Ginger Bread House Pumpkin Grower Style

Merry Christmas from the ginger bread pumpkin patch!

The Next Great Pumpkin Grower?

My 2-year-old son just ran up to me exclaiming "Big pumpkin, daddy!" He then lead me into the kitchen where I found a butternut squash that my wife had bought wrapped with a tape measure. "Big pumpkin, daddy! Big pumpkin." For the good or the bad I seem to have some influence on my child.

Pumpkin Seeds Available for Trade

Please contact me if you have any interest in the following pumpkin seeds at jamie@wedpagedesigns.com.

925 Giarrusso (904 Stelts x 1385 Jutras)
1108 Giarrusso (1225 Jutras x 1068 Wallace)
1197.5 Hooker (1385 Jutras x 1470 Wallace)
939 Hooker (1566 Rodonis x 1470 Wallace)
1116 Hooker (1470 Wallace x 1385 Jutras)
725 Lewis/Marrone (998.6 Pukos x self)
813 Lewis/Marrone (1195 van Kooten x 998.6 Pukos)
1138 J Johnson (1180 Daletas x 1420 Larue)
1075 Scherber (1407 Hemphill x 1450 Wallace)
1053 Pappas (1340 Kline x 1110 Wallace)
1095 Pappas (1110 Wallace x 1340 Kline)
546.4 Zaychkowsky (898 Knauss x 1068 Wallace)
924 J Johnson (1231 Pukos x 1028 Sherwood)
1003 J Johnson (1173 Macari x 1420 Larue)
709.5 Lovelace (869 Calai x 1370 Rose)
1005.5 Sawtelle (1180 Deletas x Sibb)
755 Johnson (300-500 Dill est x self)
489 Mohr (1446.5 Werner x self)
1175 Andrews (1370 Rose x 603.5 Muller)
997.9 Andrews (1334 Daletas x 692 Andresws)
975 Andrews (848 Mackenzie x 894 Hebb)
813 Andrews (873 Andrews x 878.8 Andrews)
810 Andrews (878.8 Andrews x 873 Andrews)
663.5 Andrews (845 Bobier x 1370 Rose)
555 Andrews (641 Andrews x 500 Northrup)
445 Andrews (641 Andrews x 940 Mombert)
575 Lewis (1314 Beauchemin x 1248 Ford)
1010 Frantz (1083 Frantz x 581 Young)
523 Landry - (689 Beauchemin x 1420.5 Larue)
477 Hopson (1010 Frantz x 1097.5 Beachy)
1144 Horton (1314 Beauchemin x 735 Pukos)
759 Paton (1002 Paton x 867 Vincent/Gill)
829 Minix (419 Pukos x Self)
827 Minix (1025 Bobier x Selfed)
954.5 Mackenzie (1163.5 Mackenzie x 1250.5 Kline)
857 Myers - (1180 Daletas x 1233 Reiss)
793 Ebbett (757 Ebbett x 840 Parks)
1110 Sawtelle (598 Swartz x Self)
1037 Ornskov (1019 Megechelsen x 825 Foss)
800 Seymour (1180 Deletas x Sibb)
683 Dettweiler (1043 Lyons x open)
504 Chenier (1301.5 Eaton x 1355.5 Marion)
466 Hopson (695 Handy x 1097.5 Beachy)
1043 Lyons (842 Eaton x 953.8 Kennedy)
791 Sundin (880 Sundin x 947 Hunt)
916 Sawtelle (1057 Hebb x Self)
956 Sawtelle (771 Stellpflug x Self)
968 Giarrusso (1108 Giarrusso x 1006 Giarrusso)

Pumpkin Patch Cover Crop

Cover crops are a great thing to get started in October in Colorado. The cover crops can add additonal nitrogen, build organic matter in the soil, and help areate the soil. In October I put down a cover crop of annual rye grass and white clover. The white clover is a nitrogen fixing plant which will pull nitrogen from the atmosphere and fix it in the soil. The annual rye grass is what is called a green manure. Both the clover and grass will be rototilled in at least 4 weeks before planting the pumpkin in the spring. Cover crops are an inexpensive and great way to build your soil.

