Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 149 Entries. Saturday, May 2 View Page first set of seedlings at 4 days old, dbl setup on my 958.5, 1250, and the 1378.5 Pitura, the other 1313 didn't make the criteria and I ditched it   Sunday, May 3 View Page first 2 hoops planted with 2-1250 Bowles '08, 2-958.5 Bowles '07, 2-1378.5 Pitura '07, 1-1313 Bowles '08 overcast and warm and a few days of sun predicted, cold night temps will have the heaters running. The cables have soil temp @ the desired 75°   Thursday, May 7 View Page 18 seedlings are in the soil, all are competition plants at this point. Backups to all of them have been started in case of a major disaster. A very cold wet spring had me pressed but this is my normal time frame for getting plants to the hoops, Leslie is growing with me again this year and the "kids" have been a big help. While I am confident in my program I am trying a few new "tricks" this year, eventually some pictures will follow. Thanks to the growers and friends that have helped supply the desired seeds, best of luck this year in growing a new personal best goes out to all.   Thursday, May 7 View Page The last pumpkin seedlings planted in the other 2 hoops, cool and cloudy with possible sun in the forecast, frosts at night. plant selection 1-991 Urena '06, 1-961.5 Urena '07, 2-1334 Daletas, 1-1255 Van Kooten '08 As you can see I have a nice mix of prooven and unprooven seeds with great genetics this year, while I have the option of the "super proovens" I leaned towards shaking the dice and will grow seeds on a hunch if the genetics (and previous results)temp me.   Sunday, May 10 View Page Following "g's" best advice I planted my first greenies this year, I waited a couple extra days to make sure the weather was awful and put them in the new soil that still needs some work, any luck at all and there will be LOTS of weeds over there since I hear that is one of the tricks to growing these things ;-)   Sunday, May 17 View Page 24°F true temp at sunrise, heaters have been running for the last 48 hours straight. With 16' long hoops again this year I'm a little nervous that the plants at the far end of the structures might have gotten tweaked. Made for an interesting night, hourly checks get pretty old about 4am after a few hours of morning sun I'll know how they faired are we having fun yet? 2 upsides, no skeeters and with the surface of the patch hard I didn't really worry about soil compression as I stumbled around in the dark 8)   Sunday, May 17 View Page As feared a few plants got "touched" last night. Nobody went full out flat on me but there is some discoloration and some "wrinkly" on a few leaves. I'll go another day and make a couple heavy decisions. I did plant a backup 998 next to one of the victims today. I might transplant one of the 1250's and one of the 958.5's tomorrow if I deam necessary. One item of interest, 2 of the damaged plants were among the seedlings I had doubled planted, one plant gets touched,,,,the other appears fine. Makes selection easier in a week or so I'm thinking. In my 4th spring growing these freaks and this is the first time I have gotten bit, I cut a corner this year that gave me a reality check today, next season there will be a change in my early plant protection, basically going to change out from these long hoops and rethink the heating over the winter. The good news, I have a 1250 and a 958.5 on the ground today, very happy with that considering the weather to date since they hit the patch on the 3rd.   Wednesday, May 20 View Page hmm, clear skies and 88° coupled with 45mph wind gusts, now we have a bit of sunburn to accompany the frost bite,,, this is how we make "tundra seeds" 8)   Friday, May 22 View Page please remove the extra "o's" in the previous post. I really do know how to spell prOven !   Friday, May 22 View Page Of course I planted the soon to be famous Green and Shiney 605* Huff '08, actually I planted 2 since I hear there are not many seeds left and I want to keep these out of the hands if innocent victims. (actually when competing with a cheater and an elf you have to play the odds and grow at least 2)   Friday, May 22 View Page ok,,that was stooopid now I have the time line all messed up,,,,,geeze this diary thing gets annoying you figure it out !   Friday, May 22 View Page my other choice for green was the 1028* Johnson '06, I saw this fruit weighed and it's still the largest squash I've seen on the scales. (I wasn't luckey enough to get that illusive 1248* Johnson like some very lucky growers did 8)   Friday, May 22 View Page ready for some manditory baby plant pics in the hoops?   Friday, May 22 View Page First look at this layout, similar to the last few years but I have always moved the hoops enough that I now have mounded in 32 different areas of the patch. I dig to the subsoil when placing my cables, each mound is around 50 sq ft and ends up 6-10" raised. This amounts to 1600 sq ft of deep prep over the 4 seasons. The green isn't weeds it's oats planted as a spring cover crop, I will get a shallow till on this in the next few days. Experimental project #1 for the season.   