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In the Photos of the Readers of La Vanguardia we can see the winning pumpkins of the Fira de la Carbassa de Calaf, in the natural region of Alta Segarra, on display, with specimens weighing almost 500 kg.
It is not the only fair of this type held in Catalonia, but it is a good opportunity to see some mega pumpkins up close, although specimens twice the weight have been presented in international competitions.
In October of last year, a Minnesota horticulture teacher, Travis Gienger, presented a 2,500-pound specimen at the 49th World Pumpkin Weighing Championships in Half Moon Bay.
This year, he has gone even further and the professor has set a world record for the heaviest pumpkin after growing an even more gigantic 1,247 kilo pumpkin.
This is how he won the 50th World Championship, with an orange pumpkin, of enormous and very bulky volume, from which, according to calculations, at least 687 pies could be made.
Gienger has surpassed a farmer from Italy, who grew a 1,225-kilogram pumpkin in 2021, according to Guinness World Records.
Now, it is normal to find pumpkins of about 25-40 cm in diameter. The usual weight varies enormously, from about 100 g or less to 20 kg, which is when it begins to be considered a "giant pumpkin." In Calaf they have seen 500 kg, an achievement and a prodigy of agriculture.
According to Gienger, the secret to getting such a large pumpkin is to take care of the plants, watering them up to 12 times a day and fertilizing them a little more than usual.
Although pumpkin is associated in the popular imagination with Halloween and All Saints' Day, the truth is that there are pumpkins all year round. In fact, there are winter squash (a variety with thick skin, sweet flavor and lower water content) and summer squash (with white seeds and thin, light skin).
