A video shared Tuesday shows the moment Travis Gienger found out he’d grown the biggest pumpkin in the world. And his reaction is magical.
Gienger, 43, of Anoka, Minnesota, set a new world record by growing the heaviest pumpkin of all time, according to AccuWeather. The enormous vegetable weighed in at 2,749 pounds, a Safeway World Championship pumpkin!
But by the way Gienger reacted to the news, you’d have thought he’d just won a billion dollars. And for him, it probably felt like it.
Now, THERE’S the Great Pumpkin for you, Charlie Brown! 🎃
Travis Grienger set a potential world record for heaviest pumpkin ever – a whopping 2,749 pounds – at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off! pic.twitter.com/M9MiNjwQg1
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) October 10, 2023
“I was not expecting that. It was quite the feeling,” Gienger said of the win, according to NBC News. He’s been growing pumpkins for nearly 30 years, and beat out every other competitor at the Half Moon Bay, California, championship. His beast of a pumpkin could apparently make at least 687 pies!
“I put in the work so that I can put a smile on people’s faces and it’s just so nice coming out here to see everyone in this town,” he said. (RELATED: Slurp Up Those Pumpkin Spice Drinks At Your Own Risk, America)
Gienger said he watered the pumpkin at least 12 times a day, and fertilized it a little more than usual in hopes of winning big. Back in 2021, the largest pumpkin on record was a 2,702-pound squash from an Italian grower.