Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 81 Entries. Friday, March 11 View Page I hope you can attend the 2022 Virtual Conference, Elaine! Tons of great info to be had!   Friday, March 11 View Page Thank you to the GPC and everyone in attendance for a great start to the Virtual Conference! Two and half pages of notes about growing 'em big later...   Tuesday, March 22 View Page The 2022 season is here and big things are happening! I hope everyone has an excellent season with lots of PB's! I've changed my screen name to reflect the fact that I am not a guy, and I apologize to anyone who thought I was. Have a great day and grow 'em big!!!! Yay!   Tuesday, April 12 View Page Lowland snow, here? Really? lol   Wednesday, April 13 View Page Get well soon, big moon and Gray B!   Saturday, April 16 View Page I missed my chance to tell Zeke that I'm growing three tomato plants for the 5-Gallon Contest: One 5.14 La Rue '21 (8.71 x Open), and two 5.39 Holub '21 (6.66 Spaziani x Open) Big Marley F2. Several of my favorite growers here this year, I'm looking forward to a bigger and better season! Much success to everyone in Mater Land!   Thursday, April 21 View Page Shovel duty in the snow is character building, right? lol   Thursday, April 28 View Page I'm super-happy with my new grow lights, largest and nicest plants ever for me! Looking forward to the Zeke Mars Team Tomato Challenge this season, with two 5.39 Holubs and one 5.14 La Rue.   Thursday, April 28 View Page Also really happy with my pumpkin seedlings this year. 178 Gerry is the largest plant of the bunch so far. 574.5 Mercer and 2363 Holland are about even today. 2283 Barlow/Jacobus is missing a few beats, it seems.   Sunday, May 1 View Page I am now the proud domain owner of giantcucumber.com! Yay! Thank you bnot!   Friday, May 6 View Page ...aaand I just got hailed on while creating my seed starting mix for my heavy cucumbers. What kind of spring IS this? lol   Sunday, May 8 View Page Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there! All my babies are monsters, like this one:   Sunday, May 8 View Page I'm really glad Lambchop randomly drafted me to be on Team 1 with with LMichael and Ned! My three starts are doing really well so far, I'm excited for a big year! Also, I hope the new grower at the Draft found his way around on this website. While looking at the Grower Diary that you need to contact, right click on the Envelope Icon and choose "copy email address." Good luck to you!   Sunday, May 8 View Page After the Draft, I too managed to turn my small greenhouse into a kite in about 55 mph winds that the morning weatherlady never mentioned anything about, lol! Only the power cord prevented my greenhouse from whisked away like Dorothy and Toto. My small greenhouse was upside-down like a turtle on it's shell, with the heater and heat lamp still attached on the inside, lol! I was afraid for my tomato and pumpkin starts after the wind turned them into a tossed salad, but they seem fine now. I battened down the hatches, so hopefully I'm good now.   Thursday, May 12 View Page Got snow? lol   Thursday, July 28 View Page Captain, I also have a blossom-end split on my 2363 Holland, in three different places. I applied sulfur powder and silicone caulk over the splits, in hopes of trying to keep it going for carving for Halloween. The upper split goes into the cavity. I'll pollinate the next one on the main, but I'll end up with a much smaller pumpkin that the one I had going. This is my only plant. I'm wondering if my BES is caused by excessive watering in almost 100F temps, I noticed the split the next morning after watering three times the prior day. I cut back yesterday to watering twice a day and my pumpkin no longer looks like wants to eliminate my blossom all together. It's been a really weird season, I'll keep forging ahead and try again next year. My maters are looking nice, Go Laughing Stalks go! Yeah, Dawn, don't overwater those either! lol   Friday, August 19 View Page Thank you to the PGVG for a most excellent patch tour! Learned a bunch and made some new friends too! My email is piling up but I'm pulling my pumpkin plant instead since it's turned into a powdery mildew breeding ground despite spraying for it once a week, and then spraying more once I discovered the problem. This pumpkin also has a blossom end split, which is a shame since it's a really attractive pumpkin. Nice to grow you, 2363 Holland! Next year will be better.   