How Much Does The Heaviest Pumpkin In The US Really Weigh?
Pumpkin picking is a quintessential part of fall. Whether an individual is looking for the smallest or largest one in the patch, it is always fun hauling back the pickings to the car. But this particular pumpkin, which was just crowned the 38th Annual All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off winner, would be quite heavy to bring back home (via Food & Wine).
On September 30, 2022, the Topsfield Fair held its yearly pumpkin weighing competition, which is a tradition that dates back to 1984, according to MassLive. People travel from all over New England to compete in this contest, with their entries having to be brought in large vehicles, due to their sheer size and weight. The first winner of the competition came in at 433 pounds, and entries since then have increased for the most part (for reference, the winner of the 2012 competition broke the one-ton mark, weighing in at 2,009 pounds, according to Topsfield Fair). This year's heaviest pumpkin came from Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, and was an especially impressive weight.
The current heaviest pumpkin is upwards of 2,500 pounds
Jamie Graham, the owner of this year's winner, proudly posed with his pumpkin on the Topsfield Fair's Instagram. The post also mentioned that his pumpkin, which came in at 2,480 pounds, broke the record for the heaviest pumpkin that has ever entered the competition. The record-breaking individual had to be transported to the scale via a mini crane, according to a YouTube video posted by WGRZ-TV.
Graham won $8,522 for this magnificent feat, according to Fox 9. However, his pumpkin was still lighter than Scott Andrusz's pumpkin, which recently just set the record at the Great Pumpkin Farm in Clarence, New York, for the heaviest pumpkin in North America, at a whopping 2,554 pounds (via HuffPost).
But, even Andrusz's gourd fell short of being named the Guinness World Record's heaviest pumpkin, which was given to Stefano Cutrupi's pumpkin last year at the Campionato della Zuccone Festival (via Food & Wine), and weighed approximately 2,703 pounds. However, it is safe to say that pumpkins like Graham's and Andrusz's are far from the ordinary. Gourds like those will either make for a massive jack-o-lantern or a lot of pumpkin pies.