Kerri Conner-Stiede, District Manager of the Garden Centers

and the great door prizes!

Miner's Ace Hardware in Morro Bay's Maiden Workshop!

Good evening, Pumpkinistas!

I'm back home after a week-end in the Central Coast. I got up early this morning to take some pictures of Morro Bay. The light was very cooperative. Most of the shots are in and around the Embarcadero, just a 4-5 minute drive from the Best Western El Rancho, a California classic beach side motel from the 1970s. (It's a single-story, U-shape lay-out with a pool and lounging area, with a barbecue, in the middle. I stayed there last night.) The house with all of the succulents was across the street from the two boats. This area of town has a strong Steinbeck, Cannery Row feel. Maybe it was the light and the deserted boardwalk.

The maiden workshop at Miner's Ace Hardware went well. The workshop attendees were attentive and asked a lot of great questions. There were plenty of seedlings available so a few attendees were able to bring home two! The workshop was taped for a local cable television program that will air for the next month at various times. When I get a copy of the program, I'll post it here!

I hope you had a great week-end!

Katie, Peter, and me.

A Great Morning at Island View Nursery in Carpinteria!

Good morning, Pumpkinistas!

The world tour stopped in Carpinteria yesterday morning for a well-received workshop at Island View Nursery in Carpinteria. It was great to see Lisa Cullen and Leanne Findlay of Garden Gossip radio/Montecito Landscape in the audience! Lisa and Leanne are now veteran growers.

Then, it was another couple hours of driving to the next stop: Miner's Ace Hardware in Morro Bay. The drive has highlighted by a lot of wildflowers, particularly poppies, growing beside the road.

Giant Pumpkin Secret Growing Instructions & Tips

Good afternoon, Pumpkinistas!

We have been very busy in the lab refining and researching giant pumpkin cultivation techniques through the fall, all winter long, and into the spring! Since the workshop season's well under way, I thought it would be a good idea to post this year's giant pumpkin growing instructions.

How to grow a giant pumpkin instructions

I) Selecting a planting site
1) Select a sunny place in your garden. Giant pumpkins thrive best in strong sunshine. The larger the area, the better (300-900 sq. ft.), but smaller areas have been successfully planted too. An area that receives 8-12+ hours of sunlight per day is ideal.
II) Preparing the soil and mound
1) The best pumpkins come from the best prepared soil. Dig a hole, 40”-48” deep, 3’-5’ in diameter, and mix the soil well with 6-8 bags (9-12 cubic feet) of soil amendments and/or other high organic content materials: well-aged steer or horse manure, compost, humus. More is better!
2) Put the mixed soil back in. You should have a mound, 2’-5’ in diameter, 16”-18” high at its center.
3) Allow 35’-50’ between individual mounds if you are planting more than one vine.
III) Germinating giant pumpkin seeds
1) Soak seeds overnight in warm water (8-12 hours.) This softens the pumpkin seed’s shell and accelerates germination. Start germinating seeds mid-late April to early-mid May.
2) Plant seeds in a 4” minimum or larger peat/coir pot, in a seed starting mix, flat, .75”-1.0” deep.
3) Keep seeds moist and warm, 75-80 degrees F. range, is ideal.
4) Under these conditions, seeds should sprout in 4-7 days, sometimes even sooner!
5) After the seedling has developed 1-2 true leaves, it is ready to transplant into the mound.
6) Or, you may simply sow your seeds directly into the mound. Competitive giant pumpkin growers have successfully used both methods.
IV) Transplanting seedlings
1) Plant the seedling, peat pot and all, in the center of the mound. Peat pot should be well below the top surface of the mound. Soil surface should be just below the bottom leaves. Transplanting in the late afternoon/early evening will help reduce dehydration, initial sun and wind damage. Water thoroughly.
2) Protect the seedling from winds, strong sunlight, insects and other potential damage by placing an open cardboard box around the seedling until it gets fully established, usually, 7-10 days.
V) Watering, fertilizing & general care
1) Pumpkins are 90% water. Soil should be kept moist. Water daily, to once every 2-5 days, depending on your weather and soil conditions. Watering times should be consistent. Early mornings (5:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m.), late afternoons, and early evenings, in this order, are the best times to water.
2) Use an organic fertilizer every 5-10 days. Seaweed (kelp) and/or fish hydrolysate are some of the fertilizers currently being used by competitive giant pumpkin growers.
3) Mulch around the main stem with compost, straw, or well-aged manure, 3”-4” deep. Leave 9”-12” of clearance around the stem. Mulching will help regulate soil temperature, help soil retain moisture, reduce weeds and better distribute water and nutrients.
4) Place a wooden pallet underneath the pumpkin before it gets difficult to move (10-25 pounds) to keep the pumpkin’s bottom from rotting, and to facilitate lifting and transporting it later.
5) Shade the pumpkin once it reaches 24”-36” in diameter to help keep the pumpkin’s skin from hardening and cracking from the hot, mid-late summer/early fall sunshine.
For more information and ongoing growing tips, please visit: www.pumpkinmania.blogspot.com

