Still winter here...

Some notes...

In the past 7 days we've had three significant snow storms. High winds in-between each storm. I'm STILL at least 10 days from getting on the soil. I have sprinkler lines to run... and...

I still can't start my tractor. Quite puzzling, as I have good spark, and it still won't start even with starter fluid. It could be a head gasket. I don't know.

I'm giving a How to Grow seminar at Town and Country Gardens on April 9th at 7:00pm. If you are in the area and are reading this, please stop in! I will be giving a presentation, doing Q&A, and giving out free seeds.

Home, and nothing to do...

Well, I'm at one of my weeks off, in this slow economy. I would like to work outside, but...

Yesterday we had rain all day, and today we have 4 inches of thick new snow on the ground. This will melt quickly, but any hope I had of getting out on the tractor is pushed out another week or two.

Oh, and I still can't start my tractor. Timing set, points new, new plugs last year, new coil, battery good. It's really strange. I did pick up some Autolite 437's, I'm reading that the 216's that I have in there now is a "cool" plug, and I need the hot one. Also, a carb rebuild kit is in the mail. I guess this water will give me more time to figure it out.

Good Stuff

I picked up some old pallets this morning for free. These are great for constructing wind fences around the patch. I stand them on their side, and stake them up. As the plant grows, the fence can be moved. 

I think I have a real pumpkin grower in Elise. Of my five kids, she is the only one who has shown an interest in this hobby. I guess this is a "one of a city, two of a family" sort of pursuit. Anyway, this morning at breakfast I said, "So, for your plant this year, do you want one like my 779 from last year (pale, but heavy and solid) or do you want one that will be a nice pretty orange?" She (10 years old) looked me in the eye and said firmly, "Whatever gives me the best chance of beating ---- at the fair next year!" 

I think she's getting it...

It's almost time

The weather has been extremely nice, but cold, the last two days. Bright sunshine, and you can tell that the sun is much higher in the sky. It's warmer when you stand in it. Even if this nice sunshine continues, it's going to be another week at least before I can get into the patch and do any meaningful pre-season prep. I need to run some sprinkler lines, get more loads of compost, maybe some sand, and then I finally need to get the tractor running. Wow.

For anyone in Pocatello, I'm doing a Giant Pumpkin seminar at Town and Country Gardens on April 9th.

I am SOOOOOO ready to ditch the coat, and the jacket, and put them somewhere where I can't find them, and be done with them until at least late October!

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow..................

"It's beginning to look a lot --- like --- Christmas!"

Sigh.

At least nobody will be whining about "not enough water" this year.

Winter isn't giving up...

Winter just won't go away here. Normally I'm pruning my trees at this time of the year.

One thing I should mention, these posts on my giant pumpkin blog are now being routed to Facebook. I'm not sure how that will work out. If it confuses people I just might kill the connection.

My neighbors now have windmills. One neighbor has one, and another has two. They are quite interesting. I don't mind them at all, and maybe someday I'll get one. Pictures are forthcoming.

Winter's Last Stand

Ha ha, we can only wish. But when this current deep freeze is over, the subsequent ones won't be as deep or as long. Yes, we'll get more snow and cold temps, but all this is coming to an end soon. Really.

All winter I've been pondering soil temperature. I live in an area where the temps really fall off at night. If the soil is shaded, well, the soil doesn't really get all that warm. We can have a 90-degree day, and then when the sun sets, it can get too cold to go barefoot on my back lawn.

One thing I've been thinking of trying is to get some large rocks (about the size of a fat loaf of bread) and use these to form a circle about five feet in diameter. This then gets backfilled with soil and other good stuff, to form a "raised bed" for a seedling. This whole spot gets covered with clear plastic in the early season. With the raised bed, and the rocks, and the plastic, and the addition of some dark colored "sharp sand", this might help raise soil temp.

Best laid plans... but this year I might actually have the time to pull it off.

779 germination

I decided to take a couple of 779 seeds and germinate them. They came up fine. Nice, green, sturdy seedlings. Not unexpected, but nice to see anyway. These seeds have a simple white coat, so I think they will come up readily without any sanding of the sides.

Seminar date moved...

The new date for the Giant Pumpkin seminar at Town and Country Gardens is now April 9th. More details to follow as we get closer to that date.

