Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 68 Entries. Tuesday, January 11 View Page Start of 2011 diary. We got a lot of fall patch preparation done in October and November. We removed all the old vines and mowed down all the remaining weeds; they got out of control with all the rain last season. We dug some of the drainage ditches wider and deeper and used that soil to raise low spots in our 6 main planting spots. We got 2 big pickup loads of 3 year old cow manure added, along with a lot of home made compost and leaves and grass clippings. I put on 48 bags of commercial compost and humus that I bought on clearance from Walmart at just $0.25 per bag. And I have 12 bags in reserve for next spring. I also chopped up all of the AG pumpkins and threw on a bunch of jack o lanterns all over the patch. The deer have been eating some of them and spreading some of their manure on the patch this winter.   Tuesday, January 11 View Page A few days ago I received my order from Extreme Pumpkin Store. Micorrhizae and Extreme Blend. I also got some Biota Max to try. I will also be using the Espoma and Jobes Organics fertilizers with micorrhizae and beneficial bacteria as they have helped a lot with disease issues. I got a little bit of wood ashes applied in the fall and will apply a little more through the winter. Not too much as I have my PH right about where I want it. I may add just a touch of 10-0-10 to make up some of the N that all the dry organic amendments may tie up and give the K just a little boost. Now we just need to pray for better weather than we have had for the last 3 seasons.   Tuesday, January 11 View Page The seed lineup for 2011: 1674, 1548, and 1536 Marsh 10. 1351.5 Trumm 09, 1209 Courson 10. 940 Witter 10 and 866.5 McWilliams 10. I have to get one more planting site ready in the spring, as I only worked on 6 last fall. In case some of these don't germinate, I have plenty of other good seeds to choose from. It might be hard to choose which ones to use for backups ans I have several good ones. We plan to grow a couple of waterlemons and long gourds again. We aren't ready to give up on them quite yet.   Wednesday, April 20 View Page Spring weather this year has been a repeat of the past few years, cold and wet. Morning lows have been in the 30's and highs in the 40's the past few days with a lot of rain. The main pumpkin patches won't get any tillage this spring. They got deep tillage around the stump and main vine areas last fall and shallow tillage on the rest after lots of amendments were added. I have been adding more topsoil by widening out the drainage ditches. If we get another flood I hope the patches will be high enough and the ditches will have enough capacity to save the plants. A little glyphosate to kill the early weeds and residual grass along with a light application of 10-0-10 and some Merit will be the rest of the spring preparations. Watermelons should get started tonight, with the pumpkins and long gourds to go in about a week. I'm going to try the long gourds one more time and use some copper based fungicide to hopefully put a stop to the disease problems. I just need a little less rain than the past 3 seasons. Jacob will be growing with me again this year. His first year of college is nearly done, and he will have the summer to help in the patch. I just hope he can land a summer job to help with the tuition!   Friday, April 29 View Page Started pumpkin seeds last night, and had frost this morning. At least the long range forecast is calling for a warmup. I had to restart watermelon seeds. I missed checking on them one day and by the time I got to them they were about 6" tall. They sprouted a lot faster than I expected. I plan to get some clear plastic over planting sites this weekend to warm the soil, and I need to get the electric fence back up and plugged in. I still have lots of deer to fend off.   Monday, May 2 View Page Still getting morning frosts, and more predicted for tomorrow. 100% success on pumpkin germination. Now I just need to get the weather to cooperate. By later in week temps are supposed to be in upper 60's with lows in 40's. That could still mean light frost in my valley. I guess I will need boxes and buckets to cover the plants at night for a while.   