Napa farmer wins with record-breaking 2,058-pound pumpkin

A colossal, Halloween-worthy pumpkin weighed in at 2,058 pounds Monday, setting a North American gourd record.

Napa farmer John Hawkley earned the win and more than $13,000 in cash after submitting the enormous pumpkin at the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival.

His pumpkin is the first in the festival’s history to weigh in at more than 2,000 pounds, event organizers said.

According to the festival’s Twitter account, Hawkley “loves all his pumpkins equally, he checks on them every day.”

“We never thought anything like this was ever going to happen,” he told CBS San Francisco. “It just did.”

The festival’s weigh-off was tense as his white pumpkin competed against other growers’ gourds.

And the competition was tough. A 1,828-pound gourd was disqualified for a soft spot. Another pumpkin weighed in at 1,740 pounds.

But none came close to the weight of Hawkley’s gourd.

Hawkley’s pumpkin didn’t break the world record of 2,323 pounds, but it wasn’t too far behind.

Swiss grower Beni Meier set the world record Sunday during a weigh-off in Ludwigsburg, Germany.

Hawkley’s winnings were based on a “pay-by-the-pound” system, earning $6 per pound. He also received $1,000 for having the largest pumpkin.

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