Grandad grows giant Halloween pumpkin that weighs more than 5 baby ELEPHANTS

Grandad grows giant Halloween pumpkin that weighs more than 5 baby ELEPHANTS

Mangalore Today News Network

Nov 01, 2014: Mal Carter, from Middlesborough, grew the enormous pumpkin - which weighs a staggering 1,025lbs  in a polytunnel

This prize-winning Halloween pumpkin is so heavy it could SQUASH just about anything - because it weighs more than five baby elephants.

Mal Carter, 50, grew the humongous fruit, which tips the scales at a whopping 1,025lbs (465kg), in a polytunnel near his home in Middlesborough.

And it’s so hefty and cumbersome that a crane and wagon were required to transport it to York, where it was entered into a contest at the weekend.

Mal’s mammoth squash won the coveted Great Pumpkin Commonwealth plaque at the York Maze Halloween Festival, bagging him £500.


Proud of his pumpkin: Mal Carter says it’s the biggest squash he’s ever grown

Staking a claim for understatement of the year, he said: "It’s quite big."

He added: “I’m thrilled to have won. I’ve been growing giant pumpkins for years but this is by far the biggest pumpkin I’ve ever grown.

"All those years of pumpkin growing have finally paid off.”

Mal and his wife Karen, along with their sons, Christopher, 32, and Stephen, 31, have been growing their own fruit and vegetables at their family allotment for years.

When Mal’s grandchildren, Stephen’s kids, Kaci, 12, Bailey, six, and Ruby-Leigh, nearly two, come to visit him, they love playing on his giant pumpkin.

He said: “It’s the biggest one I’ve ever grown.”

Astonishingly, Mal’s massive pumpkin isn’t the biggest there’s ever been, reports the Evening Gazette.

 

Tricky business: Christian Russell is turning the giant pumpkin into the UKs biggest pumpkin carving

The current UK record for the biggest pumpkin was set this month by Ian and Stuart Paton, from Lymington, with a pumpkin weighing 1,884lb (854kg).

A new world record was also set this month by Beni Meier from Germany who grew a 2323lb (1054kg) pumpkin.

Mal’s giant squash is now being turned into Britain’s biggest pumpkin carving by professional 3D artist Christian Russell.

The giant pumpkin carving along with other entries will be on display at York Maze as part of their Halloween festival until Saturday.