'tucked it into bed' under its sheet," said Belden. Their pumpkins, Georgette and Regina, weighed in at 386 pounds and 243 pounds, respectively. Belden said that she hopes to grow pumpkins again next year, especially considering how much work their pumpkin patch took, and to bond with her son over the shared excitement.

Williams and Belden expressed gratitude for Richard and all he does for the community. When talking about Richard, Williams said, "Jay is such a gift. He is so generous with his time and knowledge. He even came over to check on our pumpkin and give us advice throughout the summer."

THE GREENHOUSE

For years, Richards said that his pumpkins plateaued in weight. "The best I had ever done was 1,238 [pounds]. And I've just been stuck there," he said. But when thinking about building a greenhouse, Richard said, "I started dreaming about this thing. But you know, I've got kids and a life, and I have a business and health, and all these things happening." So naturally, the dream of a greenhouse waited.

However, throughout all those years, Richard said his tagline between him, and friends and family in his life was, "Build the greenhouse."

In recent years, when Richard went through the losses of close people in his life and others went through serious health problems, including himself, Richard said he was reminded of an important, ever-present aspect of life. "Time is short. There is no promise of tomorrow. There are promises in life, but tomorrow is not one of them," he said. So, he said with the motivation of no longer being 25 years old, Richard followed through with his tagline. He said that he called up a company in Missouri that makes custom, commercial greenhouses and checked nearly every box they had for customization options. "There's no denying that I wrote a pretty big check, or two or three. And fortunately, my wife was very supportive," he said. "That's the only time in my life I've ever done anything like that, and I may never do it again. But this is what I'm going to do when I retire. This is what I want to do, is grow things," Richard said when he explained how he has no regrets about buying his dream greenhouse.

THE GREENHOUSE

The greenhouse, which grew his two biggest pumpkins yet, was consistently held at around 90° F and 80% humidity, according to Richard. He said, "This thing has a heating system in the ground. It's got ventilation, drop-down sides, fans and Wi-Fi." While he may have been the one to write the checks, Richard said he could not have built it without the help of many others, including the help of a notable mentor, Ron Hoffman, when it comes to pumpkin growing. "I probably wouldn't have got it done in time if it hadn't been for him. [...] So, I'm very appreciative of him, as well as many others in the community that stepped up, even if it was for a day or a few hours. We had a lot of help building this thing."

In addition to community support, Richard said he also went through the process of applying for and receiving a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). When researching high tunnel programs, Richard said he found out about how NRCS has grants for those who are interested in implementing these tunnel systems. According to the NRCS website, "high tunnels protect plants from severe weather and allow farmers to extend their growing seasons – growing earlier into the spring, later into the fall, and sometimes, year-round." For Richard, who said he lives in "little Siberia," a high tunnel greenhouse turned out to be a game changer for his giant pumpkins. "I was shocked with how helpful and eager [NRCS] really, truly [was] to put this greenhouse up," he said.

On Nov. 11, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Washakie County Extension Office in Worland, Richard will be sharing his experiences of working with NRCS and his greenhouse.

As for his pumpkins, after they've been weighed and won competitions, Richard said, "They're in retirement now. What happens next is that I put them on my trailer, and I take them around to every school that wants them, and every organization that wants them. I just parade them around and let people look at them. Just about every kid in town will have the opportunity to sit on them. They're bigger than they are." Then, Worland master pumpkin carver Ryan Green will create an intricate carving for one of the giant pumpkins and it will be displayed in front of Blair's shortly before Halloween. Finally, any remaining pumpkins have historically been blown up for his son's birthday party and, "sent back to where they came from," said Richard.

After his most successful season of pumpkin growing yet, Richard will begin preparing for next season, when he hopes to finally accomplish his goal of growing a 2,000-pound pumpkin. Before that happens, Richard said he'll start doing germination tests for his seeds before giving them out and will have his annual workshop for those who are interested. In March, he will get his greenhouse ready and, "intends on being in the ground by April 15. That's a good 17 or 18 days before last year. Some people think that's not a big deal, but 18 days when they're growing 20 pounds a day? You can do the math on that," he said.

For those who are interested in giant pumpkin growing or just want to stay updated on Richard's pumpkin journey, he said that the best way people can get information from him is through his Facebook page, Jay's Giants. There, he said he shares frequent updates and hopes people can get inspired.