The farmers who made it hoped for their pumpkin, nicknamed “Claudinha,” to take part in the “My Village’s Biggest” competition, happening in Paredes. That won’t be possible, however, as the heat over the last few days has “cracked” it.

The vegetable’s future could now go to social charities that could give food to thousands of people in the form of pumpkin stew, in the case that it’s still in conditions for such.

Five months after the pumpkin was planted, it “couldn’t handle” the heat and made the hopes of José Rui Santos, the Paderne-based farmer, fall to the floor despite all the care he’d put in.

The farmer though, in the meantime, is happy that the weight achieved surpassed his pumpkin from last year, which weighed 699kg.

Cláudia Fernandes, his wife and also a farmer, revealed that the massive vegetables’ names come from the family. This specific one received her name, “Claudinha.”

“As is our habit at this point, we baptise our pumpkins every time they go to a competition! One year they were baptised with the name of our grandparents, another with those of our mothers and this year those of our daughters,” Cláudia explained.

The farmer talked about how the couple was radiant about the pumpkin’s exemplary growth. “It was the best pumpkin yet. The plant was beautiful. Are we sad? No, we aren’t.”

The couple is looking to the future already. Right now they have another 550kg pumpkin, but it’s being “hidden” from prowling eyes.