Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 56 Entries. Thursday, July 5 View Page This is the 1914 Sperry, 1961 Sperry X 1944 Connolly. The plant has over 900 sf to run in.   Thursday, July 5 View Page The 1970 Sperry, 2261 Wallace X 1961 Sperry. This plant is in a newly tilled area that had once been part of the main patch years ago. As the tree in the background grew, the shadier this area became. After watching the sun cross the area for several days, I figured that maybe enough sun hit it to give it a chance. The last time I grew here was in 2003 and the seed planted was the legendary pollinator, the 898 Knauss.   Friday, July 6 View Page Hello everybody. I figured it’s time to begin this year’s grower’s diary. This year I decided to do four plants, one more than I typically do. I’ve got to hand it to all of you that grow four or more. This is work lol! Pictured her is the 1436.5 Pappas, 2307 Wallace X 1961 Sperry. Its growing area is about 900 sf. The walkway delineates its boundaries   Friday, July 6 View Page This is the 1914 Sperry, 1961 Sperry X 1944 Connolly. The plant has over 900 sf to run in.   Friday, July 6 View Page And to round out the quartet, I decided to go with my other 2017 pumpkin the 1438.5 Pappas, 1961 Sperry X open. Typically, I grow one of my own, but this year two were chosen being that an extra growing area was added   Saturday, July 7 View Page 1970 Sperry   Monday, July 9 View Page Day 20 1436 Pappas X 1914 Sperry   Monday, July 9 View Page Day 20 1438.5 Pappas X 1436.5 Pappas   Monday, July 9 View Page Under the canopy. Weeds are under control for now.   Monday, July 9 View Page Caught a few bugs the other day.   Thursday, July 12 View Page Its Day 20 for the 1914 Sperry X 1436 Pappas. This was the largest of my four pumpkins measured on this milestone.   Thursday, July 12 View Page And the smallest Day 20 pumpkin, the 1970 Sperry X 1436 Pappas. Nice shape!   Wednesday, July 18 View Page Just when things are going great!!! Looks like the woodchucks are having a party. All four plants have some damage. They are laughing at my Havaheart efforts.   Friday, July 20 View Page I have this theory. In the past my patch has produced a surprising percentage of less than perfect to downright ugly female flowers.. I've passed up many a main vine pollination because of this. For the last two years, I have been focusing on correcting micro nutrient levels. Since then, most of the female flowers are nicely shaped. Like these.   Friday, July 20 View Page Day 30 1436 pumpkin. Looks as if a hint of orange is showing through. Too bad it was scarred for life at an early age. Could have been a pretty one.   Friday, July 20 View Page The current queen of the patch is the Day 30 1438 Pappas. She is a little over 400 pounds.   Friday, July 20 View Page My wife made up a couple of gallons of hot pepper spray. It was misted onto all of the leaves on the edge of the patch. I haven't had any new ground hog damage since. Fingers crossed! I lost up to twenty per cent of the leaves on two plants prior to this treatment.   Sunday, July 22 View Page I thought the 1970 Sperry pumpkin was going to be nice and round. Looks as if it got flattened some. Day 30 for this girl. Growth rate is not as good as her patch mates, but has grown an average of thirty pounds per day over the last three.   Sunday, July 22 View Page Day 30 1914 Sperry X 1436 Pappas. Averaged 33 pounds per day over the last three. This plant was the most severely mauled by woodchucks. Over twenty percent of the leaves were lost. It is slowly filling in with secondary growth.   Sunday, July 22 View Page Side view.   Friday, July 27 View Page I will be leaving for Seattle to visit my daughter tomorrow morning. For a week the plants will be unobserved and mostly untended. Watering has been arranged with my neighbors. The one and only benefit of leaving the patch for over a week will be the loss of what I call measure mania. In seven days, it will be it is what it is. No waiting for the breakout day of plus forty pounds. Sprays of fungicide and insecticide are up to date. Fertilizing will lose a session or two of drench, and the hot pepper spray will be doing its work to keep the groundhogs at bay. I wonder what I will find when I get back.   Saturday, August 4 View Page Upon return, what I found was, a bumper crop of weeds, a lot of vines to be pruned, some stem stress to deal with and more groundhog damage to the plants. It is going to take a while to get this patch back in shape. That was the downside.   Monday, August 6 View Page Found these two root masses under one of my walkways. They had lifted it off the ground.   Monday, August 6 View Page Oh yeah I almost forgot about the pumpkins. This is the 1970 Sperry. Its grown some since I left. It tapes at 692 pounds.   Monday, August 6 View Page At an estimated 773 pounds, the 1914 Sperry is looking good.   Monday, August 6 View Page The 1438 Pappas has an estimated weight of 916 pounds. Getting a nice shade of orange. Too bad she is butt ugly.   