Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 111 Entries. Friday, April 18 View Page As it looks right now this will be my last growing year due to persisting lack of time. Following seeds saw dirt today: AG 1622 Young 09 (1207 Young x 1385 Jutras) 1236 C. Harp 09 (998 Pukos x 1385 Jutras) 1222 Würsching 13 (1391 Würsching x 1495 Stelts) 934 Schieder 11 (1421 Stelts x 991 Urena) 587 Rupf 08 (1385 Jutras x 1207 Young) FP 81 Wolf 09 (88.5 Leland x 145 McInnis) two times Marrow 206.5 Wursten 09 (118.8 Glazebrook x open) two times 114 Baggs 12 (66 Baggs x 99.2 Osmala) two times   Friday, April 25 View Page Except for the two 206.5s all seeds germinated and got planted outside in a big hoophouse today.   Friday, April 25 View Page I hope the hoophouse will last longer than last year (only two weeks then).   Thursday, May 8 View Page In picture down to up: 1222, 114, 934, 81, 587   Thursday, May 8 View Page In picture down to up: 81, 1236, 114, 1622   Thursday, May 8 View Page Hoophouse   Thursday, May 8 View Page Hoophouse (other side)   Thursday, May 8 View Page Three extra seeds will see dirt today: 814* Horde 13 UOW/DMG (1088 Horde 12 x SIB)   Sunday, May 11 View Page Strong wind is tearing my hoophouse apart.   Monday, May 19 View Page All three 814* Horde germinated, but one was mutated. The two good ones got planted outside today with a bit sun and wind protection.   Saturday, May 31 View Page front to back: 114, 1236, 81   Saturday, May 31 View Page front to back: 81, 934, 114   Saturday, May 31 View Page 814* Horde   Saturday, May 31 View Page hoophouse   Sunday, June 22 View Page Left side, front to back: 114, 1236, 81 Right side, front to back: 81, 934 The other plants in the hoophouse got pulled.   Sunday, June 22 View Page Front: 114 Back, left: 934 Back, right: 81   Sunday, June 22 View Page 814* Horde, two times   Monday, June 23 View Page Hoophouse   Monday, June 23 View Page Hoophouse damaged by wind.   Friday, June 27 View Page Open pollination FP 81 MV 200cm 3 lobes, helped with sib pollen   Saturday, June 28 View Page Controlled pollination AG 1236 x 934 MV 250cm 5 lobes Tomorrow: controlled pollination FP 81 x sib MV 250cm   Friday, July 4 View Page open pollination FP 81 MV 300cm   Saturday, July 5 View Page controlled pollination AG 1236 x 934 MV 300cm open pollination FP 81 second SV 200cm   Sunday, July 6 View Page controlled pollination FP 81 x sib 1st SV 250cm 3 lobes controlled pollination 2nd FP 81 x self 3rd SV 200cm 3 lobes Hoophouse is broken.   Tuesday, July 15 View Page controlled pollination FP 81 x sib 3rd SV 250cm 3 nicely formed lobs controlled pollination 2nd FP 81 x self 3rd SV 250cm 3 lobs   Friday, September 12 View Page Patch   Friday, September 12 View Page 1236 x 934   Friday, September 12 View Page 934 x open   Friday, September 12 View Page 1st 114 x open   Friday, September 12 View Page 2nd 114 x open   Friday, September 12 View Page 81 x open   Friday, September 12 View Page 81 x   Friday, September 12 View Page 81 x   Friday, September 12 View Page 81 x   Friday, September 12 View Page 81 x   Friday, September 12 View Page 81 x   Friday, September 12 View Page 81 x sib   Friday, September 12 View Page 81 x   Sunday, September 14 View Page Two weigh-offs in The Netherlands this year. First one was todays GPC weigh-off in St. Odilienberg. Second one will be in three weeks in Leerdam.   Sunday, September 14 View Page Not official weights (I forgot to note which are the DMG ones among them and which were the true green squash among them; there were lots of squash): 621 Karkos 14 420 R. & M. Janssen 14 385* P. Theunissen 14 331 Reijnders 14 317 Breukers 14 310 K. Theunissen 14 277 Eijssen 14 224 Linnartz 14 198* Karkos 14 190 Azoumi 14 168 Wouters 14 (1236 C. Harp 09 x 934 Schieder 11) 160 B. Theunissen 14 157 Van Sambeek 14 106 Clarien 14 100 Boshoeve 14 94 Slangen 14 90 Berden 14 78 Swinkels 14 77 Raemakers 14 67 J. Janssen 14 66 Houben 14 63 Kanders 14 58 Timmermans 14 53 Helwegen 14 31 Jacobs 14 28 Rovers 14   Sunday, September 14 View Page More than one country present.   