One of many displays at Farm Supply, in San Luis Obispo

Some of the 'Atlantic Giant' seedlings germinated by Dr. Joe Sabol and his team

A new attendance record was set at Farm Supply's workshop!

The entrance to the indoor retail area at Island View Nursery

Veteran and new giant pumpkin growers at Island View Nursery's workshop

Central Coast Week-end!

Good afternoon, Pumpkinistas!

The only out-of-town giant pumpkin growing workshops of 2011 were conducted at Farm Supply Co., San Luis Obispo and Island View Nursery, Carpinteria, May 14th and May 15th. Some of the images of the workshops and workshop venues are at the top of this post. The weather cooperated quite nicely until the end of Sunday's workshop when it started to rain during the giant pumpkin seedling drawing. 

This year's hole was about 42" deep

The finished mound

Soaker hose applied to the mound.

Michelle, patiently waiting for her 1,000 pound pumpkin to appear.

2011 Soil, mound, irrigation, seedling transplanting chronology

Good morning, Pumpkinistas!

Well, here it is. I have posted pictures of the hole dig, mound creation, soaker hose application, and finally, seedling transplanting, above.

My seedlings were transplanted yesterday morning. Yes, I missed the full moon of May by 5 days, but last week's rainy weather was the reason. It's better not to transplant in muddy soil conditions. Fortunately, because of the cold weather conditions, initial rabid seedling growth slowed down. It's supposed to be cool through Friday, so I left the box open, with the seedlings exposed.

My 2011 season commences!

Report from New York: The Right Stuff

Good morning, Pumpkinistas!

This in from Pete Yeager, a first-time grower in upstate New York:

"Stuart:

Big news here. Doc Miller my pediatrician / gentleman farmer friend just dropped off a load of finely aged Belgian and Percheron draft horse manure. Big horses should make big pumpkins, and nothing gets any bigger than these horses.

The garden is set-up but the holes are not dug. Hitting a lot of stone and it has been raining every day. I'm sorry to say I may be shrinking from the work as the prospect of 4 feet deep looks darn near impossible without heavy equipment.

There is also the possibility of frost tonight, so I'm shooting for the end of this week.

Thanks again.


Pete"

Exploding Chinese melons: A Cautionary Tale

Good morning, Pumpkinistas!

A very interesting and educational article from the Associated Press about Chinese farmers overfertilizing their giant pumpkin-related plants. More is not necessarily better...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110517/ap_on_fe_st/as_china_exploding_watermelons;_ylt=AiOzCSWwsAfShVC8GYGMhgFwGLl_;_ylu=X3oDMTNjbm44MWNjBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwNTE3L2FzX2NoaW5hX2V4cGxvZGluZ193YXRlcm1lbG9ucwRjY29kZQNnbXBlBGNwb3MDMgRwb3MDMgRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2ZpZWxkc29md2F0ZQ

GreenCure's Seedlings!

Good morning, Pumpkinistas!

Just in: Pete at GreenCure, ( a long-time sponsor of Pumpkinmania, and an excellent organic fungicide, http://www.greencure.net/ ) e-mailed me this picture of his seedlings and the following update from his patch in upstate New York:

"Stuart:

At present 6 of 7 seeds germinated / sprouted. We've had so much rain that we haven't been able to set up our garden and most of the other plants that we started from seed are failing, so I'm coming to work with my overalls tomorrow to try to get the fences set up (keep out the deer) and turn some soil.

I've got to get the horse manure.


Thanks, Pete"

Seeds have sprouted in San Luis Obispo!

Good morning, Pumpkinistas!

I have just received an update from Dr. Joe Sabol regarding the giant pumpkin seedlings for this Saturday's 10:00 a.m. workshop at Farm Supply, http://www.farmsupplycompany.com/, 224 Tank Farm Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, (805) 543-3751:

"Hi Stuart...

We have hundreds of seeds germinated, planted and up!!! They are in 4 inch containers now, most of them are outside in the full sun (and morning low clouds).


They are not happy with the very cool weather but... They will be looking good on Saturday morning!!!


See photo taken at 8:30 p.m. last night!!! It might be sideways so lay your computer on the floor?

See you soon, Joe"

There's still time for you to completely re-arrange your entire week-end in order to RSVP and attend this workshop.

Hope to see you there!

Stuart

Good afternoon, Pumpkinistas!