Friday, May 22 View Page (and the peanut gallery is saying "why would he plant OATS?) buy the Gary Zimmer DVD from the CWPG/WGPG and find out, Gary and I discussed the possibilities last winter and IF you saw what he had to say later at our clubs presentation you'll know what I am hoping this will accomplish   Friday, May 22 View Page ok,,,now some of those plant pics the good, the very good, and the ugggggg   Friday, May 22 View Page the very good, rear view of the selected 958.5 Bowles, this seed was prOven last year twice and not by me for a change. Great potential in this cross 1248 Ford X 1407 Wolf, there are at least 5 WI growers giving the seed a shot this year. I think we will see some interesting results.   Friday, May 22 View Page more very good at the other end of the same hoop. the 1250's,,,still letting the 2 of them go but not for much longer, both are great plants and as you can see are making a run for it soon   Friday, May 22 View Page more very good but limited when one plant got touched on the dreadful night from freeze hell mentioned previously. The 1378.5 Pitura's,,,,the damaged plant will be cut soon, I wanted to watch the recovery for a few days first.   Friday, May 22 View Page the good #1, 1313 is a fine looking plant just not showing the aggression that the last 3 are, more like her mama slow and steady grower all season which is a good thing these were the plants set out on May 3rd,,all had a 4 days of great weather when planted, full sun and mid 70's   Friday, May 22 View Page the good #2, the 961.5 Urena, great looking plant that is starting to move, with 4 days of sun predicted it will do well the second plantings on May 7th hit poor weather days and all the plants have been slow to really hit stride,,that will change I'm sure   Friday, May 22 View Page ugggg #1,,,,ok now we see a smaller plant that got frost bit, the 1255 Van Kooten has struggled, the new growth seems fine and I won't cut this plant short. The plant in the background is another story for another day so just hang in there and maybe I'll let you in on it.   Friday, May 22 View Page the other ugggg, 991 Urena also tasted what the northwoods can dish out,,,this plant is starting to get aggressive and as you can see the new growth is fine we'll turn these California genetics into "tundra tough" seeds ,,,   Friday, May 22 View Page a good side X side of what the stange frost did in the hoops,,these are the 1334 Daletas seedlings, the one that got BIT was the better of the 2 but now it will get the "knife" ,,,,,,,mr norm are you paying attention?   Friday, May 22 View Page timne for a break (plus I need the greenies to grow a bit)   Friday, May 29 View Page hmmm,,,,,, training 4' mains to stay in the hoophouse at this point is odd,,,even for me http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=WIZ005&warncounty=WIC125&firewxzone=WIZ005&local_place1=Eagle+River+WI&product1=Freeze+Watch   Friday, May 29 View Page the last line from the warning: A FREEZE WATCH MEANS SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE POSSIBLE. THESE CONDITIONS COULD KILL CROPS AND OTHER SENSITIVE VEGETATION. well duhhhh!   Sunday, May 31 View Page 27° at sunrise, heaters humming, Wisconsin Public Service smiling as the meter spins   Sunday, May 31 View Page oats were disced in yesterday, a bio-drench will be applied today along with some molasses to speed up the breakdown prior to a final till this IS frost on the newly turned soil,,,and BTW I blame Wade and Tammy for this late freeze since they thought this was a good weekend to comeup camping ,,,, 2 more nights in the 30's predicted for early this week, then hopefully get these hoops off and the windbreaks set in the first position,,these plants need room to run and some sun to play in ;-)   Tuesday, June 9 View Page Having encountered a record cold May and with June following that same pattern I'm officially off to my slowest start in the patch. Not wanting to be a "weather whiner" here are some pics showing what I am dealing with and the lengths I will go to when trying to compete.   Tuesday, June 9 View Page even the remaining penquin seeks the heater remaining in service in the hoop,,,geeze   Tuesday, June 9 View Page time to pull out the "lucky charms' since I don't posses any special elf like magic,,and I refuse to cheat this will have to help,,,,,,,,,,,, I hope!!!!   