Puyallup pumpkin pumps up state record by 300 pounds
Oct 7, 2013, 8:26 AM | Updated: 11:56 am
Pumpkins arrive for judging at the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival. Despite a nearly 1,800 pound-Puyallup pumpkin, it didn't weigh enough to win the competition in Elk Grove, California and had to settle for second place. (Image courtesy the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival Facebook)
(Image courtesy the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival Facebook)
The Great Pumpkin has nothing on this massive gourd from Puyallup.
“This pumpkin we had on this trip just broke the Washington state record at 1,791 pounds,” grower Joel Holland said. “We’re pretty pleased with that.”
Holland has been growing giant pumpkins for 30 years. This pumpkin shattered the state record by nearly 300 pounds, but even at nearly 1,800 pounds, it wasn’t good enough to win the 19th Annual Elk Grove GIANT Pumpkin Festival in Elk Grove, California. Holland had to settle for second place.
“It’s always better to win, you know that’s a better outcome,” he said. “You have to take them as they come. We’ve had our share of wins over the years. To get the state record was a good thing.”
So, how many pies can you get out of an 1,800 pound pumpkin?
“We usually figure it takes two pounds of pumpkin per pie,” Holldand said, but he has more than pies on his mind for this pumpkin.
“We hope to put it on display when we get back home, and perhaps there’s some professional carvers up there that would probably like to carve it as well for Halloween.”
To put this 1,791 pounder in perspective, the world record pumpkin weighed-in at just over two-thousand pounds. That record was set last year in Massachusetts.
