Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 25 Entries. Monday, February 11 View Page What better way to start my 2008 season by mentioning that my most recent soil test (taken in December) shows the composted manure I had dumped on my garden area in the fall is excellent stuff. A little low in P and K, but easily fixable. It has renewed my desire to grow a big pumpkin this year. And with that, a review of my golas for ’08: 1. Grow a 1000 lb pumpkin. I honestly wouldn’t be disappointed with anything over 800 lbs, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t aiming for 1000. 2. Multiple 500 lb pumpkins. With room for 7, this shouldn’t be a problem, but previous years at the old garden always had me working with just a single fruit midway through the season, so it’s a goal to have some big ones at the end of the year so I have Regatta and Halloween carving options. 3. Grow 2 decent squash (at least 1 over 500lbs, and 1 over 300lbs) for the two Windsor Weigh-offs (Windsor fair in September and GPC in October). 2 squash plants are going in, so this shouldn’t be an unreasonable goal. Monday, February 11 View Page And some Regatta goals: 1. Stay Dry! I will never again roll the dice on a small pumpkin if I don’t have to. Finishing 20th is still 20 times better than swimming back to the dock. 2. To paddle the first kayak shaped pumpkin. I figure if the Japanese can form their watermelons into squares, then I can form a pumpkin into a kayak. I have plans for a mold, once I know that I have a pumpkin that’s going to end in the 500 pound range, I’ll set up the mold around it and see what happens. If it works even half as well as I hope it will revolutionize competitive Pumpkin Boating for years to come! And with that, I have plans for this years Regatta theme already underway. I had a lot of trouble figuring out what we're doing for a theme this year, but really, if you need a pumpkin Regatta theme, Who ya gonna call? Wednesday, February 20 View Page It's a good day...My soil test has been corrected, and now shows 39.9% OM as opposed to the previously reported 3.5%. And I just found out that a friend of mine has had a truckload of pulp mill fabric (aka Fourdrinier Wire) in his barn for years, and has offered to deliver it sometime in the next month or so. I also have a connection at a local pulp mill to get a few pieces of this stuff when they next change it in May. After the disppointment of getting the wrong stuff in '06, I think my mill fabric luck has finally turned around. Tuesday, February 26 View Page Patch plans have been the same since the garden went in last fall, I don't suspect they'll change now, so here they are. Each plant will get 400 sq. ft. except the squash, they'll each start with 300, and whatever plant performs better will be allowed to intrude on the other's space. I originally only planned on the 800 Neily squash, but when the opportunity came up to get the 990 Hebb I jumped at the chance and it had to go in this year. Back-ups include the 1068 Papez, 362 Webster, and about a half dozen seeds I just got in the GVGO seed packet, best $20 I ever spent. The watermelon will only get a 10x10 area, I'm not expecting much from that this year but I hope to learn enough to apply it to a larger area next year. The remaining space will go to peas, tomatos, radishes, luminas, gourds and whatever else I decide to try to fit in there. These will all be expendable if I feel the 849 needs more space as it grows. Tuesday, February 26 View Page And almost as important as this year's patch plans, I just signed up to go shark fishing this summer! I've been wanting to do this for years, so when the opportunity came along I couldn't resist. 12 hours on the Atlantic Ocean chasing Blue Shark. I can't wait. Monday, April 28 View Page This is the new addition to the yard. It took priority over all things pumpkin related so far this spring, but with the weather finally permitting it got built this weekend. So far this last week I have tilled the patch, added 160 pounds of gypsum and 3 pounds of epsom salt, and I've built the structures for the cold frames. This evening the plastic will go up on those cold frames, and tomorrow I'll set up the heaters, thermostats,and the wireless weather station (all new purchases in the last year). A little change in plans since February, no watermelon or veggies ths year, and each pumpkin plant will get a 20x20 area. The following seeds were started last night by filing, soaking, and placing in damp paper towels in ziploc bags. They were then put on top of the hot water heater in the mechanical room which stays at a relatively consistent 85 degrees. 