When you're growing gargantuan pumpkins, you're in it to win it.

There are no two ways about it.

TMJ4 News via YouTube
TMJ4 News via YouTube
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Because what else are you gonna do with a gigantic, 2,500-pound pumpkin?

Can you imagine how long it would take to carve one of those things?

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Thankfully, there's the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in California, a nationwide contest that occurs around this time each year looking for America's heaviest pumpkin.

ABC 15:

The World Championship pays $9/pound to the winner, meaning Schmit could have won $22,680.

The Schmit in question is Mike Schmit from Markesan, Wisconsin, and the past tense could have is referring to the pumpkin that would have taken top prize if not for one small technicality.

It's cracked.

Schmit tells TMJ-4 "The crack was the size of a fingernail."

Whoa holy smokes, talk about perfection necessary in order to win the top prize. One tiny crack is preventing Schmit from taking home $22K.

Food and Wine:

If there's any silver lining, it's not like he missed out on the Guinness World Record which currently sits at 2,624.6 pounds. And growing a pumpkin like Schmit's isn't something you do by accident. Schmit has apparently been growing since 2016, and despite winning some competitions, this year was his first time getting one past the 2,500-pound threshold, meaning he's on the right trajectory.

TMJ4 News via YouTube
TMJ4 News via YouTube
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Just when you thought you got into some odd stuff. There's someone not far from us growing insanely large pumpkins for fun.

Not like I should talk, I get into weird stuff and make zero dollars. At least Schmit is growing mammoth pumpkins to win contests.

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