1,120 kilo pumpkin wins contest in California

A Minnesota horticulture teacher confirmed his championship in the annual giant pumpkin contest in Northern California on Monday, taking the title for the fourth consecutive year.

Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minnesota, bested his closest competitor by 6 pounds (2.7 kilos) to secure victory in the 51st annual World Giant Pumpkin Championships in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

He won with a 1,121-kilogram (2,471-pound) pumpkin, just shy of the world record he set last year with a 1,247-kilogram (2,749-pound) pumpkin.

Gienger stated, as he has in previous years, that he focused on having healthy soil and well-fed plants, but that a fall of cold temperatures and record rainfall likely had an impact on the growth of his pumpkin.

“We had very, very tough weather, and somehow I kept working,” Gienger, 44, said. “I had to work hard on this one, and in the end we got it, but not by much.”

Gienger, 44, and his family took their enormous pumpkin on a 35-hour road trip to California.

He noted that the next stop for his giant pumpkin will be Southern California, where a group of professional carvers will make a 3D design for a Halloween event.

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