Pumpkins '05

Ex-Firefighter's Pumpkin Weighs 1,229 lbs
Oct 10, 4:55 PM (ET)

Maddison Harder, 3, climbs on Joel Holland's prize-winning-record, 1,229-pound Atlantic Giant pumpkin at the annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, Calif., Monday, Oct. 10, 2005. Holland tied the record with 1,229 with his own pumpkin from last year. The pumpkin is 3 feet, 9 inches high. He wins $6,145 for his efforts, at $5 per pound.
(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
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HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) - A retired Washington firefighter won the annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off on Monday, presenting a gigantic pumpkin that weighed 1,229 pounds.

Joel Holland said the pumpkin could make roughly 600 pumpkin pies but instead will be displayed in a parade in Half Moon Bay this coming weekend, then carved into a jack-o'-lantern for Halloween.

"Maybe we'll set a record for the size of a pumpkin pie next," said Holland, who has won the competition five years in a row. He won last year with a pumpkin that weighed exactly the same amount.

Holland's pumpkin had to be removed from the back of a pickup truck with a crane.

Five-time winner Joel Holland, from Puyallup, Wash., gives a thumbs up with his prize winning record 1,229 pound Atlantic Giant pumpkin in the annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, Calif., Monday, Oct. 10, 2005. He wins $6,145 for his efforts.
(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Full Image

Holland, 56, said he worried when the contest began because another pumpkin was bigger dimensionally than his entry.

He attributed his success to two decades of pumpkin growing experience and the favorable climate at his Puyallup, Wash., home. The Atlantic Giant was hand-pollinated and grew from July to October.

Contenders beware: Holland plans to use the seeds from this year's giant to spawn another behemoth.

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On the Net:

World Championship Pumpkin Weigh Off: http://www.miramarevents.com