1,505 pound pumpkin wins weigh-off

CLARENCE, N.Y (WIVB) - The Great Pumpkin Farm in Clarence hosted its annual World Pumpkin Weigh-off Sunday afternoon announcing first prize winner, Karl Haist who took home $5,000 for his gourd tipping the scales at a whopping 1,505 pounds.

The second place winner went to a pumpkin from Pennsylvania weighing in at just under 1,500 pounds.

News 4's Bryan Shaw learned firsthand from the pumpkin growers themselves, everything it takes to grow a pumpkin of such an incredible size.

It was Keith Seitz's third year growing pumpkins, "You have to have the right seeds a lot of time. It starts in April, and we literally cut this thing off last night. It's a lot of water, a lot of fertilizer. It takes about an hour's worth of watering every day, and fertilizer twice a week," says the pumpkin grower.

Jennifer Vacanti spoke on behalf of the contest and activities going on at the farm, " Different high school kids will come in with catapults, and they catapult their pumpkin through the field and see which one can catapult the farthest. They have prized for the kids and that's a lot of fun."

The Pumpkin Farm Olympics will take place next weekend with the Pumpkins Drop on the 8th.

The Trebuchet Pumpkin Tossing Contest will be held on the 13th and 14th of October.