October 22, 2004

The Great Pumpkin

By Bea Baechle
Editor

Victor Valladares, a seventh grader at Most Holy Trinity, can barely lift the 48-pound pumpkin he’s been growing in his backyard. It may not rival this year’s 1,446-pound world record pumpkin, but this local Evergreen boy is satisfied with the fruit of his labor, which tips the scales at more than half of his own 80-pound body weight.

Victor Valladares can barely lift the pumpkin that weighs more than half of his own body weight. He grew such a beautifully round pumpkin by placing a piece of cardboard underneath it to rotate it and to avoid one side flattening out as it grew up against the wood.

His 9-year-old sister Arianna and 5-year-old brother Nicholas are anxiously waiting to see if Victor decides to carve the pumpkin he has been nurturing since last spring. Although Victor may opt to just draw on the outside of the pumpkin, he definitely plans to cut the top off and clean out the seeds for roasting.

“I’m a country boy,” says Victor, who has brought a touch of country to his city dwellings since he was 5 years old. He says he’d like to grow up to be a farmer in Gilroy some day.

It all began when the Valladares family lived in downtown San Jose, and his dad, Victor senior, planted their first garden.

Inspired by his father, young Victor soon took over the care and feeding of the plants, experimenting with tomatoes, chilies, jalapenos, zucchini, carrots and even corn. He grew to love it, and when the family moved to Evergreen six years ago, they knew they would have to plant another garden.

“I don’t have a green thumb at all,” admits Victor’s mom Rosanna, who is amazed with Victor’s dedication to his garden and enjoys the fresh ingredients he provides for making salsa.

When he’s not in the garden, Victor likes raising birds and loves galloping on his own American Quarter Horse “Chapparo,” which means “Shorty” in Spanish. He also plays flag football for Holy Trinity, and is in the process of learning Spanish from a CD—with coaching from his dad whenever possible.