A California engineer and gardening enthusiast has won the top prize at a pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California.

A Minnesota horticulture teacher has remained the reigning champion of an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California.

A Minnesota horticulture teacher has set a world record in California for the heaviest pumpkin after growing a giant jack-o’-lantern gourd weighing 2,749 pounds.

A horticulture teacher from Minnesota has set a new U.S. record for the heaviest pumpkin after raising a giant gourd weighing 2,560 pounds.

Travis Gienger, from Anoka, Minn., poses next to his pumpkin, which weighed in at 2350 pounds, to win the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, Calif., Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)HALF MOON BAY, Calif. – Being cooped up at home due to the pandemic paid handsomely for a Minnesota horticulture teacher who used the extra time to constantly water and feed a massive pumpkin that won this year’s Half Moon Bay pumpkin contest. It was his first time competing at the Half Moon Bay weigh-off but he's not sure he'll be back next year. The first-time pumpkin champ won $16,450, or $7 per pound, for the lumpy, orange pumpkin that will be showcased during a parade through Half Moon Bay later Monday. That was set in 2018 when a grower in New Hampshire produced a pumpkin weighing more than 2,500 pounds (1,134 kilograms).