Anna Sandor and Diane Mettler wrote the film; Howard Meltzer, Jane Goldenring, and Ted Bauman served as executive producers.

The plot revolves around radio personality Emma Silver, played by Doherty, as she attempts to pay off her recently deceased grandfather's debts by entering a pumpkin growing contest.

She must choose if she wants to stay in her rural hometown or accept a promising job opportunity in New York City.

After meeting with the attorney Bobby Ellis, Emma discovers that she has inherited Walt's farm and pumpkin seeds.

Bobby suggests that Walt wanted Emma to enter the local pumpkin growing contest to keep up a family tradition.

Emma is dismayed to learn that she has been replaced by a younger radio host and is reassigned to a gardening program she is tasked to video broadcast via webcams installed in Walt's farmhouse.

Emma talks to Seth about his future business plans, and later learns that the grand prize for the pumpkin growing contest will be doubled if the entry weighs more than the world record.

Their date is interrupted by Emma accepting an offer from a television executive to be an anchor on a New York City morning news program.

Emma pays off Walt's debt with the prize money, and Seth opens his own car repair shop.

"[5] On October 14, 2009, the Hallmark Channel issued a press release announcing that Doherty was cast as the star for the television film;[4] Kavan Smith was confirmed as her co-star on March 23, 2010.

[7] Doherty completed filming her scenes shortly before her participation as a contestant on the tenth season of the reality competition show Dancing with the Stars.

[8] Nancy Mills of USA Today wrote that Doherty's performance in the project marked her transition away from her earlier "bad girl" image, stemming from her arrest for driving under the influence and vandalism and subsequent anger management counseling.

[11] Growing the Big One was first broadcast on October 23, 2010, on the Hallmark Channel at 9 pm Eastern Standard Time in the United States.

[16] Critical response was largely positive, with Angelique Flores of Home Media magazine calling it "wholesome, sweet and refreshing" and an appropriate alternative to the typical horror films shown during Halloween.

[11] Echoing Bierly's sentiment, Michelle of the online news magazine TV Equals described Growing the Big One as "my absolute favorite kind of television holiday movie".

[21] Jessica Leigh Mattern wrote that Growing the Big One would appeal to fans of the television series When Calls the Heart.

[22] Laura Fries of Variety provided a more mixed review of Growing the Big One, calling it a "corny, or more adequately, 'seedy' original pic" reminiscent of the 1987 film Baby Boom.