Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 9 Entries. Wednesday, February 3 View Page I cannot think of a better way to start of my diary then awarding out the prizes to the top two teams of the 2020 Fantasy Pumpkin League winners. It was a tight battle literally coming down to the a single pound in the team average weight category. Farmer Brown (Chris) and SmalltownUSA (Mikkal) were literally joined at the hip in all scoring categories. Plus, they had identical bonus point with the Patons scoring an extra point for the new UK record and for Mikkal, Mendi came through scoring an extra point for setting the Spain national record. I think the coolest part was that each drafted themselves which provided great dividends. As both growers won an HD award which helped put them in a tie for second in the HD scoring category. Chris's win netted him the much heralded first place pumpkin trophy, forty dollars, and a seed prizes which included the Jutras World Record Squash seed and 5 HD winner seeds, plus a nice assortment of seeds from HHouston. Mikkal won $20 and several quality seeds. The entry fee into the contest was an HD seed or a seed from a 2k pumpkin. Those not wishing to send in a seed could pay a $10 entry fee. Without the generous support of all the owners these prized could not have been possible. Those interested in participating in the 2021 league, keep an eye out for announcements in the premium members section starting this Spring. In third place was HHouston (Hank) who recieves an "attaboy" for third place. Interestingly, Hank's team had the most first place wins with eight. 1st Place Seeds: WR Jutras 2119 SQ, 1146.5 Snyder HD, 960.5 Gansert HD, 1444 Halverson HD, 795.5 Risi HD, 1118 D. Gantner HD, 1148 Wagner (359 FossxSelf), 2158 Geddes, 2045 Clementz, 2003 Daletas, 2002 Tobeck, and a great assortment of Houston seeds. 2nd Place Seeds: 1464 Brown HD, 1604 Robinson HD, 2090.5 Stelts, 2020.5 Weishupl, 2003.5 Lancaster, 1510.5 Lancaster and a great assortment of Houston seeds. 1. Farmer Brown 32.5 points 2. Smalltown 31.5 points 3. HankH 24 points 4. Dibble 18.5 points 5. Wolf3080 16 points 6. Kerry G. 14 points 7. Wiley C. 10 points 8. Suburban G. 9 points 9. Orange U Glad 5.5 points   Wednesday, February 3 View Page And a picture of the championship fantasy league which goes to Farmer Brown.   Wednesday, February 3 View Page I should acknowledge the real growers who propelled Farmer Brown to his championship and SmalltownUSA to second. Drafting growers is not as easy as one would imagine. Over seventy growers were drafted so everyone had to do their homework beyond the obvious picks. If you were on the winning teams you should ask them for a cut of the prize money and seeds. lol Farmer Brown: Paton Bros., Don Barron, Andy Wolf, Chris Brown and Steve Connolly SmalltownUSA: Joe Jutras, Ruben Mendi, Herman Boonen, Phil Hunt and Mikkal Hodge.   Friday, February 5 View Page I saw this cool pumpkin drop video today on the Utah giant pumpkin growers website. The cool thing about this pumpkin drop is that people can enter to a cage and be pulled up to the top of the crane and drop their own pumpkins. They drop dozens of pumpkins on several objects including a 1500lb pumpkin which squashed a fridge. (pun intended). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qZqyAVoDLE&feature=emb_logo   Sunday, April 25 View Page Anybody with a building project on tap knows what I am talking about.   Sunday, May 23 View Page From Decision Desk '21, my first competition has been decided. The pic shows the 1501 on the left and a non-1501 backup on the right. Though I was rooting for the 1501, they were both treated the same. I promise they were, lol.   Tuesday, May 25 View Page Decision Week '21 Competition #2 was a more difficult decision. I grew two seeds from the 500 Warren 2013. Of the six plants that I put out, they were both the fastest growing and looked great. I went with the one on the left because the main vine was about 25% thicker and the plant had two or three more large leaves. But that is splitting hairs because they both grew true to form. And in case you are not familiar with Cliff Warren he is the King of Orange West of the Mississippi with about a half dozen HD victories. The 500 Warren 2013 was a base seed for a lot of his HD wins.   Friday, May 28 View Page Decision '21 Week Competition #3 was the absolute most difficult decision of the season. It pitted the 1810 Werner 2016 and its HD winning progeny 1025 Bierle 2020. They were darn near identical as the picture indicated. With an impeding rain storm, I wanted to narrow down to one as the plants were starting to grow into each other. I went with the 1810 because it was an older seed and the leaves were more green. But I was truly splitting hairs. The 1025 is an amazing seed considering that it was grown in 400sq ft. and was super HD winner. I promise Craig that I will give your plant a spot next year. It deserves to be grown.   Friday, June 18 View Page I saw a field mouse running around my plants last weekend for the first time ever. I first saw him behind the 1501 on Sunday, then later around the 1810. He just seemed to be making himself at home though doing no damage so far. I set a trap on Tuesday night. It took a couple of days, but I caught him. Anyway, I drove him a few miles away and let him loose in a national park. Hopefully it works out well for both of us.