Pumpkin Patch Fall Soil Prep and Amendments

50% or more of the work for growing a giant pumpkin isn't done during the growing season. It is done in the fall and early spring. It doesn't matter how great your pumpkin seed genetics are if you don't have a great soil to grow it in. I'm starting a new patch for 2009. My good neighbor Chris is allowing me space on his 3 acre property to grow 4 plants next year. A BIG thanks to him for letting me do this. He has gone above and beyond by having his employees use his earth movers to help me move the soil and compost piles.

Soil preparation starts with a soil test. Unless you know what is in your soil you don't know what you need to add. The soil for my new patch was pretty poor. It was compacted, low on NPK, low organic matter and had a high ph of 8.1. To build the soil I added poultry compost, alfalfa meal, bone meal, green sand, humic acid, organic 10-5-5 fertilizer with calcium, tree leaves, elemental sulphur, peat moss and aluminum sulphate. That was all rototilled in deep.

After that I put down a cover crop of annual rye grass and white clover seed. I then spread a 4-4-5 fertilizer with mycorrhizal fungi and sprayed it all down with Neptune's Fish & Seaweed, compost tea, molasses and some fat free milk. The last 5 items were added to help build the microbiology in the soil. The good bacteria and fungi will then start working those soil amendments and turn them into great soil. After that was completed I then ran the sprinklers and covered the main growing areas with 10x25 clear plastic sheets to help build warmth in the soil to get the cover crop going before we get a hard freeze.

In early spring I will do another soil test and will probably add additional composted manure and other amendments as needed. I will also add some worms to the soil as I didn't see any in the dirt today.

As I re-learned today, if you think it will take 3 hours to get your patch prep work done count on it taking 6 hours. Man am I sore and tired tonight.

Pumpkin Contests Round 2

Congrats to my daughter and dad on both getting 3rd place in the Arvada Festival of Scarecrows pumpkin competition in the adult and junior divisions! Dad's came in at 183 pounds and my daughter's came in at 82 pounds.

2008 Proven Pumpkin Seeds

After sorting through the weigh-off results this year I have come up with the following list of proven hot seeds. The criteria to make this list was that at least two pumpkins had to weigh over 1,000 pounds in 2008 to qualify. Many of the seeds on this list have been hot seeds for a while. Some are new. There are probably twice as many good seeds out there that are not on this list that will never see dirt. Pumpkin seed selection is all about mitigating risk. Growers only have so many spots to grow on so they have to make decisions each growing season. The seeds that get selected more often is a result of a popularity contest (growers with famous names tend to get grown more), marketing (seeds that get talked about tend to get grown more) and proven results. The following list just shows the seeds that tended to grow big pumpkins in 2008 based on weigh-off results:

275 Van Hook
904 Stelts
985 Werner
998.6 Pukos
1041 Mckie
1058.5 Timm
1066 Starr
1068 Wallace
1119 McMullen
1123 Gervais
1161 Rodonis
1178 Lovelace
1207 Young
1231 Pukos
1272 Hilstolsky
1350 Starr
1363 Werner
1370 Rose
1385 Jutrus
1408.5 Daletas
1446 Werner
1462 Gibson
1502 Wallace
1537 Stelts
1556 Rodonis
1631 McKie
1689 Jutras

Of these seeds the biggest newcomer standout for 2008, in my opinion, is the 1566 Rodonis. Almost every pumpkin grown on this seed hit over 1,000 pounds and it saw a lot of dirt. The other two seeds to watch are the 985 Werner and the 1566's little brother the 1161 Rodonis. The 1156 is the reverse cross of the 1566. This seed saw less dirt but did equally as well this year growing two pumpkins with an average weight of 1,365 pounds. Steve Connely's pumpkin grown on the 1566 hasn't hit the scales yet, but if it makes it this Saturday as a new world record the demand for these two seeds will rightfully go through the roof. I and Bill have an ongoing argument as to whether he knows how to pick genetics. He says it was just luck. I believe the 1566 and 1161 are going to be the next 1068 Wallace of pumpkin seeds. Time will tell. What other seeds do you think were the hot seeds of 2008?

Super Bowl of Pumpkin Contests

This weekend my wife and I went out to Topsfield, MA to attend one of the largest of the GPC pumpkin contests. The Topsfield Fair. Last year's world record 1,689 pound pumpkin grown by Joe Jutras (pictured left) was presented at the fair along with some other monsters. This year there were no new records (those will be presented in Rhode Island next week if they hold together) but there were still some massive pumpkins.