For the total multimedia experience, you can watch the 8-minute YouTube video, while following along with these instructions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p9pUrvdcGI

If you have a giant pumpkin growing emergency, chant, question, or discovery, please e-mail: sbs33@cornell.edu and interpac007@yahoo.com

Stuart Shim Copyright 2009 (All rights reserved, all inaccuracies denied.)

I hope these instructions are helpful!

Stuart

The Orange County Fair Giant Pumpkin Competition!

Good morning, Pumpkinistas!

I received this information about the Orange County Fair's Giant Pumpkin Competition from Evy Young, and wanted to pass it along to you. There's also a link for details: http://www.ocfair.com/2009/docs/09_FGGiantPumpkinContest.pdf

"Hi Stuart,

I was just visiting your blog and it looks like you had good turnouts at your workshops. Good pics too...and I like the banner :-). Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that the Competition info (for Farm & Garden, Floral, and especially the Giant Pumpkin Contest) is available on-line at www.ocfair.com. Just click on "The Fair" tab at the top. Guides are available to view, download and folks can even register now if interested. I hope we get a good turnout for the pumpkin contest, especially with the $1,000 1st place prize money :-). I'll attach a copy of it for you as well, in case you wanted to forward it to anyone.

Thanks again for all your help!

Evy E. Young
Centennial Farm/Livestock
Agriculture Education Supervisor"

Thank you very much, Evy!

Cornell University Resource for Vegetable Gardeners

Good morning, Growers!

If the number of seedlings I saw being sold last week-end is any indication, people are planting a lot of vegetables this season.

Coincidentally, I recently received a message informing me that there's been an update of a citizen science program from the Department of Horticulture, (for vegetable gardeners) Cornell University: http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/

Cornell's improved the website, so it's even easier to navigate than before. The website identifies different varieties of vegetables, and where they are being successfully cultivated by home gardeners. It will help you decide which varieties of vegetables to plant in your garden. Plus, you can also comment on your successes and challenges growing vegetables too. I like the idea that it's a 'citizen science program'. If you don't want to spend a few winters in Ithaca, NY working on a degree, this is an excellent opportunity to have some exposure and to contribute to Cornell.

This week's workshops are in Mission Viejo, Carpenteria and Morro Bay. I have started germinating the seeds for the seedling door prizes! Details of the workshops are on the March 17th posting below.

Have a great week!

Stuart

Going Viral!

Good afternoon, Pumpkinistas!

Well, it was bound to happen sometime. I forgot to mention that I was shot on video during one of the workshops at Yamagami's Nursery on Saturday. Rus Scott, russcott@cruzio.com, (831) 234-9283, was the videographer, and here's the finished video for your viewing amusement and pleasure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p9pUrvdcGI

I am extremely grateful to Rus for editing out me being heckled/corrected by the 4 year-old girl in the front row. (Yes, it's true, a pumpkin is technically a fruit, not a vegetable. I normally cover that in my advanced workshops, which I am now considering adding a minimum age requirement, like 21 years old or older.) Giant pumpkin workshop attendees can be a tough crowd.

Have a great evening, and I hope you enjoy the workshop!

