Pumpkin is a healthy and beautiful vegetable. There are a huge number of fetal breeds in the world. For more than a hundred years, farmers have been competing with each other to grow giant vegetables every year. So what is the largest pumpkin in the world and what is the secret of its enormous weight?

First records

The vegetable is popular in the United States and can be used to prepare hundreds of delicious dishes. You can bake pumpkin in the oven, cook porridge and soup from it, or make a fragrant pie. In addition, it is a symbol of the holiday, which is celebrated in the fall. Every year, residents try to carve different faces out of pumpkins and make a “Jack-O-Lantern” out of it.

It is in this country that unusual competitions are held, where the participants are giant vegetables. Any fruit is carefully checked for damage and chemical additives. If the jury notices any chips, cracks or dents, then the pumpkin is removed from the competition.

According to the rules of the festival, the vegetable must be grown in natural conditions using natural fertilizers. Only the perfect pumpkin must win this competition.

The very first huge fruit weighed 181 kg. The record was recorded in 1900. The winner was William Warnock from the USA. A year later, he broke his own record and grew a vegetable 1.5 kg heavier than the first. For many decades, no one could surpass his record.

And only in 1976 Bob Ford managed to do this. His pumpkin weighed 204 kg. In 1980, the standard was raised again. This time the leader was the American Howard Dill. He managed to grow a vegetable weighing 208 kg. Literally a year later, the farmer again managed to take first place, growing a vegetable 15 kg more than the previous one.

It didn't take long for Howard to be a winner. Three years later, Norm Gallagher beat him by presenting a 277 kg pumpkin at the fair. In 1986, the stakes began to rise, and Robert Genkenz took over the championship. The size of his pumpkin exceeded 300 kg. Every year, farmers' vegetables grew by leaps and bounds, and by 1990, a fruit weighing 370 kg became the record holder. Over several decades, the size of pumpkins has doubled.

The first heavyweight was pumpkin from the USA. She weighed 1,524 pounds or 691 kg. This beauty brought $10,000 to her farmer owner.

Queen from California

Local farmer Joel Holland managed to grow a fruit weighing 558 kg.

In order to take this giant to the competition, he needed a whole truck and several hands to load the vegetable into the car. After the competition, the gardener sold the pumpkin for $6,145. Not a bad profit!

Record holder from Wisconsin

American Chris Stevens managed to grow a vegetable weighing 821 kilograms. The giant was presented at the Harvest Festival in 2010. The girth of the vegetable was 4.7 meters. After the fair, the fruit was sent to the Botanical Garden, which is located in New York. There everyone could admire the giant.

The farmer admitted that the secret of the big pumpkin is quite simple: he absolutely loves his vegetables and uses only the highest quality fertilizers to grow them. It couldn't have happened without sunlight either. Pumpkins love sun and extensive watering.

Stevens trucked the fruit from Wisconsin to display at the festival. After the results were announced, the pumpkin was ceremonially cut and used to make pies. All the seeds were returned to the owner so that he could set a new record next year.

Pumpkin from a married couple

In 2011, the winners were John and Kelsey Bryson from the province of Quebec (Canada).

They managed to grow and bring to the “pumpkin festival” a fruit weighing 824 kg. The competition took place in Prince Edward County and attracted a huge number of heavyweight participants.

Exactly 900

The Great Pumpkin was also grown by Harry Miller. He presented the fetus in 2013, which weighed exactly 900 kg.

The farmer carefully grew the vegetable for 3 months. The total cost of the heavyweight was $11,910.

In 2012, the largest pumpkin weighed 911 kg. Ron Wallace from New England managed to raise the large beauty. The huge vegetable was presented at the Massachusetts State Fair.

The farmer was not the first to receive the original award. Six years ago he managed to win at the same fair. Only then his “participant” weighed only 680 kg.

Tim Matheson and his vegetables

Another vegetable, also from California, weighed a record 921 kg. He managed to reach this size in 4 months. Tim Matheson's family carefully cared for their favorite vegetable.

In 2013, this record was recorded by a popular agricultural company in the country. The farmer still continues to grow unusual vegetables of enormous size.

Another winner from California

The festival, called Half Moon Bay, has been held in California (USA) since 1973. Farmers from many countries present the creations that they managed to grow. The largest pumpkin was submitted by a local resident and weighed 933 kg.

John Hockley has long wanted to win first place in this competition. In 2014, he managed to surpass all his rivals and himself. With his huge grown brainchild, he “crushed” all competitors. The vegetable that came in 2nd place weighed 130kg less than the Hockley pumpkin.

