The Biggest Pumpkin In The Patch: Can Fairfax City Beat Record?

FAIRFAX CITY, 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 Fairfax 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 Fairfax. 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:

Cox Farms
Address: 15621 Braddock Rd., Centreville
Season opening/closing dates: Sept. 25-Nov. 2
Attractions: While Cox Farms' fall festival will be closed for the 2020 season, you can still stock up on seasonal essentials. Order online, and then pick up your goods at our drive-thru market.
Hours: Open for pickup 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily
Pricing: Pumpkins will be available for online purchase soon. If you purchase a pumpkin, you'll get to choose your perfect pumpkin from an assortment. When you shop for pumpkins online, you'll choose from several size categories. In addition to the mini pumpkins and the patch pumpkins, you'll have the options of the standard carving pumpkins in small, medium, large and jumbo sizes. When you reach the loading station at the farm, you'll pull up to a pumpkin display.
Phone: 703-830-4121
Website: https://coxfarms.com

Whitehall Farms Fall Open House
Address: 12523 Popes Head Rd., Clifton
Season opening/closing dates: Oct. 3-31
Attractions: Enjoy the open house with lots of family friendly fun featuring nature trails, lawn games, a field of pumpkins and animal encounters.
Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Last wagon ride begin at 3:30 p.m.Pricing: $10 for adults and children 3 and older. $8 for active duty military and their families. Preorder tickets HERE. Daily admissions will be limited.
Phone: 703-968-3900
Website: https://whitehall.farm.com

DePaul's Urban Farm
Address: 12599 Chain Bridge Road, Vienna
Hours: Daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone: 703-537-0744
Website: www.depaulsurbanfarm.com

Reston Farms Garden Market Fall Fest
Address: 10800 Baron Cameron Avenue, Reston
Hours: Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Sept. 25 to Nov. 1, timed tickets at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Email: info@depaulsurbanfarm.com
Website: www.restonfarm.com

Meadows Farms Nurseries
Address: 10618 Leesburg Pike, Vienna
Hours: No fall festival this year, pumpkin patch offered during operating hours, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Phone: 703-854-9408
Website: https://meadowsfarms.com

Krop's Crops
Address: 11110 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls
Hours: Daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in shop; walk-in hayrides to pumpkin patch weekends in October from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Email: lkrop@hotmail.com
Website: www.kropscrops.com

Read more here: Fairfax City-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.