Some seeds to think about

I got my seeds from the NYSGPGA. Here is seedlist rev 1.1:

1. 779 Warren, with another 779 as a backup.
2. 964 Wolf. I do have yet another 964, so if one doesn't germinate I'll just use the other.
3. 1459 Sundstrom and 1121 Bobier - these two do battle, one survives!
4. 1392 Breznick (904 Stelts X 1502 Wallace) The 904 produces nice orange. This seed is getting some buzz for a first year seed, and I have two.
5. 955 Brinkley - Orange.

I might throw in some 720 Warren seeds as backup on the orange sites.

Giant Pumpkin Seminar Coming

I just signed up with a local nursery to do a giant pumpkin seminar. The date is March 26th, at Town and Country Gardens in Pocatello. More details to come. I hope we can generate more interest in growing the giants in our area.

The seed list, Revision 1.0

Here is the annual 2009 seed list, first draft. Of course, this is incomplete, and will change a half-dozen times before mid-April. Five plants this year. Each seed has a confidence level on it. This is a guess on the scale of 1 to 10 as to how confident I am in wanting to plant the seed.

1. 964 Wolf - confidence level 10

2. 779 Warren - confidence level 10

3. 1121 Bobier - confidence level 7

4. 1191 Zunino - confidence level 5

5. ?? - something orange? or big? I don't know.

Seed germination...

I was reading Brian's page (see the link from this blog) and noting the seed germination experiment that Brian and his daughter are doing. I find it fascinating that at 80 degrees they got 43% germination, at 85 degrees they got 83%, and at 90 degrees, 84%. Take a look. This supports the long-time rule of thumb... get those seeds up to 85 degrees Fahrenheit if you want to have good results!

2009

Here we are in 2009. This is the really slow time for us giant pumpkin enthusiasts. Actually, last night I got the bug and decided that I would do some test germinations of last year's seeds. But then I went looking for potting soil and found that we don't have any in the house. But within three or four weeks, early season germinations of tomatoes and such will begin again!

I'm also on the lookout for the seed distribution from the NYSGPGA. Yes, I love New York.

Meanwhile, due to the downturn in the economy, in the first half of the coming year I need to take some time off (without pay). What this means is, I'll have lots of time to work on the pumpkin patch and the garden. I won't have a lot of extra money to spend on it. No vacations, just staying home, so I should have lots of time. Fortunately I still have a job, and in the industry I'm in that's pretty good.

Here is a copy of the actual test...

Here is the test...

You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much organic matter...

I just got my soil test results, which I will attach to this post.

First of all, this is not the soil that I have been using for the last 6 or 7 years. This is soil where I want to move the patch next year. 

Naturally, the soil that is part of my general garden gets less attention than the soil in my usual patch. It doesn't get "zero" attention, but it gets less. A few numbers in this report are quite a bit worse than ones from my soil test about five years ago. 

My pH is 7.9, up from 7.3!

My organic matter is 2.1, down from 2.3. 

Everything else seems pretty standard. One bright spot is that my salts are now 2.1, which is quite high, but a much better reading than 5 years ago when it was over 6!

At this point I'm not sure if I'm going to move the patch or not. I think what this tells me is what I already knew... just add organic matter. The difficult thing is that I live in a desert, and organic matter is sometimes hard to find in any volume. In fact, most agricultural activities around here are wheat and potatoes, and very little cattle, so again, sometimes it's hard to find manure other than from individual homeowners, one pickup load at a time. 

One thing has me puzzled. The test shows my sulphur to be very high. Of course, sulfur is something you add to reduce pH... I haven't added sulphur in years (other than ammonium sulfate for nitrogen) and so it looks like adding sulphur is not in the cards for reducing pH. 

Please comment, right here in the blog.

NOTE: I'm not at home, and I'm having difficulty posting the *.pdf file to the blog. I'll put it up soon.

Snow

Wow, we got walloped today, and it's still snowing. I'd say that we have 10 to 12 inches already.

I did receive email notice about my soil test. This was on Thursday, and said that I'd get the results in about one week. That would be Christmas... so unless I see it Tuesday, perhaps it will be a while. No hurry.

Soil test coming...

Here I am, on business in San Jose, CA. Bored... can't wait to get the results of my soil test. It is supposed to come via email, so it could come at any time. As soon as I get the results, I'll post them. One thing to look at, I need to know what's going on with my salts. Ece.

Some seeds to ponder, the annual winter dilemma

So what's going in the patch next year? Every year I look at the list of seeds I'd like to plant, and try to balance that with the fact that I typically can care for about four plants when the season really gets rolling.

