Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 288 Entries. Saturday, February 18 View Page Another year, and I'm feeling especially ambitious! The goals for 2017 are to grow a 2000+ pound pumpkin as well as the biggest squash of the year.   Saturday, February 18 View Page Oh, one more goal: I want a repeat win at Half Moon Bay.   Saturday, February 18 View Page The first soil sample was collected. The pH is a bit higher than I anticipated. The season officially started today: sample mailed to the lab and I anticipate results on Thursday or Friday.   Saturday, February 18 View Page Happy Valentines Day to me! A load of lime is the way to win my heart!   Saturday, March 4 View Page I got to speak at the Elk Grove pumpkin seminar! How fun. The California growers are great guys!   Saturday, March 4 View Page Elk Grove seminar   Saturday, March 4 View Page After my long winded talk...whew!   Saturday, March 4 View Page I visited the Capitol afterwards to kill some time. It was a nice evening.   Saturday, March 4 View Page It was so neat to go inside of the Capitol building and see that they had a beautiful statue on display in the rotunda depicting me on my Half Moon Bay float! I'm glad that Russ Pingrey, holding his pumpkin got sculpted too. Such detail! Thank you California for the beautiful and fitting tribute! ;)   Saturday, March 11 View Page It's good to be me! Jack LaRue came by tonight with some late Christmas presents to add to my starting lineup. Yay!!! 2000 pounds here I come!   Sunday, March 12 View Page I got to speak down in Oregon at the PGVG spring seminar. Very nice and informative meeting!   Sunday, March 12 View Page I got to sit next to the illustrious Squash King!   Friday, March 17 View Page This was my first trip to Niagara Falls for the Big Show!   Friday, March 17 View Page I met one of my goals to be Top 10 in the Grower of the Year!   Saturday, March 18 View Page I'm in very good company!   Saturday, March 18 View Page Another goal achieved!   Saturday, March 18 View Page Awesome!!!   Saturday, March 18 View Page It was a fun Big Show! Now it's time to get the patch in order and plan for seed starting in a few short weeks. I'm super excited!   Sunday, March 26 View Page The cover crop is ready for a mow (if it would ever stop raining).   Sunday, March 26 View Page Almost all of my amendments are at the patch ready to be spread (if this rain ever let's up...).   Sunday, March 26 View Page It has been an unusually wet March. I'm hoping to rototill this weekend...the forecast has a couple of dry days...I'll believe it when I see it though. Western Washington has had only 3 nice days since OCTOBER! My daughter graduates from high school in June of 2021...and after that I'm seriously considering a new, sunnier location to show my horses, grow my pumpkins and hang my hat.   Friday, March 31 View Page The first sunny day of the year! I spread 1048 pounds of amendments and 4 yards of biochar by hand via a 5 gallon bucket and a washtub.   Saturday, April 1 View Page Rosalyn is growing 2 plants for competition this year! Today she is spreading her 600 pounds of amendments. She's grumbling about it...but in a good way...ha.   Saturday, April 1 View Page Her motivation: money for a car. She's 14 this year, so car buying will be here before we know it.   Saturday, April 1 View Page She's so cute!   Saturday, April 1 View Page Meanwhile....I've got more biochar to spread before the tilling.   Saturday, April 1 View Page It feels like a never-ending job.   Sunday, April 2 View Page Rototilling day!   Sunday, April 2 View Page Mmmmm....looks good!   Thursday, April 6 View Page Things are getting serious in the Tobeck patch: I dug a ditch and am getting power patch side this week. No more running multiple extension cords to the house!   Sunday, April 9 View Page Today I installed 6 soil heating cables...whew!   Thursday, April 13 View Page The seeds are filed. The thermostat, heat mat and lighting are set up and tested!   Friday, April 14 View Page The seeds are soaking for 8 hours in a weak kelp/ humic mixture while the 4" pots warm up. First thing in the morning the seeds will get planted! I'm gazing upon them dreaming of 2000-pounders and Half Moon Bay....   Saturday, April 15 View Page All finished digging and placing the uprights for 3 big greenhouses.   Monday, April 17 View Page We're already pushing up dirt in 5 pots! That's pretty early! I wasn't expecting that until the morning! Yay, yay YAY!   