Friday, May 6 View Page We got all of our pumpkins in the patch last evening. It is a little cooler than I would like but forecast is for a warmup. We couldn't wait as the first true leaves were showing and roots just starting to come through the peat pots. We had to do a little quick patch prep for our 7th plant as we only got 6 spots ready last fall. Now I need to get some long gourds started. We have 3 more watermelons up, just waiting for them to get big enough to set out.   Monday, May 16 View Page 92 degrees last Tuesday, light frost this morning. I was prepared and had all of the pumpkins tucked in under corrugated cardboard boxes. They will go back on for at least 2 more nights. Forecast for tomorrow morning is for patchy frost, which means a hard freeze in my valley. All the pumpkins are growing well, with at least 2 or 3 true leaves. They may be behind a lot of other growers, but they are on schedule for my patch. 3 watermelons are in the ground and the long gourds have sprouted and in the mini-greenhouse with a light bulb at night for heat. The pumpkin patches are now totally green except for the area around the plants. Tonight or tomorrow evening they will get a shot of glyphosate after the covers go back on. It looks like I might be able to get some free composted sheep manure, and if I do that will get spread on the patches and tilled in when I finally decide to cultivate with the TroyBilt.   Tuesday, May 17 View Page Frost again this morning. Forecast is for clear skies and 39 degrees tonight. Probably frost for one more night, so the pumpkins get covered again. Hopefully this will be the end of frost until October.   Tuesday, May 31 View Page There have been too many demands on my time this spring to give the pumpkins the attention they deserve, but that is changing. I filannly got around to cultivating under the first flush of weeds. The cucumber beetles made their first appearance yesterday. It was way to windy to spay, so I picked them off by hand and sprinkled on garlic powder. A couple hours later they were gone. It looks like the mains will start running in a couple days and all the plants look good for such a cool spring. Hopefully I can get a few pictures posted in near future.   Sunday, June 5 View Page Cucumber beetles are getting bad this year, and we have lost one long gourd to wilt that they brought in. I have been using garlic to repel them, will get out the insecticides this evening. The pumpkins are a little behind where I would like to see them, but ahead of some other cold spring seasons. The weather is finally warmer than normal and forecast to stay that way at least another week. So maybe the plants will take off and make up for lost time.   Monday, June 6 View Page Last evening I found that the cucumber beetles have wiped out the remaining long gourds. I started new seeds directly in the patch to see if we can still get one to grow this year. A few beetles were coming back on the pumpkins and watermelons too. All of the patch got sprayed with Bayer Advanced lawn & garden insecticide and dusted with permethrin and garlic. The pumpkins got a drench of Aliette also. They will get a shot of Merit tonight If I can take the heat. Forecast is for low 90's with heat index around 100, and warmer tomorrow. Sure is a quick change from 3 weeks ago when we had 3 consecutive mornings with frost. With the soil finally starting to dry out, I can start brewing up some compost tea and adding the Biota Max and extreme blend. The past 3 years it has been way to wet to add any extra liquids to the patches.   Tuesday, June 7 View Page Cucumber beetles were gone last evening when I applied Merit. 2 pumpkins have the main going 180 degrees opposite where they should and 2 are off 90 degrees. They will take a little more training. It is really getting hot, but the subsiol still has plenty of moisture. Rain is in forecast for Wednesday evening. I'm hoping this hot spell gets the plants to set down good root systems. Maybe tonight They will get just a little water with Extreme Blend added.   Monday, June 13 View Page After 3 days in the 90's we had 3 days in the 60's. The windstorm last weed didn't do much damage. One plant that had the main growing 90 degrees off got moved another 90. We have 2 more growing exactly opposite of the way we want. They just need more attention than normal. I made the first application of Biota Max Saturday, with 3 more to follow. We will be burying vines soon, using a mix of Pumpkin Pro, Mykos 30, Jobes organics and Espoma garden tone. We got a truck load of sheep bedding and manure a few weeks ago and have been composting that with grass clippings. We got the pile turned and more grass added over the weekend. It is heating up nicely. Should make good soil amendment this fall.   