Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 111 Entries. Saturday, January 2 View Page New year, new diary. I like to post my All-Time line-up at the opening of each season to see the ups and downs of past seasons. This was my first year growing, the year 2000 and I had one split estimated 868 pounds. Not sure of any seed info. It was a Don Langevin seed that I got with his books, which I read cover to cover as a kid.   Saturday, January 2 View Page Fast forward 11 years later taking us to 2011. I had gone to school, got a job, a house and a yard and then a garden to grow in. I grew an ugly 941 pounder, again from a Don Langevin seed. It estimated in the 700 pound range and I thought it was too small to weigh at a weigh off so I took it to a certified scale and was surprised at how heavy it was.   Saturday, January 2 View Page In 2012 I grew Greg Montgomery's 1641 after talking to him on the phone. He was nice enough to send me a seed. This one turned into a blob and ended up weighing a respectable 1146 pounds. No soil tests, no fungicides or insecticides...I learned a lot over the years.   Saturday, January 2 View Page 2013 was an expansion year. I added 2500 feet to grow two more plants in. I finally hit a home run with an attractive fruit. This was the 922 Hoelke (1778 Daletas x 2009 Wallace) + 8% heavy too.   Saturday, January 2 View Page 2013 also produced the 1351 Hoelke (1146 Hoelke x 2009 Wallace)   Saturday, January 2 View Page I finished off 2013 going 3 for 3 and my heaviest was the 1463. The cross was (2009 Wallace x 1778 Daletas). This seed seems to produce heavy and orange which it gets from the 1778 Daletas. I will be growing this seed again this season. I think it has great potential and it's been orange on 6 of 6 fruit planted.   Saturday, January 2 View Page 2014 was a struggle. I only ended up with one fruit in the end. It measured 411" but came in light at 1379 pounds. 1379 Hoelke (1985 Miller x 1789 Wallace)   Saturday, January 2 View Page 2015 was another tough year. Nothing to a weighoff. Both split underneath due to a mistake I made at Day 10 on both fruit. I stacked up a couple pieces of wood underneath the fruit in order to raise them, however, it was a poor decision as both bottoms were concave before I removed the pieces of wood before Day 20. They never grew out of the shape and both bottoms were indented about 6-8" in the end. Both fruit that I grew last year were larger than any in the past, and I weighed both with a digital crane scale. This one was soft the day before the weighoff. 1503 Hoelke (1676 Daletas x 1873 Steil)   Saturday, January 2 View Page This was grown from my 1463. I loved the colour and shape, and it was growing better than anything I've seen in the past, mid 40's for a good while. Just like the wood board issue I had with the 1503, it split underneath the fruit in late August at Day 53 and quit growing completely. It was at 403". I weighed it a week later when I knew it was done and it came in at 1572 pounds, or 14% heavy. It was thick. I really would have liked to see what this one could have done with another 45 days of growth. I will grow the 1463 this season to see how it goes. I crossed the 1572 with the 1873 Steil which was a very nice orange shaped fruit. 1572 Hoelke (1463 Hoelke x 1873 Steil)   Thursday, April 14 View Page After using heating cables last year and seeing the results, I wanted to push it and start earlier this year. I started 5 of my own 1463's on April 14th. My plan was to take the best two into the garden. I waited two days and started my other two more proven seeds that I will be growing this year, the 1725 Harp and the 1625 Gantner. I wanted to cross the 1725 Harp with the 1495 Stelts, which surprisingly has not been done before. I couldn't get my hands on a 1495, but thanks to another grower I got the 1625 Gantner, which is the 1495 x 1495. Maybe even better.   Sunday, April 17 View Page Cold spring again this year, but the garden was dry enough to get the tiller in and mix in my amendments, just for the cold frame areas. I had a really good soil test, so I just needed some tweaking.   Sunday, April 17 View Page After the tilling of amendments, I dug a large hole but stopped as soon as I hit my clay base. I was a good 15" of garden soil deep, and probably 50" in diameter. I moved a lot of soil but I wanted my heating cables deep.   