Tuesday, April 18 View Page As of 7 AM: 9 are up!   Tuesday, April 18 View Page As of 4:30 PM, 16 are up!   Tuesday, April 18 View Page As of 9:30 pm, 17 are up! The last three are backups, so a big sigh of relief that all of my competition plants germinated. Whew! Meanwhile tonight I got all of my big 1.5 gallon pots filled with all sorts of wonderful things. I anticipate transplanting them to their big pots the 19th or 20th.   Wednesday, April 19 View Page 100% germination success three years running! Let the games begin!   Wednesday, April 19 View Page Their area is all cleaned up, lights and reflective film and fan positioned .....grow babies grow!   Thursday, April 20 View Page All of the babies got repotted in their big 1.9 gallon pots tonight. My foot for size perspective....I'm anticipating a cool, wet spring, so they might be spending a bit more time in the house.   Monday, April 24 View Page Roslyn and her friend learned how to install t tape.   Monday, April 24 View Page They did a GREAT job!   Monday, April 24 View Page Meanwhile the sprouts are growing and I'm building greenhouses.   Monday, April 24 View Page Greenhouse #1   Monday, April 24 View Page All three greenhouses: They're 20 x 25 feet. I've been working in the rain.....I swear, it never stops raining here.   Friday, April 28 View Page Tuesday through Thursday we had some high winds that rocked my greenhouses. I spent the last couple nights making repairs, and anchoring them down better with heavy cinder blocks at each corner. Then last night I got the end pieces of plastic on in time for today's sunshine to heat up and dry out my soil.   Friday, April 28 View Page The babies are looking pretty good. I did get my T5's too close one day and the newer 2nd leaves suffered. I'm not too worried since they're growing fast and those little leaves will soon be a distant memory.   Friday, April 28 View Page The babies all get to be outside today for the first time. I'd normally be planted out by the 26th, but with my 1.9 gallon pots, I'm in no rush. I'll harden them off this week, get my soil warm and then get them in the ground before next weekend.   Sunday, April 30 View Page The patch has its own power as of today! Yay!   Monday, May 1 View Page Jack and I had a fun road trip hauling this giant salmon back to its home after a salmon festival I held at school today. We talked pumpkins and tomatoes for 5 hours, which is always fun.   Monday, May 1 View Page Once I got home at 8 PM, I was feeling quite motivated to plant the babies outside. The soil was perfectly moist and warmed to 70 degrees. Tonight will be mild, and tomorrow will be cloudy, so I figured it would make a perfect time to transition before we get into the 70's Wednesday and Thursday. So I worked nearly 3 hours transplanting. Everyone got double planted.   Monday, May 1 View Page Here is the final line up for 2017.   Tuesday, May 2 View Page Baby pictures!   Tuesday, May 2 View Page More babies!   Tuesday, May 2 View Page And more...   Tuesday, May 2 View Page Yay babies!   Tuesday, May 2 View Page Some baby squashes too!   Tuesday, May 2 View Page Those are all of my babies! Rosalyn still has hers under the lights and needs to get her hoop houses made asap!!!   Wednesday, May 3 View Page I'm trying to look like the American Gothic painting. Ha! Anyway, it's our first day in the 70's, and my pale skin hasn't seen the sun since October 2016! The babies all look happy and did well in the heat. Weeds have germinated in the patch and some residual rye cover crop is growing so I spent some time spraying.   Thursday, May 4 View Page Washington and Oregon growers can relate I'm sure!   Saturday, May 6 View Page Good morning from the Tobeck patch! Annie just had a nice roll and is enjoying her breakfast. The babies are getting some kelp/humid today. Everyone is looking perky and ready to take off!   Saturday, May 6 View Page Hoop 1   Saturday, May 6 View Page Hoop 2   Saturday, May 6 View Page hoop 3   Saturday, May 6 View Page Rosalyn finally built her two greenhouses and planted out.   Saturday, May 6 View Page Here it is before covering with plastic! She built two of them.   Saturday, May 6 View Page Here is Rosalyn getting ready to plant with some granular fertilizer, Pumpkin Pro and Azos.   Saturday, May 6 View Page Planting her 1910 and 1625 in her hoop #1   Saturday, May 6 View Page Here she is in hoop #2 watering-in her 1545 Holubs.   