Thursday, September 1 View Page "Ready to do The Puyallup, Sunny?" About 15' at 87 days after germination.   Thursday, September 1 View Page Hoping there's enough nice weather left in the season for a new PB and WA State Record Cucumber, over 17 pounds to beat Bin Buster. Got a late start this year due to hail and cold weather this spring, plus plenty of distractions, things to fix, patch tours to take, etc. this season. Next year will be better!   Friday, September 2 View Page Sorry you missed The Fair, Gritty and Elaine! There were only 5 pumpkins there, you could have placed! I enjoyed being a bit of the entertainment. Someone at the Fair looked commented, "This lady backed her car up to the woods with her hatchback open until she jammed a tree into her passenger side foot well, then dragged the whole mess to The Fair and entered it." I replied that how we Do Things Here At The Fair, and that's what makes it so special, lololol! [That was actually my sunflower root ball, lol!!] So great to see EVERYONE who attended today, especially Ant and company!!!! Stay fun, everyone!   Saturday, September 10 View Page Finally getting back to updating things here. I hope all is well in Big Pumpkin Land! So, are you ready to Do The Puyallup, Sunny? lol   Saturday, September 10 View Page Sunny is a real trooper despite a few weird looks and scraping over South Tacoma Way, lol! The root ball is a like a mat, once I removed the bag you couldn't tell that it dragged on the ground for a bit, lol! Go Sunny Go! You're a delight to grow!   Saturday, September 10 View Page I love parking on the Fair grounds! It's the best! lol   Saturday, September 10 View Page Draft horse crossing!   Saturday, September 10 View Page Fair Pumpkins!   Saturday, September 10 View Page Nice pumpkin, Stan! People are talking about it, including the local newspaper food reviewers who visited the club booth in between Fair Food courses.   Saturday, September 10 View Page Brett K's watermelon makes me hungry. He grew this within Tacoma city limits, impressive!   Saturday, September 10 View Page Glenn S. grew this cabbage hydroponically in a large barrel, amazing! I didn't realize cabbage could be so beautiful! Glenn is great for bringing interesting produce to the WO's.   Saturday, September 10 View Page And, of course, Cindy at sunset with her massive mater and marrow! Great job at creating awareness of marrows, several people asked me what it was.   Saturday, September 10 View Page Great job on the mic, Ron! Here's Sunny before two tape measuring tapes were needed to get a length, 156" if I remember correctly. I ended up talking with Anthea and my new neighbors who also attended the Fair, and I never did take a picture of the final WO result sheet.   Saturday, September 10 View Page Sunny standing tall with no competition yet from Fair contestants, next to the wine and beer section, perfect! My friend Stephanie said she saw my sunflower there at the Fair and it hasn't wilted away yet, yay! An excellent time was had by all, and I'm happy with my blue ribbon from The Fair! I'm looking forward to next year!   Saturday, September 10 View Page Missed you at The Fair, Jack! Hope to see you there next year!   Sunday, September 11 View Page I want to make sure that Ant and Altitude Maters are aware that Jack La Rue is hosting a Zoom Call about growing tomatoes on Saturday, Sept. 17th at 2 pm Pacific Time. The Zoom Call is free with membership to the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers Club ($35 a year, plus you receive the club seed payouts and such.) You can join the PGVG at https://www.pgvg.org/membership . It would be great to see you on the Zoom call!   Sunday, September 11 View Page Maybe Ned would like to attend the Zoom call too! Go Laughing Stalks Go!   Tuesday, September 13 View Page Thank you, spudder!   Saturday, September 24 View Page Nice pumpkin, Bob the Carver!   Saturday, September 24 View Page I wanted to recline on Kendall's pumpkin, lol!   Saturday, September 24 View Page "We would NEVER transport this very long gourd in our SUV!!!" /everyone whistles innocently! lol   Saturday, September 24 View Page Yay for AG's!   Saturday, September 24 View Page This sunflower was grown right there in Georgetown, the brewing area of Seattle, in the median between the street and the sidewalk. Way to grow!   Saturday, September 24 View Page OK, who gave 'em too much beer? lol   Saturday, September 24 View Page You both are cut off!! lololol!   Saturday, September 24 View Page /waves at Stan Pugh's son!   