Make Your Fall Pumpkin Patch Visit A Math Lesson

ACROSS AMERICA — Hunting for the best pumpkins for jack-o’-lanterns can be educational for children — whether you’re comparing the size of record-setting pumpkins to those in your local patch or field or measuring the circumference of the fall staple.

Your annual visit to a pumpkin patch can come with a math lesson. Teach the kids about pi — the mathematical formula to calculate the circumference of a circle, not to be confused with pumpkin pie — or how to convert pounds to kilograms.

And while we’re on the topic of weight, the largest pumpkin ever recorded weighed 2,624.6 pounds. That record was set in 2016 by Mathia Willemijn, who won the annual European Weigh-Off in Germany, according to Guinness World Records.

Closer to home, in October 2018 Steve Geddes of New Hampshire set the record for largest pumpkin grown in the United States. His 2,528-pound pumpkin won the annual Super Pumpkin/Squash Weigh Off at the Deerfield Fair.

The Guinness Book of World Records described Willemijn’s pumpkin as "car-sized," and in fact many cars weigh around 2,500 pounds.

Ask the kids what else around them weighs less than the record-breaking pumpkins.

For example, both pumpkins were heavier than the world’s largest crocodile: The Australian saltwater crocodile takes that title, weighing in at upwards of 2,200 pounds.

The pumpkins were also heavier than the American bison, which weighs somewhere between 1,000 to 2,000 pounds.

And here’s another fun fact from Bengtson’s, a Chicago-area pumpkin patch, and perhaps a lesson in agriculture for the spring: The health of the vine matters.

"If you are attempting to grow a massive pumpkin, you should realize that the entire vine is working toward that same goal," the site says. "All of the water and sunlight received by the leaves and roots are being dedicated to the single pumpkin."

Making sure the pumpkin has room to grow is another key. Growers should tear out roots that may be near the pumpkin while taking care not to detach the stem.

Once the pumpkin reaches the size of a softball, remove all the other pumpkins from the vine so all the plant’s energy is directed at creating a prize-winning pumpkin.