Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 48 Entries. Sunday, February 5 View Page Hello 2023 season! Planted my cover crop today. The house blocks the sun and the patch is mostly in the shade all winter but it’s getting better each day now. Planted red clover this year. We will see how it does!   Sunday, March 5 View Page Sunrise in Danvers! Great convention. Really happy to have met so many great growers this year! Thank you all for making me feel welcome.   Tuesday, April 4 View Page This year’s lineup!! Many thanks to Don, Steve, Andy and Glenna for the generosity!!!   Wednesday, April 5 View Page Go time! My earliest start date ever.   Sunday, April 9 View Page Tiger Lily is first to break through! Happy Easter!!   Wednesday, April 12 View Page This is not good. This critter is way too comfortable on the wall next to my patch.   Sunday, April 23 View Page Two 1634 Rea plants and the 2425 Daletas made the finals. I will let these battle it out a while before culling to one.   Monday, May 1 View Page Planted the pollinator today. 2200 Wolf got The spot. It’s 40 square feet lol.   Wednesday, May 10 View Page There’s been some concern that Hydrogen Peroxide could damage plants. Thought I would run some tests on a spare plant. Meet Crash Test Dummy. CTD was drenched yesterday with Zerotol at a 1:200 ratio. Soaked it thoroughly; soil was relatively dry at the time. Here’s the before photo.   Monday, May 15 View Page This is crash - test dummy, 5 days after the Zerotol drench. No ill effects whatsoever. Plant looks better now than before.   Tuesday, May 16 View Page And then there was one. Culled the Daletas 2425 today. It was growing well but had some malformed growth. I could have grown it for sure, but the 1634 Rea is a perfect plant. Main is at 5’.   Tuesday, May 23 View Page The 1634 Rea is coming along nicely. Today is day 30 in the patch. No sign of any females yet. Weather has been cool and overcast for the most part.   Tuesday, June 6 View Page Pollinated the pollinator today. This 3 lobe opened at about 9 feet out on the 2200 Wolf. Crossed it with the 1634 Rea.   Thursday, June 15 View Page First and hopefully only pollination on the 1634 this morning. Partial 6 lobe? 5 and a half? You decide. She is at 15’. Crossed with the 2200 Wolf; there were two flowers on my pollinator plant (60 sq ft). 99 days until harvest!   Monday, June 19 View Page This is the shortest (and thickest) stem I’ve ever seen. Going to create some challenges for sure.   Wednesday, July 5 View Page Day 20 and the patch is nearly full now. I’ve got a little room left to fill out 500 square feet.   Thursday, July 6 View Page Day 20 of the Rea 1634. She should be round and Orange by the looks of her.   Saturday, July 15 View Page Day 30 and the 1634 Rea is looking a whole lot like her Momma. Slowest start ever but she’s starting to catch up.   Tuesday, July 25 View Page Day 40 Still growing well with daily gains in the low 30’s. The 1634 Rea has been a joy to grow and has PB potential for me.   Sunday, July 30 View Page Day 45 update- the 1634 Rea is growing at a personal best rate. She is still gaining 36 plus pounds per day. Now all I have to do is not screw it up. I had to move her again yesterday as she keeps pushing toward the stem.   Monday, July 31 View Page The 2200 Wolf was grown as a pollinator to the 1634 Rea. This is a true flowerbed plant, with only 40 square feet of dirt to root in. There is about another 30 square feet of vine on the concrete walkway. A female showed up at 7’ and is growing into a white porch pumpkin. Taping close to 300 lbs now.   Friday, August 4 View Page Day 50 and the 1634 is growing very well. Still doing 33 lbs per day which is nearly 10 lbs a day better than last year.   Monday, August 14 View Page Day 60 - the Rea 1634 has pushed past my personal best and grew 23 lbs Per day since Day 55. 39 days to harvest day. Plant is showing signs of aging but still plenty of good foliage.   Sunday, August 20 View Page Things got a bit askew yesterday.   Monday, August 21 View Page Hurricane Hilary changed course when it got to the patch. This pumpkin is the Chuck Norris of fruit.   Friday, August 25 View Page Day 70. Still getting decent but not spectacular growth. Never imagined I could get to 1500 pounds in my little patch. It’s been a heck of a season. Harvest is 29 days away.   Thursday, August 31 View Page Day 77 - the 1634 Rea is still showing signs of growth. 22 days left until harvest. I’m going to need a crane to get it out of the back yard.   Thursday, August 31 View Page I like seeing the growth cracks.   Friday, September 15 View Page One week until harvest! The 1634 Rea has been my best grower ever. She’s still eeking out a few pounds a day on day 92. The plant canopy is about half gone now. Maybe disease or maybe just age. Can’t wait for next weekend!   