People at Valley View Farms will have a latte spicy gossip after they see the Action. Action Jackson, that is: a pumpkin weighing in at 1,822 pounds on display starting Wednesday at the nursery in Cockeysville/Hunt Valley. This is a long-standing fall tradition at Valley View Farms, with a larger-than-life pumpkin serving as the store’s centerpiece for Halloween season. Action Jackson has unique coloring that looks like early morning leaves have been painted on its surface. “He’s one of the prettiest pumpkins we’ve ever had,” greenhouse manager Carrie Engel told Baltimore Fishbowl. Engel said this tradition dates to at least 1989. Action Jackson is not even the largest pumpkin they have ever displayed, with that honor belonging to a pumpkin from five years ago that weighed a little over 2,000 pounds or one ton. Action Jackson will be on display until noon on Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31. At that time, the pumpkin will be cut open, and its seeds will be counted. The first person to correctly guess the number of seeds in Action Jackson will win a $300 Valley View Farms gift card. The contest is open until seed counting begins. Tom Tasselmyer, center, helps count pumpkin seeds with others at Valley View Farms’ 2025 seed counting contest. Photo via Valley View Farms Facebook page. Tom Tasselmeyer, chief meteorologist at WBAL TV 11, presides over the ceremony every year. Once the seeds are counted, they are cleaned and sent back to the grower. Engel said the pumpkin itself gets donated to Whispering Rise Farms Animal Sanctuary, which cares for surrendered and rescued potbellied pigs. Action Jackson is not lonely, as Engel promised there are other giant pumpkins on site with him. They have an artist they enlist to paint one of the giant pumpkins every year. Eric Rutledge, a local artist, painted a Brooks Robinson pumpkin one year, and the theme changes depending on the whims of the store’s owner, Andy Foard. Foard names the pumpkins himself, too. One of his sons is named Jackson, and last year’s pumpkin was named “My Man Mason,” after his other son. “The first time I remember his name was ‘Rolling Thunder,’ because that’s what it sounded like in the back of the truck as he drove it back down from where he got it,” Engel said. “You know, it’s his thing. He and one of the other guys goes up every year and they find these pumpkins at some of the big pumpkin layoffs around the eastern area.” The giant pumpkins are not from Maryland, so Foard goes to great lengths to find them and bring them back to Valley View Farms – sometimes as far as New England. Thankfully, the store has other, more portable-sized pumpkins for its customers’ fall decorating and recipe needs. In fact, the store has many other types of fall decorations, including gourds, corn and corn fodder, colorful mums, and pansies. There is also a free straw maze for children to enjoy, a Department 56 Halloween display, and the International Christmas Shop, which has holiday items from around the world. “It’s a great photo op,” Engel said. “Years ago, somebody complained that we didn’t have the date on the big pumpkin that we had named, and they said because they use that for their family photo every year. So, from then on, we made sure we put the year up there every year.” Ever stare into the gaping maw of a giant pumpkin? Photo via Valley View Farms Facebook page. ...read more read less