3rd June 2026
Order and collect your free pumpkin plant for the Thame Giant Pumpkin Competition🎃!
21st Century Thame are busy sprouting 100 Atlantic Giant Pumpkin seeds and have little pumpkin plants ready for you to plant in your garden or allotment!
The plants will be available for collection in two fantastic town centre shops who have very kindly agreed to host the event - Petcare and Bizzie Lizzie Flower Shop. You must pre-book your pumpkin here first though so they match up the right numbers of pumpkins and people! You need to collect between 5th and 10th June (closed on Sundays) 9-5 and show your ticket. One pumpkin per family.
Plant somewhere that gets sun for 6 or more hours a day. They sprawl a lot but you can put it in a border and encourage the vines to go where you want them. Give them lots of water to the root, not getting the leaves wet so they don't go mouldy! You will need to ask a neighbour to water it if you go away! Have a look online for more information about growing a pumpkin.
Then, the week before Halloween, 21st Century Thame want to see pictures and find out what your pumpkin weighs! The biggest pumpkin in Thame grown from these seedlings will win a special prize! You can then use it as your Halloween pumpkin and 21st Century Thame will post fun recipes and food waste prevention tips for you to use it up (and some pumpkin dog treat recipes too!)
The pumpkins are free - if you would like to contribute to their work with hedgehogs, trees and nature recovery, a donation is always welcome but is optional.