The growers in the greater Topsfield area are some of the best in the world. I also found them to be some of the nicest in the world. In the week before the event more than one grower offered travel tips while in Massachusetts and I met probably ten of the nicest guys and gals you could want to meet anywhere while at the fair.

I think a guy traveling out from Denver to Topsfield was a bit of a novelty. At least one reporter from Salem who interviewed me thought so. All I know is that I like big pumpkins and the 1,464 pound pumpkin grown by Wes Dwelly was quite a sight to behold. Makes the biggest ones in Denver look like child's play.

Bill Rodonis and his wife were at the event and it was great talking with them. Super nice guy. Bill grew a 1,566 pound pumpkin last year that was a world record holder for 20 minutes. Bill couldn't grow this year because of a knee problem, but you saw a sparkle in his eye every time a pumpkin went to the scale that was grown on his seed. You would of thought he grew it himself. Thanks Bill for taking the time to talk with me!

Steve Connley was at the event and I had a chance to be introduced to him. Steve has a pumpkin taping out at an estimated 1,900 pounds on the vine right now. If it can survive another 5 days it may be a new world record. Jutas says he has a 1,600 pound pumpkin on the vine that is still growing so it will be interesting to see who goes heavy and who goes light.

I also had a chance to get to know Hooker, Sperry, Ed, Craig, Duff, John and a bunch of other really nice guys from all over New England who share the same passions as I do. Thanks to all of you too!

In the end it was all about the pumpkins however. Lots and lots of them at a really well run event. At the very last it came down to these three big ones. I'm hoping for something like this next year in my patch. Send me some of those seeds guys!

755 Pound Pumpkin!

The pumpkin went heavy and we ended up with a 755 pound pumpkin. I was thrilled. I didn't expect it to go heavy and was slightly suprised with the outcome. I exceeded all my pre-season goals by hundreds of pounds and also won 2nd place for the prettiest pumpkin (the Howard Dill Award). The event was a lot of fun with great crowds and great weather. Haddie's pumpkin took 3rd in the Junior division so we are very proud of her too.  I'd like to thank everyone who helped me with growing this year and I'm looking forward to next year.

24 Hours in the Life of a Pumpkin:

Come to the Denver Pumpkin Weigh-off at Jared's Nursery!

Welcome to Fall! This will be last post until the weigh-off. It has been a great growing season, a lot of hard work, and a lot of fun. I'm very satisified with my pumpkin. Growers from across Colorado will be participating in the 3rd Annual Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers weigh-off on Saturday, September 27th. The event will take place at Jared's Nursery in Littleton, 10500 W. Bowles Avenue, starting at 11 a.m. Admission is free to the public. It is a great event with food, audience voting and of course, some really amazing pumpkins. We expect a new Colorado record pumpkin this year. The current Colorado record was set last year at an amazing 1,075 pounds. More information about the weigh-off can be found at http://www.coloradopumpkins.com/. See you Saturday and bring the kids!

We Did It! 151 inch Pumpkin Circumference

A month ago I set a goal to get the pumpkin to a 151 inch circumference. I knew we would need everything to go right in order for it to happen and that the odds were against me. Today we reached that goal! The pumpkin hasn't grown an inch vertically in the last 7 days but it has kept growing wider. It has been a little scary because of the potential of a split but so far it has held together. Five more growing days until I cut the pumpkin from the vine. There is a slim but outside shot of hitting 800 pounds by weigh-off time. Growth has been slow lately so I'm thinking low to mid 700s for the final weight.

If anyone sees a picture of a large pumpkin with a 2-year-old standing next to it in the Denver Post would you please let me know. The Post is supposed to run a picture of my pumpkin in the paper but they only said that it would be at the end of the month without an exact date.

Guess the Pumpkin's Weight Contest

The Denver Post's MileHighMamas.com is doing a contest this week around my pumpkin. If you guess the weight then you will win tickets to Elitch Garden's Fright Fest. The weight will be announced at the weigh-off at Jared's Nursery in Littleton. The weigh-off begins at 11:00am on Saturday and admission is free.

For the visitors of denverpumpkins.com I'm going to give you a clue to the pumpkin's weight. The estimated weight right now, based on the charts, is between 710 and 810 pounds. The estimation charts on average are within 10% of the correct weight so there is a pretty good range that the pumpkin could be in. If I were to make a guess the pumpkin is probably going to be 728 pounds. My guess isn't any better than anyone elses at this point however. There is no way to tell how thick the meat is on the pumpkin, so until you get it on the scales you never know for sure. Good luck with your guess and come to the weigh-off on and say hi!

