Matt Thomas was first in the ground, wanting his pumpkin to weather the harsh Telford conditions early on so that it could withstand anything thrown at it.
The mind games began as the rest of the team tried to convince Matt he had gone to ground too early. Weeks went by without anyone else planting their seeds, until Ryan Oak succumbed to the pressure shortly followed by Harry, Stewart and Helen.
Tom, convinced that a late Winter frost was just around the corner waited until July before throwing his seeds into the ground and hoping for the best. A call that would ultimately lead to his downfall in the competition.
Shortly after, Ryan announced himself out of the running with the death of his only sprout. Some of the team became concerned after seeing photos emerge of Matt’s progress and decided to club together in an attempt to stop him from running away with this year’s competition. Harry, Stewart and Helen united to get behind one pumpkin that could topple Matt off the top spot. Tom, whose leaves had emerged stuck to his guns and continued on solo - another call that would ultimately lead to his downfall in the competition.
Coming into the home stretch and with just 3 pumpkins left the team started to put in extra hours to ensure the upkeep of their yield, ahead of the final weigh in on 31st October.