Saturday, May 6 View Page Here are her two hoop houses, complete with automatic opening windows on both ends with fans. She wasn't willing to dig soil heating cables....oh well. I choose my battles!   Tuesday, May 9 View Page So far, I'm liking the 2145.   Tuesday, May 9 View Page This 2145 looks to be the better of the two also.   Tuesday, May 9 View Page I like the third then the first 1844's the best.   Tuesday, May 9 View Page Battle of the 1910's.   Tuesday, May 9 View Page Both of these look great, but I've pretty much got to give the nod to the 2624 barring any accidents.   Tuesday, May 9 View Page Both of these are beauties! This will be a real dilemma! Do I go with the proven, even though I already have two others....or go with the unknown???   Sunday, May 14 View Page Despite the cold and wet weather, my plants are growing pretty well. I've been pruning tendrils for over a week now. I took a measuring tape out to the patch this morning and measured the vines. Here are my longest: 1910: 20"; 1904: 20"; 2624: 17"; 1844*: 22"; 2145: 24". I know better than to think this means anything at all, but I am surprised they're growing in this lame weather!   Monday, May 15 View Page Look at that beauty! They're growing well in the cold; I can't wait to see how well they do in the warm weather coming up on Thursday!   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Finally! The sun should really help to accelerate things!   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Hoop 1   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Hoop 1   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Squashes in hoop 2   Tuesday, May 16 View Page The other end of hoop 2 with the other world record.   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Hoop 3   Tuesday, May 16 View Page The other side of hoop 3 and my biggest plant with a 3 foot main already!   Friday, May 19 View Page The new logo has been released....guess what I'm thinking about....I want to bring another big pumpkin down there!   Friday, May 19 View Page I got my drip lines all untangled and repaired where needed then fired up the system!   Friday, May 19 View Page Here is the back side of the patch. Vine burying started today, and my longest is 4 foot 4 inches, with the others in hot pursuit. Since they've laid down nicely, I was able to make culling decisions on most of the plants. So far in hoop 1 the 1910 is selected; in hoop 2 the 2624 and 1844 are my chosen ones, then in hoop 3 my 2145 gets the nod. All I have left to decide on are the 2145 vs 2307 and in hoop 3 the 2145 vs 2075.   Sunday, May 21 View Page The 1910 Tobeck is looking happy!   Sunday, May 21 View Page It's hard not to love the 2075...argh.   Sunday, May 21 View Page A couple more beauties.   Sunday, May 21 View Page My squash plant is huge!   Sunday, May 21 View Page The longest vine in the patch! It's as long as I am tall!   Sunday, May 21 View Page This one has the biggest leaves in the patch.   Monday, May 22 View Page Little ladies are showing themselves on three plants. My vines are going crazy! 6 footers!!!   Wednesday, May 24 View Page Lots of burying and pruning tonight. We had a windstorm last night and the 2307 got a twisted vine, so it's no longer a contender, and I'll keep the 2145 next to it. My most beautiful plant, the 2624's fan landed on its last 18" of main vine tip, but no damage was done-whew! On my final inspection of the hoops tonight, this guy scared me half to death! He was trying to get out and I was trying to keep him from flailing into the 2624 and 1844* plants! He managed to calm down, and I persuaded him successfully to the exit.   Wednesday, May 24 View Page Quail...right-side-up.   Sunday, May 28 View Page Patch tour!   Sunday, May 28 View Page Squash   Sunday, May 28 View Page 2145   Sunday, May 28 View Page 2145s neighbor....   Sunday, May 28 View Page And another 2145...ha!   Sunday, May 28 View Page 2624   Sunday, May 28 View Page 1910 is so lovely!   Tuesday, May 30 View Page Males in bloom on the 2145. This is the earliest I've had them!   Friday, June 2 View Page I taught Rosalyn how to spray weeds.   Saturday, June 3 View Page This weekend is all about horse showing! I'm missing my pumpkin patch, but having fun and winning a lot at the Regional Championship show. My mare, Annie won all of our working hunter over fences classes. She's so cute!   Saturday, June 3 View Page Annie says hi!   