Wednesday, June 15 View Page Gave the pumpkins a shot of Extreme Blend last night before the rain came in. I also added a little 15-30-15 as the plants just weren't as dark green as I like. I found one casualty from last week's windstorm. The main on the 1351 Trumm got rolled over and suffered a 6" long lengthwise split. Too bad as this is the fastest growing plant and has the longest main. We will try to doctor it with daconil and somehow patch the split so it doesn't collect water. If that doesn't work we will train a secondary for a new main. I pickied the first female blossom off the 1209 Courson as it was only 18" from the stump. I took the camera down to the patch for pictures, but the batteries were dead. By the time I was done applying the mico/beneficial bacteria/orgainc fertilizer mix and burying mains it was too dark from the clouds for good pictures. Maybe tonight I can get some and post Thursday.   Thursday, June 16 View Page 1674 Marsh. Started growing 90 degrees off thei preferred direction, then wind moved it another 90. I'm moving it with fiberglass posts and burying vine to hold it down.   Thursday, June 16 View Page 1536 Marsh. This one also isn't growing the direction I wanted and has to be trained.   Thursday, June 16 View Page 1209 Courson. Weeds are a problem with all the rain we are getting.   Thursday, June 16 View Page 1351 Trumm. Longest main so far, and a nice secondary starting. This one was damaged by the wind.   Thursday, June 16 View Page Close up of the 1351 Trumm vine split, painted with fungicide. No water is collecting in it so we hope it will keep on growing. Something always goes wrong every year.   Thursday, June 16 View Page 1548 Marsh, also growing in the wrong direction. We really need to weed the drainage ditch in background.   Thursday, June 16 View Page 866.5 McWilliams. Another one growing nearly backwards. We usually have one at most do this to us each year. Now it is 4 out of 7. Plants aren't as big as I would like but not bad considering the cool spring weather.   Thursday, June 16 View Page 940 Witter. It is growing a huge, thick main. Hopefully this means it will take after the 940's mother, the 1725 Harp.   Tuesday, June 28 View Page The first 2 females opended today. A 3 lobe on the 1674 Marsh and a 5 lobe on the 1351 Trumm. The problem was I only had one male on the 1351. So I selfed it. The 1351 has a much longer main but shorter secondaries. Overall the pumpkins look great and all the cucumber beetles I am seeing now are dead. The lated direct seeded long gourds are up but still tiny for this time of the year. The forecast is for warmer and drier weather for a few days, which should help with plant growth.   Wednesday, June 29 View Page I gave the plants a shot of Boita Max and Extreme Blend last evening. While applying it I saw some adult vine borers flying around so I decided to apply some dust. My father in law gave me an old pump duster. It looked a little rusty so I added a little dust and gave it a couple pumps. It puffed out dust nicely, so I added a bunch of Sevin and Eight mixed together. I went to the first pumpkin and started pumping. Puff, puff, POOOFFFF!!! The bottom of the duster blew open, covering me with the dust. Tonight I will use a different strategy and apply some bifenthrin spray. I don't want to trust just the Merit to work, and I want to nuke those bugs before they can screw things up for me.   Thursday, June 30 View Page I spent close to 2 hours weeding and spraying last night. All AG's got a shot of bifenthrin and Aliette. As I was walking down to the patch, a large crap-a-quart bird (AKA great blue heron) swooped low over the plant and gave the 1674 plant a shot of white liquid fertilizer. I'm going to take that as a good omen: even the birds are trying to make my plants grow well this year.   Friday, July 1 View Page No long gourds this year. My second planting is done, lost to the same brown fungus that has wiped out the plants the past 2 years. I don't know how to handle this situation, as I have had the gourds in two different spots. It must be something in the soil. My plan is to dig out a big hole and fill it with potting soil and then mulch wekk when planting so the plants don't get soil splashed on them by rain. And use a systemic fungicide from day 1. I watered the pumpkins last night after the high heat. Some were starting to wilt a little on the new leaves. Jacob will be home today and will give them a light sprinkle at least 3 times to keep them cool. Luckily a cold front is due this evening.   