Sunday, April 17 View Page Then I carefully wound a 65 foot cable around the hole. This will give me a nice even area for the roots to move. In 24 hours I have the soil warmed from near freezing to 70 degrees through the entire 15" depth.   Sunday, April 17 View Page The soil gets filled into the holes, and the cold frames placed over top. Now we wait until the seedlings are ready to go in.   Friday, April 29 View Page April 29th is planting day. Earliest ever and so far the coldest spring I've grown in. Going to be tough going but I'm going for it. These are a pair of my 1463's. My 1725 Harp and 1625 Gantner germinated nicely, and were also planted in their own cold frame with a back-up.   Friday, April 29 View Page Fits nicely in the cold frame and really holds the ground heat all night. It was tested on the first night when it went to -4 C. Not a problem as it was 15 degrees warmer inside the box.   Sunday, May 1 View Page It's been so dry this year that I decided to spread my amendments early, so it was one less job to do later. 775 pounds over the three plots. I will till in later in May.   Sunday, May 1 View Page All spread and now just waiting for spring to arrive. It's been a cold few weeks.   Friday, May 13 View Page The long term forecast has some cold nights for the foreseeable future. It just feels like one of those years, but I want to try and fight through the weather. I know I have great heat rising from my heat cables, so with this 3/4" foil board insulated box I should be able to hold that heat inside the box all night. One 4x8 sheet makes one insulated box...a bit of tape and we're done. 44"x 44" heat chamber for the plants and it weighs about 1 pound.   Friday, May 13 View Page My pair of 1463's starting to vine out. Just need some warm weather and they're ready. A high of +2 forecast for tomorrow...yes the high. Will have to wait a few more days for some warm.   Friday, May 13 View Page The 1725 Harp in the front, the 1676 Daletas in the top of the picture. Both look good but I'll be going with the 1725 Harp for sure unless something bad happens. With the seven year old 1725 seed, I wanted to have a good back-up seed with it.   Friday, May 13 View Page The 1625 Gantner up top and the 1764 Daletas below. Both plants are 1495 Stelts x 1495 Stelts.   Tuesday, May 24 View Page 1764 Daletas and 1625 Gantner above. Starting to vine. The 1625 is growing straight up and will be a problem getting it to sit.   Sunday, May 29 View Page Testing out posting from a phone. Hope the photos are the right way. Time to till as the plants won't be in the cold frames for long. I spread my second batch of amendments. This time more feed based products rather than the earlier basic ammendments. Over 2500 square feet I put down: 15 pounds of elemental sulfur, 1 pound of copper sulphate, 30 pounds of greengro Veg, 30 lbs of greengro Bloom, and 40 pounds of greengro earthshine blend biochar. The rye was chopped and raked off for the compost pile before tilling.   Sunday, May 29 View Page Double tilled and landscape raked clean. It's been very dry. It's rained twice in 30 days and for less that an inch total. This is the driest I've seen the garden.   Sunday, May 29 View Page Here's my single garden all tilled and ready for drip tubing. I still need a good five hours to get the tubing built and laid out. Not sure when that five hours will be there for the taking.   Sunday, May 29 View Page It's been actually above average temperature for the last couple days after a very cold spring. It went from winter to summer. +32 today with some humidity made for some hard tilling. The plants are starting to run now as we had a couple warmer nights. 1625 Gantner above is down safely and will be the one kept later this week when the knife comes out.   Sunday, May 29 View Page 1463 Hoelke x 2. I'll be keeping the lower one I believe. Plants are flagging a bit in the heat.   Sunday, May 29 View Page 1676 Daletas above and 1725 Harp below.   Tuesday, May 31 View Page Females showing on both of my 1463's. In exactly the same spot on each plant, about 5 feet out. They're like twins. I also see a female on the 1625 gantner. Hopefully this means my soil is nicely set. All females will be removed as soon as I can safely cut them off. Maybe tomorrow I can get in there and remove. I'd like to hold off pollinations to the 14-15 foot mark. We'll make the call as the calendar moves.   