The Moment is at Hand

I've filed the seeds off and set them to soaking at work.

The problem is, I keep holding the vial to warm the water up to the preferred germination temperature of 80 degrees. Then, since I'm carrying the vial around with me, I have to show them to everybody to admire. Well, a mother hen has to take care of her eggs, doesn't she?

Hurry Up and Wait...

Today just wasn't the right day to start.

Is it the fear of failure after last season's success?
Is is biorythms? Or the Farmer's Almanac says it's the wrong day?

Today does not feel right.
I'm not ready for this.

Is it the problems establishing a world class irrigation system?

Mostly, I'm going on vacation at the end of May. Last year, the plant grew a foot a day that last week of May. I think I need to be here when that's happening to make sure everything's going well.

So, let's shoot for a seed in the ground next Monday, April 30th.

Aftermath of a Toxic Spill


Ok, so it wasn't really a spill. I got overly excited and applied 10 times too much pesticide on Saturday - but only to the pit where the seed will be planted next week, not the whole yard or anything.

I went out to assess the damage, and the results were not pretty...




Oh wait, that's a present that the cats brought me.









The worms are alive and well.

Hopefully in a couple of months the squash borers won't be able to say the same.

2007 Should be Bigger and Better

1. Better seed
2. Better dirt - or at least more good dirt for the main vine
3. Systemic insecticide to kill the sqaush borers
4. More fertilizer - like, constantly.
5. Irrigation system - both to water and to keep things cool

I guess the goal will be 500 pounds!

And after long, sleepless nights and intense discussion with other growers, I think Planting Day will be moved up to April 22nd. Pumkpins hate our heat in July and August - don't we all? I'll try to take advantage of the cooler weather before then.

A threat I didn't know I had...


We've never seen a deer in our yard - until Sunday. So it was darn surprising when I looked out my window and saw a yard full of bambi's.


I think they like to eat pumpkins, but I'm not positive.

The girls help me get the soil ready

"The worms! They're everywhere!"

"Quick! Let's pick them up!"

It turns out Erin makes a pretty good shoveler.

Leah, she just loves to dance.

Lots of worms mean healthy soil...


But maybe this is over doing it a little bit???

That's a shovel full of worms and dirt from the compost pit. The girls and I worked on the garden today. I'm going to move the planting date up some, I just haven't decided when the new date is. Maybe about May 5th.

This is what makes America Great!

Ah, the great white north, where pumpkins growth with reckless abandon...

Wouldn't it be great if there was a cable TV channel dedicated to our favorite sport?

I hope the apple won't fall far from the tree!

This is the pumpkin my new seed came out of - the 974.5 Bhaskaran 2005. (The picture is shamelessly stolen and used without permission from the grower, David Bhaskaran. Dave is a grower in Minnesota who generously gives his seeds to wannabees like me.)

I'm really excited about this year's seed. The father of David's pumpkin is a seed I've seen offered in seed autions before, and the pollinator came from a 1420 pound pumpkin. That seed has been named one of the "Twelve Seeds to watch for 2007"! It makes my hands shake just typing those words... this year's gonna be sweet!

By the way, if you're a fan of grotesquely huge pumpkins, you ought to check out the pictures of David's pumpkins:

http://members.aol.com/dbhaskaran/pumpkin06/

"If you aren't blowing 'em, you aren't growing 'em!"

Maybe I was luckier to harvest a pumpkin last year than I realized. Growers pour on the fertilizer and do all sort s of tricks to make these beasts huge, but sometimes the pumpkin just grows *too* fast and splits open.

I've seen a grower in South Dakota who had 9 plants last year and 3 pumpkins that made it. Another in Rochester had 7 plants and only 2 pumpkins made it..

I'm still only planing one plant, but I'm hoping to set 2 or even 3 pumpkins on it this year, if I can.