The magic pumpkins of the Qassams

From YNet:

Farmers from the community of Kfar Maimon in southern Israel presented huge pumpkins in a Beersheba market over the weekend, noting that the unusual vegetables were grown using old-time agricultural techniques and a special ingredient – Gaza rockets.

Three people had to join forces in order to lift one 140-pound round pumpkin and another 100-pound pumpkin and load them into a car Friday. The exceptionally large vegetables drew plenty of attention at the market, as well as skepticism, with some visitors wondering whether the pumpkins were real.

"My father is an old-time farmer, one who wakes up early every morning, arrives at the field and speaks to the pumpkins, Dotan Mines told Ynet. His father, Shimon, has been working in the field for more than 50 years. "He doesn't use new technologies to examine the soil, but rather, he feels the soil…this treatment enables the pumpkin to reach such dimensions."

Mines added that that the field in question was hit by two rockets in the past, attributing some of the pumpkin magic to the Qassam strikes.

"Some of the pumpkins were hit when the rocket landed. Maybe they became upset and that prompted them to grow like that," he said. "The really large one grew a few dozens of meters away from the landing site."

Palestine Press Agency reported on the "magic Gaza rockets" that produce large pumpkins. One of their more knowledgeable readers pointed out that the rockets use potassium nitrate for fuel - which is a fertilizer.

So if "Palestine" becomes a state, they can go to the International Court of Justice to demand compensation for fertilizing Israeli fields so well.