2023-10-10 04:58:02
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A Minnesota horticulture professor set a world record in California on Monday for the heaviest pumpkin following growing a 2,749-pound (1,247-kilogram) behemoth.
Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota, won the 50th World Pumpkin Weighing Championships in Half Moon Bay, California, with a huge, bulging orange pumpkin that might make at least 687 pies.
“I did not expect that. It was quite a sensation,” said Gienger, 43, who has been growing pumpkins for nearly 30 years and last year set a new U.S. record for growing a gigantic one.
The previous world record for the heaviest pumpkin was set by a grower in Italy who grew a 1,226-kilogram (2,702-pound) pumpkin in 2021, according to Guinness World Records.
Gienger grows his pumpkins in his backyard. He said this year she decided to give her plants extra care, watering them up to 12 times a day and feeding and fertilizing them a little more than usual.
Gienger, a gardener and professor of horticulture at Anoka Technical College, has been growing pumpkins since he was a teenager, inspired by his father, who also did it. In 2020 he competed for the first time in the annual Half Moon Bay weigh-in, and has won three of the last four giant pumpkin contests the city has hosted.
“I put the job in a way that can put a smile on people’s faces, and it’s just so nice to come here to see everyone in this town,” he said.
The pumpkin champion won a $30,000 prize for growing the largest pumpkin and setting a world record.
The oversized pumpkin will be on display in Half Moon Bay along with the three finalists until next weekend, when visitors to the city’s Pumpkin and Arts Festival can take photos with Gienger and his pumpkin.
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