Prize pumpkin weighs in at 1,229 pounds	美国南瓜大赛1229磅瓜王夺冠
Maddison Harder, 3, climbs on Joel Holland's prize-winning-record, 1,229-pound Atlantic Giant pumpkin at the annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, Calif., Monday, Oct. 10, 2005. A retired Washington firefighter won the annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off on Monday, presenting a gigantic pumpkin that weighed 1,229 pounds. Joel Holland's Atlantic Giant pumpkin -- measuring 12 feet, 10 inches in circumference -- earned him $5 per pound, or $6,145. That's exactly what he took home in prize money last year. He said the pumpkin could make roughly 600 pumpkin pies but instead will be displayed in a parade in Half Moon Bay this coming weekend, then carved into a jack-o'-lantern for Halloween. "Maybe we'll set a record for the size of a pumpkin pie next," said Holland, who has won the competition five years in a row. He won last year with a pumpkin that weighed exactly the same amount. Holland's pumpkin had to be removed from the back of a pickup truck with a crane. Holland, 56, is a bit of a celebrity in the subculture of giant-pumpkin growers. He markets tapes and DVDs to people wanting to learn his secrets for coaxing the most weight out of championship seeds. Another of his pumpkins grown this year won at a weigh-off in Oregon last month, tipping the scale at 1,161 pounds. But Holland said he saves his best one each year for the Half Moon Bay event. He attributed his success to two decades of pumpkin growing experience and the favorable climate at his Puyallup, Wash., home. The Atlantic Giant was hand-pollinated and grew from July to October. While the Half Moon Bay contest bills itself as the world championship, the current world record-holder is a 1,469-pounder entered in a Pennsylvania contest on Oct. 1, grown by Larry Checkon of Pennsylvania. Growers from Oregon and Washington have won most of the Half Moon Bay contests in recent years, but growers around Napa are coming on strong. Of the 49 entrants this year, nine were from that area, and among those were the second-, fourth-, sixth- and 10th-place finishers.    (Agencies)	周一，在一年一度的“赛福威超级南瓜大赛”中，华盛顿的一位退休老消防队员展示了一个重达1229磅的巨型南瓜。 乔尔·霍兰种植的大西洋巨型南瓜周长达到12英尺10英寸。得奖的南瓜每一磅的奖金是5美元，因此，这个巨型南瓜为霍兰赢得了6145美元奖金，这和他去年获得的奖金数一模一样。 他说这个巨型南瓜大约可以做600个南瓜饼，但是这个南瓜将在本周末举行的“半月湾艺术节”的花车上展出，然后做成万圣节的南瓜灯。 “也许，我们接下来还能再创一个记录，做一个最大的南瓜饼，”霍兰说。他已经连续五年获此殊荣。他去年获奖的南瓜重量和今年一模一样。 霍兰的超级南瓜太庞大了，以至于不得不动用起重机将南瓜从卡车的后车斗卸下来。 现年56岁的霍兰在培植巨型南瓜的圈子里小有名气，他还公开推销录像带和DVD光碟，向那些想要了解如何用竞赛种子培育出最重南瓜奥秘的人介绍经验。 今年他培养的南瓜中还有一只上个月获得了俄勒冈州南瓜大赛的冠军，那只南瓜重达1161磅。但是，霍兰表示每年他都会把最好的南瓜留给半月湾艺术节。 他把自己的成功归结为20多年的南瓜种植经验，以及他家乡华盛顿中西部城市普牙卢普适宜的天气条件。种植大西洋巨型南瓜需要人工授粉，它的生长期是每年的7月到10月。 尽管半月湾艺术节的南瓜比赛号称是南瓜的“世界锦标赛”，然而，目前最重的南瓜世界纪录保持者——一个重达1469磅的南瓜参加的是10月1日在宾夕法尼亚州举行的比赛，这只南瓜是宾夕法尼亚州的拉里·切肯种植的。 来自俄勒冈州和华盛顿州的南瓜种植者们在近几年中几乎囊括了半月湾艺术节南瓜比赛的所有冠军，但是来自加州那帕的种植者们势头强劲。在今年的49只入围南瓜中，有9只来自该地区，而且获得了第二、第四、第六和第十名的南瓜都来自该地区。 （中国日报网站薛晓文译）