Tuesday, June 9 View Page OH,,,,and lets nor forget the new "lucky" hat,,,from a land where the pumpkin growing weathe is purrrfect ;-)   Tuesday, June 9 View Page some of the locals invited me over to consult the spirit world later tonight, they seem to think they can call up the sprits of seasons past and help warm things up a bit (last time I consulted the spirit world I lost a few years, wish me luck I hope to be back with a better report in a few days)   Saturday, July 18 View Page After some "badgering" from WI growers I have decided to post some pics of the current state of the patch   Saturday, July 18 View Page The weather has been far less than hoped for at this point in the season, below average temps with a few periods of low sun. A 10 day heat wave in mid June got the plants back on track and for the most part the patch is filled in. Termination on secondarys is almost complete. Chosen fruit on most of the plants have been selected, the last culling will be tomorrow.   Saturday, July 18 View Page Here are a few fruit pics. This is what I ended up with for a opick on my 958.5,,,gonna be a fugly sucker I think.   Saturday, July 18 View Page hmm, opick maybe I made up a new word   Saturday, July 18 View Page A shot of the fruit on the 1378.5 Pitura,,,great plant at this point. A different shaped fruit than I have grown in the past.   Saturday, July 18 View Page This is for Brooks,,,maybe it's the 13 in the weight, but all the females were perfect marbles on my 1313,, this is a 6 lobe I took at the keeper,,,late set   Saturday, July 18 View Page Culled this off the 1250 a couple days ago for a younger set   Saturday, July 18 View Page Growing a couple greenies this year, this is the different vine pattern I am using on the 1028*,,the xmas tree is the first secondary at the stump   Saturday, July 18 View Page This might give you an idea of what I am doing here, the only fruit I could get set on the main was at 8', I'll have 400 sq ft of plant behind it very soon.   Saturday, July 18 View Page Glenn this should make you happy 8)   Saturday, July 18 View Page And this my friends is an elf's worst nightmare,,,my set on the 605* 5 days old and down, ready for the setup tomorrow   Saturday, July 18 View Page 2 crops of oats and now this first crop of buckwheat in next years expansion for the patch   Saturday, July 18 View Page cute little fuzzy bunnies   Saturday, July 18 View Page this one is named Stew   Saturday, July 18 View Page Actually all of these are named Stew   Saturday, July 18 View Page Stew's contribution to the patch for next year.   Wednesday, July 29 View Page green and shiney "northwoods style"   Wednesday, July 29 View Page the other greenie, 1028* hit 200" a couple of days ago. I got a fly to sit on top for perspective ;-)   Wednesday, July 29 View Page 1378.5 Pitura, a different shape than others I have seen. Nice color at this point, also over 200".   Wednesday, July 29 View Page 991 Urena, should be interesting not my favorite blossum end, we'll see if I have learned how to preserve fruit in a few days as this ramps up.   Wednesday, July 29 View Page 961.5 Urena, a whiter shade of pale perhaps? Interesting shape that has been picking up some steam the last couple days as it closes in on day 20   Wednesday, July 29 View Page 1250 Bowles, also close to the 20 day mark,,nice color coming through. All fruit are about 3-5 days off my normal marks for the age of the fruit and I am running with sets that are younger than I really prefer. Weather has been problematic to say the least, but it's a long way to go until Oct.   Wednesday, August 5 View Page there's a couple things you don't want to see when you uncover the fruit for the morning inspections,,,we all know about the cracks and splits,, the other thing is something that hops or moves,,, "they" say toads bring good luck in the garden,,never one to pass on good omens I encourage as many toads as I can to populate the patch ;-)   Wednesday, August 5 View Page "much better in the sun with the blankets gone for the day, not many bugs around this place" (betcha you didn't know I could communicate with toads)   Wednesday, August 5 View Page (it's a skill I picked up while living with my ex)   Wednesday, August 5 View Page "home of the toad" the 961.5 Urena X 1250 Bowles 27 days old,,nothing has made the marks here this cold season. But the younger fruit are picking up the pace, now IF we can get a weather break we'll see what they can do. nice shape   Wednesday, August 5 View Page different angle   Wednesday, August 5 View Page 1250 Bowles X 961.5 Urena,,,getting to be a long block. My youngest fruit at 27 days. Dailey gains on the steady increase.   