Friday, June 3 View Page I had to take off the cold frames today. The plants were jammed in them. It was windy so I was trying to wait until tomorrow morning but they grew too much today. One day later than last year, with this year's weather I guess I'll take it. All six plants look good. I will remove all backups tomorrow morning as I wanted to use them as a wind break today. The 1625 Gantner on the right will be the final plant in this plot.   Friday, June 3 View Page The pair of 1463's are identical. I'll be going with the one on the left.   Friday, June 3 View Page 1676 Daletas on the left. 1725 Harp on the right. Ill be going with the 1725. All three final plants are within 2" in length, at about 6 feet long.   Saturday, June 4 View Page Set-up 2 of 3 growing areas with drip tubing. This was a lot of work but I should have good easy water distribution with the push of the button. I went with 16" centers and pushed the emitters in at 16" spacing as well. Hoping that works out. I have 2 litres per hour emitters so the system shouldn't have to run long.   Saturday, June 4 View Page There's 2500 feet of 1/2" tubing over the three plots. 1500 emitters. The tubing is much more durable than the drip tape and should be around for many years. Now that it's built, tear down and setup will be fairly quickly.   Wednesday, June 22 View Page It's been a slow year for me. Cold nights up until a week ago and then a week of wind. Three days of 90 degrees this past weekend started to get the plants moving but now back into cool nights and days. This is the 1625 gantner. 17 secondaries. 11 1/2 feet long.   Wednesday, June 22 View Page Secondaries have been slow this year. Colder season, too much watering, not enough watering? I don't know. My 1463 on the left, 13 feet long and 21 secondaries. 1725 Harp on the right, 12 feet long, 20 secondaries.   Tuesday, June 28 View Page Can you tell where I sprayed Round-Up? I've learned the hard way how powerful Round-Up is, but when you use care, a blast shield and absolutely no wind, it's relatively safe for the plants. Put it this way, it took 25 minutes to get that much of the garden weedless. I'd be hours weeding by hand and the hoe or tiller just causing new weed seed germination. I hope this post doesn't jinx me and I keel my plants again, but the last two years I've been really happy with the quickness of a fairly weed free 2500 feet. No idea why I have such thick weeds. No manure in three years but they keep coming back better than ever.   Wednesday, June 29 View Page All plants late, but going large this year. 1625 Gantner, should be pollinated in a week at 16 feet. Vine is 17 feet now.   Wednesday, June 29 View Page 1463 will be pollinated in a week or less. 16 footer, on a 18 foot vine now.   Wednesday, June 29 View Page 1725 Harp, rolling now. Same as the others. Pollinated in a week at about 17 feet. I could have pollinated sooner at 12-14 feet, but I'll roll the dice and hope the larger plants get me larger fruit later on. Hope it's a nice fall. I'll trade Day 100-110 for the vine growth of this week.   Tuesday, July 5 View Page 1625 Gantner at about 20 feet. Should be pollinating at 17 feet in the next day or two. I like the small, low leaves.   Tuesday, July 5 View Page 1725 Harp also around 20 feet. Pollinating in a few days.   Tuesday, July 5 View Page I pollinated the first one on my 1463. 16 feet out, 5 lobe, 26 secondaries.   Tuesday, July 5 View Page 1463 x 1625 Gantner   Wednesday, July 6 View Page 1625 Gantner x 1725 Harp   Saturday, July 9 View Page Pollinated the 1725 Harp with the 1625 Gantner this morning in a monsoon. 2 1/2" of rain. Hope it takes. 18 feet out, 26 secondaries, balanced five lobe. It was such a storm that I couldn't get a picture, so I'll add this one of the top roots forming on my plants. I've been really working to get a lot of moist promix on top of each node. So far I'd say I have 95% coverage on the top roots.   Saturday, July 9 View Page Growing long gourds this year for the first time. In a planter box. 20 feet above ground. This could be interesting. I think I only needed one plant, not two.   Thursday, July 14 View Page 1463 set and ready. Plant is growing really well despite a few torched leaves from the heat yesterday.   Thursday, July 14 View Page 1725 Harp is set a few days back.   