Workers at Ein Yahav weigh a gigantic pumpkin (photo credit: Rami Sadeh via Agriculture Ministry)
Thanks to an exceptionally productive growing season, farmers in the Arava Desert harvested gigantic pumpkins worthy of Charlie Brown Halloween lore. The massive fruits grew to over a meter (3 feet) long and weighed in at roughly 40 kilograms (88 pounds) apiece.
Rami Sadeh and Shoni Gal grew the behemoth gourds in the massive hothouses belonging to the town of Ein Yahav in southern Israel. According to a press release from the Agriculture Ministry, the exotic and abnormally massive variety is solid, and therefore weighs considerably more than its hollow counterparts.
Each pumpkin costs about NIS 100 ($28.7) whole, but they were sold to wholesalers who chopped them up for retail sale in more manageable pieces.
Sadeh said that thanks to this season’s pumpkin crop’s success, Ein Yahav will expand its giant pumpkin production in the coming year to meet demand for popular produce.
Ein Yahav is known for its jumbo produce, having grown the world’s largest recorded pepper last year. The 600 gram (1.3 lb) fruit was too big to be sorted and packaged at the town’s plant. (The average bell pepper, by comparison, weighs in at a mere 113 grams.)
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A child sits atop a gigantic pumpkin grown in Ein Yahav (photo credit: Rami Sadeh via Agriculture Ministry)
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