Maine Farmer Smashes North American Record With Massive 77kg Zucchini

Sarah Viti, a farmer from Maine, has grown a massive zucchini weighing 77.1 kilograms, smashing the North American continental record by 3.2 kilograms. The giant vegetable, measuring about 1.2 meters in length, was officially weighed on October 1 at a competition in Deerfield, New Hampshire.

Viti, a 38-year-old physician assistant at a primary care clinic in Maine, began cultivating the squash in May and named it "Secretariat" after the legendary racehorse. In the tense weeks leading up to the weigh-in, she barely slept out of fear that the fruit would crack. According to competition rules, any internal crack results in immediate disqualification.

Fortunately, the zucchini remained intact, and Viti drove it over 320 kilometers to the event. When the scale displayed the record-breaking number, she covered her mouth with her hands and burst into tears. "I had so many pent-up emotions from the past month," she shared, "and I just let it all out."

Viti has been growing giant fruits and vegetables since 2013. She now plans to harvest the seeds from Secretariat to grow an even heavier zucchini next year, hoping to edge closer to the world record of nearly 117 kilograms.