A Special Thanks to My Pumpkin and Parents

I would like to thank my wife Amber, the only true pumpkin, for putting up with me this growing season. She is my inspiration and she has put up with a lot this year. I put in more time into this pumpkin than either of us anticipated at the beginning of the season. Some have called it obsession, others passion. Even though it took away from our time together I recognize the sacrifices and love that she has shown to me this year. At fathers day she gave me a trip to Topsfield's big pumpkin competition and Boston. I really appreciated that. I look forward to spending that time away with her!

I also want to thank my parents. They too put up with a lot this year by letting me grow the pumpkin on their property. More than one time I called them with a request to do something with the pumpkin. I think they started to enjoy it some as the season went on though. A big, big thanks to them!

Done with the Fertilizers Until the Weigh-off

I have 8 growing days left until the weigh-off. The pumpkin put on 20 pounds today but it is scaring me. A valley is forming across the top of the pumpkin. The kind of valley that splits sometimes happen in. Most of the pumpkin's growth over the last few days has been horizontal and not vertical which makes it even worse. Another local giant pumpkin grower had a pumpkin with a really deep valley and it split just this week. I'm reducing the amount of water I'm giving the plant and going to lay off the fertilizers from this point forward in the hopes of keeping it together. I am now down to 1.5 inches remaining to reach my circumference goal.

My Pumpkin is in the Newspaper Today

DillBoy the pumpkin, my son and I are in the newspaper today. On page 6V of the Arvada/Wheat Ridge edition of YourHub, the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News' community editions that are inserted with the regular paper, you can see my pumpkin and information about the weigh-off at Jared's Nursery. If you aren't in the Arvada or Wheat Ridge areas you can also see the article online at YourHub.com.

Over 700 Pound Pumpkin!

We met a new mark today. Over 700 pounds now both on OTT and circumference measurements. Just 4 more inches now to reach my goal with 10 more growing days remaining. If the pumpkin can hold together we might just be able to reach 800 pounds in estimated weight.

Coming Up On My Pumpkin Weight Goal

We are now down to 6 inches remaining to reach my goal of 151 inch circumference. Slow growth the last couple of days, but with today's warmth we put on 19 pounds today. There are now 13 days remaining until the weigh-off. If I keep pace with the typical 3/4 inch a day growth that the pumpkin has been doing in September, I should exceed my goal. With good weather in the forecast this next week things are looking positive right now.

Rain, Rain Go Away

I wasn't thinking very clearly yesterday when I added fertilizer. I thought the report was for only 1/2 inch of rain from this storm but there was an inch at the house this morning and it is supposed to come down all day. I really hope the pumpkin doesn't pop. Either it will gain a bunch of pounds in the next 3 days or the season will be over.

Who Has Been Messing with My Tape Measure?

I can't explain it, but my pumpkin appears to have put on 37 pounds in the last two days. The temperatures were cold today and were only mildly warm yesterday so growth typically would be really slow. I even took one inch off yesterdays measurement because I just knew it couldn't have grown two inches yesterday. Today's measurement confirmed it however. Another inch beyond yesterday's measurement. I'm guessing that the increased potash I've been giving the pumpkin has pushed it through some of this cold weather. Just hope that when the sun comes out tomorrow and we hit 80 degrees that we don't explode. Right now I have 18 days to grow 9 more inches to hit my goal.

1,465 Visitors on DenverPumpkins.com!

Thanks to everyone for visiting denverpumpkins.com! In the four months since I launched the site in May I have had 1,465 visitors. I hope you have learned something, not been to bored (after all what is more exciting than fertilizer) and started growing a bigger pumpkin as a result of this site. I always appreciate your feedback so if you ever have any questions or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment by clicking the link below. I will usually leave a reply to your comment in the same comment box within 24 hours.

Watch for pictures of my pumpkin on the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News' YourHub.com this next week. MileHighMamas.com will also be running a contest around my pumpkin starting September 22nd. Lastly, visit the big RMGVG weigh-off at Jared's Nursery to see my pumpkin and to see a new Colorado state record pumpkin (hopefully--we are counting on you Joe!). Admission is free to the public.

Pumpkin growth the last few days has been a bit slow. Right now I have 11 inches remaining to reach my goal.