Monday, July 11 View Page a BIG windstorm went through the area this morning. It hit our place around 5:30 and power went out immediately. When I left for work at 8:00 I saw a couple back secondaries on the 1674 had rolled over. The rest of the patch looked OK but I will have to check things out after work. Power was restored around 11:30. Mainly straight line wind out of the west at our plaqce, but other areas think that there may have been tornadoes too. This is one of the benefits of being down in the valley and protected from the winds. I go by one cornfield on top of the hii on the way to work and it was about 50% flat. Overall before the storm the pumpkin plants were looking great.   Tuesday, July 12 View Page After checking on the pumpkins plants last evening, we are very fortunate. Only one vine was rolled over in the windstorm. a secondary on the 1647. The leaves had already turned themselves back to the sun, so instead of tryin gto flip the vine back over an dpotentially causing more damage, I just re-buried it. All plants but the 940 Witter have at least one or 2 pollinations on the main vine. It looks like the 940 will finally have a blossom open in a couple days. I'm anxious to see what this plant will grow, as it has about the heaviest vines I have ever seen. The first pollination on the 1351 Trumm is now up to basketball size, our biggest so far.   Friday, July 15 View Page I finally got something pollinated on the 940 Witter, a 4 lobe on a long secondary. It looks like the female on the main is going to abort before it opens. A great plant, but I just can't get females to stay on it. I found an adult vine borer last night so I gave the patch its next shot of Merit. Good thing I did as I saw a cucumber beetle this morning, the first I have seen in 2 weeks. Tonight they get hit with bifenthrin and garlic.   Tuesday, July 19 View Page I applied the last of the micorhizzae/beneficial bacteria/organic fertilizer mix last evening. Working in the patch is nearly intolerable with the heat and humidity. And it doesn't help that our AC has died. We have a problem with our electric fence and we have to get that fixed before the critters start munching on our pumpkins. It looks like we have keepers on the 1351 Trumm, 1209 Courson and 1674 Marsh. I just hope the heat doesn't make them abort. We are sprinkling them at least twice per day to keep them going. At least some of the wildlife are cooperating. I have a huge army of toads and baby toads that have appeared to eat the bugs. The herons flying back and forth from their nesting colony in the state park routinely fertilize the patch as they fly over. And a pair of red tail hawks nested in our neighbors tree and have been picking off mice and rabbits. I just haven't seen too much of them since last weeks bad wind storm. I hope the young ones have fledged and that their nest wasn't wrecked.   Thursday, July 21 View Page It hit 102 in Anamosa yesterday, but the plants are surviving. Just a few burned young leaves. No measurements yet, but the 1351 Trumm is now close to 150# and growing like crazy. The 1209 Courson is pushing 80. The 1674 Marsh has 2 pumpkins set. One on a secondary and one on the main, and both are turning into wheels. The secondary will get culled soon. THe 1548 Marsh has the most aggressive plant, but I'm afraid the early pollinations are going to abort. I set a new black plastic garbage can in the patch to serve as a water heater. I plan to use the warm water for drenches with extreme blend and molasses, and maybe for diluting tea. Jacob has been earning his keep sprinkling the plants during the heat of the day. The Merit application worked and no sign of any bad bugs in the past few days.   Friday, July 22 View Page Rain this morning. Yahoo! We really needed it. With the warm nights the vines and fruits are growing like crazy. This weekend we need to start putting up tarps over our best contenders. I have already been terminating some secondaries to keep plants from crossing over each other. So far the 1351 Trumm seems to be on a pace to equal or beat it's mother pumpkin. I need to get as much patch work out of Jacob as I can in the next few weeks before he goes back to college and has only every other weekend to help.   