Lohmar (dpa / lnw) - The Belgian Mark Feyaerts won this year's "NRW Pumpkin Weighing Championship" - in a difficult year for breeders due to the drought. His pumpkin weighed 679.5 kilograms in Lohmar near Cologne on Sunday. Vegetable lovers and hobby growers competed against each other on the Krewelshof with their biggest pumpkins. The winner receives prize money of 1000 euros.
The previous NRW record of a good 950 kilograms was by far not reached, and the 765 kilogram winner of the previous year was not topped either. Co-organizer Danielle Bieger said: "We had such a dry year that the kilos didn't come off." The weather made things difficult for him, said the winning breeder Feyaerts. He gave his giant pumpkin 1,000 liters of water a day. It was expensive to grow the pumpkin.
According to the organizers, the previous pumpkin world record was set last year by a grower from Tuscany: His pumpkin weighed an impressive 1226 kilograms.
In addition to pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes in XXL format were also measured, weighed and awarded prizes on Sunday.
The vegetable giants can be seen at the Krewelshof in the next few weeks. On November 6, a big "slaughter festival" takes place there, where visitors can take pieces of pumpkin home with them. The seeds are given to the respective breeder - as seeds for the next generation of pumpkins.