670 Daigle 671 Dill (757 Companion x 1016 Daletas) 1180 Daletas 839 Reid (1139 Sherwood x 998 Pukos) 800* Neily (836* Neily x 848 Mackenzie) 990* Hebb (616 Corkum x 780 Eaton) If anything doesn't germinate I'll dig into the back-ups, and in a few days I'll start a couple of my own 674 from 05 to keep in the pot for a couple weeks in case of any problems that require new plants. Tuesday, April 29 View Page 1180 and 800* have germed and are in dirt. The 839 got fuzzy and split it's shell and started going soft on the inside. I'm not sure what caused it, but it has been pitched in favour of Jeff's 1202 on the advice of my 3 year old. 2 of my own 674s from '05 have been started as back-ups in case they're needed later. Tuesday, May 6 View Page Last night I finally got things set up in the garden and 4 of 6 spots were planted. In the first tent we have the 800 Neily on the left and the 671 Dill on the right. The second tent has the 1202 Reid on the left, and the 1180 Daletas on the right. I couldn't get the 670 Daigle (damn!)or 990 Hebb to go, they would have been replaced with the first back-ups I had started, 2 of my 674s and a 749.5 Brunst, but the 674 look terrible and the 749.5 had a run-in with a curious 3 year old as it was coming out of the soil, so I've started another round of back-ups as follows: 749.5 Brunst, 535.5 Zaychowsky, 393.5 Paynter and 1041.5 Sherwood. The first seedlings looking good enough to go in the ground will be put there, and the back-ups hung on to for a bit and then double planted wherever I think they may be of use. I'm obviously leaning toward having a 749.5 in the ground as soon as possible as my second squash, and I'm leaning toward the 1041.5 as my 6th, but I'll go with the best looking of the bunch over the next few days and work from there. Tuesday, May 27 View Page Even before I ever dreamed of giant pumpkins I've dreamed of owning an old truck. No, not this old truck. This 1986 S10 (affectionately referred to for now as "Gord") will be donating it's frame and running gear (2.5 L 4 banger with 106K) to a 1953 GMC truck that is currently in a friend's barn a couple of hours away. It's going to be a long time coming, but I hope to be hauling pumpkins next fall with the 53. It won't be pretty by then, but I want to get it moving first, then deal with the paint later. And if anyone has any 53 GMC running boards lying around that they're looking to get rid of please let me know, replacements aren't cheap! Wednesday, June 11 View Page I like looking back to see how tings were going in previous years, so I'd best stay on top of my updates. This pic is from a few weeks ago, it's an overview of the patch in "protection from cold" mode. It's funny at night when the spotlights I use kick on, and they light up all the little spiderman heads for all the neighbours to see. Just a note, but the wall of trees at the back of the patch has been knocked back another 20 feet, and may be knocked back more as required to open up for the evening sun. Wednesday, June 11 View Page Here we've got the 800 Neily on the left, 535 Zaychowsky in the middle (as backup to either plant if required), and the 671 Dill on the right, with the 1041 Sherwood still in the pot in the background. This group had no source of heat through the cold start of spring except for a 100 watt spotlight at night, which was only ever enough to keep the frost off the plant. The tent will continue to be used until the plants grow to big, so they've got probably at least another week under cover. Wednesday, June 11 View Page In the tent in the middle of the patch is the 1202 Reid on the lft, and the 1180 Daletas on the right. These plants have soil heating cables underneath, and the difference is obvious. 1180 has a 2 foot vine and is on the ground, has been a fast grower from the start. 