AUTUMN
Gourd Almighty
Is competitive giant-pumpkin farming a sport? An art? An innate talent? Whatever it is, it’s growing–pun intended. The Topsfield Fair in Topsfield, Mass., recently celebrated its 30th annual weigh-off by crowning a 1,900-lb. beast–heavier than a Smart car–reared by Hiram Watson of Farmington, N.H., and several runners-up, including the 1,710-lb. specimen shown above. It took nearly a century to get from the 400-lb. record set at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair to a thousand-pounder, but top pumpkin weights have more than doubled in the past two decades. The hobby now boasts an estimated 10,000 participants worldwide. Sure, thousands of dollars in prize money is at stake, but Topsfield Fair’s general manager James O’Brien says that’s not what attracts the growers who compete each year. Rather, it’s pumpkin pride. “I mean, who wants a jack-o’-lantern that weighs 2,000 lb.?” he says. “It’s all about the bragging rights.”
The Topsfield winner in 1984 was about 400 lb. “Now,” O’Brien jokes, “they’re the size of Volkswagens.”
A pale color like this is common for a giant pumpkin
For more about the race to grow big pumpkins, visit time.com/pumpkins
THE WEEK
BATMAN BECAME BIRDMAN
GOYA SHOWS US A WORLD WHERE WITCHES GATHER, BULLS FLY AND SATAN PRESIDES AS A GIANT HE-GOAT.
PAGE 48
This appears in the October 27, 2014 issue of TIME.
- Bad Bunny's Next Move
- 'How Is This Still Happening?' A Survivor Questions America's Gun Violence Problem
- Nicole Chung: The Person I Became After My Father's Death
- Can Birth Control Help Solve the World's Rat Problem?
- About That Devastating Tom-Shiv Scene in Succession's Premiere
- Why Humza Yousaf's Win Is 'Historic' for Scotland
- If Donald Trump Is Indicted, Here's What Would Happen Next in the Process
- It's Time to Say a Loving Goodbye to John Wick
- Who Should Be on the 2023 TIME100? Vote Now
- Column: Ozempic Exposed the Cracks in the Body Positivity Movement
