CARMEL

Angel Spaccarelli, a Carmel resident, sent this photo to The Courier with the apt acclamation: “Oh my gosh, look at this squash!”

Ms. Spaccarelli wrote, “I know I have a record breaking Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl or Zucca.

“After spending all night trying to find a record on the Internet of this type of squash, I did not find a squash that beat this one,” she continued. “I feel I hold the record. The squash is 5 feet, 11 1/2 inches in length, weighs 28 pounds, and has an 18-inch girth. It was harvested on Monday, October 19, 2009, from our home garden in Mahopac.”

Angel also enclosed pictures of three other squash from that same plant, which she described as “very abundant all summer.” The second largest is 5 feet, 1 inch long.

It’s not clear if Angel and her family eventually consumed the massive vegetable, but if they did, it would have taken a barrel full of bread crumbs and a yard full of recordbreaking tomatoes to turn it into a dish of fried zucchini with marinara sauce.

—Annie Chesnut