Last year I started six plants, but in the end I ended up caring for only four. Barely. What I'd like to do is start five, and give each of them adequate care. So, what's going in?

My 779 is definitely going in. My personal best, 964 Wolf X 1092 Martin. That fruit was so trouble free. I can only imagine what it might do with an earlier pollination.

So naturally I also want to plant the 964 Wolf again. Why would I not plant the best seed I've ever grown?

Also in my possession is a 1121 Bobier (845 x 898). This one is certainly "proven", and is quickly becoming a highly regarded seed. I have to plant it.

So, that's three, and I still don't have any true orange. I would like to see some true orange in the remaining two spots, but at least one of them will be so. I have plenty of my own seeds that should be true orange, but I may need to do some horsetrading to find something with a little name recognition.

For Elise, I was going to encourage her to grow the 779, but maybe I'll just let her pick a few. There are so many good seeds to try.

Right now the most important thing is to keep working on the compost. Also, I've ordered up a soil test.

A good book...

Last Saturday I went and got another load of compost, and then did some deep subsoiling on the new patch. I'm going to continue getting compost whenever I can find the time. This stuff is quite good, and will do wonders for the soil in the new patch.

I like to read gardening books over the winter. This year I found a great one. "The Vegetable Gardener's Bible", by Ed Smith. Ed teaches the reader his method for wide rows and deep raised beds. I always thought that my garden would be better if I could quit walking on the same soil that is housing my roots. This book teaches you how. I'm still not sure with regard to the giants, but I now have some ideas.

The author will challenge your thinking with regard to using fertilizer, other than seaweed and fish. The plan is to start with good soil amended with compost, and then not to shock the plant with fertilizers. There is a lot of material that challenges our thinking as gardeners. I'm not sure that all of it translates to giant pumpkins, but, most of us do a lot of conventional gardening and this book is surely beneficial.

Finally found some compost

Last Saturday I actually found two free hours, and I checked out a manure pile that a friend said he had. Wow, I got the best compost I've ever seen! This fellow said that the pile was once 5 or 6 feet high, but now it's only about 2 to 2.5 feet tall. No stink, no smell, except for a nice earthy smell. In the center of the pile is the softest, best looking compost one can imagine. I got half the pile with one truckload Saturday, and hope to get the rest this coming Saturday.

Sure, I still do need to find several more goldmines like this one. But it's a good start.

Did I mention that I'm moving my patch after about 7 years at the old site? The soil on the end of the garden that I've been using is really nice now. So I may be crazy, but I'm moving to the other end to concentrate on that soil for a while.

The annual list...

Here we go on the annual list of things that I need to do differently next year. I hope you slept well last night because this is going to be boring.

Every year I make this list, and then I mostly abandon it as things get busy. I forget the same battles I fought last year. So, in order to further anchor my life in tradition, here is the list:

1. Prune more, including at least one of every three secondaries. Perhaps more. Every year my plants grow more thickly than I want. This prevents light from getting through the canopy and warming the soil. Also, some pruning of the secondaries may help in getting a longer main. My best, the 779, was grown on a 13 foot main which is more than my usual 10 (or less) foot main. I'd like to see what I can do with 15 to 18 feet on the main!

2. Watch that stem!! Every year I mention this. And every year I have problems. I've got to figure out a way to manage the vine and the stem. Another thing, a longer main is going to help with this. A good section of the main vine cannot "root" into the ground when it must be raised to go with the stem.

3. Leaf health. Wow, I really do have terrible leaves by the end of the year. I figure that the "lifetime" of one of my leaves is about 90 days. That means that the first leaves are dying by mid-year. By September, only the newest leaves are healthy. This is going to take some research. I don't know if Daconil, or something like Agro-K is going to help.

Those are the easy things. The heart of the matter is.......... drumroll please.........

4. Heat. I've been pondering ways to get more heat into my soil. Of course the key number one thing to add heat is to use a hoophouse, something that I've finally become proficient at. But I'm considering a change in my approach. What I want most is heat in the root zone. Hoophouses, give lots of heat in the above ground, where the plant is. They can turn a 60 degree day into a 90 degree day, and a 70 degree day into 110 degrees. This also warms the soil, of course, but...

