Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 47 Entries. Saturday, April 19 View Page This is the year.... the 1000 pounder will not elude me any longer. The garden is getting all the prep work done for another successful season (knock on wood). Apparently, I'm getting some liquid "cow poop" that's quite good. And a thanks to Tyler at Cinnebar Valley Farms in Nanaimo for the regular manure this year. It was worth the 3 hour round trip for some good stuff! My fall rye is pathetic, though, due to the seemingly endless snow on the ground last fall and winter. A few tufts have shot up, but that's it. Erika will be growing again for her third year - her secret is neglecting the plant for the first few weeks in the ground - each time she does that she ends up with something over 900 pounds! One of my neighbours will be growing a giant this year so this crazy habit is spreading on North Vancouver Island. Will be getting plants from my dad in a few weeks - and so it begins! Wednesday, May 7 View Page The pumpkin will be planted in the garden this next week - first time I'll have to do it myself (I realize just how much I rely on Dad so much!) Got some good pics of Dad and husband spreading the "liquid gold" but with my son's camera and they can't be uploaded from my computer.I've convinced a couple more people to grow giants this year. So far we have at least 4 growers in our small town. Am experimenting with germinating some seed - roots are growing but nothing off the top yet so I'm getting worried. If all works out, though, I'll have 9 plants and nowhere to plant them! Friday, May 9 View Page Having some success with the germination experiment. Four have come up so far, so at least a couple others in C.R. can start growing this year. Wednesday, May 14 View Page Got some pics of the grow op. Gave up on the remainder of the seeds, but at least came out with 3 good ones to pass on to other growers. Wednesday, May 14 View Page Pic of the three - this is last week and are bigger now - starting their second leaf (seems late, but this germination experiment started late). Wednesday, May 14 View Page Planted mine in the garden today - planted two side by side as one may not make it. Weather's supposed to turn hot the next few days, so it's a good start. Monday, May 19 View Page Aahhggg... came home from vising Dad and checking out his pumpkins to find my tent had blown off in the wind and landed upside down on both my pumpkins. I feared the worst, but ended up with just one broken leaf off the 842 Eaton. Phew! Hopefully the trauma hasn't hurt them. The tent has been reinforced with concrete blocks. Probably overkill, but better safe than sorry. Tuesday, May 27 View Page The 842 Eaton has so far survived my attempts to do it harm. Not vining yet, but getting closer. Tuesday, May 27 View Page My alternate - the 903 van Kooten. Tuesday, May 27 View Page Only room for one pumpkin in my garden, so these two are battling it out for survival. I'm rooting for the 842 Eaton. Tuesday, May 27 View Page A couple weeks ago, I offered one remaining plant I had (925 Perras)to any of my colleagues if they wanted it. Wasn't sure if I had any takers, but ended up with 6 people interested in growing giants. With the help of a few extra from dad, 3 more people got plants, even though I warned them that this is not a hobby but an addiction. Tuesday, May 27 View Page Thought I'd change my nickname - the old one was based on a joke between a friend when she grew a bigger pumpkin that me in her first year. The nasty name I called her stuck - but it's time to be more polite. Monday, June 2 View Page Not sure where this one is going - the 842 Eaton vine is growing in strange ways. I don't know if this is a double vine starting having never experienced that with a plant before. I'll be keeping my eye on this closely. Monday, June 2 View Page Another view. Monday, June 2 View Page .... and another. Tuesday, June 3 View Page Thanks to those who have let me know what's going on with the 842 Eaton. There is some hope and I'll keep praying to the pumpkin gods that all goes well. If not, the 1086 van Kooten is patiently waiting for it's chance to take over. Saturday, June 7 View Page The 842 Eaton has now split into 2 vines. Other than that, it seems to be growing well. Sunday, June 8 View Page Here's a pic of the 842 Eaton vine - split into two. Tuesday, June 10 View Page You know when you're a hypochondriac and you're sure you have every disease you hear or read about... now I may think one of the vines (that had previously split) may be a double vine. My dad casually asked if I had a double vine, so I took a look and maybe I do. I really don't know since I've never seen one. I can't wait until the expert (dad) comes to visit to check on the pumpkin and deal with all the uncertainty and my angst. Tuesday, June 10 View Page A view of the tip. Tuesday, June 10 View Page And another side view. Sunday, June 15 View Page The 842 Eaton - looks like this one will win out over the 1104 van Kooten, despite the problems so far. With better weather it's grown even more since this pic was taken. The double vine will most likely be cut off tomorrow and hopefully the other main vine will grow well. Monday, June 16 View Page And then there was one.... did some surgery on the Eaton - it looks like a normal plant now without it's evil twin. We took out the 1104 vK, too, so it's all or nothing now. Tuesday, June 24 View Page I was beginning to wonder if the 842 Eaton was ever going to sprout a female... just saw one at the tip tonight about 7 feet down the main. Whew! Thursday, June 26 View Page The tent was taken off today in anticipation for the forecasted good warm summer weather. Plant is growing well with some nice secondaries running now. Saturday, July 5 View Page It looks like pollination will take place in a couple days for the first time - there's pumpkins on almost all of the secondaries now, so it will be a busy July for pollination. On a different note, looked at a new home yesterday with a new pumpkin patch first and foremost in my mind - it's a larger lot with more room for a bigger patch, but the thought of starting from scratch again is tiring, plus the patch would be on the side of the house where everyone could see it - hate to lose something due to vandalism. So, looks like we'll stay put for now. Sunday, July 6 View Page This little baby opened