Sunday, June 4 View Page I'm back home from the horse show and am so tired, but mustered up enough energy to get totally caught up in my patch. I sprayed the soil with some micronutrients, foliar fed the plants, pruned and buried vines.   Sunday, June 4 View Page The north side. The plants on this side aren't quite as long as the south side, where they're all out of the hoop houses a few feet.   Sunday, June 4 View Page 1910 Tobeck   Sunday, June 4 View Page 2624 world record progeny   Sunday, June 4 View Page 2145 #3   Sunday, June 4 View Page 2145 #1   Sunday, June 4 View Page The stud of the patch: 1844.5* Holub   Sunday, June 4 View Page 2145 #2...my big one!   Sunday, June 4 View Page Rosalyn and her 1545 Holub.   Sunday, June 11 View Page Happy Sunday! It's patch tour day! Normally this weekend if do my annual measuring of the vines...but I've come to realize that has absolutely nothing to do with the final weights if my pumpkins, so I won't be doing that. All of the vines are quite respectable and long, and more importantly, every one of them is poised to pollinate in my perfect time frame and in perfect position in the coming days! I see little babies on each tip, so I'm shooting for the 20th-29th as my target. I'll have a few before that, including 2 tomorrow.   Sunday, June 11 View Page North side of the patch. These plants are a few feet shorter than the south side.   Sunday, June 11 View Page 1910 Tobeck   Sunday, June 11 View Page 2624   Sunday, June 11 View Page 2145 north side hoop 3   Sunday, June 11 View Page 2145 south side hoop 3   Sunday, June 11 View Page 1844.5 Holub squash   Sunday, June 11 View Page 2145 south side hoop 1   Wednesday, June 14 View Page South side of the patch and I'm getting ready to bury vines after 6 days s8nce some wind and rain are coming tonight.   Wednesday, June 14 View Page This is pretty much what I look and feel like after burying vines on 6 plants in the hoophouses....   Thursday, June 15 View Page My giant cabbage is looking decent.   Thursday, June 15 View Page I'm making 50 gallons of tea for tomorrow's drench.   Sunday, June 18 View Page 1910   Sunday, June 18 View Page 2624   Sunday, June 18 View Page North 2145   Sunday, June 18 View Page Hoop three 2145 south   Sunday, June 18 View Page 1844.5*   Sunday, June 18 View Page 2145 Hoop one   Wednesday, June 21 View Page 1844.5* x self   Friday, June 23 View Page North 2145 x self   Friday, June 23 View Page The big south 2145 x self   Saturday, June 24 View Page The hoop houses have been off for 3 days and the plants have acclimated well. 90+ degrees for a couple of days, so I brought some overhead sprinklers out to cool them in the afternoons.   Sunday, June 25 View Page 2145 Hoop 1 x self   Sunday, June 25 View Page 1910   Sunday, June 25 View Page 2624   Sunday, June 25 View Page 2145 north   Sunday, June 25 View Page 2145 south   Sunday, June 25 View Page 1844.5* (My fav plant)   Sunday, June 25 View Page 2145 Hoop 1   Sunday, June 25 View Page Rosalyn weeding and pruning her two plants.   Sunday, June 25 View Page 2624 x self   Tuesday, June 27 View Page 1910 x sib   Tuesday, June 27 View Page 1844.5* x self @ 19'   Tuesday, June 27 View Page 2145 south x self   Thursday, June 29 View Page 2145 Hoop 1 back up pollinated.   Friday, June 30 View Page 2145 north back up pollinated.   Friday, June 30 View Page Today marks 100 days until Half Moon Bay! I can't wait to go back there!   Saturday, July 1 View Page Horse show weekend! I love coming home to see the pumpkins' growth!   Sunday, July 2 View Page Patch tour! Everything is pollinated it seems, so right now my world is all about pruning, vine burying, fertilizing and foliar feeding. Soon they'll kick into gear and I can cull, sand and position.   Sunday, July 2 View Page 1910 plant   Sunday, July 2 View Page 1910 fruit x sib   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2624 plant   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2624 fruit   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2145 north side plant   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2145 north fruit   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2145 south side plant   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2145 south youngest fruit   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2145 south 2nd choice fruit   Sunday, July 2 View Page 1844.5 Holub squash offspring   Sunday, July 2 View Page Squash choice #1   Sunday, July 2 View Page Squash choice #2   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2145 Hoop house 1   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2145 hoop1 fruit...oozing slightly because I just scratched it...doh! I patched it up with a pumpkin flower petal as a band aid (it really works!).   