Saturday, September 24 View Page My favorite photo from The Elysian.   Saturday, September 24 View Page Way to grow, Amy, and congrats on your Everett Herald fame!   Saturday, September 24 View Page Gotta have a pict of Cindy standing on her pumpkin!   Saturday, September 24 View Page Hi Jeff!   Saturday, September 24 View Page This WO featured free face painting and pumpkin carving!   Saturday, September 24 View Page Team Gadberry, taping second, had a site record at 1796.5 pounds! Way to grow!   Saturday, September 24 View Page The site record only lasted until Joel's pumpkin hit the scale, so much drama! lol! Congrats on the win and site record at 1802 pounds, Joel and MariLou! So exciting to see in person!   Saturday, September 24 View Page The IPA was good too! lol   Sunday, October 2 View Page So great to see everyone at Carpinito Brothers WO today, Land of Many Sunburns! lol!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Moving along to the new Weigh-Off Cindy set up at Carpinito Bros Pumpkin Patch in Kent, Washington on Sunday, October 2nd. Such a fun venue and conveniently located! Anyone need a wheelbarrow? lol   Sunday, October 2 View Page Their maze looks a-maze-ing!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Nice pumpkin, Dani!   Sunday, October 2 View Page I needed more coffee too, lol!   Sunday, October 2 View Page I love how Cindy securely attached her Washington State Record Long Gourd backboard to the deck of her trailer! Her pumpkin is also amazing, just like she is!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Nice drop-off entries, Captain, and nice HD Award on the right!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Yes, an AG can be successfully hauled in a U-Haul Trailer! I like how this option provides protection for the pumpkin, I've noticed that the freeways here have a fair amount of sand and debris circulating about and I'm not so thrilled about sending precious pumpkin cargo headlong into 60+mph winds. Nicely done, Trevor!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Sandblasted car hoods and windshields from daily commuting on I-5 are a reality and worthy of discussion among motor head co-workers. Yeah, the front of my car needs a paint job now, lol! Oh wait, I was talking about the WO, lol!   Sunday, October 2 View Page More beautiful pumpkins!   Sunday, October 2 View Page More pumpkins!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Nice turnout!   Sunday, October 2 View Page So many amazing pumpkins!   Sunday, October 2 View Page And yet moar pumpkins!   Sunday, October 2 View Page "Small veggies" lol!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Congrats Chris on your 113.5 pounder grown from hardware store seeds! I hope that you'll join the club and get some Atlantic Giant seeds and get a personal best next year! Really well done on your part! Welcome to the Club!   Sunday, October 2 View Page My cucumber is small this year, only 9.5 pounds. It's like a half-off sale this year, lol!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Nice pumpkin!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Hi Stan!   Sunday, October 2 View Page 2nd Place for Team Gadberry!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Congrats on your win, Cindy!   Sunday, October 2 View Page Way to grow, everyone! So great to see you all!   Tuesday, October 11 View Page Sadly, Terminator is not possible for me, all the best to everyone! Miss you all very much!!!   Wednesday, October 12 View Page I'm so behind schedule, sorry everyone! Take care and all the best to you all!   Wednesday, October 19 View Page Hello Everyone on bigpumpkins.com, grab your homemade popcorn because Dawn's updating her Diary, lol! I'm glad I volunteered to be the photographer at the Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off at the Elysian Brewing Co in Seattle, and the new Carpinito Brothers Weigh-Off in Kent, Washington. Much fun was had by all at both events! Espresso is important for success in this hobby/sport, with Ron! Nice pumpkin!   Wednesday, October 19 View Page Hi Andy W! Have a great evening!   Wednesday, October 19 View Page It's getting late here, will finish posting soon, thank you so much for reading, it means so much to me! Hope you all had a great season! Much success to all!!!   Thursday, October 20 View Page Looks like my pumpkin will make it to Halloween, yay!   Monday, October 31 View Page Happy Halloween!   Sunday, December 25 View Page Merry Christmas!