Monday, August 6 View Page And the new Queen of the Patch is the 1436 Pappas X 1914 Sperry. At 360 OTT, it's estimated weight is just over 1000 pounds!   Monday, August 6 View Page Side view.   Monday, August 6 View Page Not pumpkin related, but I thought I would throw this pic in just for the halibut.   Sunday, August 12 View Page Misty morning patch shot   Sunday, August 12 View Page Even on a cloudy day, it is plain to see that the 1436 Pappas is what Ideally a giant pumpkin should like. Nice shape and color.   Sunday, August 12 View Page Love the Calai dots   Thursday, August 16 View Page I usually don't allow this kind of growth, but it is a small plant and the pumpkin needs all of the help it can get.   Thursday, August 16 View Page Day 57 1438 Pappas. Closing in on 1100 pounds   Friday, August 17 View Page It’s loading day for the Marshfield Fair. Sometime later this afternoon or early evening, the first pumpkin will leave the patch. This means, less watering, fertilizing, spraying, weeding, pruning, measuring,obsessing and all other care these things require will be cut down by 25 %! Good luck to all contestants.   Saturday, August 18 View Page At the Marshfield Fair I took second place with the 1914 Sperry pumpkin. It was more than a 100 pounds over the chart. I was happy with that.   Saturday, August 18 View Page Steve Connolly with his new Marshfield Fair record 1602 pound pumpkin. Congrats buddy.   Saturday, August 18 View Page The lineup. From left to right, Steve Halliwell, myself, Bill Sullivan, Mike Fleming, Brett Rowe, and Steve Connolly.   Friday, August 24 View Page So now I am down to three pumpkins. This is a front view of the 1970 Sperry pumpkin. Probably not going to be a Howard Dill winner.   Friday, August 24 View Page Rear view 1970 Sperry   Friday, August 24 View Page 1438 Pappas looking more orange than it really is.   Friday, August 24 View Page 1436 Pappas   Friday, August 24 View Page Side view 1436 with 1438 in the background   Wednesday, August 29 View Page Guess who I found in the trap this morning looking forlorn and scared. Mr. Pumpkin Terrorist the groundhog. I was on my way to the office all dressed up in the 90 degree heat and now he had to be dealt with. I decided to take him to work with me. It was released into the woods and fields behind my office. I think it will be happy there. Better than going swimming. Maybe I’ll see him again in his new setting. On a side note, he looked smaller than the animal I’m used to seeing from a distance. Maybe there is still another one out there.   Thursday, August 30 View Page The 1438 pumpkin was taken to the Woodstock Fair where I took fifth place at 1192.5 pounds. Growth had slowed to five pounds per day. I found that the main vine had started to decay just under the stem.   Sunday, September 2 View Page Apparently there was an acomplice   Sunday, September 9 View Page One of my favorite pumpkin models agreed to another photo shoot. 1436 Pappas x 1914 Sperry limping towards 1500.   Sunday, September 9 View Page A needed break was taken on the 1970 Sperry X 1436 Pappas.   Sunday, September 9 View Page Plants are in tough shape. Powdery mildew is running rampant through whatever vegetation is still left. Quite a contrast to the healthy plants I had last year at this time.   Thursday, September 27 View Page Loaded for the fair   Friday, September 28 View Page I took ninth place at the Topsfield Fair at 1269 pounds with the 1970 Sperry X 1436 Pappas. Not bad for a 350 sf foot plant with the pumpkin nine feet from the stump in new ground with little amending.   Saturday, October 6 View Page At the Frerich's Farm weigh-off I placed seventh at 1503 pounds. This is a new personal best for me. It is also the third time I have had a personal best growing my own seed.   Saturday, October 6 View Page OK here is a right side up pic of the pumpkin the Mrs. and I.   Saturday, October 6 View Page OK right pic this time.   Thursday, October 18 View Page The 1503 pumpkin on display at my restaurant the Crossroads Cafe. Every year I try to bring a pumpkin here if I have one available. The restaurant is located at a busy intersection that lures in hundreds of people a year to take their pictures with a giant pumpkin. I keep a " Pumpkin Facts" display near the entrance for all of the inquisitive.   Thursday, October 18 View Page Season Summary Four plants were grown this year which provided quite a challenge to maintain them all properly. All four pumpkins from these plants made it successfully to a weigh-off. This was an accomplishment in itself. Nearly every year, at least one pumpkin typically goes down for one reason or another. The three GPC weighed pumpkins were 1192.5 at Woodstock, 1269 at Topsfield, and 1503 at Frerich’s Farm for a total of 3,964.5 pounds. The non GPC Marshfield Fair pumpkin weighed 1093 pounds and was good for second place. The total of the five pumpkins was 5057.5 pounds. A new personal best was reached at 1503 pounds. This is my third personal best grown from my own seed.