My studying on this subject suggests that a clear plastic sheet laid directly on a raised bed is going to provide significant soil temperature warm up. In conjunction with this, I will bury a soaker hose to provide moisture. I'm thinking of a 3-foot radius (6-foot diameter) piece of clear plastic around each plant. And then, just leave it there all year long!

So with this in place, would I still do a hoophouse or cloche? I don't know. Here's what I'd like to do: Use something like a "wall-o-water" (for tomatoes), but larger, and made of hard plastic so that it has no chance of collapsing on the plant. (We spend too much effort on this to have it ruined by a collapsing wall-o-water!) I've seen these. They're like an igloo that can be filled with water. But if I could find such a thing that is about three or four feet in diameter, that would be perfect.

Final look

I cut up and moved away the 779 today. It's interesting how orange this one really was. I still have in my mind that it was vanilla, because it was that color until the end. It doesn't have the pretty orange skin, but in it's heart it's all orange.

This photo also demonstrates just how solid this fruit was. No cracks! You can see the black spot on the end where we gouged it at the weighoff about six weeks ago. That wound didn't go anywhere, it's still solid. Well, until today.

The seeds are nearly dry. I will be sending them to those who request, and also I hope to send a bunch of them to the NYSGPGA.

OK, back to pumpkins....

n/m

Hmmm...

So, where's my tax cut?

Lots of 779 seeds available

I cut the 779 open yesterday. I found lots of seeds, plenty in fact. They are white seeds, very good looking and consistent in size and shape. The mother seed was white. There were very few "empty" seeds, probably less than two percent. I will be sending some of them to the NYSGPGA, just to fill my responsibility to the club. But I'll have plenty of extras.

Seeds...

This time of year a lot of people, especially new growers, start looking for seeds. Let me say that anyone who wants seeds from my 779, which I think will be good, can have them. This is assuming that there will be seeds. Send me an email for more information.

But the best time to look for seeds is starting in November. Seed trading and exchanging goes on all winter. No rush. But right now most grower's seeds are still in the pumpkins. Sometimes there are 500 seeds, sometimes there are none, and usually the number is somewhere between the two.

Another great way to get great seeds is to join a club. For a small membership fee you'll get more seeds than you can ever plant. When you consider all of the postage and supplies that are needed to trade seeds individually, it really makes sense to just join a club that has a reasonable membership fee and a good seed distribution program.

Some post-season thoughts

Our great fall weather finally came to an end a few days ago with about four inches of snow. So far, I've made half-hearted attempts to clean up the garden. There is simply no time. Well, it's very hard to find time. Every night there is something to do with the family, Saturday is usually the same. I do want to get going with sand and organic matter. Most people I talk to that have manure can't understand why I'd want it now instead of in the spring.

We just saw a mini-fiasco over the supposed 1900 pound pumpkin back east. Turns out it was all a misunderstanding. It never measured 1900, rather it was more like mid-1500s. I think the guys involved would do it differently if they had to do it again. There is a certain amount of "fish story telling" in this sport. If the media got it wrong, the guys involved didn't correct the mistake. My only concern might be that the next time that someone really does have a pumpkin that measures as a world record, the media is going to say, "ah, fool me once....". Then again, I don't want to defend the media. Their only job is to tell a story, not necessarily a true story. So, I don't have a cut-and-dried opinion. Live and learn.

No record this year? Is this the first year in the last... what? 15 to 20 years since we've gone without a new record? That goes to show how special a 1600 pound pumpkin is. There still could be a record, but I think all of the big-time weighoffs have already happened.

This blog will continue throughout the winter. Please stop by on occasion, and you're welcome to use the "leave a comment" feature at any time.

Still no freeze.....

Here we are into October, and still no freeze! Amazing!

Actually, I'm about ready for a freeze. I need to get the garden cleaned up and start working toward next year. At this moment I have four giants on display in front of the house, and another one of mine is on display in front of the neighbor's house.

I'm still very happy about the 779. Next year the 779 is going in, followed by a host of orange seeds. I might also opt for another 964. But then again, every year there are a lot of surprises, and seeds that beckon. At this point the only sure thing is that the 779 is going in, assuming there are seeds in the fruit.

Eastern Idaho Pumpkin Picking Party

This event always draws a crowd, even in a down year. I'm always amazed at how many people come to see us weigh these things.

Below I'm with the 779, grown on the 964 Wolf. It went about 90 pounds heavy, and was pollinated by the 1092 Martin. No dill rings, no deep ribs, no problems whatsoever. This made the whole year worth it.