The area of ​​John Hockley's vegetable garden is 4 acres. Over the course of a year, he carefully grew 6 different types of pumpkins. Only thanks to the persistence of the farmer, they reached large sizes, and one of them managed to become a real record holder and get into.

The farmer knew that it was forbidden to use any chemicals while the fruit was growing, otherwise it, along with the pumpkin, would have been removed from the competition. This prompted the gardener to use only organic fertilizers. Thanks to proper watering, its fruits gained up to 20 kg per day, increasing in size well.

John received $12,500 for winning the competition, which he was very happy about. The farmer then admitted that next year he would try to grow the orange vegetable a few more kilograms and try to win again.

Pumpkin King

For Benny Mayer, growing huge pumpkins is a matter of honor. The farmer participated for several years in the German festival of farmers in Zurich. The most difficult task for the gardeners was not to grow vegetables, but to deliver heavyweight participants to the exhibition. They needed several tractors, cranes, SUVs and trucks to transport and weigh the huge vegetables.

In 2013, the vegetable “participant” from Benny Mayer was disqualified from the competition, even though his weight reached 1053 kg. Unfortunately, the pumpkin had some flaws. The competition jury decided to exclude the beauty from the competition.

But the farmer did not stop there. And in 2014, I grew a pumpkin several kilograms larger than the previous one. The pumpkin weighed a record 1056 kg and became the largest among vegetable crops.

Record pumpkin

The Guinness Book of Records is regularly updated with new discoveries and records. So in 2013, it was replenished with a new record - the world's largest pumpkin, which was grown in the USA by American Tim Matheson.

The largest pumpkin in the world weighs 1.0 kilograms, which is almost a ton. This record was announced by representatives of the famous book of records in October 2013. This is not surprising, since it is in October that the pumpkin harvest takes place for All Saints' Day, otherwise known as Halloween. The United States often has the most record harvests of very large and colorful pumpkins.

Last year, the record pumpkin weighed “only” 783 kilograms. Moreover, it should be noted that its girth is as much as five meters in diameter. One has only to imagine how huge this vegetable is. Of course, this was not the first time that Tim Matheson tried to get into the famous book of records, but in previous times he failed. But patience and hard work helped him achieve his goal.

The competition for the largest pumpkins was held in California, the small town of Half Moon Bay. This unusual championship has been held annually for the past forty years. This is where the world's leading gardeners compete for first place among the huge vegetables. Of course, as in any competition, a jury was present at the championship, who evaluated the vegetables presented to the judge.

Pumpkin the size of a car

The farmer was rewarded with 11,910 US dollars for his hard work. But the man cared for his huge pumpkin for a whole hundred days. In total, the prize fund for this championship was 25 thousand dollars. There were three first places, which were distributed among the best farmers. It should be noted that all three prizes were taken by vegetable growers from sunny California.

Second place went to Tim's neighbor Gary Miller. His huge pumpkin weighed 0.4 kilograms, which is also a very good record. According to eyewitnesses, the winning pumpkin was the size of a car. Indeed, it looks like the Good Fairy did a good job for Cinderella by creating such a large pumpkin carriage for her niece!

Growing Giant Vegetables

In the United States, there is an incredible love for competition in growing giant vegetables. It is for this reason that a special society of lovers of huge pumpkins was created. This society unites all people who are passionate about growing truly fantastic-sized pumpkins. These specimens could well have served as Cinderella’s carriage. Every year, farmers hold their grand festivals in different parts of the country to weigh the fruits of their efforts, after which the winners are determined. At this time, the city, which has become the home of the competition, becomes an excellent place of interest for tourists. Those who happen upon such a festival will be incredibly lucky, since not everyone can see such a large vegetable.

Every year, the record-breaking pumpkins get bigger and bigger. Who knows how many kilograms the winning pumpkin will weigh next year. Perhaps in the future no one will be able to break a new record, since it is impossible to imagine how a pumpkin could be even larger than the current record holder. In any case, farmers will probably come up with a new recipe for growing a giant vegetable.

Many simple vegetable growers from Russia cannot even imagine how such a huge vegetable can be grown. And for US farmers, the largest pumpkin in the world is a completely ordinary reality, which is becoming larger and heavier from year to year.

