HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — A gardening teacher from Minnesota remained the crowning winner Monday of an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California, where his giant gourd has won the top prize four years in a row.
Travis Geinger of Anoka, Minnesota, defeated his nearest rival by 6 pounds (2.7 kilograms) to win the 51st World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.
His winning gourd weighed 2,471 pounds (1,121 kg), falling short world record He set the record last year with a pumpkin weighing 2,749 pounds (1,247 kg).
Gienger, 44, said as he has in the past, he has focused on healthy soil and well-nourished plants, but the cold snap coupled with record-breaking rainfall is likely to impact the growth of his pumpkins.
“We had a really tough season and somehow, I kept working,” Geinger said. “I had to work for it and in the end we got it done, but it wasn’t much.”
Geinger and his family drove their giant gourd 35 hours to California.
He said the giant pumpkin’s next stop will be in Southern California, where a team of professional carvers will 3D carve it at a Halloween event.
Geinger’s winning streak is quite good.
Last year in the same competition he Made a Guinness World Record For the heaviest pumpkin with the orange shell mentioned earlier With a hefty price tag of £2,749It broke the old record of 2,702 pounds 13.9 ounces for a pumpkin grown by Stefano Cutrupi of Radda in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy.
According to Guinness, Katrupi’s entry was the first giant gourd to surpass the 2,700-pound mark.
Meanwhile, also last year, a pumpkin was grown in upstate New York The scales were tipped at 2,554 poundsSetting a state and American record. Scott Andrews’ entry broke the back National record of 2,528 pounds.
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