Wednesday, August 5 View Page 1378.5 Pitura X 958.5 Bowles,,hanging out and enjoying some steady gains,,26.5lbs/day the last 6 days. Some heat on the way, it will be nice to see what happens with warmer soil temps. (58.4° again this morning,,,grrrrr)   Wednesday, August 5 View Page different angle,,I'm liking the shape and color on this fruit   Wednesday, August 5 View Page the "shiney new dollar" fruit on the 991 Urena X 1250 Bowles   Wednesday, August 5 View Page different angle, another long block developing   Wednesday, August 5 View Page 1028* Johnson X self, starting to greenup a bit this week (note I have the same fly for size comparision)   Wednesday, August 5 View Page just a cool shot of the blossum end as it darkens and takes on some markings   Wednesday, August 5 View Page "THE Green and Shiney" at day 23 and 72"cc, not much for shoulders and a big butt,,wonder where that came from? 605* Huff X 1028* Johnson   Sunday, August 23 View Page time for some updated pics, still suffering from one of the coldest summers recorded and the fruit have been slow for the most part, as an example I had 38° this morning after a day with 62° for a high this is the 1250 Bowles, day 45 steady gains in the 600ish bracket   Sunday, August 23 View Page different view,,the rib on the bottom is something I have never delt with before,,,hmmmm   Sunday, August 23 View Page the 961.5 day 46 great shape, steady numbers, same bracket as the 1250 for est wt   Sunday, August 23 View Page side view   Sunday, August 23 View Page 991 Urena, long, adding width now. Has done well in the cool temps. Day 47 est 700 and change (how much change?)   Sunday, August 23 View Page 1378.5 Pitura, still the best of the patch, probably some of the best color I have had since the 1046. Still getting nice daily gains even at day 56.   Sunday, August 23 View Page that top has been filling it,,,Wade was here and commented how much this fruit was shaped like the 1175.5. All the pumpkins are still very young looking, maybe the cool weather helps that aspect. I'll need another great Sept weather to reach some goals I set last winter,,,stay tuned ;-)   Sunday, August 23 View Page that doesn't mean the greenies are young looking here's the 1028* day 57,,still getting steady numbers unfortunately they are low numbers   Sunday, August 23 View Page and what's with the green and "shiney"? I think she's showing stress from loss of siblings. well she is growing and hit 270" OTT on day 41. The plant is good, maybe if her mom sent her cookies it would help   Monday, August 31 View Page Frost Advisory Hazardous Weather Outlook Overnight: Widespread frost. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 29. Calm wind. Monday: Sunny, with a high near 69. Calm wind becoming west southwest around 5 mph. Monday Night: Patchy frost after 2am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 39. Light west southwest wind. I just want everyone to know that past club president Casey N is now working for the National Weather Service and is doing the current forcasting in this region. I take the above warning rather personally now. 8)   Monday, August 31 View Page It's 2am and I'm taking the pro-active approach to this, large air mover fan running, hay piles smoldering, and irrigation at the ready. Almost ready for the second pot of coffee, currently 34.67°F in the patch.   Monday, August 31 View Page ok,,,,got the night in and just got up from a nap. Looks like I lost some leaves, some plants got hit more than others. Moving air works much better than anything irrigation related on these beasts. Minimum temp was 29° Second round arrives tonight,,,,grrrrr   Saturday, September 19 View Page 605* day 65, bigger than her mom   Saturday, September 19 View Page another angle, nice solid fruit that August frost got a few leaves but the growth has been steady   Friday, September 25 View Page loading the 1378.5 for the Milwaukee County Fair event. Norm, this saves all of my friends backs. Also note the great late season weed growth.   Friday, September 25 View Page loaded and ready for tarping and the tie downs. This was my big stem fruit this year.   Saturday, September 26 View Page Well alrighty then, on to the Milwaukee County Fair. A first time weigh-off at State Fair Park. This could very well turn into the premier venue for the Upper Midwest. Great facility and perfect central location to a 6 state area, the early date makes for a great place to get official weights on scarey fruit that might not make the later events. We had over 20 entries that wowed the crowd, this is shot of some of the WGPG growers and the fruit.   Saturday, September 26 View Page ok,,,so you want to see the rest of my Milwaukee County Fair pictures? go to my December 6th entries everything is explained there,,heh heh   Saturday, October 3 View Page ok,,,lets see if I can keep the date straight for these The Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest was an amazing success this year, huge fruit and lots of them. 4 new state records were set in 3 different catagories. I'll try and list the new personal bests for the growers in the top 10, if I miss someone it certainly isn't intentional.   Saturday, October 3 View Page I told ya there were alot of huge fruit, 53 total this year, Our first 3 - 1500# fruit and a Top Ten average of 1,227.5#s. A long way from '06 when the new WI state record was set at 1175.5# a big congrats to all the growers that attended.   