The one-ton mark has been broken for giant pumpkins.

[xiphias]

Growing giant pumpkins has been a sport since the middle of the 19th century, but the last few years have pushed the boundaries of horticulture amazingly. It's an entirely new thing.

By the begining of the 20th century, the world-record pumpkins hovered around 400 pounds (180 kg or so). But 1976 saw a new run of records being shattered -- ten years later, the world record was 671 pounds (304 kg). This was due to both to the creation of new breeds of pumpkin, and of new greenhouse techniques. And it kept going. And the increase just kept going and going.

The world record was set at the Deerfield, NH a couple days ago. 1,844 pounds. But Steve Geddes didn't get to hold his record long: last night, at the Topsfield Fair, Ron Wallace's pumpkin weighed in at 2009 pounds.

Comments

[quietann.livejournal.com]

Ben and I are going to the fair, probably on Thursday. I hope the pumpkin is still there!

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Hee! I googled his name and got this great story. I vaguely knew that competetive pumpkin growing was a thing, they have a weigh-off at Half Moon Bay every year, but I didn't realize how *intense* it got.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Jay and I were at Topsfield Fair yesterday! But we left before the pumpkin weigh-in. Congrats to the winning grower!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. They are pushing the limits of horticulture -- it's CRAZY. These guys -- almost all guys -- more-or-less live next to their pumpkins toward the end, carefully feeding amazing amounts of fertilizer, monitoring temperature changes, cooling them down, warming them up. . . and for good reason. Like that article said, these things can actually EXPLODE -- they grow so fast that they can just split and collapse, which, at that size, actually splatters enough stuff around to legitimately call it an explosion. And, of course, that's heartbreaking -- not only for the competitive streak, but if you're spending that much time babying a vegetable, you end up getting emotionally attached to it.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Wow... he nearly beat the Gregorian year count.
I hope I get to bring the kids to the fair this week.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm betting that, within five years, the winning pumpkin will consistently beat the year.

[bill_sheehan.livejournal.com]

Jesus Hussein Christ! 2009 pounds? Just getting that monster to the fairground intact is a major undertaking.

I may have to visit the Topsfield Fair after all.

[goljerp]

I know this is not at all relevant to the record, but I wonder how such a pumpkin tastes. Can you make pumpkin pie out of it, or has it lost its essential "pumpkin" taste?

While we're on the harvest theme, happy sukkot to those who celebrate it!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

From what I understand, giant pumpkins are really lousy eating. I mean, they're EDIBLE, in the sense that they have calories and stuff in them, but they don't taste like sugar pumpkins. But, to be fair, jack-o-lantern pumpkins don't taste as good as sugar pumpkins and baking pumpkins, either. So we're already used to buying different breed lines for different purposes, anyway. Jack-o-lanterns are bred for symmetry, color, and general looks. So you and I are probably already used to choosing pumpkins based on non-food criteria.

Giant pumpkins haven't lost their pumpkin-ness, even if they're lousy eating.