Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 19 Entries. Monday, January 25 View Page I would Like to thank Ken D. for helping us hold our live SIGPGA auction on this site last night. A big Thank you to all the great growers that donated seeds to our club as well. Thank you to everyone that participated and bid on lots during the Auction. To all of you it is very much appreciated. And last but not least, thank you Cecil for helping our club as the auctioneer. He cranked out 81 lots in 3 hrs and 10 min.. We did very well and all the proceeds will help us put on our 2021 Bloomfield Giant Pumpkin Bash.   Monday, February 8 View Page The Southern Iowa Giant Pumpkin Growers Association (SIGPGA) will be holding a live seed auction on bigpumpkins.com Friday night February 12th starting at 8 pm Eastern time. All the information and auction list can be found on the homepage of bigpumpkins.com under SIGPGA Auction details. This is our biggest fundraising event. All proceeds will help our club put on the Bloomfield Giant Pumpkin Bash this fall. Any support that you can give us on the auction will be greatly appreciated. We have a Tremendous line up full of top genetics of all sorts of seeds for your growing needs. Thank you to all the great growers that donated seeds for our auction.Any questions I can be reached at 641-208-5659. Thank you.   Saturday, February 13 View Page I would like to thank everyone that participated and bid on seeds at our Southern Iowa Giant Pumpkin Growers Assoc. auction Friday night. Thank you Ken for allowing us to use your site. Also I would like to thank all the great growers from all over the world that donated seeds to our auction. Last but not least thank you Cecil Weston and Don Young for helping Paul and Erin Harrington as well as myself during the auction. It is very much appreciated!   Saturday, March 13 View Page Trying to play catch up on my tomato plants. If you get behind on 900 tomato plants you're in trouble. Plants are growing fast a starting to fall over. Getting them tied up and suckers picked off. Takes a lot of time in my evenings after I get home from my real job.   Thursday, April 22 View Page Plan of attack this year.   Wednesday, April 28 View Page I picked a couple early orange maters 3 days ago. They passed the taste test!   Thursday, April 29 View Page Bushel Gourd selection. I have a couple grandsons growing some this year too. Fun growing these things. Great thing to have young growers attempt. Pretty good success rate on them. Can't hardly kill them.   Friday, April 30 View Page 40 hrs and the 2051 Marshall seeds has already popped up. I've never seen one this quick on germination. Hope it's a good sign!   Tuesday, May 4 View Page I will have several pictures of this post. They will be in seperate posts below this. So anybody wanting to make some mini greenhouses here you go. Last year a company was putting in fiberoptic lines across our county. Talking to a foreman I was able to get several of the pex pipe reels for free. They are made of 1 1/2" square steel tubing on the outside part of the wheels and 1 1/4" tubing on the braces. The cross members of square tubing between the two wheels and that holds the pex pipe are 1 1/2" tubing. I unbolted the cross members to seperate the wheels and to transport. My son in law helped me cut the wheels in 1/2. We then cut 3 braces out of 1 of the 1/2 moon pieces from both wheels to be used for the side base rails. Took 3 of the cross members to be welded between the wheel arches for the top. It has some weight yes, but should last me many years. 2 guys can pick it up and move it. It is 8' wide and ends up being 11 1/2' long. It will be welded together. I am thinking about using hinges in the center of the endwalls vertically with 2 pieces of polycarbonate to open one or the other or both to let heat out on which ever end the wind is not coming from. Aluminum wiggle wire channels will be screwed onto both side bottom base rails and over the top of the endwall arches. 6 mm greenhouse plastic will be used to cover the hut. Any end wall ideas are welcome. Even my stiff body can step inside through the endwalls with those braces left in.   Tuesday, May 4 View Page One of 2 wheels to make the mini greenhouse.   Tuesday, May 4 View Page One wheel split in 1/2. This will be one end wall frame.   Tuesday, May 4 View Page Other 1/2 of wheel. Braces cut out. They will be used for side base frame. The arch will be used as one of the center bows.   Tuesday, May 4 View Page All this will be welded together. 8' wide, 4' high and 11 1/2' long. All from 2 wheels off of a pex reel. I will figure out end wall construction. I will also firgur out some anchor points.   Tuesday, May 4 View Page Aluminum wiggle wire or wire lock channels screwed to side base rails and over each end bow. This will secure and lock the greenhouse plastic on to the mini greenhouse.   Saturday, May 8 View Page Cantaloupe line up.   Monday, May 10 View Page Watermelon line up plus some McCaslin and another Dawson not pictured!   Wednesday, August 18 View Page Well you haven't heard much out of me this year because it is a complete disaster. I'm in the only part of Iowa that is not in a drought. Crazy amount of rain this year. I have gave up on all AG's a month ago. Everything else is pathetic too on my other fruits. I had seeds started that people would kill for. Mother nature can be just flat mean. I have a couple 302 Kent watermelons that I hope to atleast participate in weighoffs with. This one is as perfect of a shape as I think you can get. It's growing so we will see where it gets me.   Thursday, August 26 View Page 302 Kent day 33 great shape and growing!   Friday, September 10 View Page 302 Kent still packing on lbs even in over night lows in the low 50's. Lows are going to get back up in the 60's and highs up to 90 in the next several days. That is what I want to see. Very little rain forecasted finally.