Sunday, July 9 View Page North side of the patch this morning.   Sunday, July 9 View Page South side of the patch.   Sunday, July 9 View Page 1910 x sib pollinated 6/27   Sunday, July 9 View Page 2624 pollinated 6/26; I am not in love with the shape of this one....   Sunday, July 9 View Page 2145 north pollinated 6/23. I love this pumpkin!   Sunday, July 9 View Page 2145 south pollinated 6/27.   Sunday, July 9 View Page Believe it or not, this is a squash...really! It's so very light green. 1844.5* x self pollinated 6/21.   Sunday, July 9 View Page 2145 West (hoop1) pollinated 6/25.   Thursday, July 20 View Page I have been getting nice phone calls and emails wondering if I'm ok and wondering where their pumpkin queen is...ha! Don't worry, I've been horse showing out of town, and got back a little late for my usual patch tour last Sunday. I didn't think anyone would even notice I was gone....here are Agate and me on a cross country course last Sunday.   Thursday, July 20 View Page And here we are in our working hunter class:   Thursday, July 20 View Page And my cute boy won his division championship!   Thursday, July 20 View Page The next day I went on a patch tour at Charity's then a hike to the most beautiful waterfall I've ever seen: Lower Lewis Falls in southwest Washington on the Lewis River. Once again, by the time I got home, it was too late for a patch tour. But tomorrow I shall put on my overalls and show you around the Tobeck patch. Things are growing nicely! There are a few big ones, and a couple UGLY ones too. So until tomorrow...   Friday, July 21 View Page Hello from Littlerock!   Friday, July 21 View Page 1910   Friday, July 21 View Page 2624...ugly   Friday, July 21 View Page 2145 North   Friday, July 21 View Page 2145 South   Friday, July 21 View Page 1844.5*   Friday, July 21 View Page Ugh...what a disappointment. Someone hot my 2145 West with an ugly stick.   Friday, July 21 View Page Another 1910   Friday, July 21 View Page 1545   Friday, July 21 View Page Thats a wrap from the Tobeck patch!   Friday, July 21 View Page Camping trip on the Olympic Peninsula; goodbye pumpkins for 4 days!   Monday, July 24 View Page Rosalyn' s patch is looking pretty decent...time for her to weed, prune and bury! 1910 in front, and 1545 behind.   Monday, July 24 View Page A peek at my patch....   Monday, July 24 View Page I've wanting one of these and I FINALLY have one: a Siamese twin baby! It's on my 1910 and I will try to pollinate it! I have seen 2 field pumpkins who were Siamese twins, and they each had an inner wall which made them substantially heavy. I don't know of a mature twin AG, so this could be exciting! I have a pretty pumpkin growing on the 1910 right now, but this is too exciting to not at least try!   Thursday, July 27 View Page We're getting away from the patch for a road trip to Cannon Beach, Oregon. Goodbye pumpkins for 4 days!   Monday, July 31 View Page Patch tour! Here is the north side of my patch.   Monday, July 31 View Page Rosalyn's patch is looking pretty good.   Monday, July 31 View Page 1910 Siamese twins are getting ready to pollinate! A triple pumpkin mega bloom!!!   Monday, July 31 View Page 1910   Monday, July 31 View Page 2624 is not quite as ugly as last time!   Monday, July 31 View Page 2145 North: 46 pounds a day!   Monday, July 31 View Page 2145 South: 45 pounds a day!   Monday, July 31 View Page 1844...if it's going to turn green, it is certainly taking its sweet time! Well, whether it decides to be a squash or pumpkin, it's doing well: 50 pounds a day!   Monday, July 31 View Page 2145 west   Monday, July 31 View Page My cabbage is getting big and dense!!!   Monday, July 31 View Page Rosalyn's 1910   Monday, July 31 View Page Rosalyn's 1545   Tuesday, August 1 View Page I've put up shade cloth over all my young growth in anticipation of the heat wave. Additionally, I have scheduled overhead watering during the heat of the day to supplement my drip tapes. Grow pumpkins, grow!   Tuesday, August 1 View Page Here is our forecast. This is Seattle; For Olympia/Littlerock, it'll be 2 degrees warmer each day. Not the Hell-like conditions my friends south of me in Oregon will be facing, but nonetheless, I'll be ready.   