When her daughter went away to college and her family sold its horses, Theresa Miller found herself looking for a hobby.

The Stillman Valley woman went into a Farm & Fleet 17 years ago and bought a packet of Atlantic Giant Pumpkin seeds. Her first pumpkin was 89 pounds. And then she grew one that was 400 pounds. And then 1,000, and then 1,600 pounds. Last year, her entry into the Illinois Giant Pumpkin Association Weigh-off in Minooka weighed 1,871 pounds.

Miller currently has three giant pumpkins growing in advance of the competition on Sept. 27: Patches, Dimples and Roxanne. She believes Patches, the largest of the three, is currently nearing 1,700 pounds and hopes to see more growth.

“I really hope I can at least try to break my number last year, if I can get Patches to grow a little bit more,” Miller said. “We haven’t had a great pumpkin growing season. I’m lucky to have what I have this year. You can lose them at any time if they split. It’s not at the weight I want it to be at, but I’m fortunate to have what I have.

“The high heat was a problem this year. I pollinate them by hand to make sure the seed is good. I use my own seeds. I sell the seeds to other people, I have sold quite a few.”

Miller will pick her pumpkins Sept. 26, a night that has become a yearly event where people from the community come out to watch them be picked and loaded to head to Minooka. She estimates she spends about five hours each day tending to the pumpkins. Their growth process takes place from April to September.

Work on the pumpkins includes running fans to keep them dry, setting mouse traps, shading them on hot summer days, covering them and using heat lamps on cold nights, fertilizing and tending to soil, and catching flies. The plants that surround the giant pumpkins by about 10 feet on each side provide nutrients to them.

Miller enjoys coming over to check on her pumpkins each day and watching them grow. They can grow up to 60 pounds in a day in good growing conditions. Miller found more time for the work after retiring earlier this year.

“It’s nice to come over here and see what you’ve created,” Miller said. “They become your babies. It’s something to do. It’s quiet here and it’s my time. But by this time of year, you can get fed up with it. You work so hard all summer long and give up a lot of time. We have three more weeks, but that seems like an eternity. You just want to get them to the scale. Because anything can happen. My hope for the next three weeks is that Patches just keeps gaining. She’s looking good. If I can just keep her growing, even if it’s 10 pounds a day.”

Miller has gotten to know other giant pumpkin growers around the state and region over the years. She’s involved in Facebook groups on the topic. Last year, her pumpkin entry, Ms. Impressive, was carved by the Food Network after the competition. This year, her pumpkins will be put on display at Klehm Arboretum

Growing giant pumpkins was not a hobby Miller thought she would have.

“People call me the pumpkin lady now,” Miller said. “I enjoy it and husband, Keith, enjoys watching me do it. It’s just something to do. You learn something every year. I mess up every year, as a gardener always does. The growers all know each other and help each other. You’re always making mistakes and doubting yourself. It’s been interesting to get into the pumpkin growing community.”

Miller’s pumpkins tend to name themselves each year. Patches’ name came about after she found red cloth patches around it. Dimples is named after an irregularity it has. Roxanne has rocks in her patch. They take on personalities and draw interest, Miller said.

“I get a lot of people that ask me around town how the pumpkins are doing,” Miller said. “A lot of people are really interested in them. We invite a crowd out when we pick them and I think people enjoy watching them being lifted off the ground and hopefully make it to the contest safely. When we’re on our way to Minooka, people honk their horns at us and want to take pictures. It’s exciting to see people get a kick out of it.”