An Update from Bonnie Copeland

Good morning, Growers!

(I received this great picture and message from Bonnie Copeland August 1st!)

Powdery mildew at our house in Costa Mesa is what drove us to find a
"grower" in Anaheim Hills. Fortunately, we found growers as dedicated as
we are -- our friends, Vince and Karina Scheerer and their son, Michael.
The Scheerer's house is at the knob of a hill overlooking the 55 Freeway. The only tree is on the sunset side of the yard, so the pumpkin gets sun all day.
We visited Sunday and the pumpkin looked great. She's sending out vines at the rate of about 8" a day, down from two feet a few weeks ago, before the fruit got so large. The leaves at the growing tip look green and healthy. We have high hopes!
We accidentally broke the stem of last year's pumpkin in mid- August, and that kept it from growing larger than 200 lbs. This year's pumpkin is about the same size as last year's was at the end of July. We estimate the weight to be about 100 lbs.
The young man is Michael Scheerer.

Bonnie Copeland

Thank you very much, Bonnie!

Stuart