Grace's big fat pumpkin challenge

Grace Lusty and her giant pumpkin, which is a baby compared to the one-tonne giants grown by Colorado's Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers.

Celebrities sign up to grow giant vegetables but can they match the one-tonne monsters from Colorado?

The biggest pumpkin Grace Lusty has grown weighed in at a whopping 96kg.

But despite winning an award, the pumpkin is just a baby compared to the one-tonne giants grown in the United States, home to Colorado's Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers, of which 8-year-old Grace is a member.

This year the Hamilton schoolgirl, who has been encouraging other pupils to grow competition pumpkins since she took up the hobby three years ago, is organising the 2014 Celebrity Pumpkin Challenge.

So far singer Tiki Taane, television presenter Te Radar, country music legend Brendan Dugan, Olympic walker Craig Barrett and radio host Mark Bunting have taken up the challenge - to grow a giant pumpkin and enter it into The Great Pumpkin Carnival next March.

Grace, who attends Rototuna Primary School, has sent out dozens of her prized pumpkin seeds - some from the United States, Canada and Australia - to entice contestants.

Dad Gareth Lusty said his daughter wrote to Kiwi celebrities asking them to take part to attract as many growers as possible.

"Sometimes it's hard to make things cool. How do you do that? You get cool people to make things cool."

He said the Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers had fostered Grace's interest in pumpkin growing and sharing the fun by giving away seeds.

"What's really amazing is we only live in a normal city house and she grows thousands of pumpkins in such a small space [in the family vegetable garden]."

Grace's pumpkins are all shapes and sizes, colours and weights and her inspiration includes pumpkin art such as people, cars and animals, all made of the overgrown orange vegetable.

But Mr Lusty said while the giant pumpkins are no good for eating - "they're all stringy and watery" - Grace does grow normal pumpkins for food.

And the growing season has just begun.