Wednesday, August 2 View Page The 1910 triple megabloom got pollinated today x sib. Rosalyn saved me 4 flowers, and now there are no more blooms.   Friday, August 4 View Page The Thurston County giant pumpkin growers got together for a patch tour! Here are Jeff Uhlmeyer, myself and Jack LaRue at the last stop: my patch.   Friday, August 4 View Page Rosalyn's 1545   Friday, August 4 View Page Rosalyn's 1910   Friday, August 4 View Page My 1910   Friday, August 4 View Page 2624 (the ugly side)   Friday, August 4 View Page 2145 North   Friday, August 4 View Page 2145 South   Friday, August 4 View Page 1844.5   Friday, August 4 View Page 2145 West   Friday, August 4 View Page We visited Jack's patch at around lunch time and Sherry fed us well!   Friday, August 4 View Page Jack has some nice tomatoes growing and I was hard pressed to find a single weed in his large greenhouse!   Friday, August 4 View Page Jack's tomato greenhouse   Friday, August 4 View Page Megabloom tomatoes everywhere!   Friday, August 4 View Page We started at Jeff's, who has incredibly healthy plants and some impressive fruit. The last time I saw his plants was in early May when I rescued them all from collapsed greenhouses while he was out of town. It was nice to see what a great season he is having after such a violent storm nearly ended his season.   Saturday, August 5 View Page It looks to me that the 1910 megabloom was successful!   Friday, August 11 View Page The pumpkins are growing! I've been so busy with my crazy life lately, I haven't had time to post! Bad news: the 1910 conjoined twin aborted. Boo.   Sunday, August 13 View Page The patch is mostly filled in, and they're outpacing last year by 200+pounds! Grow, grow, GROW!!!!   Sunday, August 13 View Page 2145 south   Sunday, August 27 View Page North side of the patch.   Sunday, August 27 View Page 1910   Sunday, August 27 View Page 2624   Sunday, August 27 View Page 2145 north   Sunday, August 27 View Page South side of the patch.   Sunday, August 27 View Page 2145 south   Sunday, August 27 View Page 1844.5   Sunday, August 27 View Page 2145 west   Tuesday, August 29 View Page 2145 North   Friday, September 1 View Page New Washington State record cabbage: 63 pounds! Yay!   Friday, September 1 View Page Rosalyn won the junior grower, and 2nd place overall for GPC at the Washington State Fair with her 983 pounder. I took my smallest, and it weighed 511 pounds.   Tuesday, September 12 View Page Look who is the HMB cover girl! 27 days until I return to CA! I can't WAIT!!!!!   Thursday, September 14 View Page This big beauty gets a new greenhouse before the rain and fall temperatures come on Sunday! Lets see if greenhouse, remay, heaters and lights can help me make make a little history!   Thursday, September 14 View Page And viola! Done after 2 nights! Much thanks to Jack who came over tonight to help me finish just before dark.   Thursday, September 21 View Page Check out the new Half Moon Bay Promo video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J1rmvH7IRg   Thursday, September 21 View Page 2145 North has a new name: Death Star! Here we are annihilating smaller pumpkins that stand in our way!   Friday, September 22 View Page ...from a galaxy far, far away....   Tuesday, September 26 View Page On my way to foliar feed the Death Star! It's still ravenous and growing!   Tuesday, September 26 View Page 2624   Tuesday, September 26 View Page Night time in the Tobeck patch: The Death Star still thinks it's summer.   Thursday, September 28 View Page 2145 South gets a new name in time for its debut: WRECKING BALL!   Sunday, October 1 View Page 2145 West (Power Puff) was the smallest in the patch and ended up being 1526 pounds! Not bad for the ugliest baby pumpkin I've ever seen and stump rot! I took it to the Skagit Valley Giant Pumpkin weigh off and got 2nd place.   Wednesday, October 4 View Page I'm in FULL FREAKOUT mode right now! I found a trailer and my 6x6' pallet is made and loaded. I can't sleep...I'm in a constant state of stress...my pumpkin is taping bigger than anything posted on the GPC list, and it just gave me 2 MORE inches in 3 days! I'm now officially registered for Half Moon Bay and Bauman's...OMG!!!!! I can't believe I have ANOTHER once-in-lifetime pumpkin!!!! I've got an extra seat...who's up for an epic road trip!?   Friday, October 6 View Page Loaded!   Saturday, October 7 View Page Wrecking Ball (2145 South x self) at Bauman's Harvest Festival weighed in at 1836 pounds! 12% HEAVY!   