I have an update from Dr. Joe Sabol about next week-end's workshop preparations at Farm Supply in San Luis Obispo...If you're in need or would like an expertly germinated seedling, you may want to RSVP for the workshop at (805) 543-3751.

"Thanks a million to all four of you (Cara's Mom too) for a very productive planting party this morning!!!


This morning in just over one hour... we planted 12 flats of "germinated seed" which should give us near 100% sprouting record!!!


Twelve flats times 36 plants...OVER 430 giant pumpkin plants will be ready for May 14th to give away and to welcome Stuart Shim back to SLO!!!!


What fun!!!! See two photos!!!


Joe


P.S. Thanks Cara and Mom for the delicious pastries, thanks FSC for the soil and quality seeds and flats and 4 inch containers, thanks Paul Rys for some great big seeds, thanks Jill for the coffee...and for judging the sweet pea contest!! Thanks Steve K. for promoting this super fun giant pumpkin contest."

Mason bees released!

Good afternoon, Pumpkinistas!

The latest development in the patch was the release of a tube of Mason bees on April 23rd. As you can see in the pictures above, the large tube in the top row is empty. (That's how the bees were shipped to me. The other tubes are for nesting.) So, presumably, they are out pollinating the trees and flowers within a 300' radius of their house.

We'll see how much better this year's pollination goes in a few months!

2011 Lunar Giant Pumpkin Planting Dates!

Good afternoon, Growers!

Yes, it's time to start strategizing for this season's giant pumpkin cultivation efforts.

Here are the full moons for April, May, and June:

Monday, April 18, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Exact times will vary from location to location. Transplanting your seedling(s) between 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. local time, after the sun begins to set, will be close enough to take advantage of the gravitational pull and reflected light from the Moon's surface.

Every little bit helps!

2011 Extreme Gardening World Tour

Good afternoon, Pumpkinistas!

As I mentioned previously, this year's workshop schedule is greatly abbreviated so I can focus growing a giant pumpkin for Michelle.

That said, I've scheduled two workshops for mid-May in San Luis Obispo and Carpinteria. As always, there will be lots of fun, laughter, and surprises, so I hope you will make plans to attend!

As any new workshops are scheduled, the details will be posted here as early as possible.

Here are this year's workshop details:

Saturday, May 14, 10:00 a.m.-Farm Supply Company, 224 Tank Farm Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406, (805) 543-3751 http://www.farmsupplycompany.com/ 

Sunday, May 15, 11:00 a.m.-Island View Nursery, 3376 Foothill Road, Carpinteria, CA, 93013, (805) 684-0324 http://www.islandviewnursery.com/

See you!

Stuart



2011 Santa Barbara International Orchid Show

Good afternoon, Pumpkinistas!

I had a chance to drive up the 101 last week-end to see this year's Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. This year's theme was Route 66. So, the various displays had a road or automobile touring theme to them. As always, it was an opportunity to see some of the finest and beautiful orchid displays in North America, in one of the most spectacular settings on the West Coast, the Earl Warren Showgrounds just off the 101 and the Las Positas exit! The weather was mild, sunny, and very pleasant both days of the show too!

Susan G. Warren, Author

Review of "Backyard Giants" by Susan G. Warren

Good afternoon, Growers!

While planning my strategy for 2011, I read "Backyard Giants" by Susan Warren, http://www.backyardgiants.com/, Bloomsbury USA, New York, 10010, First U.S. Edition 2007. It's a very entertaining and fascinating account of the 2005 season of the Rhode Island father-son giant pumpkin growing team, Dick and Ron Wallace. You'll recall that in 2005, Ron Wallace grew the first giant pumpkin to weigh more than 1,500 pounds, 1,502 to be precise. The 2005 giant pumpkin growing season was fraught with sabotage, freak weather and growing conditions, high anxiety, dashed hopes, and finally, triumph.

Here's the biography of the author from her website: "Susan Warren is Deputy Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal in Dallas, Texas. She writes and edits news and feature stories related to oil and gas, discount retailers and airlines. The Journal also gives her freedom to pursue stories about other things she finds interesting for its famed "middle column" feature on its front page. She has written on such wide-ranging topics as people who buy Silly Putty by the pound, the dangers of frying turkeys in boiling oil, and the spring ritual of dewberry picking in the South. Backyard Giants grew out of Ms. Warren's October 2005 story about the trials of growing giant pumpkins."