Sunday, September 14 View Page Lots of species present.   Sunday, September 14 View Page And nicely presented.   Sunday, September 14 View Page Children were entertained by painting pumpkins themselves.   Sunday, September 14 View Page Funny.   Sunday, September 14 View Page Even more funny.   Sunday, September 14 View Page Nicely decorated.   Sunday, September 14 View Page My entries. For me it was good to have a second weigh-off in The Netherlands, as I have 10 Field Pumpkins but no possibility to transport them all at once. All my Field Pumpkins were grown on two 81 Wolf 09 plants. Off course I should have kept less or only one Field Pumpkin per plant, but unfortunately I didn't. Field Pumpkin results at the 1st Dutch weigh-off: 1. 91 Wouters 14 - 87 Wouters 14 EXH - 86 Wouters 14 EXH - 74 Wouters 14 EXH - 65 Wouters 14 EXH (81 Wolf 09 x sib) 2. 28 Rovers 14   Sunday, September 14 View Page Prizes.   Sunday, September 14 View Page The mayor was present, congratulating these juvenile growers.   Sunday, September 14 View Page Field Pumpkin 91.5 Wouters 14 (81 Wolf 09 x open) DUTCH RECORD   Monday, September 15 View Page Few more pictures taken at the weigh off site.   Monday, September 15 View Page   Monday, September 15 View Page Yesterday early in the morning. In the afternoon it was really crowded at the time of weigh off.   Monday, September 15 View Page Nice squash were present.   Monday, September 15 View Page   Monday, September 15 View Page   Monday, September 15 View Page Transporting my fruit.   Monday, September 15 View Page A few pictures of the business of our host, who organised this GPC weigh-off.   Monday, September 15 View Page   Monday, September 15 View Page   Monday, September 15 View Page   Monday, September 15 View Page   Monday, September 15 View Page   Monday, September 15 View Page My marrow was 46.3 Wouters 14 (114 Baggs 12 x open)   Tuesday, September 23 View Page Harvesting seeds of 65.0 Wouters 14 EXH (81 Wolf 09 x sib) today.   Saturday, October 4 View Page What a day... Today I improved on my own dutch FP record set 3 weeks before. Seconds later Bradley Wursten took the dutch FP record away from me. I gained it back again with my heaviest FP so far. Then Iwan Horde beat us all and left no doubt about it. Iwan Horde grew the new EUROPEAN RECORD Field Pumpkin 164.7 I. Horde 14 (103 MacKinnon x 128 Lyons)!   Saturday, October 4 View Page Place of this excitement was Leerdam at the 2nd weigh-off in The Netherlands. Field Pumpkin results: 1st 164.70 I. Horde 14 (103 MacKinnon x 128 Lyons) EUROPEAN RECORD EXH 124.80 I. Horde 14 (181 MacKinnon x 128 Lyons) 2nd 99.20 Wouters 14 (81 Wolf x open) PB 3nd 95.50 Wursten 14 (121.5 MacKenzie x open) PB EXH 93.90 Wouters 14 (81 Wolf x open) EXH 89.50 Wouters 14 (81 Wolf x open) 4th 86.60 N. Horde 14 (128 Lyons x 181 MacKinnon) EXH 83.30 Wursten 14 (128 Lyons x 121.5 MacKenzie) EXH 67.00 Wouters 14 (81 Wolf x open) 5th 64.40 Horde 14 (181 MacKinnon x open)   Saturday, October 4 View Page FP's   Saturday, October 4 View Page Interview with the new European FP Champion.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Of course also AG's at the weigh-off, starting the pictures of them with: EXH 695.60 A. Horde 14 (1177 Horde x self)   Saturday, October 4 View Page 3rd 1006.6 Van Vuren 14 (1222 Wuersching x open)   Saturday, October 4 View Page EXH 1108.7 A. Horde 14 (1744 Fulk x sib)   Saturday, October 4 View Page 2nd 1197.1 I. Horde 14 (1222 Wuersching x self)   Saturday, October 4 View Page A new AG DUTCH RECORD was achieved by grower Arnold Horde: 1st 1520.3 A. Horde 14 (1744 Fulk x sib)   Saturday, October 4 View Page Heaviest dutch squash off the year: 1142.0* Wursten 14 (1233* Hunt x self)   Saturday, October 4 View Page With a beautiful colour almost like a chestnut it seemed as if this squash was carved out of wood.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Seed harvesting.