This bright yellow flower is from a giant pumpkin—the first one ever grown in our food security and sustainable agriculture program.
From Flower to Giant: Growing Big Dreams in Our Youth-Led Living Lab
This bright yellow flower might not look like much yet, but it’s the start of something huge—literally.
It comes from a giant pumpkin plant, and if all goes well, we might be harvesting one that weighs hundreds of pounds later this season. This is the first year our youth-led food security and sustainable agriculture program has tried growing giant pumpkins, and we’re excited to see just how big we can go. It’s part of our effort to expand northern food growing and experiment with creative agriculture in our community.
Giant pumpkins are incredible because they can grow to weigh over 1,000 pounds, with some world records passing 2,000 pounds. Growing them takes good soil, the right seeds, steady watering, and a bit of patience and luck. But for us, this is more than just a gardening challenge—it’s a symbol of our living lab, where arts-based learning, culture, and food come together in creative, hands-on ways that support community gardening and Indigenous food systems.
This experiment is part of our arts-based food security and sustainable agriculture program, originally launched through the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse in 2022–2023. In 2024, it has grown with the support of Manitoba Agriculture and the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, through the Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture program. Our goal is to combine traditional knowledge, youth leadership, and creative expression to reimagine food security in the North—and what better way to start than with a giant pumpkin?
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