The Biggest Pumpkin In The Patch: Can Ashburn Beat U.S. Record?

ASHBURN, VA — There's a contest for everything, and pumpkins are no exception. You may be rightfully proud of that enormous pumpkin in your patch, but unless it weighs upward of 2,500 pounds, you're not flirting with any kind of record. It could be a record in the Ashburn area, though.

That's a fun challenge to consider as you and your family head out on a rite of fall and visit the pumpkin patches around Ashburn. Where's the biggest pumpkin you've seen?

You can even make it a diversion from the coronavirus pandemic with a classroom outing. Teach them a little about pi — not pumpkin pie, but the mathematical formula to calculate the circumference of a circle — or how to convert pounds to kilograms.

Here's where to start:

Temple Hall Farm Regional Park
Address: 15855 Limestone School Rd., Leesburg
Season opening/closing dates: Oct. 1-31
Attractions: Enjoy a safe family outing at Temple Hall Farm picking pumpkins.Hours: Open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Pricing: $10 entry fee per person includes a pumpkin. Tickets are sold at the door. Credit is preferred for a contactless transaction.
Phone: 703-779-9372
Website: www.virginia.org/Listings/Events/TempleHallFarmPumpkinPatch

Loudounberry
Address: 14917 James Monroe Hwy., Leesburg
Season opening/closing dates: Oct. 1-31
Attractions: Enjoy a safe family outing at Temple Hall Farm picking pumpkins.
Hours: Open daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Phone: 703-772-8104
Website: https://loudounberry.com

Great Country Farms
Address: 18780 Foggy Bottom Road, Bluemont
Attractions: Come pick fresh apples, find the perfect pumpkin, challenge the corn maze and play in our 12-acre farm play area.
Hours: Open weekdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and until 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Advance tickets required for Saturday and Sunday visits.
Pricing: Weekday admission: $10/child and $12/adult. Weekend and Columbus Day admission: $14/child and $16/adult. Children 2 and under are free.
Phone: 540-554-2073
Website: Great Country Farms

Reston Farm Garden Market Fall Festival
Address: 10800 Baron Cameron Ave., Reston
Season opening/closing dates: Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, Sept. 25-Nov. 1 and Columbus Day (Oct. 12).Attractions: Pumpkin boon bounce, bouncy slides, inflatable corn maze, train rides, and farm animals.
Hours: Timed entries for 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. Enjoy 90 minute visits.
Pricing: $2o per child; entrance for one adult is paid with child's ticket, $5 for on additional parent or guardian; children age 2 and under free with a paid child's ticket.
Phone: 703-657-0999
Website: Reston Farm Garden Market

Cox Farms
Address: 15621 Braddock Road, Centreville
Season opening/closing dates: Sept. 25-Nov. 2.
Attractions: Experience a hayride from inside your own vehicle.
Hours: Friday and Monday, 2-6 p.m. (last entry 5:15 p.m); Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (last entry 5:15 p.m.); November hours, closing at 5 p.m. (last entry 4:15 p.m.)
Pricing: $15, good for one vehicle of up to eight people.
Phone: 703-830-4121
Website: Cox Farms

Read more here: Ashburn-Area Pumpkin Patches 2020

The largest pumpkin ever recorded in the U.S. was grown by Steve Geddes. The pumpkin that the Boscawen, New Hampshire, man grew in 2018 tipped the scale at 2,528 pounds to win the top prize at the Deerfield Fair. The impressively sized pumpkin was 165 pounds heavier than the previous U.S. record-holder.

Neither came close to besting world record-holder, Mathia Willemijn, whose 2016 record still stands for the 2,624.6-pound pumpkin that won that year's European Weigh-Off in Germany, according to Guinness World Records, which describes the gourd as "car-sized."

Whether pumpkins are in the 2,500- or 2,600-pound range, it's a lot of pumpkin.

Ask the kiddos this: What else found in nature weighs that much?

A hippopotamus living in the wild can weigh about 5,800 pounds, but some of the smaller hippos weigh about the same as Geddes' pumpkin.

The largest and heaviest bovine species is the Asian gaur. The bulls can weigh up to 2,500 pounds, but cows weigh significantly less. Another fun fact that separates these cattle from many other species: Both male and female gaurs have horns.

The world and U.S. record-setting pumpkins both are larger than the Australian saltwater crocodile, the largest croc species in the world. They can weigh more than 2,200 pounds.
And here's another fun fact from Bengtson's, a Chicago-area pumpkin patch, and perhaps a lesson in agriculture for the spring: The health of the vine matters.

"If you are attempting to grow a massive pumpkin, you should realize that the entire vine is working toward that same goal," the site says. "All of the water and sunlight received by the leaves and roots are being dedicated to the single pumpkin."

Making sure the pumpkin has room to grow is another key. Growers should tear out roots that may be near the pumpkin while taking care not to detach the stem.

Once the pumpkin reaches the size of a softball, remove all the other pumpkins from the vine so all the plant's energy is directed at creating a prize-winning pumpkin.