Smashing pumpkin retains world title for teacher
Travis Gienger drove his 2,471lb pumpkin 35 35 hours to the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in California.
A horticulture teacher remained the reigning champion 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 6lb (2.7kg) 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 2,471lb (1,121kg), falling short of the world record he set last year with a pumpkin weighing 2,749lb (1,247kg).
Mr 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 autumn with record-breaking rain likely impacted his pumpkin’s growth.
“We had really, really tough weather and somehow, some way, I kept on working,” he said. “I had to work for this one, and we got it done at the end, but it wasn’t by much.”
Mr Gienger and his family drove his winning pumpkin 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.
