His Great Pumpkin is 1,900 lbs. (and still growing)
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Steve Connolly’s prized pumpkin could yield enough pie to feed an army — or comfortably house a family of six. But instead, his goal is to smash a world record with the orange behemoth currently squatting in his pumpkin patch.
Proudly displaying the Frankenstein-like creation from his garden in Sharon, Mass., Connolly spoke to Meredith Vieira and Al Roker via satellite on TODAY as he waits for judgment day, Oct. 11. His pumpkin may tip the scales at upwards of 1,900 pounds, which would best the current record of 1,689 pounds.
Vieira asked Connolly if he worries about the pumpkin breaking when it is hauled off to Frerichs Farm in Warren, R.I., for its weighing in five days.
You could almost see the sweat pouring from Connolly’s brow. “Oh my goodness, yes,” he said. “Lifting it at this time of the year is a tough thing. We’re very careful how we lift it. I’ll have a fork truck come in and they’re going to use a chain and hoist to lift it up.”
Smashing pumpkin records
While some people may believe Connolly is out of his gourd in fussing and pampering over his pumpkin — which the many tourists to his pumpkin patch have dubbed the Beast from the East — he’s actually part of a unique world that is more a sport than a gardening pastime.
Just two decades ago, 400-pound pumpkins were looked at in wonder, but these days, among even a 1,000 pound pumpkin looks like a pipsqueak competitive pumpkin growers. Playing around with pumpkin genetics and feeding them fertilizer fit for a garden king has produced whoppers such as Joe Jutras' current record holder.
Coveted pumpkin seeds can fetch up to $500 from growers, and prize money can top $10,000 in the competition for the weightiest.
Connolly said he’s actually had to slow his pumpkin’s growth by trimming its vine in recent weeks for fear it might otherwise burst at the seams.
“It’s dropped off a little bit, actually; it was growing about 40 pounds a day in the middle of August,” Connolly told Vieira and Roker. “This time of the season you don’t want it to grow too fast, because they’re a little more brittle on the outside. They don’t like to expand as much as they do earlier in the season.”
Proudly displaying the Frankenstein-like creation from his garden in Sharon, Mass., Connolly spoke to Meredith Vieira and Al Roker via satellite on TODAY as he waits for judgment day, Oct. 11. His pumpkin may tip the scales at upwards of 1,900 pounds, which would best the current record of 1,689 pounds.
Vieira asked Connolly if he worries about the pumpkin breaking when it is hauled off to Frerichs Farm in Warren, R.I., for its weighing in five days.
You could almost see the sweat pouring from Connolly’s brow. “Oh my goodness, yes,” he said. “Lifting it at this time of the year is a tough thing. We’re very careful how we lift it. I’ll have a fork truck come in and they’re going to use a chain and hoist to lift it up.”
Smashing pumpkin records
While some people may believe Connolly is out of his gourd in fussing and pampering over his pumpkin — which the many tourists to his pumpkin patch have dubbed the Beast from the East — he’s actually part of a unique world that is more a sport than a gardening pastime.
Just two decades ago, 400-pound pumpkins were looked at in wonder, but these days, among even a 1,000 pound pumpkin looks like a pipsqueak competitive pumpkin growers. Playing around with pumpkin genetics and feeding them fertilizer fit for a garden king has produced whoppers such as Joe Jutras' current record holder.
Coveted pumpkin seeds can fetch up to $500 from growers, and prize money can top $10,000 in the competition for the weightiest.
Connolly said he’s actually had to slow his pumpkin’s growth by trimming its vine in recent weeks for fear it might otherwise burst at the seams.
“It’s dropped off a little bit, actually; it was growing about 40 pounds a day in the middle of August,” Connolly told Vieira and Roker. “This time of the season you don’t want it to grow too fast, because they’re a little more brittle on the outside. They don’t like to expand as much as they do earlier in the season.”