Saturday, October 3 View Page Leslie weighed her orange fruit of the year, 961.5 Urena X 1250 Bowles (not the best of pics), this fruit will make the trip to the White House, more following about the journey to be posted later ;-) How's that for a teaser Norm?   Saturday, October 3 View Page another pic and angle of the 907.5 Bowles '09   Saturday, October 3 View Page stem view of the 2 fruit I entered, 605* Huff on the left, 1250 Bowles on the right   Saturday, October 3 View Page another view of the 1105 Bowles '09   Saturday, October 3 View Page "and the winner is" (of the green and NOT so shiney 605* squash contest) my first attempt at growing a greenie. Great shape and 16% heavy, good enough for 2nd place. Now the 858* Bowles'09, 605* Huff X 1028* Johnson   Saturday, October 3 View Page different angle 858* Bowles '09 (this is what a greenie looks like Don and Sam) I'm still waiting on the t-shirt,,,,ahemmm   Saturday, October 3 View Page I don't feel bad about 2nd place, Caleb Jacobus reset his '08 state squash record with this beauty, off his last year's seed and ended up the second biggest squash in the world this year. He's Wisconsin's Squash Kid and resident expert. Watch for him to push that WR next year.   Saturday, October 3 View Page stem view of the 1099.5 Jacobus '09   Saturday, October 3 View Page somewhere in this pile of long gourds is the new WI state record 115.5" Martin, Margaret and Glenn's first year growing these and they did well.   Saturday, October 3 View Page some "yankee" watermelons made the show,,the cool summer held these weights down but compared to "store bought" the crowd was in awe   Saturday, October 3 View Page OK,,,starting at #10 of our Top Ten fruit, new personal best entered for Dianne Gronski, this grandson brings alot of luck to patch I think   Saturday, October 3 View Page #9, George Heyne, with a new personal best grown off his own seed and a great looking orange fruit   Saturday, October 3 View Page #8, Wayne Peters one of the legends of the upper midwest with a new personal best grown off the 993 Bowles '08 ! It's always rewarding to see your offspring do well at the scales, thanks Wayne for giving it a shot in your garden.   Saturday, October 3 View Page #7 John Hopkins, new personal best (are you starting to see the trend here with all of these growers?)   Saturday, October 3 View Page #6, Todd and Sequoia Ellenbecker with a new personal best, Todd was looking for Sequoia at this point I think 8)   Saturday, October 3 View Page #5, Dave Bhaskaran, guess what?,,,a new personal best ! we all know Dave likes growing the pretty orange fruit???   Saturday, October 3 View Page #4 Jim Courson, another grower from MN with a new pb. Nice weight,,,if those seeds have the spunk of the 1370 Rose we will be hearing alot more from Jim.   Saturday, October 3 View Page #3, Chris Stevens and family with a new WI state record as well as a new personal best, congrats on getting one to the scale Chris   Saturday, October 3 View Page Chris's record held for about 5 minutes, Ray Gronski gets a hug from that lucky grandson as the scales dial in on the now New WI State Record fruit   Saturday, October 3 View Page #2 and a new personal best for Ray Gronski, hitting the mark after growing AG's for over 25 years, a big congrats goes out to Ray for such a great feat. Hats off to the Champ!   Saturday, October 3 View Page another angle of the 1569.5 Gronski '09, making it the largest fruit grown to this point off the 985 Werner seed   Saturday, October 3 View Page (drum roll please) #1, Chad Revier and the new MN State Record congrats Chad!   Wednesday, October 7 View Page the last fruit on the 991 Urena, still getting some growth after losing some leaves in the 2 nights of the low 20°s last week, good luck with that "plan" for Stoughton, Georgie boy ;-)   Wednesday, October 7 View Page "and now a word from our sponsers" The Dramm Corporation from Manitowoc, WI has come on board as a supporter of the WGPG, many of our top growers have been using their product for years with proven results from a local product. Produced from fresh water fish harvested from Lake Michigan. I thank them for their support.   Thursday, October 8 View Page Leslie discovered that a bear had molested one of her experimental fruit last night. Yes this is the tundra folks.   Thursday, October 8 View Page the chew marks are from a deer that also decided give it a test taste,,,note the bear had both paws digging here   Thursday, October 8 View Page Just before loading the 991 today, got the right color for some heavy...stay tuned for the results at Eugster's Land Of the Giants this Saturday   Thursday, October 8 View Page The other side,,,very solid fruit ;-)   Thursday, October 8 View Page these cracks started weeks ago, nasty, mean looking fruit it was still growing today when cut, more ooze from this end   Sunday, December 6 View Page "it is what it is" McMullen showed up with a monster that had "pinholed" on him the day before. Gene is one of the best growers in the midwest and one day he'll drag a huge sound fruit to the scales, he's overdue.   