Thursday, July 14 View Page The 1625 Gantner has been a great plant to grow. I just move the bamboo stakes out further, and the vines grow in line perfectly. It doesn't sun burn either.   Tuesday, July 19 View Page I don't think the pollination on the 1725 Harp from 10 days ago took. It was a 2 1/2" rain day which could have been an issue, so today I pollinated the next one in line. This one has to be over 26 feet out. I would have liked one sooner, but this is the next one to show. Really late now, but the plant is huge. I've never lost a pollination before. Great weather this morning, cool and dry. 1725 Harp x 1625 Gantner   Saturday, July 23 View Page I climbed the tallest tree on the property to get some overhead shots of the growth. Here's my 1463 on the left and the 1725 Harp on the right.   Saturday, July 23 View Page Here's the 1625 Gantner in a huge garden. I didn't realize how large this plot is until I tried to covered the area in Remay fabric one frosty fall night. 1000 square foot roll didn't do it. Closer to 1200 feet. I'll see if I can fill it with plant this year.   Saturday, July 23 View Page Full patch.   Saturday, July 23 View Page I mixed up the plants on the first overhead picture. It's actually the 1725 Harp on the left side. You can see where I cut off a small fruit that aborted, I'll grow vines into that area. I have a three day old Harp under the first patio table...hoping it takes in the heat we've had. The 1463 fruit on the right is growing way too well, and is 17 days old.   Saturday, July 23 View Page Alright, I didn't actually climb a tree. Here's a drone shot from 387 feet above the plants.   Tuesday, July 26 View Page 20 DAP on the 1463 and my biggest to date. I haven't seen much substance to 20 day numbers in the past so I'll take it with a grain of salt. 82" circ. 191 OTT.   Tuesday, July 26 View Page In the last photo, that small fruit was a day 9 second pollination that I removed. Obviously we have a pretty strong sink at the main fruit which is great to see. It's actually slowed down a bunch of the vines ahead of the fruit as I was hoping to fill this patch in within the next week and then start cranking on fruit growth at that point. Plant looks good. Like last year I have to lightly add manganese, boron and calcium to my sprays. Should be manageable.   Wednesday, July 27 View Page Day 20 on the 1625 Gantner x 1725 Harp. A more normal 61" circ. With a 146 OTT. The plant is perfect. Since it's a Gantner, I want to grow the most inches I can with the fruit and let the % heavy hopefully take over in the end. It's crazy looking at the heavy offspring this seed has produced. Just need to get it large in size. There's something about the white colour that I like. Nice contrast with the super orange 1463 next door.   Thursday, August 4 View Page 30 DAP for 1463 Hoelke x 1625 Gantner. 272 OTT, 452 lbs est. Circumference 122".   Friday, August 5 View Page 1625 Gantner x 1725 Harp 30 DAP 238 OTT, 304 pounds.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page Tea time. I stuff a few spoonfuls of six ingredients into a nylon and bubble for 24 hours.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page Ready to use the next day.   Sunday, August 14 View Page 1725 Harp x 1625 Gantner Only at Day 26 but really starting to grow with a full sized 850 square foot plant that almost totally deadheaded.   Sunday, August 14 View Page Day 40 on my 1463. 333 OTT, 822 pounds. Finally got some rain after five days of 100 degree heat index days.   Monday, August 15 View Page The gourds on the 127 Kline are starting to drop.   Monday, August 15 View Page 1625 Gantner x 1725 Harp Day 40. 310 inches.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page DAY 49 for the 1625 Gantner. Looks tiny in the 1200 foot plant. The plant is in great shape and the skin is smooth...hoping for a long growth curve on this one. 353 OTT. 971 est.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page DAY 50 for the 1463 Hoelke. Growing steady, plant healthy. 372 OTT, 1121 est.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Sunrise this morning. Plants still look very healthy for this time of year. This is the 1625 Gantner with the 1463 in the background. The Gantner is really closing the gap. 800" between the two fruit now.