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Inside the squash.   Saturday, October 4 View Page   Saturday, October 4 View Page Like in the FP's I also managed second place with marrow, but not with a personal best for me. Dutch marrow results: 1st 108.9 I. Horde 14 PB 2nd 60.6 Wouters 14 3rd 53.8 Scheffe 14 4th 31.7 Van Zanten 14   Saturday, October 4 View Page I didn't enter an AG in this 2nd dutch weigh-off like I planned to, because of a soft spot discovered while harvesting.   Saturday, October 11 View Page Meeting of the EGVGA growers in Ludwigsburg next to the headquarter of the Blühendes Barock Ludwigsburg. Program: * opening words from Jos Ghaye / EGVGA President * special guest/grower from Taiwan! “News from the EGVGA” *Speakers: Tom Delles (Luxemburg) and Andreas Wild (Germany) • News from the board • Seed of the year results Presentation “Le Zucche del Gallo Nero” * Speaker: Benedetta Lanza & Stefano Cutrupi • Growing giant pumpkins in Tuscany/Italy • One of the top growers from Italy shows and tells about his season incl. the “FREAK 2.0” PLUS Presentation “microbiology of the soil” *Speaker Roberto Morelli Kron Dinner at Restaurant “Badgarten”   Saturday, October 11 View Page Continuation of the program: Presentation “Pumpkin/Squash carving Villafane Style” *Jeroen van de Vlag (Dutch artist from Switzerland) • Artist who works together with Ray Villafane • Maybe we will meet the “Hubbards”  Presentation Jos Ghaye & Beni Meier • Will there be a 1000+ kg pumpkin this year? • Will there be a world record pumpkin in Europe for the very first time? ADDITIONAL INFO: All growers and their family members (=parents and children, not grandparents, uncles etc.) don´t need to pay entrance to the park and the castle. Meeting is for EGVGA members but you can bring your friends and family! Presentations will be translated either in English or in German. Maybe you bring some snacks for the late evening.   Saturday, October 11 View Page   Saturday, October 11 View Page This Belgian pumpkin song was sung at the EGVGA Convention. It was one of the many extras. Like the Belgian pumpkin beer. And Benedetta Lanza & Stefano Cutrupi indulged us with delicious italian cookies.   Sunday, October 12 View Page Stunning achievement and what an excitement... Grower Beni Meier from Switzerland (Europe) performed an unimaginable Pumpkin World-Record-HATTRICK today at the GPC Weigh-Off in Ludwigsburg, Germany, with the first pumpkin exceeding the metric ton! 2323,7 Meier 14 Three world records in a row, within only a few weeks, and no one else interrupting his sequence; who can top that? Jucker Farmart awarded him with an extra bonus of € 12.000,- for this World Record.   Sunday, October 12 View Page European Championship & GPC Weigh-Off at the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival. From germany.info: Each fall, hundreds of thousands of pumpkins are displayed in the gardens of a palace in Ludwigsburg, a city located in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The city has brought in 150 tons of 500 different species of pumpkins, the largest pumpkin exhibition in the world. The Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival typically displays more than 400,000 pumpkins each year, arranging them to create larger than life sculptures based on a particular theme. In previous years, the festival has had a Jurassic Park theme, an ocean theme, a Switzerland theme, a fairytale theme and an Egyptian theme, among others. Last year’s festival had a sports theme, with pumpkin sculptures taking the form of boxers in a ring, a swimmer, a soccer ball, a discus thrower and other athletes and sports equipment. The two-month-long exhibitions typically attract families, tourists and photographers engrossed in the unusual displays and the fall-themed activities offered at the Ludwigsburg Palace.   