Monday, July 25 View Page The nice rain Thursday was followed by a windy gully washer Friday night. We has some leaf damage to 2 plants. The 1351 Trumm is now at 211# and gained 54# from Friday to Sunday. Now if that will just hold up for about a month. The cucumber beetles are back. Last evening I gave the plants a shot of Aliette and garlic. It didn't take long for the beetles to start leaving. I'm hoping that they moved to the Jack o lanterns. Tonight I'm going to hit the Ag's with some insecticide to wipe out the remaining beetles and then hit the jack o lantern and hopefully wipe out a bunch all at once.   Thursday, July 28 View Page We dodged another big storm last night. We just got sprinkles but one county to the north they got 10" to 12" in just a few hours. The bifenthrin spray really thinned out the cucumber beetles, but a few are still around. If I can get some dry time I will hit them with another insecticide and garlic. We also have one more Biota Max tablet to use and plan to apply some tea if it ever dries out. The 1351 Trumm is closing in on 300# and the 1209 Courson is just a few pounds back. The 1674 Marsh is still a bit smaller due to the 10 day later polination, but by days after pollination it is ahead of the others. I pollinated a female at the end of the 1548 Marsh this morning between showers. We might have a couple open pollinations on this one, but all the controlled pollinations aborted in the heat.   Thursday, August 4 View Page It looks like we might have fianlly gotten sets on the 940 and 1548. They should have around 64 days of growth prior to weighoff. The other pumpkins have been growing at rates of 19 to 27 pounds per day for the past week of mid to upper 90 degree weather. I hope that holds up for the next week of upper 70's to mid 80's. There are a few problems we have to deal with. I'm concerned about the blossom end on the 1674 wheel: it looks like it might be very thin and it is the fastest growing pumpkin in the patch. Something bored under the skin of the 866.5. I probed it and it looks like it didn't get very far. The 1351 has a split on the vine behind the pumpkin and also a suspicious hole. I probed that too and found no vine borer. Both will get painted with fungicide and hopefully they will survive. Cucumber beetles are too numerous. I got a little leaf damage from insecticide spraying in the heat, but it was timited to a very small area.   Monday, August 8 View Page The weather has cooled off and pumpkin growth has slowed. We need some rain. 2 pumpkins now around 500#, 2 more close behind and 2 with basketball size fruits. I'm having some stem stress issues and minor soft spots on the 1351 and 1674. I had to do some surgery on the 1674 vines as some leaves were looking like our old disease problem may be starting up again. Time for another Aliette application. Somethig seems to be digging in the 866.5 but we have probed around in the hole and can't find it. Jacob did get it treated with fungicide. The weeds are growing like crazy and keeps up busy keeping them from shorting out the electric fence. Cucumber beetles are bad, and I sprayed bifenthrin yesterday. Time for last Merit application soon.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page Pumpkins are still growing well, but I'm seeing lots of big blowouts in vines. I think that the organic fertilizer mix that I apply at root nodes along with micorhizzae may be the cause. Next year I will change that and broadcast the organic fertilizer and put just the micorhizzae at the root nodes. The cucumber beetles are thinning out after my last insecticide application, with most hiding in the male flowers. I guess the merit doesn't get into that part of the pumpkin plant.   Friday, August 12 View Page It has been cool and dry the last few days, and pumpkin growth has slowed. Much needed rain is supposed to be coming in today and temps next week are supposed to be higher. Meaurements taken this morning. 866.5 McWilliams, day 39, 329# gaining 9 per day. 1536 Marsh day 37, 430# gaining 17# per day. 1674 Marsh day 34, 472# gaining 14# per day. 1209 Courson day 40, 533# gaining 13# per day. 1351 Trumm Day 45. 