Saturday, October 7 View Page The leader board: we got 2nd place!   Sunday, October 8 View Page HMB growers' dinner tonight....look at the t shirt I found en route earlier today to wear! DEATH STAR !!!   Monday, October 9 View Page Once again I rode my pumpkin into Half Moon Bay! So much fun!!!   Monday, October 9 View Page The Death Star is all harnessed and ready in the staging area!   Monday, October 9 View Page I met my goal of bringing a 2000 pound pumpkin back down to HMB!!!   Monday, October 9 View Page SUPER HAPPY!!! It was a great day full of happy memories!   Saturday, October 14 View Page 2145 south clones (Wrecking Ball)   Saturday, October 14 View Page 2145 North clones (Death Star)   Sunday, October 15 View Page The patch is all cleaned out and most of my toys are put away. Two of the pumpkins are sold for display, and the 1844 on the right will go to the Terminator weigh off and regatta Saturday in Tualatin, Oregon. I just need 1562 pounds to get my 5400 pound club patch. I've got manure ordered, so as soon as that's all spread, I can seed my rye cover crop and finish the 2017 season.   Friday, October 20 View Page *1844.5 loaded for the Terminator weigh off and regatta tomorrow. It's going to be like rowing an aircraft carrier....I grow for weight, not speed, so that's ok.   Friday, October 20 View Page It's taking up it's fair share of the 7' wide trailer. I had to add side pallets to support it. I just need 1562 pounds tomorrow to get into the elite 5400 pound club.   Saturday, October 21 View Page 1661 pounds at Terminator! I met my goal of getting in the 5400 pound club! It's cold, windy and SO RAINY here for the regatta! I'm bundled up with jeans AND rain pants, but wanted to show off my shirt from Poti Gonzales Ferris that he brought me! This pumpkin holds a lot of water, so I'm going to name it, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE!   Saturday, October 21 View Page Hot Tub Time Machine!!!   Sunday, October 22 View Page The very last pumpkin, the 2624 was loaded up and I'll take it to the Seattle Aquarium for display and carving. It got a small but fatal stem split early on so I caulked it hoping it would continue to grow and be a good carving pumpkin.I quit measuring it Sept. 13, and it was 386", or 1284 pounds.   Sunday, October 22 View Page It's a nice barrel.   Sunday, October 22 View Page And now the patch is empty! Next week I'll spread manure and compost then seed it with winter rye. All week it'll be sunny and mid 60s, so that's perfect.   Sunday, October 22 View Page Dropping off the 2624 at the Seattle Aquarium. I can't wait to see it all carved up!   Sunday, October 22 View Page I need one of these I've decided....   Sunday, October 22 View Page Update from Vince who is keeping an eye on the 2002 Tobeck: it's been happily resting at Farmer John's pumpkin patch in HMB, and getting visited by many school children. That makes me so happy!   Monday, October 23 View Page The manure is all spread! Wednesday will be compost then cover cropping.   Wednesday, October 25 View Page Mmmmmmm....it's as good as Christmas morning!   Thursday, October 26 View Page I worked late last night spreading and smoothing my compost, then seeding my cover crop.   Thursday, October 26 View Page Little Storm Troopers are drawn to the Death Star....so cute!   Thursday, October 26 View Page Huge shout out to Vince Zunino who has been very diligent watching over the Death Star in the unseasonably hot fall weather in HMB. He opened it up, and it's a good count of large, brown seeds he harvested. Thanks Vince!!!   Thursday, October 26 View Page 2002 Tobeck (2145 McMullen x self). The seeds look big and plump!   Sunday, October 29 View Page Here is my 2624 all carved up at the Seattle Aquarium! Russ Leno did a nice job!   Wednesday, November 1 View Page Today I harvested seeds from the Wrecking Ball! It was nice and uniformly thick inside!   Wednesday, November 1 View Page Nevermind my crazy hair....it was just inside of a pumpkin...check out my CUTE NEW BOOTS!!!   Saturday, November 11 View Page MERRY CHRISTMAS!   Saturday, November 11 View Page Actually the greenhouse is the next door neighbor's early Christmas present! I figured I'd go meet him and check it out in case I could learn anything from its construction.   Sunday, November 26 View Page Greetings from the Tobeck patch! The rye is coming in nice and thick!   Sunday, December 24 View Page MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, and to all a good night!