John Allen: Back in the Game!

Good morning, Pumpkinistas!

I received these great time-sequence images from and the following update from John Allen, one of the top finishers of last year's weigh-off:

"Stuart,

I am putting my winnings from last year to work. I started a second set of seeds after rabbits got to my first one. They left my plant alone last year, but seem to enjoy it this year.

The heated seedling mat works great. The first picture was taken 5/20 4 days after planting. The second was 5?21 and the last 5/23.

Looking forward to the pumpkin weigh-off. Any date yet? How about a Saturday this year?

John (Mr. Bill, 375 pounds)"

Hi John!,

Thank you very much for your images and questions! I am glad to see that a mere rabbit attack has not deterred you from your quest! Perhaps a wire cage or some other barrier may be in order this season.

To answer your questions about this year's weigh-off, yes, there is a date: The 2009 Pumpkinmania! Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off Contest will be held, Sunday, October 25, 2009, 8:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m., at The Centennial Heritage Museum, 3101 West Harvard Street, Santa Ana, CA 92704, entry registration from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., with the final weigh-off starting at 12:00 noon. The details of the weigh-off have already been publicized here and other sources for Sunday already, so, it will be Sunday. (Generally, traffic Sunday is lighter than Saturday, which seems to be a huge plus for growers transporting their entries from other counties and areas. I appreciate your suggestion.)

Thank you very much again for your participation and suggestion! Good luck!

Stuart