560# gaining 15# per day. If the rain and heat can get them back to the 20+# per day gains they were doing for the rest of August and then squeak out 10# a day for September, we still have 4 that have potential to break that 1000# barrier for the first time. Hopefully they all go 23% heavy like our pumpkins did last year.   Tuesday, August 16 View Page The rain I hoped for over the weekend only amounted to 0.1", so we are watering again. As the rains approach our area they seem to just dissapate. We are warming up some water in a black garbage can with a little extreme blend and a very small amount of 15-30-15 to apply as a drench. The growth rates are still hanging in the same as the past 2 weeks, with 2 now over 600#. The 1674 Marsh is trying to become a birdbath and is putting a lot of stress on the stem. I'm not shre how to handle it at this point.   Friday, August 19 View Page Less thatn 0.5" rain for the month so we are doing a lot of watering. Pumpkins are still growing, so I guess our silty bottomland soil holds water fairly well. We have 4 pumpkins now in the 550# to 700# range. I checked my 2008 diary and on this day my personal best pumpkin was only taping 448#. So I am hopeful of something nice this year. I just need to do more praying for rain. Sounds like we might get some tonight or tomorrow, but is looks to be light and spotty.   Monday, August 22 View Page Bad news in the patch. Our fastest growing pumpkin, the 1536 Marsh suffered a fatal stem split over the weekend. I could put a foxtail stem 19" into the pumpkin. The 866.5 McWilliams is small and growing slowly, but has the same bright orange color as the parent. The 940 Witter has a couple open pollinations set but way to late to get anything of any size. The 1584 Marsh has the strongest plant with 2 late sets on it. One might make 600 or 700# if we get rain. The 1351 Trumm and 1674 Marsh are barely creeping along now, and the 1209 Courson has slowed some too. I blame slow growth on lack of rain: only 0.3" in past month. Still I think we have a shot at personal bests if things don't get too bad. 40% chance of rain tonight and tomoprrow morning, then no rain for the next week.   Thursday, August 25 View Page This is the 1532 Marsh after the stem blowout. From the side nothing looks too bad. Nice size, approaching 650# with 6 weeks to grow before weighoff, averaging close to 20# a day.   Thursday, August 25 View Page The problem end of the 1532. It had been oozing for a long time: the shoulders were just growing out too fast. The split in the stem went right to the cavity.   Thursday, August 25 View Page Hole cut into the 1532 Marsh to try to salvage a few seeds, since it was crossed with the 1674. The walls were very thick: that home-made knife has a 14" blade and 6" long handle. IT dies show another problem, as the kinfe is stuc right in the blossom. The back end of the pumpkin grew completely over the blossom and could have potentially caused another problem. Anyway the plant it was crossed with grew a wheel, so if the seeds give something in between it might have a decent shape. Our dry spell ended Tuesday morning with a 4" toad strangling gully washer. Luckily none of the pumpkins split from all the water. I guess I had the soil sufficiently moist to prevent a problem.   Friday, August 26 View Page The 1674 Marsh is down to a crawl, taping right at 600#. This is a big disapointment, as I had high hopes for that one. The 1351 Trumm is right at 700# by the charts, but daily gains are down to around 8#. I hope it keeps it up for another 5 weeks and weighs heavy. The 1209 Courson is our bigest now, taping right at 750#, with gains hanging in at 13# a day. I think it still might have 1000# potential, if it goes heavy. I'm going to need a new measuring tape soon, as it is close to 12' circumfrence. The 1548 Marsh has 2 going on it now at around 100# and 200#. It is a huge plant and I think we might just let both of them grow at this point.   Thursday, September 1 View Page Vince Yario and Scott West visited my patch last evening. They each had just lost a nice pumpkin, so I made them feel at home. We found my 1674 Marsh was a pile of mush. It had quit growing 2 weeks ago and the bottom had rotted out of it. It is hard to tell why it went bad, but it only had about 40 mature seeds inside. The rest were immature or just empty shells. I guess the pollination didn't take very well.   