Her background is ideal to bring the story and high drama of the Wallaces' 2005 season to life. In addition, Ms. Warren conveys very crucial and critical giant pumpkin growing advice from two world-class growers. Essentially, vine burying saved their season. (I will make the extra effort to bury my vines this season.)

In addition, a very pleasant and surprising sub-plot is Warren's account of Jack La Rue's 2005 season, the hall-of-fame grower in Yelm, WA that was part of a giant pumpkin growing workshop a few years back!

I was able to borrow a copy from the Orange County Public Library system. It's also widely available on-line and from the Pumpkinmania on-line store.

Happy reading, and have fun! 

This year's venue was the pavilion in Elk Grove Park, Elk Grove, CA

Growers line up early!

The anticipation for the seed swap was palpable

Four thousand seed packets were collected and distributed to hopeful growers!

Brant Bordsen, California Giant Pumpkin Record Holder, 1,645.5 pounds, 2010

2011 California Giant Pumpkin Growers Forum

Good evening, Pumpkinistas!

One of the most interesting events for any West Coast giant pumpkin grower is the California Giant Pumpkin Growers Forum held every year in Elk Grove, CA, just south of Sacramento. This year's forum was held Saturday, March 5th, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.. The featured speaker was Brant Bordsen, an attorney from Marysville, CA, who holds the current California record, of 1,645.5 pounds, set last fall. This is the first time that I can recall that an officer of the court presented at the forum. As you can imagine, the counsel's presentation was quite detailed, very well organized, and surprisingly, funny. The most interesting point that he revealed is that he started germinating his seed on May 2, 2010. So, it seems reasonable that Southern California growers can germinate their seeds during the first part of May as well. Mr. Bordsen's presentation was followed by a seed auction, then lunch, and finally, the grower favorite, seed swap. After the seeds had been distributed to the forum attendees, the event ended.

In many ways, this event signals the start of the season for many California growers!

(Photo courtesy of Crown Bees)

Getting prepared for the season:

Pollinating with Mason Bees

Good morning, Pumpkinistas!

After a long winter hiatus, I am happy to post for the first time in 2011! There are a couple of things that I'd like write about.

Many growers have voiced their concerns about the lack of fruiting of their giant pumpkin vines in the past. That is, they grow a beautiful green vine, flowers appear, and then: Nada, nichts, nothing. Or, at the most, a small golf ball sized fruit, that then withers and dies away. One possible cause for these conditions is lack of pollinators or an inadequate pollination in the latter case.

So, I have a potential solution: Mason bees. Yes, you can purchase some Mason bees, store them in your refrigerator until the weather is regularly 55 degrees and then place them outside to emerge and begin pollination. They work longer hours than traditional European bees, and more efficient pollinators as well due to certain physiological traits.

I have just purchased some bees and the requisite house and cardboard tubes from Dave, at: http://www.crownbees.com/, and so far, everything looks great. He still has some bees available for this season (many other suppliers have sold all of their inventories, I checked) so if you would like to add a measure of certainty to this year's growing efforts, order your bees now!

Finally, after the indescribable agony of growing a giant pumpkin the size of a "large onion" last season at the Great Park, wanting to have a monster to show my daughter Michelle this year, and to escape the curse of 500 pounds, my giant pumpkin workshop schedule this year will be sharply curtailed. I will only be speaking at a few venues in Southern California this season. Any workshops that get scheduled will be posted here, of course.

Good luck this season!

Stuart

Late update!

Stuart,

Just wanted to update you on our year! Both Vince and myself had planned on coming up to the weigh off, but when the date and location changed, we were unable to make the trip. So here is a quick look at our fruit. Above is my pumpkin and myself. She weighed in at 860 lbs, a little lighter than I thought she would go, but still a great fruit. Vince's pumpkin weighed in at 727 lbs. We were both blessed with sound pumpkins and enjoyed the season greatly. Both fruit were grown entirely organic as well.

Vince's fruit came in very heavy to the charts, going 727 lbs, estimated at 640 lbs. A real beauty in color!

The 860 on the scale after the weighing was finished. A neighbors dog wanted to see the view from the top of the fruit! She weighed in a little light, estimated at 880 lbs. Used a certified ground scale and tarp was tared out of weight.

Vince and his kids with both of our pumpkins. The 727 on the left, and the 860 on the right. Both fruit were on display at Sonrise Church in Santee until halloween.

My wife with the 860 Fredricks 2010 all carved up on Halloween night. Eating another pumpkin! Note the guts coming out of the little guy as he is getting squashed! lol.