Sunday, September 17 View Page View from our Patio. Day 94.   Friday, September 22 View Page Lifting day!! 99 DAP   Friday, September 22 View Page Bottom looks great!   Friday, September 22 View Page Up and over the house!!   Friday, September 22 View Page And on the trailer ready for the road. Perseverance on the trailer and Ugly Batty is on the truck.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Strapped up for the big event! Taped 433.5 inches OTT for an estimated weight of 1,734 lbs. she will be last on the scale which I suppose is a good thing…   Saturday, September 23 View Page Jim Fredricks is the king of SoCal and the reigning record holder in these parts. He came in with a 1,690 lb BEAST off the 1953 Daletas. She went heavy to chart. Wow Jim!!!   Saturday, September 23 View Page Next up- Vince George - a great grower and former champ. He’s got a HUGE fruit off the 1977 Rea. Only 82 days old!! She comes in at 1600 lbs for a new PB!! Great season Vince!!!   Saturday, September 23 View Page Finally my turn on the scale…   Saturday, September 23 View Page And she comes in at 1,708!! The 1634 Rea x 2200 Wolf is now the Donahue 1,708. She’s the new Southern California record! As a bonus she won the Howard Dill award!   Tuesday, September 26 View Page Do the little things. Right up through the end. We put the stem in water as soon as it was cut and kept it there until it was time to trim it and move it to the scale. It drank about 1/2 gallon. The 4 lbs was the difference between the old SoCal Record and the new one!!   Wednesday, September 27 View Page Top Three from the Irvine Park Railroad Great Pumpkin Weighoff on display.   Thursday, September 28 View Page The stump stayed intact for the full season. It was actually pretty small considering the size of the fruit. Another myth seemingly busted: you have to have a huge stump to grow a big pumpkin. Nope.   Saturday, September 30 View Page That long skinny thing is a node root- a top one. Burying vines with the right treatment paid off this year. I found several top node roots that were over 4’ long before they broke off pulling them up. This plant was the best rooted plant I’ve ever grown. Those healthy top node roots are key in my opinion. Even though everything looks healthy, I have a history of high disease levels. Pythium, Fusarium and phytophtfora are all present. A disease panel will be the first part of next years plan, so a tissue sample has been sent to Western Labs.   Saturday, October 7 View Page Perseverance, my wife and I made it to Scottsdale safely. She’s on display at the Westin Kierland Resort now until her final days.   Saturday, October 7 View Page Goodbye 2023 Season! It was a great year. So much fun with my pumpkin community and family! My little brother made this “pound cake” to celebrate. So cool.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Perseverance, it’s time to say goodbye. You brought a lot of folks a lot of joy. Donahue 1708 (1634 Rea x 2200 Wolf). Thank you to Glenna and Andy for the seeds. I hope I did them justice.   Monday, October 9 View Page It’s time to get started on 2024. Watched Travis set the new World Record today and you can’t help but get motivated. Congrats also to Ron Root and Nick Kennedy on setting the new California State record!! Tilled and then planted mighty mustard. It’s a good time to add some sulfur since it takes a while to break down and become available to the plant.   Sunday, December 31 View Page I think looking back to reflect on what I did right, and wrong in 2023 is important so here we go. First, the good: I went to the GPC convention in Danvers. This was only my second one but it's so great to meet other growers. Sitting at a table with guys named Paton and Daletas is a huge gift. The information I gathered changed my season. I started learning more about fungicides. What works on certain diseases, what products can (and maybe should) be used together. I read all the labels. I developed a program of applying them. I continued refining my watering system and my fertilizing protocol. With all of this, I worked harder. I buried every node (well maybe I missed a couple LOL) and my plant rooted better than it ever has. Ever. I am convinced this is why the season turned out so well. Compost tea was brewed weekly and fortified prior to application. I took vigorous notes of everything I did. Miscues: For the first season in a while, I didn't have any major miscues. I overwatered a time or two but that is just par for the course. At the end of the day, I added 468 lbs. to my personal best, an increase of 38%. Having a crane take the pumpkin over the house was definitely a bucket list item! The final take away: I can still do better!! Off to 2024!