Thursday, September 1 View Page This is Jacob's 866.5 McWilliams. We grew it in the same part of the patch near the creek whre the 866.5 grew. The sandier soil there did great in a cool wet year like last year, but wasn't too good with this years hot and dry weather. It is nice to see that the fantastic orange color of the 866.5 is in the seeds. We definitely will grow another one next year.   Thursday, September 1 View Page This is a late pollination on the 1548 Marsh at around 220 pounds. It was the best growing plant, just couldn't get the pollinations to take in the July heat. We have another one on the vine, hoping for a few giant jack-o-lanterns.   Thursday, September 1 View Page This is Jacob's hope for a personal best. 1351 Trumm, 64 days after pollination, taping 756 pounds. It had slowed down in the dry weather, but the rains and some foliar feeding got it to gain 40# in the last 3 days. This was our first pollination on a day when we only had one male flower. We had to choose between a 3 lobe on the 1674 or to self the 1351, so we selfed it. Probably a good choice, seeing how well it is growing and the great color. Jacob is back at college, so he only has the weekends to help with patch chores. He is hoping it holds on to beat his 866.5 from last year.   Thursday, September 1 View Page My 1209 Courson, 59 days after pollination, taping 790#. It gained 34# over the last 3 days. If it holds on it should beat my personal best of 841. It has an unusual shape, with the bottom now growing up and over the blossom end. I'm real happy with the color. This one is growing in the lowest spot in the patch and did not get any fall preparation. I think the lower wetter soil helped out this year. It was crossed with the 1532 Marsh.   Thursday, September 1 View Page Forecast for September 1 is a high of 97. Then by Monday morning we are looking at a low of 47. I hope that doesn't knock the pumpkins for a loop.   Monday, September 12 View Page The warm early September weather has been great for our best pumpkins. As of Saturday, Jacob's 1351 Trumm was taping at 797# and my 1209 Courson was taping 884#. The Trumm was gaining 7# per day and the Courson was gaining 15# per day. We hope they both weigh heavy. I think our foliar feeding of high potash tomato food and molasses is helping, along with the good soil mosture from the late August rains. No rain for the past 8 days so we are starting to water again. Forecast is for scattered frost in the area Wednesday and Thursday nights. In my frost pocket valley it means a hard freeze. So the blankets for the pumpkins and covers for the leaves will be put to use. I haven't had to do this for several years.   Thursday, September 15 View Page Light frost this morning. The pumpkins were covered last night as were some of the better leaves. The only damage seemed to be a few frost burned leaves on the 1209 Courson. It sits about 1.5' lower in elevation, where the old creek channel had been 50 years ago. The pumpkins were uncovered and shade tarps removed to heat them up some. One more night of covering and we should be clear of frost chances for a while. Hopefully they will keep on growing. As of Monday the 1351 had stalled out at estimated 797#, and the 1209 has slowed down with an estimated weight of 900#. We are doing our best to keep critters out of the patch, as they have ruined most of the field pumpkins outside of the electric fence. Have added mouse bait and fox urine to the arsenal. Tonight I will brush out the dog and scatter dog hair around to try to keep the rabbits and groundhogs at bay.   Monday, September 19 View Page A groundhog got into the patch and did a little damage to the 866.5. The chewing started a split, so it may be the end for that one. But it was only around 450# so no big loss. The varmint left a few nibbles on Jacob's 1352 Trumm, which has stalled out at 797# OTT. We applied some Shake Away critter repellant and some fox urine and then put up chicken wire around both of our best pumpkins. The electric fence seems to be shorting out somewhere but we can't seem to find it. As of Friday my 1209 Courson was taping 911#. Hopefully it adds some more and goes heavy. Next campaign in the ground hog battle will involve posion smoke bombs. I'm also now carrying my single shot 20 gague to the patch everytime I go to check on the pumpkins. I could have eliminated a couple of the critters if I had done that sooner. Jacob is back at school and won't be back until loading time for Pumpkinfest, so I am left to do battle alone.   