Sunday, December 6 View Page Al Kopp and Ray Gronski, little did we know at this point how these 2 names would come into play later in the events. Margaret Martin in the background eavesdropping on the conversation 8)   Sunday, December 6 View Page "the Colwell kids" (and dad) checking out thier grandpa's first official event entry. They of course have a few years experience and were tying to calm his nerves   Sunday, December 6 View Page Todd and Sequoia Ellenbecker making their first apperance of the year with what turned out to be their smallest fruit of the season. Sequoia kept Todd pretty busy at the fair, the camel ride was on top it the list for "things to do with dad"   Sunday, December 6 View Page well,,,by now I'm sure you noticed I started this whole diary entry thing before I had enough coffee this morning. So just to make things more confused I will keep this date going for the rest of the County Fair entries,,,uggg   Sunday, December 6 View Page or would that be less confused?   Sunday, December 6 View Page this says something about the line of thinking George J brought to the event   Sunday, December 6 View Page at a WGPG event we will put you to work, first timer, out-a-state, we don't let it slide, the taping crew, l-r George J, Joe Menting, and Jim Eldridge (Jim played an instumental role in helping get this event established)   Sunday, December 6 View Page Joe had just asked George about his good friend "shazzy" (not sure if there was a tear or an instant headache)   Sunday, December 6 View Page here I am explaining to the "scales guy" what the back of my t-shirt means   Sunday, December 6 View Page I figured a "scales guy" would have this one figured out   Sunday, December 6 View Page Glen Martin hitchin them up. Note our great loacation for foot traffic, nothing beats the proximity of the restrooms for drawing a crowd. I wonder if that is where Gene was headed, he seemed to be in a hurry in this shot   Sunday, December 6 View Page so we weighed the fruit,,,first year attempt and very proud Ron Chapman getting a round of applause   Sunday, December 6 View Page on the other end of the spectrum we had this fruit (told ya it was a monster)   Sunday, December 6 View Page Ray Gronski and grandson with a new pb that went down on them earlier in the season (we'll see more of these 2)   Sunday, December 6 View Page and the largest sound fruit and winner of the event was presented by "team Martin"   Sunday, December 6 View Page and George J (after he stopped crying for the second time that day)   Sunday, December 6 View Page Todd and Sequoia,,,I think she got the camel ride shortly after this picture was taken 8)   Sunday, December 6 View Page Wade smilin all nice and purdy   Sunday, December 6 View Page Al Kopp and my buddy Alanna, the first time all day she wasn't "mugging" in the pictures,,,lol   Sunday, December 6 View Page another first year grower Beth Ingersoll, I helped her a bit this season and will made note "when helping an expectant mother, anticipate many, many emails showing concern for the pumpkin" we'll see more fruit from Beth later, she didn't "worry" them to death 8)   Sunday, December 6 View Page our Howard Dill Award winner, Rebecca has won prettiest pumpkin a couple of times before. This was grown off the 1290 Poirier. This fruit eventually made the trip to the White House, but that's another day,,another storey   Sunday, December 6 View Page that would be story,,,,grrrr   Sunday, December 6 View Page and here she tells the crowd a few of her tips when growing pretty pumpkins eventually the announcer figured out she likes to talk on the mic and wasn't shy at all 8)   Sunday, December 6 View Page oh,,,I almost forgot   Sunday, December 6 View Page the "big stem fruit"   Sunday, December 6 View Page yeah,,,it went a little lite as I anticipated,,,sigh oh well, in a year of record cold temps combined with mostly cloudy days this is a very nice fruit and it made it to the scale a good thing as my buddy Norm says   Sunday, December 6 View Page did you see that cup of beer? HEY,,,it's MILWAUKEE people Yes there is beer available at this event, one more reason pumpkin growers like this venue (If Don Young finds out we're in trouble)   Tuesday, December 15 View Page 1250 Bowles X 961.5 Urena, the 12th place fruit. 3rd generation working on this line, I think I'm getting close to a heavy orange combo that will surprise some folks. I really need to hope for more sun, warmer temps, and pickup the pace next season 8-)   Tuesday, December 15 View Page we have this fellow named Ray Gronski,,he has been growing extreme vegetables for years along with his pumpkins. Here is a kohlrabi that went over 35lbs from his garden.   Wednesday, December 16 View Page well,,,for those of you that might actually follow this,,check out Oct 3rd for pictures of the Nekoosa Fest '09 I really hate it when I do that,,,,,,,,,,,