Gienger’s version of the Great Pumpkin is “Maverick.”
“Largest pumpkin ever grown outside,” said Gienger, who is from Nowthen, MN.
At its peak Gienger’s gigantic gourd weighed 2,560 pounds – a North American record that was good enough to win the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, CA.
“Pretty special,” Gienger said. “It was a dream come true…This has just been phenomenal.”
ROCK STAR
The orange orb recently morphed into the largest jack-o’-lantern on Earth, as Maverick was carved into a Halloween hero on a recent sun-drenched day in downtown Anoka.
Gienger’s prolific pumpkin has garnered global attention.
“It makes for great stories,” Gienger said. “Here we’re the Halloween capital of the world. Half Moon Bay’s the pumpkin capital of the world. Really adds to it.
Maverick was treated like a rock star in Anoka – which is no surprise. The city celebrates and embraces anything connected to Halloween. Gienger says Maverick packed on 55 pounds a day at its peak and put on 1475 pounds in 30 days.
“This year I was a little more scientific than I usually have been,” Gienger said. “But, yeah that definitely helps, my background being ag education.”
SEED MONEY
Pumpkin patches are common in Minnesota, but the state’s rollercoaster weather makes growing them a challenge.
“Minnesota is fertile ground for being a pumpkin grower,” Gienger said. “But the problem is the weather. It’s very unstable. We go from 40 degrees to 95 degrees. Plants like that stability and our evening temps are the problem. Anytime it goes below 50 these things just kind of shut off.”
Maverick’s pumpkin seeds are a coveted item and are in demand.
“We’ve got em in a bucket there,” Gienger said. “They’ll all go around the world to different clubs and organizations. If we have some left over they’ll go to the general public. They might be $300 – $500 each.
Gienger has now won the Pumpkin Weigh Off title twice. In 2020 he grew Tiger King, who claimed the crown by tipping the scales at 2350 pounds.
It took Gienger 35 hours to haul Maverick on a truck from Minnesota to California. This year was the 47th annual pumpkin contest.
