A New Beginning

The new plant is pretty, with similar (but better?) genetics to Bessie from 2 years ago. Spirits and hopes are high. The bugs are gone. I had a pumpkin going, I just chose to shoot for a bigger one. I didn't work hard to thwart Fluffy, but now I will.















This time, its for all the marbles. No more starting over this year!

Fun is Fun, but Done is Done

That's my favorite Stephen King quote. but anyway...

I've known there were Fluffies hanging around waiting to pounce. But I didn't worry too much about it, and it came back to bite me. So to speak.















Delicious and Nutritious.

I had to chase the animal into the woods. She didn't want to leave. I've gotta practice with the hunting bow. Here was the pumpkin on day 4, looking good:















The second and final plant is in the ground. I've still got high hopes. The new plant has real fine genes. Pictures of it will be posted tomorrow.

Day Four and All is Well

Yes, Duct Tape is the Answer

To a pumpkin vine's splits and cracks. I thought I took a picture to show you Andy, but I can't find it now. I'll throw one up tomorrow. Geez, can you remember back when about the only use for duct tape was taming unruly children? Now we're using it for almost everything...

In the meantime, a really good looking 5-lobe pumpkin bloomed today:

Don't get to attached to Them...

Because they may not be with us long. But on day 2 they look really nice!

I'm using a can of Coke Zero for now because I know they're going to go light.

The new kids are off and running!

Cracks in the Vine























Well, I get what I deserve for ignoring the plant for a few days.

The twins are looking good at the end of day 1.

No sign of vine borers in about two weeks. I wonder if I really scared them off the day I sat outside with the tennis racket and kept taking swings at them? Even though I kept missing?

The Twins Are Born!

"For, unto us daughters are given!"
"And they shall be called Wonderful"

I still think this plant will be ripped out to make way for a stronger one, but I'll admit it's looking better. I'd love to wait until the Twins are ten days old. That's the time growers typically take the first measurements. But the new plants may not want to wait that long.

The Twins will Bloom Tomorrow














I wouldn't be a good father if I didn't at least pollinate them, would I?

Meet the Future 650 Hatcher 08



Yep I think that's how it's gonna be. I've asked the experts at BigPumpkins.com for help figuring out what went wrong. In the meantime, both of the babies ought to bloom on Wednesday.

These new plants ought to sprout tomorrow. Strongest plant wins!

That's a beautiful sight


Preemies #2 and #3 growing side by side. Preemie #1 didn't make it (the first one never does).

I still think I'm ripping the vine out next week.

Are YOU a Chronic Worrier???

My wife just wandered over to be nosy and yelled, "YES!!!"

I'm not sure if she was talking about her, or me. Anyway...

I think if you're not a constant worrier, growing a pumpkin will change you in a hurry.

I've calmed down about the deer. No sign of them since March.

I've calmed down about the borers. I've discovered that if I search the vine closely I can pick off most of the eggs before they hatch.

My new worry: NO SIDE VINES. There should be about a dozen, and I only have three, one of which is badly damaged. You can't create a huge pumpkin without a lot of leaf canopy to fuel the growth.

I started backup seeds Thursday, June 12th. I'll decide what to do in a week, and in the meantime try to figure out what the problem is. Part of it is my growing space, but there's something else going on too.

Did I mention how terrible my dirt was?

Before I spent 3 years working on it? This is an actual cross section I chiseled out of the patch. I bet it could entertain a geologist for a long time.

Fluffy might not be the Biggest Threat















All of a sudden, I'm a lot more worried about the squash vine bores (SVB's). Here's a squash leaf with a tiny (1/4 of an inch long) bug in it. See how it's turning yellow?

There's a little hole there where the egg hatched and the grub ate its way in:















Open it up, and there's the worm causing all the damage if you can see it:

The Vines are Buried

I bury the vine at each leaf node, because new roots will grow there.

The rest of the vine gets covered with grass clippings, to keep the squash borers out of it.

I'm afraid the plant would rot if I buried the entire vine with dirt, but some folks do that.

Illegal Watering Makes Me Feel So Naughty!















To be honest, watering your vegetable garden isn't and never has been part of the restrictions. But I'm just the kind of rebel to ignore the politicians if they ever try to cut me off. I'll drain Lake Lanier myself if my pumpkin tells me to!

Right now I'm just keeping the ground moist. I think when it's time to support a growing pumpkin I'm going to set up some misting to keep the plant cool.

"It is every thing we got going and all that matters at this time in our life."

I couldn't have said it better myself Lee!

The season is really about to start now, I plan to write an entry each day next week. For now, here's a picture of the plant and as you can see she's got some seriously large leaves on her now. The fencing is to discourage Fluffy the deer. I think it might work because the little squares hanging from it are deodorant soap, which Fluffy hates, and the rags are soaked in garlic and rotten egg, which we all hate.















And by the way Lee, your pumpkins are gorgeous. Not a blemish on any of them, real nice. But don't get too excited about the day ten measurements. My theory is our pumpkins start very quickly out of the gate compared to the Yankee growers, but of course ours stop growing much sooner. So the day ten readings may be a bit inflated.

"It's Just a Deer"

So I'm standing around "socializing" with my next door neighbor a while back, and I figured I might sort of prepare her for the inevitable, you know - the Survival Of The Fittest wild kingdom sort of thing.

Not being one to beat around the bush, I mentioned, "You know Karen, if the deer comes back to eat my pumpkin... I'm going to kill it."

Karen is a nice lady. A great neighbor. But she surprised me by saying one of the oddest things I've ever heard: "John! It's just a pumpkin!"

I pondered this. I had consumed a couple of beers. More than a couple, to be honest. So I looked her in the eye and said, "Karen, it's just a deer!"

We stood there a minute, then shuffled off without another word.

When the deer takes its final dirt bath, I better pull it off carefully.

"Wow, It Growed a Lot!"

That's what Leah says. 6 feet in a week, yep she woke up. Sure it growed, but it growed in the wrong direction. way off to the left:














But it sure straightened out better then last year, when I cracked the main vine. I need to do a bit more tomorrow but had already stretched the limit for today:



My plant certainly knows its space is confined and doesn't put out secondary vines early :(