World Champion Award-Winning Pumpkin is Right Here in Minnesota
It's not every day you get to grow the biggest pumpkin in the world, but that's what one Minnesota man did earlier this month.
It's not quite as permanent as the World's Biggest Ball of Twine over in Darwin, Minnesota, but did you know that the winner of this year's 2020 World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off is also right here in Minnesota? It's true, and that honor was bestowed on Anoka's own Travis Gienger at 47th annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, which went down out in Half Moon Bay, California on October 12th.
Travis's incredible prize-winning pumpkin weighed in at a whopping 2,350 pounds to take the top spot in this year's competition-- along with the $16,450 in prize money. The competition pays out $7 a pound for the winner, which if you do the math, explains the $16,450 prize. It's also the amount Travis spent to transport that giant gourd out to California from the patch where it grew here in Minnesota, though I'm just speculating on that.
Travis's pumpkin, according to this KARE-11 story, was named 'Tiger King' because it had the traditional orange color along with several white stripes, much like a tiger's coat. And it totally killed the second-place pumpkin, grown by Steve Daletas of Pleasant Hill, Oregon, which 'only' weighed 2,174 pounds, according to the official results from the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off site.
By the way, if you're wondering what it takes to grow a prize-winning Godzilla-sized gourd, Travis told KARE after planting it six months ago, he watered it eight to nine times a day (geez-- that's a LOT! I could barely remember to water our garden once a day this year) and hoped for warm weather. Which apparently happened. Congrats, Travis, on growing the world's largest pumpkin!
And speaking of things that can be found here in the North Star State, did you know there's a castle-- one that looks like you'd find it over in Europe-- right here in Minnesota? There is, and it's only around an hour or so away from Rochester (and it's for sale right now too.) Keep scrolling to check out the pictures!
Listen to Curt St. John from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5
and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 103.9 The Doc
Incredibly Cool Minnesota Castle Looks Like It’s Right Out of Tuscany