Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 41 Entries. Friday, July 11 View Page Hi everyone. This is an overview of my patch. It is about 2200 sf and I typically fit three plants into it per season.   Friday, July 11 View Page Pictured here is the 1734.5 Steil, (220 Debacco X 220 Debacco ). I have a good feeling about this seed. I almost pulled the plant when it was very young. The stem had split wide open when the plant was in the six leaf stage. Now there is only a small scar in the stem to show where it was. Thanks for the seed Scott,   Friday, July 11 View Page Day 21 1734.5 pumpkin. Not going to be a Howard Dill candidate I'd bet!   Friday, July 11 View Page Most years I grow one of my own. This is the 1400 UOW Pappas ( 1613 Wallace X 1234.5 Pappas ). Last year the parent pumpkin went down a week before the weigh-off. I weighed it on a certified scale in the patch and decided I would give the seed a try. So far, so good.   Friday, July 11 View Page Day 26 1400 Pappas Pumpkin.   Friday, July 11 View Page Rounding out the trio is the 1813 Northrup, ( 1495 Stelts X 1634 Werner )   Friday, July 11 View Page Day 21 1813 Pumpkin. She is a little bit of an under achiever at this point. I culled another pumpkin on the main today leaving just this one. I expect to see an uptick in growth as a result. Thanks Bill and Dawn.   Friday, July 11 View Page It seems a lot of people here are outdoorsy and post pics of their catches, or of successful hunts. I always enjoy them. Here is a picture of my first tank of the day diving catch last week. Nine lobsters with an average weight of 2.5 pounds. Shells go into the compost.   Friday, July 18 View Page I Lost the 1734.5 Steil pumpkin to a blossom end split on day 27 after heavy rain passed through the area. I somewhat expected to have trouble with this fruit since when pollinated, the flower lobes looked like Bubba Presley's teeth. I had intended on keeping one further down the main, but it aborted during a heat wave. This disaster has a small upside. Mighty Mustard will be planted on this site and will have time to flower before the fall, and I will be able to devote more attention to the remaining two plants.   Monday, July 21 View Page Day 33 1813 Northrup. This pumpkin is coming from behind and is just beginning to hit her stride.   Monday, July 21 View Page Day 35 1400 Pappas averaging 30 pounds per day for the last week.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page Deer are liking my tomato plants. They are doing the pruning for me.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page They are leaving the tomatoes alone though. 3.05 Marley   Wednesday, July 30 View Page Getting ready for fall patch prep. This is my coffee ground stash. Grows by two buckets per week.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page The 1813 Northrup at day 40.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page 1400 Pappas is looking good.   Monday, August 4 View Page My granddaughter Mae gives the day 50 1400 Pappas some scale   Wednesday, August 13 View Page My first attempt at a giant tomato. From the 3.05 Marley.   Wednesday, August 13 View Page Caught this one earlier this year. Best fish of the season so far   Thursday, August 14 View Page Day 60. Nice colour enhanced by the setting sun. Doing a nice and steady 18 pounds per day for the last week.   Monday, August 18 View Page The 1813 Northup on Day 60. Nice colour. Only a slight chance of passing the 1000 pound mark at the rate she is growing. Hey, it could happen! Gotta push her a bit.   Monday, September 1 View Page The 1400 OUW Pappas is slowly chugging along. My granddaughter Lila agreed to be this months pumpkin model The long month of September begins. Slow growth and plenty of stress before the pumpkins hit the scales.   Monday, September 1 View Page The mighty mustard is nearly ready to be cut down and tilled in.   Monday, September 1 View Page The nicely coloured 1813 Northrup. At about 900 pounds   Friday, September 19 View Page On September 6, I discovered that the main vine and part of the stem were rotted on the 1813 Northrup pumpkin. I decided then and there to cut it off the vine. I didn't want the disease to get into the pumpkin. I need this pumpkin sound to be put on display in front of my restaurant. Growth was barely measurable anyway. That is my buddy Steve ( Judgehal) inspecting the bottom   Friday, September 19 View Page Some local muscle came to help   Friday, September 19 View Page Into the truck she goes for a short move before putting her on display later next week. I will have a guess the weight contest at my business so I am not ready to reveal what she weighed yet. She was 4.5 % over the chart estimate.   Friday, September 19 View Page Waiting to be put on display. I wish I had a dollar for every conversation last year's display pumpkin generated. Yep,this pumpkin will be famous. On a local level anyway lol.   Friday, September 19 View Page Meanwhile in the other part of the patch, a new personal best in total OTT inches lurks   Thursday, September 25 View Page For you genetics guys out there, Can you tell me how a frumpy looking Mom like this ( 2013 1400 UOW Paqppas ) and   Thursday, September 25 View Page And a ruggedly handsome Dad like this (1234.5 Pappas )   Thursday, September 25 View Page Can have an offspring this pretty   Thursday, September 25 View Page Now the largest I have grown. Eight days to the weigh-off. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.   Friday, October 3 View Page We are loaded for the fair. See you there. Good luck to all.   Sunday, October 5 View Page Made it safe and sound   Sunday, October 5 View Page Getting ready for the scales. Thanks to all of the loading crew for doing such a great job.   Sunday, October 5 View Page Nice to see, but that didn't last long!   Sunday, October 5 View Page A new personal best grown off my own seed. I'm thrilled.   Sunday, October 5 View Page Topsfield Fair winner Hiram Watson with his 1900 pound pumpkin grown of the 1245 Berard. I told Al he had better get a bigger mailbox.   Sunday, October 5 View Page Thanks to all of the organisers and volunteers that make the Topsfield Fair weigh-off such a great event.   Monday, October 13 View Page The 1813 Northrup pumpkin on display at my restaurant the Crossroads Cafe. Several hundred guesses were made as to the weight,with two people coming within four pounds. Both winners received a gift certificate. The actual weight was 917 OUW pounds.