{"id":185727,"date":"2025-09-27T16:59:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/185727\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T16:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:59:11","slug":"surrey-man-grows-giant-pumpkins-to-help-manage-his-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/185727\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrey man grows giant pumpkins to help manage his mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MattMatt Peskett<\/p>\n

Matt Peskett, who is living with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, says growing giant pumpkins helps him manage stress<\/p>\n

A man who is living with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma says he grows giant pumpkins to help him manage his mental health.<\/p>\n

Matt Peskett, from Dorking, was diagnosed in 2024 and while undergoing immense stress and uncertainty, he found horticultural activities to have physical and emotional benefits to his wellbeing. <\/p>\n

The 48-year-old said: “Growing pumpkins is a good mental health distraction from your own brain because it’s a project where you can focus your energy and time on.<\/p>\n

“I carry on doing the things I love, because I think to myself I might not get another year to grow a big pumpkin.”<\/p>\n

\"MattMatt Peskett<\/p>\n

Mr Peskett’s personal best so far is growing a 677-pound (307kg) pumpkin<\/p>\n

Mr Peskett has been growing pumpkins since 2015, but after seeing Royal Horticultural Society expert Matthew Oliver’s record-breaking pumpkin<\/a> on display at Hyde Hall, he decided to take on the challenge of growing gourds.<\/p>\n

“Whether it’s growing pumpkins or any gardening activity, it helps me connect with nature and reduce stress,” he said.<\/p>\n

He added growing a giant pumpkin requires a lot of “patience, dedication and hard work”.<\/p>\n

“Whenever I start growing another giant pumpkin, I think about what I need to do the next day to ensure it grows healthily.”<\/p>\n

“My wife jokes and that the pumpkin is ‘the other woman’.”<\/p>\n

\"MattMatt Peskett<\/p>\n

Tully’s Farm in West Sussex, Crawley, donated \u00a3500 to Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust in exchange for Abdul the 150kg (330 pounds) pumpkin<\/p>\n

Since his diagnosis, Mr Peskett has received two rounds of chemotherapy treatment, numerous consultations and appointments.<\/p>\n

“I try to be upbeat and live a normal life,” he added. <\/p>\n

He said growing pumpkins is like a “science project”. <\/p>\n

“You need pedigree seeds, the right temperature, warm nights, and providing correct food, which includes seaweed and potassium.”<\/p>\n

His personal best so far is growing a 677-pound pumpkin (307kg) in 2022, which was weighed at the RHS in Hyde Hall.<\/p>\n

\"MattMatt Peskett<\/p>\n

In 2022, Mr Peskett presented his biggest ever pumpkin at the Dorking pumpkin show, while dressed as Gandalf. The show’s theme was Gourd of the Rings<\/p>\n

Mr Peskett’s most recent pumpkin, which he named Abdul, has found a home at Tully’s Farm in Crawley, West Sussex.<\/p>\n

He added the farm donated \u00a3500 to the cancer fund at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust in exchange for Abdul.<\/p>\n

The trust is where Mr Peskett is receiving care and treatment.<\/p>\n

“I named the pumpkin after my haematology doctor, he was really proud when I told him,” he said. <\/p>\n

Mr Peskett says he “strongly recommends” people to do gardening as a way to help deal with mental health stresses.<\/p>\n

“It’s relaxing, therapeutic and once you see what you have grown, it gives you a sense of achievement,” he explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matt Peskett Matt Peskett, who is living with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, says growing giant pumpkins helps him manage stress…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260],"class_list":{"0":"post-185727","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}