Sunday, October 12 View Page Continuing from germany.info: In addition to the displays, the Ludwigsburg festival also features an annual pumpkin boat race in which participants paddle across a lake using boats made from hollowed-out pumpkins. These “boats” can easily weigh 500 – or more – pounds, which means they can sink quickly. Getting across the lake is a race against time – both for first place and for the sake of staying dry. The festival also features an annual European championship for the heaviest pumpkin. The year 2014 set a new record for the world’s heaviest: at 1,054.5 kilograms (2,323.7 pounds), this year’s heaviest pumpkin is the first one in history to surpass the 1,000-kilo mark. On Nov. 3 – the last day of the festival – the winning pumpkins are publicly smashed after having been on display for several weeks. Those who visit the grounds of the Ludwigsburg Palace in the fall can visit the festival to sample pumpkin-flavored dishes, wine or squash. Specialities include pumpkin burgers, pumpkin-flavored popcorn and pumpkin cake. Visitors can also go to the Halloween-themed tent to carve their own pumpkins.   Sunday, October 12 View Page Pictures of the pumpkin exhibition   Sunday, October 12 View Page   Sunday, October 12 View Page   Sunday, October 12 View Page   Sunday, October 12 View Page   Sunday, October 12 View Page   Sunday, October 12 View Page   Sunday, October 12 View Page The Hubbards show was funny, entertaining and beautiful.   Sunday, October 12 View Page A few examples   Sunday, October 12 View Page The Hubbards' pumpkin patch...   Sunday, October 12 View Page   Sunday, October 12 View Page SUNDAY OCTOBER 12th 2014 The day of the European Championship and GPC weigh-off Prize Money: 1. 1500 Euro 6. 200 Euro 2. 700 Euro 7. 200 Euro 3. 400 Euro 8. 150 Euro 4. 300 Euro 9. 150 Euro 5. 250 Euro 10. 100 Euro ADDITIONAL INFO For the first 3 places we expect the pumpkin to stay in Ludwigsburg until the slaughter on the 2nd of November. You get all the seeds back and we are happy if you would give us some of them. If the winner pumpkin is over 800 kg, there will be additional price money of 1.000 Euro for the winner pumpkin. Jucker Farmart provides an extra bonus of € 12.000,- for a new World Record. All the other pumpkins are also welcome to stay at the pumpkin exhibition until the last day. More money for country champions this year: Every national best pumpkin grower will be invited for one night by Jucker Farmart, also 150 Euro travel support for each national best pumpkin grower. Plus 150 Euros from EGVGA. Meals and drinks on the pumpkin exhibition are for free, while your stay in Ludwigsburg.   Sunday, October 12 View Page Dutch champion Arnold Horde and his dutch record AG grown of 1744 Fulk seed.   Sunday, October 12 View Page German Robert Jaser   Sunday, October 12 View Page Benedetta Lanza & Stefano Cutrupi with their italian record AG.   Sunday, October 12 View Page Janko Lovse and his slovenian record AG.   Sunday, October 12 View Page Belgian Jos Ghaye and his former European Record AG (as Beni Meier beat it with his 1st WR).   Sunday, October 12 View Page Putting Beni's pumpkin to the scale... The atmosphere was exhilarating; could he do it a 3rd time? Three World Records in a row? A hattrick?   Sunday, October 12 View Page Beni Meier did it! With an astonishing 2323,7 lbs AG also smashing the metric ton bar. Being there was like reading Susan Warren's book "Backyard Giants" and then the superlative of it.   Sunday, October 12 View Page Beni Meier got more prizes than he could keep in his hands. Summing-up: So, become a member of the EGVGA and join the EGVGA convention next year, where knowledge is shared. Yes, it's quite a trip, but see it as a vacation after your pumpkin season. The pumpkin festival secures for a nice stay. An enthousiast from Taiwan already travelled the distance.   Sunday, October 12 View Page I didn't went empty-handed to Ludwigsburg and brought an FP.   Sunday, October 12 View Page Although a modest example, as no other competitor brought an FP to this particular weigh-off, I managed my second GPC ribbon this year for 1st place Field Pumpkin.