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page 1463   Tuesday, September 20 View Page I decided to take some overhead photos today in the fine weather. It's getting close to weigh-off season here in the North. The photo quality is better if I pull still frames from video, but I tried just using the photo setting on the GoPro...not as fine a photo, but it is what it is. This is the 1725 Harp at Day 63. It was a late pollination, but has gotten up to around 1100 pounds. It will be weighed this Saturday if all goes well.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Here's an overhead shot of my 1463. The wind knocked down some older leaves last week, but still a decent looking plant. I haven't had to cut away more than a couple leaves all year.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Here's a closer view of the 1463 at Day 77. Still hanging onto double digit gains over the last week, but we're on the downhill. It's the largest pumpkin I've ever measured.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Overhead view of the 1625 Gantner plant. I've loved this plant all season. The old leaves are starting to wear down, but really, it's almost October and the plant looks exceptional. After I looked at the overhead pictures on the GoPro, I realized how small the fruit look from above. This plant is around 1200 feet.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Close up view of the Gantner. This one is putting on more than the 1463, and has now overtaken it. If all of the measurements are correct on the progeny report page for the 1625 Gantner, then this is the largest 1625 recorded to date. I wouldn't expect the %heavy that the 1965 Brandt had, but I'll gladly take half of the heavy%, ha.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page I forgot to mention that it was Day 76 on the previous 1625 Gantner photo. Here's an overhead shot of the entire garden. I'm hoping to finish with three sound fruit for the first time in a few years. I think I might have a shot at 4500 pounds. Getting close now.   Friday, September 23 View Page Moving day for the 1725 Harp. I lost my first pollination on this plant in the early July heat. I had to go with the backup which ended up being 27 feet out. This fruit had all the secondaries behind it, 32 secondaries in total. Next year I won't worry as much about being 15 feet out for pollination, and look more closely at the secondaries between fruit and stump. I'd like about 18 total, not 32. We had such a cool spring the plant was growing slow but putting out the same amount of secondaries. In the first 8 feet of vine the secondaries are very close together, 11 vines in the first 6 feet. It made for a tough vine burying as walking between vines was hard. Next year I'll count secondaries and not worry as much about main vine length which will get me earlier pollination and more high growth days in the better weather.   Saturday, September 24 View Page Loaded up and ready for the weigh-off. The '76 GMC didn't drop too much. I hope it's the extra leaf springs and not the lightness of the pumpkin, but I'm thinking the latter. I figure I've got about a 50-50 chance of making it to the weigh-off in this thing. Better take extra gas.   Monday, September 26 View Page 1725 Harp x 1625 Gantner It came in just above chart, 1143 pounds. My plan was to cross the 1495 Stelts with the 1725 Harp, which had surprisingly never been done before. I couldn't get the 1495 over the winter, but may have done one better with the 1625 Gantner (1495 x 1495). These two family lines are fairly different, and I tried to bring in fresh genes from older powerhouses instead of the close inbreeding that has been in the last couple years largest fruits. I'll show a better breakdown in a few weeks after the weigh-offs. The reverse cross of this fruit, the 1625 Gantner x 1725 Harp will be weighed in a couple weeks and shows some pretty exciting potential if it keeps together. Thanks to Eddy, who got both seeds into my hands in order to make the cross.   Saturday, October 1 View Page Stopped by the patch today to look the plants over. This is the 1625 Gantner at what should be about 430 OTT. Haven't measured in a couple days, but it's still "moving the sticks". I'm going to keep this one going for a couple weeks to squeeze out all I can. The plant still looks really good. No vine or stump issues at all. Never had one this big and since it's the 1625, it's got a chance to be quite heavy. Here's hoping.   