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Back in April, the Bergenfield grandmother came across a little seed in her yard. She's not quite sure how it got there, but decided to plant it anyway.
To Jackson's surprise, the baby seed grew to become a 23-pound, two-foot-long gourd.
"It just kept growing all over the place," the 77-year-old grandmother said.
Anxious to see how much it weighed, Jackson picked her pumpkin on Monday.
This has been Jackson's largest vegetable yet. Although as it turns out, that's the standard size for the gourd -- also known as the Cucurbita argyrosperma or Japanese pie pumpkin.
Jackson has had a green thumb ever since she was a child. Her daughter, Liza Jackson, doesn't remember a time when her mom wasn't in her garden.
"It's her thing, she's always gardening," Liza Jackson said.
"In the house she has plants everywhere -- it’s like a rain forest."
Jackson's favorite lately have been the asparagus beans, which she says can grow as long as three feet. She, however, picks them at 18 inches.
"I can't stop gardening," she said. "I would stay here until nighttime. Sometimes I overdo it."
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