The largest pumpkin in the world grew up with American Chris Stevens in Wisconsin. The weight of the specimen exceeded 821 kg, and the diameter was 5 m! The record was officially confirmed and recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. Pumpkins in the United States become incredibly popular on the eve of Halloween. Therefore, farmers are trying to collect record harvests of large and colorful vegetables for this holiday.

This year the record holder weighed an incredible 821 kilograms and 200 grams. You can’t even wrap your hands around this pumpkin, it’s so huge! Chris Stevens's giant pumpkin has surpassed the previous huge specimen, which weighed 783 kg. She was raised in Ohio. Farmer Stevens is happy to share his secrets with other gardeners. In order to grow a monster-like pumpkin, he gave the vegetable special care. The pumpkin received a maximum of high-quality fertilizers and was kept in a sunny place.

Fertile soil and good weather are the main factors for success in such a business as growing large pumpkins, according to a happy farmer. The record-breaking vegetable was exhibited at the city fair, where everyone could admire it. The pumpkin was there until Halloween. Then it was used to make the filling for a delicious holiday pie. The seeds of the world's largest pumpkin have been planted in the ground for a magnificent new harvest. They will also be able to turn into giant pumpkins and enter the Book of Records.

Pumpkin is the largest vegetable in the world. It is called the queen of vegetables as it is very large compared to other crops. Every year, farmers receive excellent harvests - the pumpkins get larger each time, increasing in mass. For example, in 2009, Christy Harp displayed the largest pumpkin at the annual meeting of the Vegetable Garden Society. Her weight was 777 kg. Before this, the largest pumpkin in the world was considered the “beauty”, weighing 760 kg.

As for the European giants, they seem much smaller compared to American pumpkins. The largest pumpkin from Europe weighed only 600 kg.

Features of pumpkin

This vegetable has a bright orange color. His native lands are in South America. Regular pumpkins reach 1 m in diameter. Average specimens weigh about 200 kg. People consume all the pulp of this vegetable, as well as its seeds. Pumpkin has a rough skin that is not used in cooking. It is simply cut off.

The first information about pumpkin appeared more than 5 thousand years ago. Even the ancient Indians began to cultivate this vegetable. They used the pulp to make various dishes, and made oil from the seeds. They peeled the pumpkin shell or peel from the pulp and used it as utensils. Pumpkin appeared on Russian lands in the 16th century.

The vegetable grows well in natural subtropical and temperate latitudes. It requires abundant watering, light and heat. If there is not enough moisture and the weather is cold, the plant dies. There are many varieties of pumpkin. They differ in the shape and size of the fruit, sugar content and ripening time. Some varieties are hybrid and can only grow on plantations. Harvesting usually occurs in September in dry weather. Signs of pumpkin ripeness are dry stalks and a bright shade of the peel.

What are the benefits of pumpkin?

Nutritionists recommend including it in your diet, as it is rich in vitamins. Pumpkin is an ideal product for baby food. It contains vitamin D and carotene, which are simply necessary for the normal development of a child. Its pulp is well and quickly absorbed even by a weakened body. Pumpkin is an excellent source of iron, phosphorus, copper, potassium, magnesium, fluorine, zinc, calcium and other trace elements. It has a positive effect on the processes of blood circulation and hematopoiesis.

Another record

The largest pumpkin in the world, which is not recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, was grown in California. The Queen of Vegetables Weigh-In Championship is held every year in Half Moon Bay. Three giant specimens took prizes in the last competition. A huge pumpkin weighing about 900 kg was declared the winner. She was raised by a farmer from Napa - Harry Miller. He was awarded a prize of almost 12 thousand dollars. The total prize fund for all three places was 25 thousand dollars.

pumpkins. Recently, another record holder was grown in the USA. The giant vegetable weighed 558 kg. To bring a pumpkin to an agricultural festival in California, its owner, 55-year-old farmer Joel Holland, needed a small truck and a whole mountain of towels with which he shielded the giant from the scorching sun.

From time to time, new records are set in the world for growing the largest pumpkins. Recently, another record holder was grown in the USA. The giant vegetable weighed 558 kg. To bring a pumpkin to an agricultural festival in California, its owner, 55-year-old farmer Joel Holland, needed a small truck and a whole mountain towels with which he covered the giant from the scorching sun.

It is known that everything that is most valuable is rich in plant, is contained in its very heart - the seed. Pumpkins- not an exception. Their seeds not only give birth to the largest fruits in the world, but also have the ability to “cleanse the body and endure disease.” Experts call pumpkin seeds a “miniature pharmacy,” because they contain almost the entire table of vitamins and microelements and accumulate life-giving solar energy.