Thursday, October 6 View Page Great weather this week, a total bonus for October up here. This is the 1625 Gantner, still growing and cracking. Day 90 was yesterday, 433 OTT. One more week left to grow before weigh-off.   Thursday, October 6 View Page This is the fresh end of the 1625 plant. I think it would keep growing for another month at least if I had it enclosed and heated. Really nice plant overall, easy grower all year long.   Friday, October 7 View Page For the last couple of weeks I will admit to sort of looking past the 1463 plant and working with the 1625 Gantner more as it was surprising me. So yeah I guess I kind of neglected it since the stem and main vine were problem free all year on the 1463. Squeaky wheel gets the grease and the 1463 never made a peep all season. Just feed and water was all this one needed the last couple of weeks. Friday was lifting day. Final OTT when the sand base was accounted for was 426". I got the orange again this year that comes from the 1778 Daletas (pictured at the top of the page). Last year I split this seed at the end of august but it was 14% heavy and a brilliant orange (also at the top of the page 1572). I was hoping for the %heavy again this season since I got the orange.   Friday, October 7 View Page This was the first fruit I'd grown that I didn't once spray peroxide on the stem to kill some funky stuff. It behaved well both stem and blossom.   Friday, October 7 View Page We really struggled getting this one loaded and over the trailer corner. Once over then it was a struggle to center the fruit since the straps stretched about 5 inches and affected the lift height angle. The tractors lifting duties may be numbered from here on out. I did enjoy seeing the black straps stretch for those inches before the fruit left the ground. I knew it was heavier than its mother at 1463, but I wasn't sure how much.   Saturday, October 8 View Page Well it was good and heavy. Right around last years 14%. The scale reading was partially covered when I got my first glance and all I could see was __04. I knew from the crowds reaction that it was more than the 1580 pound estimate, and assumed it was 1704. I was really happy with that. It was only a few seconds later that I realized it was an 8 not a 7. I still don't believe it broke 1800. Totally shocked.   Saturday, October 8 View Page 1803 Hoelke (1463 Hoelke x 1625 Gantner) +14%   Friday, October 14 View Page Loading day for the 1625 Gantner. All sound.   Friday, October 14 View Page I got really lucky. There was a construction crew doing bridge work close by and they were happy to help with the lift. Really smooth machine. This looks to be the largest 1625 Gantner ever grown by about 14 inches. Hoping to get some of that heavy percentage that's listed among the top 1625's grown. Great plant, I'll miss it.   Sunday, October 16 View Page Wellington Pumpkinfest parade before the weigh-off. We made up a Trump-like toupee and taped it to my 1625.   Sunday, October 16 View Page My dad dressed up as the man himself. He needed to get talked into the role as he was worried he'd get eggs thrown at him by the crowd. He was handing out a bag of chocolate coins to the kids.   Sunday, October 16 View Page Ready to hit the parade route. A beautiful day in a beautiful town. Great weather this year, should be a good crowd.   Sunday, October 16 View Page The entire town comes out and then some. They put on a great show. Nobody threw eggs, but there were quite a few boos for poor Donald Trumpkin.   Sunday, October 16 View Page The crowd loved it and had a great laugh. Lots of fun in Wellington. Hey, we won top prize for the best float.   Sunday, October 16 View Page After the parade it was weigh-off time. There was a lot of hype that this pumpkin could touch 2000 pounds. I personally didn't know what to think as it was the largest 1625 Gantner ever grown by quite a few inches. The top 6 Gantners have gone an average of 20% heavy so the range of this fruit was wide. It was hard not to think about 2k, but I knew it didn't feel much different than last weeks 1803 on the trailer making the three hour drive.   Sunday, October 16 View Page Time stands still when they get the fruit in place on a scale, doesn't it?   Sunday, October 16 View Page 1800.5 They showed on the last two numbers first. The "00" had me guessing? I was hoping for 1900 but worried it could be 1600 or 1700. In the end, quite happy with 1800 pounds. I can't really believe I ended up with two 1800 pounders out of three plants grown. Two fruit 2.5 pounds apart.   