Aloha,

Stuart

P.S. In addition to viedography, Rus also has a very extensive background in engineering management, manufacturing, project management, and new product introductions, in case you have a current or future need in these areas.

Banners were everywhere!

Note the subliminal use of gourd imagery

Carolyn Villa-Scott of Yamagami's demonstrates the estimated size of their future pumpkin!

Bev and Bob Tanem!

Almaden Valley Nursery's owner, Matt Lepow and Bob Tanem

Todde Slinde of Kellogg Garden Products and Bob Tanem

A Week-end in the Silicon Valley!

Good evening, Growers!

Well, I'm back from a whirlwind week-end in the San Jose-Cupertino-Morgan Hill area of the Silicon Valley, the first leg of this year's world tour. I flew up Friday, mid-afternoon to the San Jose Airport, and was greeted by Todd Slinde of Kellogg Garden Products. The next morning, we set off for Yamagami's Nursery for the maiden workshops of the season. I was extremely impressed with the preparations the management and staff have made for Yamagami's 2009 giant pumpkin growing efforts, and the great signage they created for the workshops. Both workshops were well-attended, and the number and quality of questions were truly astounding. Todd and I were up bright and early Sunday morning for our radio appearances on Bob Tanem's 'In the Garden' radio show broadcast on KSFO at Almaden Valley Nursery. Then we were off to Johnson Garden Center in Morgan Hill. This was my first visit to Johnson Garden Center. For a first-time workshop venue, we had a number of very enthusiastic workshop attendees that kept the questions coming well past the time we had allowed to return back to Almaden Valley's workshop Sunday afternoon. The afternoon workshop at Almaden Valley went very well, and at least one attendee was inspired to try and grow his pumpkin this year in a 60-gallon trash can since his garden consists primarily of shale.

Where there's a will, there's a way!

I have some late-breaking workshop news as well. Thursday, May 7th, at 2:30 p.m., I'll be presenting a workshop at Glazier Elementary School, 10932 East Excelsior Drive, Norwalk, CA 90650, phone: Tel. (562) 863-8796, fax: (562) 863-8797 at the invitation of Martha Treadway, www.glazierelementary.org! Since this year's May full moon will be Saturday, May 9th, we're planning to take advantage of this special opportunity to transplant some seedlings into their specially prepared patch after the workshop is finished. If you've ever wondered exactly how to transplant a giant pumpkin seedling, here's your chance! Martha assures me that local and national media, PTA, fellow teachers, school administrators, staff, interested parents, and slightly interested students, will be invited. In fact, we're hoping that the mayor of Norwalk will be on hand to officially dedicate their patch! We shall see... If you or anyone you know has friends at Norwalk city hall, this opportunity would be an ideal use of some political capital!

Have a great evening!

Stuart

An Update from Martha Treadway in Whittier!

Good afternoon, Growers!

I received this update from Martha Treadway (pictured above with her 2008 Pumpkinmania entry, Ms. Peanut) and it looks like there are some warm-up competitions and activities available right now:

"Hi Stuart,

I am sooooo excited that the pumpkin workshops are starting---and for the pumpkinmania season to begin!

There was a short announcement in last weekend's USA Weekend, the Sunday paper insert magazine, page 5 asking, "Have you grown giant fruits or vegetables? Send photos, tell the story. Select entries will be announced on usaweekend.com and may be published in a book. For complete entry details, go to usaweekend.com

Thought the Pumpkinmania folks might like to know about that.

Also, the 48th Agricultural District sponsors a Schools' Agriculture and Nutrition fair, for school students. This is like the 4-H for city kids. The theme this year is "Fields of Nutrition"My booth entry this year is...."PUMPKINMANIA"! My students have been busy 'pumpkinistas" all year long. We still have 2 very large pumpkins in the classroom that haven't gone 'bad' yet.

I am hoping that they will last until the Fair, April 22-26, 2009. I'll send pictures of the Fair when I get the display set up and also let you know what, if any, prize/ribbon are awarded for our work.

Just doing my part to keep "pumpkinmania' alive and in the hearts of the youth!

Martha"

Thank you, Martha!