Pumpkin seeds have gained particular fame thanks to zinc. Pumpkin seeds (especially the skin) contain almost as much of it as oysters (oysters are the richest source natural zinc). The role of zinc in the functioning of the body is simply invaluable. If there is a shortage of this mineral new cells, including immune ones, simply are not formed in the body, and damaged ones are not repaired. With a lack of zinc, adults age faster, and children and adolescents develop worse.

Zinc is the main mineral for men health and masculine strength. Men require 6–8 times more than women. Zinc affects the activity of the gonads and prostate gland, normalizes the secretion of testosterone and is used for the prevention and treatment of male infertility.

Recently, scientists made a discovery: zinc is a real mineral of sobriety! If there is enough zinc in the body, then the threat of developing alcoholism is reduced.

Zinc helps the pancreas produce insulin and is able to balance blood sugar.

Excess weight is also associated with a lack of zinc: with its deficiency, glucose is converted not into energy, but into unaesthetic folds on the sides.

With zinc deficiency, there is a violation and suppression of almost all parts of the immune system. Along with B vitamins, it is an important regulator of the functions of the nervous system. Lack of zinc often leads to delayed development and puberty in children, acne in adolescents, and increased cholesterol levels.

Pumpkin seeds are also one of the most effective and safest anthelmintics, primarily against tapeworms (flatworms) and roundworms. Helminths “do not like” pumpkin seeds due to the presence of cucurbitin in them, an amino acid that is quite rare in nature. It is very valuable that cucurbitin is the enemy only of uninvited “guests”: for person it is absolutely harmless. In terms of their effect on worms, pumpkin seeds are second only to male fern preparations, but at the same time they do not have the side effects characteristic of fern (they do not irritate the intestines, do not cause intoxication). Therefore, pumpkin seeds are actively used to treat children, pregnant women and the elderly.

The “Pumpkin Seed Product SUN BERRY” was created from the seeds of special varieties of pumpkins with a high content of valuable substances. It completely preserves the “primordial” composition of pumpkin seeds and the healing properties inherent in these amazing sunny fruits.

"PUMPKIN CAPITAL"

Every year in October in the city of Windsor (New Scotland, Canada) as part of the annual Pumpkin Festival, a fun event is held - the Pumpkin Regatta. Windsor is the heart of West Hampshire's farming communities, so it's no surprise that the town was one day declared the Pumpkin Capital of the World.

Windsor owes such a resounding title to one of its farmers, Howard Dill, who has been growing huge pumpkins for about two decades (the fruits of his labors have been included in the Guinness Book of Records four times as the largest pumpkins in the world). He developed a pumpkin variety - the giant Atlantic one. And his “Dill Family Farm” became one of the attractions of Windsor. So it is Dill who is considered to be the culprit for the fact that the epidemic of pumpkin megalomania has swept almost the entire world. An international organization, the Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth, was even created, which annually holds a competition for the largest pumpkin in 20 cities. North America.

In 1999, Howard Dill's son, Danny, proposed adding a pumpkin race across Lake Pysaquid to the Festival. Thus the Annual Pumpkin Regatta was born. The regatta includes competitions for 2 classes of pumpkins: motorized and experimental pumpkins, as well as rowing pumpkins. And in 2001, two events that made Windsor famous (which the press began to call “the small city of big beginnings”) merged into one large “pumpkin” festival.

BY THE WAY

The round jackfruit, which is the world's largest fruit growing on a tree, can reach almost a meter in length and weigh 35 kg.

The fruit is green on the outside but turns yellow when ripe. Inside, it consists of large, edible yellow slices of banana-like pulp containing smooth, oval, light brown seeds. There can be from 100 to 500 pieces in one fruit. The seeds are 2 to 2.5–4 cm long and 1.25 to 2 cm thick, white and rather fragile. Their germination lasts no more than 3–4 days.

In India, jackfruit is called the bread of the poor. By the way, jackfruits can be grown perfectly in non-tropical conditions, in a greenhouse. The unripe fruit is cooked as a vegetable, and the ripe one is consumed raw. It tastes like melon, mango and papaya (others say it's something like a mixture of pineapple, pear and artichoke). Its juice is very sweet and has a yellow, brownish or pink tint depending on the ripeness of the fruit. A fully ripened fruit smells like rotten onion from the outside, while the flesh of a cut fruit smells like banana and pineapple.