Sunday, October 16 View Page 1800 Hoelke (1625 Gantner x 1725 Harp) It was a fun ride.   Sunday, October 16 View Page I guess the next season starts the day after the final weigh off. I got last falls composted leaves and coffee mixture spread over the two plots and tilled in during today's nice warm, but wet weather. More worms this year than ever.   Friday, October 21 View Page So last winter I set out to try and find the 1495 Stelts and the 1725 Harp since they had never been crossed in the past, despite arguably being Top 10 seeds of the last decade or more. I don't really understand what makes inbreeding work with some seeds, and why others have been great by crossing distant seed lines, but I wanted to try and cross these two because there wasn't as much "inbreeding" in the lines as we see today. Over the last few years the top seeds are very closely related. This cross isn't. I didn't get my hands on the 1495 Stelts, but I did get the 1625 Gantner (1495x1495) and I'm glad I did. Fun plant to grow. Thanks Eddy for the seeds in order to make the cross work. Appreciate it. Here's the family tree of the 1725 Harp and the 1495 Stelts. The 1068 Wallace 2003 and the 1420 LaRue 2004 are the two main relatives.   Friday, October 21 View Page 1495 Stelts family tree.   Sunday, October 23 View Page Year end photos coming up. I wanted to break 4000 pounds this year. With only three plants, it's hard to do. Well I got lucky and went 3 for 3 with sound fruit making it to the scales on all three plants for a total of 4746 pounds.   Thursday, October 27 View Page 1143 Hoelke (1725 Harp x 1625 Gantner) This plant was a late July 20th pollination. I lost my first pollination due to a really toasty 3 days. It was picked for an early local weighoff at Day 65. Still had lots of room to grow as it's a young looking fruit. Nice plant, trouble free. I opened it up and it had lots of meat even at that sunken blossom end. Good seed count.   Thursday, October 27 View Page 1800.5 Hoelke (1625 Gantner x 1725 Harp) 10% Heavy. This one was fun. The largest OTT'd 1625 ever grown. It was still moving at Day 100. Probably the best plant I ever grew in terms of no disease problems and no sun burn on the leaves. I still have to open this one, hoping for a good seed count.   Thursday, October 27 View Page 1803 Hoelke (1463 Hoelke x 1625 Gantner) 14% Heavy. This one still surprises me. Didn't expect the weight. Love the shape and colour. The back side was even more orange. I'm glad I finally got one to the scale from my 1463. This seed was my best in 2014 but I accidentally rounded up the plant and killed it. Last year it was again my best performer but split at 1572 (14% heavy as well) at the end of August. This year I made it to the finish line. I've seen 7 of the 1463 offspring and they've all been orange. My 1572 last year probably the nicest orange pumpkin I've seen up close, that picture is at the top of the page. I got a great seed count on this. Most ever. I've been really trying to use a lot of pollen when pollinating. Not sure if there's any truth to that, but large seed counts again this year.   Tuesday, November 1 View Page Hacked open the 1800.5. (1625 Gantner x 1725 Harp) Nice and thick inside and you can see why it was 10% heavy. I was worried about the blossom end as it was growing ,but there was a lot of meat there. Pretty good seed count.   Tuesday, November 15 View Page To make things easier and so that I don't miss anymore emails, here's my address if you want to send a bubble. All seeds are available, I had good counts. Ryan Hoelke Box 730 Eganville, ON Canada K0J 1T0   Monday, November 28 View Page We got a foot of snow last week. It's warmer this week but there's enough snow for it to stick around. The compost pile is large again this year and smoldering like a volcano. I will be sending away the bubbles early in the new year. Hopefully right after Christmas. If you need yours sooner for some reason let me know.   Friday, December 16 View Page I'll be sending out seeds early in the new year, after the holidays. So don't worry if you haven't seen your envelope come back yet. I'll post when I send them out in January. It's been a cold and snowy "fall", since I guess it's not winter for a few more days. Not quite ready to ice fish yet, but getting close.