Monday, September 26 View Page No recent measureable growth of the pumpkins in over a week, but I hope they are soaking up water and gaining wall thickness. Our measures seem to have prevented any further criter damage. Friday afternoon is loading day and Saturday morning they make the 3 mile ride into Anamosa for the weighoff. I have a lot of people to thank this year. My wife, Lu Ann, for putting up with my obsession and supporting me. My son Jacob for providing good competition, and maybe letting me win for a change this year?? Ron Cook and Dennis Ellison for truck loads of sheep and cattle manure. Kevin Marsh, Jim Courson, George Witter, and Ralph Trumm for the seeds we grew. Joe Wagner for the use of his truck to get one of our pumpkins into town. Steve "Tremor" Jepsen for the advice that helped me solve our disease problems so we could keep growing. I hope he is looking down and admiring the results of all the people he helped. And God for smiling on our patch this year. When we got frost, it wasn't bad enough to wreck the plants. When others were getting drenched, we had nice gentle rains. When the winds howled, they missed our patch. When it turned dry we got nice rains at critical times. After the scorching heat of July we had a very nice August. When pumpkins started aborting or blowing up, he kept the best ones growing for each of us. Here is wishing a save trip to and from the weighoffs and heavy weights for everyone.   Thursday, September 29 View Page Side view of my 1209 Courson, The bottom seeded to really grow out faster than the top. Measurements on 9/28: 103-96-153. Total OTT 352" estimated weight 915#.   Thursday, September 29 View Page Close up of the blossom on the 1209 Courson showing how it turned up 90 degrees. Now it sometimes has a puddle of water to sponge out.   Thursday, September 29 View Page Small surface split on the 1209 Courson. I guess it is stil growing on the inside.   Thursday, September 29 View Page Big blowout on the vine of the 1352 Trumm, between the stem and stump. It healed over but may have cost Jacob a few pounds.   Thursday, September 29 View Page Side view of Jacob's 1351 Trumm. Measurements on 9/28: 100-96-145. Total OTT 341" estimated weight 833#. I think this one will go heavy, it is a real solid chunk.   Thursday, September 29 View Page Here is the photo of the 1351 Trumm. The batteries died on the camera during the previous post so the picture didn't get through. Est. 833#.   Thursday, September 29 View Page Vine blowout on the 1351 Trumm close to the stump. It healed nicely, but I think both blowouts cost it some pounds.   Thursday, September 29 View Page 866.5 McWilliams. We thought it had quit growing. The leaves were old and brittle, then got frosted. Groundhog chewed the bottom and started the bottom split. Then the horizontal split opened up and then the top split. I guess they can still soak up a lot from the roots after the leaves start to fail. Only around 450# but this one sure has potential for great color.   Thursday, September 29 View Page This is what happens when the pumpkins slow down and you quit spraying. Both spotted and striped beetles. They are EVERYWHERE. Right after harvest the patch will get nuked with insecticide. After the bugs are dead, the vines will be pulled, chopped and composted for other garden plants. Then we add the fall manure and wait for next growing season.   Monday, October 3 View Page My 9th place overall pumpkin, wieghtd 919.5#. Just a little over the chart with great color and a wierd shape. Parents liked haveing thier little children sit on the "shelf" for some cute photos.   Monday, October 3 View Page My son Jacob with his 839.5# pumpkin. Just slightly over the chart, it was a little lighter than his pumpkin but placed 4 spots higher at 14th. Indicated how tough it was growing this year. Jacob also won the prettiest pumpkin award for the great color and shape.   Monday, October 3 View Page J&P Cycles sponsors the Jones County Growers awards at the weighoff. They wanted to do something to encourage local growers to provide tough competition for the growers who come here from at least 4 states. Left to right are Greg Norlin, event coordinator, Vince Yario 3rd place with a personal best 740#, Jacob McWilliams 2nd place with 839.5#, and Mark McWilliams (Iowegian) 1st place with a presonal 191.5# and the representative from J&P Cycles. Here is a great big THANK YOU to J&P!!