Pumpkin weighing 2,471 pounds wins California contest
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Oct 14, 2024 • 1 minute read
Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off
Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minn., second from right, celebrates with his daughter Lily, 3, after his pumpkin weighed in at 2,471 pounds to win at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, Calif., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. Photo by Jeff Chiu /AP Photo
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — A Minnesota horticulture teacher remained the reigning champion Monday of an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California where his massive gourds have won the top prize four years in a row.
Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minnesota, beat his closest competitor by 6 pounds (2.7 kilograms) to clinch the victory at the 51st World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.
His winning gourd came in at 2,471 pounds (1,121 kilograms), falling short of the world record he set last year with a pumpkin weighing 2,749 pounds (1,247 kilograms).
Gienger, 44, said that as he has done in the past, he focused on having healthy soil and well-fed plants but that a cold fall with record-breaking rain likely impacted his pumpkin’s growth.
“We had really, really tough weather and somehow, some way, I kept on working,” Gienger said. “I had to work for this one, and we got it done at the end, but it wasn’t by much.”
Gienger and his family drove his gargantuan gourd for 35 hours to California.
He said the giant pumpkin’s next stop will be in Southern California, where a team of professional carvers will do a 3D carve on it at a Halloween event.
A Minnesota horticulture teacher remained the reigning champion Monday of an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California
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