His backyard may be small but his pumpkins are huge

Jeffery Podraza has a knack for growing things. In 2011 he tried his hand at growing a large pumpkin. He says "the first plant I grew got over a thousand pounds." He says "when people hear this they assume I'm a farmer." Jeff is not a farmer. He is a physical therapist and college professor. Pumpkins are his pastime. This year Jeff grew two humongous orange orbs. The one sitting in his front yard weighs in at six hundred ninety-two pounds. The one still on the vine in his backyard he estimates weighs about thirteen hundred pounds. The most interesting part of this gardening tale is that Jeff is growing these large pumpkins in his relatively average sized backyard. He says he enjoys it and "kids get a big kick out of it." He'll be taking his biggest pumpkin to the annual weigh-off in Clarence October 5th.