up this morning and was aquainted with a couple boys. Saturday, July 12 View Page Found this rascal, appropriately named Rebel, sneaking through my fence into the pumpkin patch this morning. Saturday, July 12 View Page The 842 Eaton - main vine, pollinated July 6 Saturday, July 12 View Page Another view. Saturday, July 12 View Page Pollinated a 5 lobe today on a secondary. Another one will be done tomorrow (also on secondary) - should be another couple days before the second female on the main will be pollinated. That will be the last chance on the main as the vine is almost at the end of the patch. Sunday, July 13 View Page Despite my best efforts, I get these splits. Aargghhh! Monday, July 14 View Page The patch so far. The pumpkin with the vine cracks was given a mat today as it's getting bigger and bigger. I'll be pollinating the last one on the main tomorrow and perhaps a couple more on the secondaries if I feel motivated. I'm really hoping the cracks in the first one don't do any harm. Monday, July 14 View Page Out in the patch again this afternoon and realized I'll have 3 to pollinate tomorrow - with 9 males willing and able, too. As it stands, I will have pollinated 6 on this plant, so with it already being mid-July, it looks like there will be no more pumpkin procreation for the Eaton. Friday, July 18 View Page I'm not liking the look of the splits in the stem of my largest pumpkin. The biggest split has extended into the main vine a bit - just worried as the pumpkin gets bigger, so will the splits. The second main vine pumpkin pollinated on the 12th is looking good, though. It's a late pollination, but I'll be considering that as an alternative to the first one. Wednesday, July 23 View Page This is the one pollinated on July 6 - not a monster yet but it's growing well every day. Still has some major splits in the stem. The second pollination on the main vine isn't growing as much now - the big guy is hoarding all the nutrients. There's a nice one on a secondary, but it has splits too. With it being so late, I may just go for the July 6 pumpkin and hope for the best. Wednesday, July 23 View Page one pic of the stem Wednesday, July 23 View Page another view Thursday, July 24 View Page Today I culled off some secondary vine pumpkins, but left two on the secondaries as back up for now. The shade tent has been put on the main vine pumpkin that was pollinated July 6. It's a big tent, but I'm hoping to fill it up. As it stands now, the 32 pounder has lots of space! Despite the cracks in the stem of this one, I probably will end up keeping this one. Tuesday, July 29 View Page The last of the pumpkins were culled today, so I'm down to one. With only one plant, it's all or nothing now. Both pumpkins taken off had the same stem crack issue as the one on the main vine, and the all were growing at the same rate, so it made sense just to keep the one on the main. Growth seems slow right now with the colder nights. Hope next month is better. Saturday, August 9 View Page There hasn't been much to report lately. Pumpkin is growing nicely and is about 27 pounds heavier than last year (based on days since pollination). Daily growth isn't anything spectacular, but hopefully it will pick up. The nights are cool so the blankets are already keeping the pumpkin cozy. The main vine and secondaries have been terminated. The stem cracks seem to be okay and aren't going into the pumpkin, although it's hard to tell with all the fungacide paste I've put on them! Wednesday, August 20 View Page The weather has done a turn for the worse, although even the sun we've had didn't seem to improve my pumpkin's growth. It's been very inconsistent - 18 pounds one day, 25 the next - or maybe it's my measuring that's inconsistent. Either way, it's not packing on the weight as much as I'd like and I'll probably have to settle for something around 800 pounds if everything stays intact. Funny how you can be disappointed with that weight.... oh, well, there's always next year. I definately won't be beating good old dad this year in the pumpkin patch, so I had to beat him at golf the other day. Tuesday, September 2 View Page Finally dealt with some issues in the patch... been very busy with other hobbies plus getting ready to go back to work after summer holidays. The patch has been weeded, aphids have been eradicated, and powerdery mildew has been stopped in it's tracks (hopefully). All this, though, for a pumpkin that's not really growing much. If it gets to 800, I'd be lucky. It's almost grown all the way over on it's blossem end, making it tough to see if any nasty splits have started. Guess I'll find out when it leaves the patch. Sunday, September 7 View Page I'm really hoping for great weather this month to try and reach 700 - haven't had one that small for several years now. Oh well, we'll keep it for Halloween. Monday, September 22 View Page Well, it's a good year to have a small pumpkin. Our local weigh off in Nanaimo was cancelled and there's nothing else in the B.C south coast to go to. Looks like I might attend our town's weigh off where they use people to lift the pumpkins and a meat scale to weigh them :-) My pumpkin is on life support - the plant is dead and the pumpkin isn't getting any bigger. Looks like my estimation of 800 pounds was quite generous - seems to be more around the 600 mark. Well, there's always next year.... Thursday, October 2 View Page It's great news that the Vancouver Island pumpkin weigh in has a new site - it figures that I still can't go as I'll be at a work-related conference the same weekend. It must be karma - the year I have a small pumpkin is the year I can't go to the competition - I must have done something right somewhere. I'm presuming my pumpkin is still sitting in my backyard - at the moment I'm in "potato country" (Prince Edward Island) at another work-related conference. I'll be taking the pumpkin out of the patch the Thanksgiving weekend just to store in my garage until Halloween. Good luck to everyone with the upcoming weigh offs. Tuesday, October 21 View Page Went to a weigh off at our local Garden Center - ended up with a 690 pound pumpkin, the title of "Pumpkin King" for Campbell River, a nice bottle of wine and a $50 gift certificate. The pumpkin did weigh heavy which was nice and it will make a fine jack-o-lantern in another 10 days. Whenever I get a chance I'll start putting the patch to bed.