Post by LINGD on Mar 11, 2010 22:51:34 GMT -5
A retired Washington firefighter won the annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off on Monday, presenting a gigantic pumpkin that weighed 1,229 pounds.
tiffany ring
Joel Holland's Atlantic Giant pumpkin -- measuring 12 feet, 10 inches in circumference -- earned him $5 per pound, or $6,145. That's exactly what he took home in prize money last year.
He said the pumpkin could make roughly 600 pumpkin pies but instead will be displayed in a parade in Half Moon Bay this coming weekend, then carved into a jack-o'-lantern for Halloween.
tiffany bracelet
"Maybe we'll set a record for the size of a pumpkin pie next," said Holland, who has won the competition five years in a row. He won last year with a pumpkin that weighed exactly the same amount.
tiffany necklace
Holland's pumpkin had to be removed from the back of a pickup truck with a crane.
Holland, 56, is a bit of a celebrity in the subculture of giant-pumpkin growers. He markets tapes and DVDs to people wanting to learn his secrets for coaxing the most weight out of championship seeds.
tiffany jewelry
Another of his pumpkins grown this year won at a weigh-off in Oregon last month, tipping the scale at 1,161 pounds. But Holland said he saves his best one each year for the Half Moon Bay event.
He attributed his success to two decades of pumpkin growing experience and the favorable climate at his Puyallup, Wash., home. The Atlantic Giant was hand-pollinated and grew from July to October.
tiffany & co
While the Half Moon Bay contest bills itself as the world championship, the current world record-holder is a 1,469-pounder entered in a Pennsylvania contest on Oct. 1, grown by Larry Checkon of Pennsylvania.
Growers from Oregon and Washington have won most of the Half Moon Bay contests in recent years, but growers around Napa are coming on strong. Of the 49 entrants this year, nine were from that area, and among those were the second-, fourth-, sixth- and 10th-place finishers.
tiffany ring
Joel Holland's Atlantic Giant pumpkin -- measuring 12 feet, 10 inches in circumference -- earned him $5 per pound, or $6,145. That's exactly what he took home in prize money last year.
He said the pumpkin could make roughly 600 pumpkin pies but instead will be displayed in a parade in Half Moon Bay this coming weekend, then carved into a jack-o'-lantern for Halloween.
tiffany bracelet
"Maybe we'll set a record for the size of a pumpkin pie next," said Holland, who has won the competition five years in a row. He won last year with a pumpkin that weighed exactly the same amount.
tiffany necklace
Holland's pumpkin had to be removed from the back of a pickup truck with a crane.
Holland, 56, is a bit of a celebrity in the subculture of giant-pumpkin growers. He markets tapes and DVDs to people wanting to learn his secrets for coaxing the most weight out of championship seeds.
tiffany jewelry
Another of his pumpkins grown this year won at a weigh-off in Oregon last month, tipping the scale at 1,161 pounds. But Holland said he saves his best one each year for the Half Moon Bay event.
He attributed his success to two decades of pumpkin growing experience and the favorable climate at his Puyallup, Wash., home. The Atlantic Giant was hand-pollinated and grew from July to October.
tiffany & co
While the Half Moon Bay contest bills itself as the world championship, the current world record-holder is a 1,469-pounder entered in a Pennsylvania contest on Oct. 1, grown by Larry Checkon of Pennsylvania.
Growers from Oregon and Washington have won most of the Half Moon Bay contests in recent years, but growers around Napa are coming on strong. Of the 49 entrants this year, nine were from that area, and among those were the second-, fourth-, sixth- and 10th-place finishers.