There’s no secret to growing a pumpkin that weighs more than a grand piano.

If there is, Joseph Baird said, it’s hard work. It’s about taking the time to dump up to 150 gallons of water on your pumpkin, instead of doing something more relaxing, like watching TV.

It’s about pruning leaves, checking for insects, trapping mice and eliminating any smaller pumpkins leeching off your trophy gourd.

And if you’re willing to build a greenhouse larger than the home you share with your wife and two children, then maybe, just maybe, Baird said, you too can grow a pumpkin to rival his 1,006-pound behemoth that won the title of heaviest pumpkin at this year’s Spokane County Interstate Fair.

Few people on the planet possess the dedication and wherewithal it takes to grow a winning pumpkin. And for those who do embark on such a daring odyssey, the question is ‘Why?’

In Baird’s case, he said it’s all about “the fame and the glory.”

Baird has been spending about 25 hours a week since April tending to his “third child.” On an average day, he wakes up early in the morning and opens the doors of the greenhouse so his pumpkin doesn’t overheat. Then, a little while later, he comes back and pours up to about 150 gallons of water on his pumpkin. He also buries any leaf nodes that sprout so his plant can grow a massive root system, which in turn gives his pumpkin extra water and nutrients.

“Then at the end of the evening, a little before sundown, I would go and close my sides back down and close the doors (of the greenhouse),” Baird said. “And then tuck the pumpkin in for the night.”

That involves covering his pumpkin with a blanket to deter critters and keep it warm.

“The greenhouse is in the backyard of my house, and it has actually got more square footage than the house,” Baird said.

He declined to say how much money he’s spent constructing the greenhouse and caring for his pumpkin, because “then my wife will know.”

“The currency is the goodwill and happy spirit that it brings, because everyone loves a big pumpkin,” he said. “When you turn the corner with a big pumpkin, nobody says, ‘Oh, I hate that big pumpkin.’ It just brings smiles to everyone, and people are enamored with it, and it just brightens people’s lives.”