Mia McCarville, Giant Pumpkin Fan and Owner of Cedros Gardens,

pictured in the drough-tolerant plants area of the nursery

The Tour Heads South to Cedros Gardens!

Good morning!

The tour traveled to Cedros Gardens in Solana Beach yesterday morning. The weather was great and the workshop audience was dominated by long-time and loyal giant pumpkin grower Karl Schaeffer, his wife, parents and sister! Mia McCarville, the owner of Cedros Gardens let me know that edibles and drough-tolerant plants were very popular this season. There are even some new succulent displays this year.

Pumpkinmania! Referred to in The Wall Street Journal!

Good evening!

How many times has one of my giant workshops been referred to by The Wall Street Journal? Well, up until now, zero, zip, null.

I am proud to say the number is now one. A reporter from The Wall Street Journal was auditing the workshop and panel discussion at Van Winden's Nursery last month, and incorporated it into a great, May 8, 2010, story about the legendary giant pumpkin growers pictured above and their quest for 1,800 pounds!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703686304575228931771653198.html?KEYWORDS=pumpkin

Enjoy the story!

It takes a village, a forklift, and sometimes even more.

Good evening!

Great progress is being made at the Great Park in Irvine! As mentioned previously, I'll be growing a couple of giant pumpkin vines in the Farm & Ag Lab this season, as part of my activities as a University of California Cooperative Extension Certified Master Gardener. (This is not, I repeat not, a community garden. Do not attempt this in your home garden until you've attended a giant pumpkin workshop, or, at a minimum, have the read the instructions on growing giant pumpkins on this website.)

Yesterday afternoon, I received a pallet of soil amendments and organic fertilizer delivered courtesy of Kellogg Garden Products for two giant pumpkin vine growing sites. Because of the weight of the pallet, the forklift got stuck. Fortunately, very helpful Great Park personnel were instrumental in freeing the forklift and saved the day!


Next steps? Excavation, soil amendment incorporation, and mound creation! Stay tuned for future developments.

Melissa, Lori, Nell and Jill, not necessarily in that order!

800 Giant Pumpkin Seedling Distribution

Planned by Farm Supply Company in San Luis Obispo!

Good evening, Pumpkinistas!

Dr. Joe Sabol, Professor Emeritus at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, raconteur, and sitting President of the California Rare Fruit Growers, is lending a hand with germinating about 800 giant pumpkin seedlings to be distributed FREE by Farm Supply Company's stores on May 15th, including 100-150 or so at the 10:00 a.m., giant pumpkin workshop at 224 Tank Farm Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 (805) 543-3751, http://www.farmsupplycompany.com/!

Workshop attendees are obviously in for a very special treat!

Joe was kind enough to send me these pictures of his 2010 giant pumpkin seed germination staff, and a brief description of their process:

"As you know, we germinate the seeds at 80 degrees in wet paper towel then carefully plant the rather delicate germinating seed into a very wet 4-inch container using top quality potting soil mix. The seed is about 1.0 inch deep in the soil. These containers are in my unheated greenhouse but... they grow!!! They are stacked up until they show some green above ground!! Then they go to the floor, single layer!!!

The paper towel method works for me for two reasons....

1. You only plant seeds that are alive and well. No duds planted.

2. It is much easier to keep a wet paper towel and 10 or 15 seeds (burrito roll) warm at 80 degrees than 10 or 15 pots. The challenge is to catch the seed just as that root comes out and plant it!!! If it comes out and you miss it by 10 or 12 hours, it will grow quickly and get right through the paper towel and be almost impossible to transplant to the soil!!!"

That's how to produce 800 giant pumpkin seedlings! What an impressive feat!

Kith and Bethany Nursery's Mound!

The Tour Stops in Portland and Vancouver!

Good morning!,

Back from a whirlwind week-end dispensing fun and information in Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA. The week-end began Saturday morning at Bethany Nursery, where the tour had some special guests, Dr. Kant, a long-time friend and his sons, pictured above in the middle of the Bethany Nursery audience. In addition, we were able to take a brief field trip to the just-prepared mound at Bethany Nursery. Yes, that's right, Bethany Nursery will be growing a giant pumpkin on-site this season! Bethany was followed by Bird's English Gardens where hard-core giant pumpkin growers braved the light rain and wind to participate in an outdoor workshop. Sunday morning began at Tsugawa Nursery, a store that specializes in water gardens. The final stop of the tour was at Shorty's Garden and Home, where 2 enthusiastic and lucky workshop attendees won Shorty's Special Giant Pumpkin Grower Kits!