1202 was started almst a week after the 1180, so it's still got some catching up to do, but is looking fine. I should see it's vine coming down to the ground early next week if the weather holds. Wednesday, June 11 View Page And in the final tent at the back of the garden is the 749.5 Brunst on the left, and my own 674 on the right. Both plants are suffering from the cold soil. I already have plans to buy more cables for next year, but I can't do anything for this year, so no rush. Wednesday, June 11 View Page And now that I'm this deep into Proton Packs, coveralls, and associated Bustin' type equipment, I might as well reveal the plans for this year's pumpkin Regatta. "When there's something growing, in your neighbourhood, Who ya gonna call? Gourdbusters!" Friday, June 13 View Page Anyone that's seen my diaries from previous years had to know this was coming eventually. Haven't settled on a name for it yet, but here's the plan for the 2008 Windsor Pumpkin Regatta PVC. Or at least, this is the plan for the paint. I have other plans for the PVC, but those will have to wait a few more weeks. Sure it'll be nice to grow a huge pumpkin this year, but I'm making this the year of the Regatta , I just hope it all works out like I plan. Tuesday, June 24 View Page When there's something strange in the neighbourhood, you call the Gourdbusters... Tuesday, June 24 View Page But when that strange thing is a pumpkin boat, and you want it paddled to the other side of Lake Pisaquid as fast as it can go, you call Leo. For those that don't know, 5 time Pumpkin Regatta Champion Leo Swinamer Sr. retired last year at the age of 72, so I've decided that this year, I'm going to be the new Leo! Sunday, July 6 View Page As if I didn't already have enough to do this summer, now myself and 4 friends from work are in the process of building a hang glider and a 16 foot tall lighthouse as our entry into the Red Bull Flugtag, to be held in Ottawa on August 3rd. For the sake of our poor pilot, we really hope we pull this off. Friday, August 8 View Page Just got back from a long weekend in Ottawa Ontario, where myself and 3 friends competed in the Red Bull Flugtag. It's a competition of human powered flight. We built a hang glider (seen here being piloted by Matt the Lobster) that was launched off a 12 foot tall lighthouse. We ran into all kinds of problems, but flew 62 feet for second in distance, and 3rd overall. And we had an absolute blast doing it. But it's nice to be home and back to tending my pumpkin plants that all stopped growing way to early, and their associated pumpkins that I'm still waiting to see if they will grow. Tough year here, I've got a major problem in the patch, and I'm not quite sure what it is. Just hoping for a few boat sized (and maybe boat shaped) pumpkins this year now. Wednesday, October 15 View Page Another successful Regatta has come and gone. But we might as well start from the beginning. I couldn't grow anything useful this year, so I had to rely on the Dills, who supplied me with a beauty 455 pounder. Wednesday, October 15 View Page Last year I took some heat from Christy and the Glutton for Punishment regarding the Canadaian tradition to leave pumpkin boats with the flat bottom down. Also, last year's pumpkin I left flat bottom down and ended up swimming. So this year I flipped it. Wednesday, October 15 View Page The theme this year is Ghostbusters, and here is my interpretation of the Ecto-1. Unfortunately, on our way to a Ghostbustin job we found Slimer and ..."He slimed me". I had a total of about 20 hours into this pumpkin by the time I was done painting and carving, and it turned out better than I expected. The judges of the favourtite entry apparently didn't agree, but I digress. Wednesday, October 15 View Page Can't be Ghotbustin' or pumpkin boatin' without a good crew. Here's my wife, and my two girls Neela and Summer sporting "unlicensed nuclear accelerators on their backs". Wednesday, October 15 View Page The pumpkin was loaded into the water, and thankfully it floated upright this year. That's what I get for not letting Will Neily get involved in helping me pick my pumpkin. Wednesday, October 15 View Page Leo Swinamer Sr. attempted a return this year from retirement, but cracked his pumpkin during training before the race. His Nephew took his lucky hat, and the title this year. But here I am at the finish line, mostly dry, still sporting my "Gourdbusters" logo on my sleeve. I finished 9th place, 30 seconds in front of the aforementioned Will Neily "The Pansy Grower". I had no idea he was chasing me, must have been a huge disappointment for him to have to watch me in front of him for the entire half mile paddle. Poor Will. He may have reached 1000 pounds this year, but I'm sure visions of the back of my pumpkin will haunt him all year.