Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 9 Entries. Thursday, January 1 View Page Well this is my first loads of compost from a nearby horse stable. I was lucky and one of the forum members sent me a bunch of nice seeds. (Thanks again James) The compost isn't finished so I'm going to start adding some chicken manure and some worm compost tea to get everything composted. Frank Monday, April 6 View Page Here is my line-up for my first year of growing giant pumpkins. Sperry 1253, Sperry 1102, Clark 1099, Papez 1058.8, Connolly 1031, Hester 1028 and a Simpson 602. Monday, April 6 View Page I sanded the edges of the seeds and decided to germinate/start them in 2" soil blocks. I will move them up to larger containers once I see that they have germinated. The soil blocks are great for starting all the rest of my vegetables so I decided they would be a good choice for my pumpkins. Wednesday, June 10 View Page Well I've finally got four pumpkins germinated and in the ground. I learned a lot and will get thing going much earlier next year. I ended up using 1/2" hardware cloth/wire to keep out the gophers.... boy do I hate gophers! I don't have my notes with me so I'll take a picture this week with all the details of which pumpkins are doing the best. Frank Wednesday, June 17 View Page OK, I got my notes and took another picture. This is my Clark 1099 "06" that is doing the best and in the back is my second best a 1058.8 Papez. I also have a 921 Roundeau and a 694.5 Simpson going for backups. I'm learning but so far it has been very fun... Frank Tuesday, July 7 View Page I'm very happy with the growth that I'm getting from my Clark 1099. The main vine looks good and has one small pumpkin at 8' out and a nice female that is starting at 13' out. Tuesday, July 7 View Page First pumpkin on main vine of 1099 Clark about 8' out. I will probally take this one off if the next one looks good. Tuesday, July 7 View Page I'm turning the main trunk to get it going in it's final direction and this female is hopefully the big one for the main on the 1099 Clark. I'm a little worried that the main stem had to bend over the gopher wire and got damaged. Monday, November 16 View Page Well no Giants this year as I was out of the Garden with a broken foot for the summer. But, I'm happy with the couple that made it to 100 pounds on their own. Better Luck next year