Monday, October 17, 2011

  Heaviest squash: Joel Jarvis breaks Guinness world record (Video)

Port Elgin, ONT., Canada--Joel Jarvis's pumpkin weighed in at 1486.6 lbs at the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest - setting the new world record for the Heaviest squash, according to World Record Academy (www.worldrecordacademy.com).

  Photo: Joel Jarvis and his daughter Brooklyn Jarvis, 4, proudly reveal the world's largest squash. ( enlarge photo )

  The Guinness world record for the heaviest squash weighed 560.64 kg (1,236 lb) and was grown by John Vincent and Brian McGill (both Canada) and presented at the Cornerstone Landscaping Giant Vegetable weigh off in Stroud, Ontario, Canada.

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the heaviest pumpkin: it weighed 821.23 kg (1,810 lb 8 oz) and was presented by Chris Stevens (USA) at the Stillwater Harvest Fest in Stillwater, Minnesota, USA .

   The huge squash grown by Joel Jarvis of St. Thomas, Ontario, surpassed the previous world record of 1,234 pounds.

   Jarvis, who broke the record Oct. 1 at the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest , said his achievement was "a long time coming."

 "I'm 38 and I have been doing this since I was 11," he said.

 "Sometimes the wind blows the right way and the sun shines right."  

  Jarvis, who also grew a prize-winning, 1,426-pound pumpkin this year, estimates he will take in up to $10,000 in various prizes for his horticulture efforts.

  Word is seeds from the world's largest pumpkin last year sold for more than $1,600 apiece.

  "To be honest I might get $40 a seed," said Jarvis, who figures his various prize monies — including from the Giant Vegetable Growers of Ontario — will add up to as much as $8,000, and that will likely go toward a new van now that his family has just expanded by one.

  As far as anyone knows in the 171 years of the Norfolk County Fair, this is the first time a squash beat out a pumpkin on the scales, according to Karen Matthews, the fair's general manager.