Category Archives: GIANT PUMPKINS

Giant Pumpkins

 

Closeup of pumpkin in back of car

This year I haven’t posted much about my giant pumpkins but I do have some growing. My biggest is named ‘Orange Crush’ because it’s coloring is more orange than any other that I’ve grown before (most have been salmon colored). It is also the bumpiest one I’ve ever grown-not the prettiest-but pretty doesn’t count in giant pumpkin contests-weight does. Gnarly dude! It’s weight measured approximately 289 lbs yesterday and averaging 8.6 lbs a day and should hit 300 lbs tomorrow. It’s seed came from the NM state winner that I grew last year. It is behind last year’s record setter but ahead of the previous year’s winner I grew, so I don’t know what to make of it. Will it get bigger than last year or not? Only time will tell. Still have this month and a week of October for it to grow. A lot will depend on the weather-if it gets cold all of them will slow down to a crawl but if it stays warm and doesn’t freeze at night, it has a chance.

My second biggest is ‘Hugo’ which is flat and oval shaped and on a different plant.  Rather beautiful, smooth skinned but doesn’t weigh as much coming in at 182 lbs averaging 5 lbs a day so far. I will leave it to see how big it will get.

I also have three smaller ones-2 on one plant and one on a fourth. I weighed them all and decided to take one that weighed 153 lbs  (shown above-I love the glow) and another one that was 100 lbs to the State fair today. I cull some of them to take to the fair but of course leave the biggest ones to keep growing for the contest in Colorado.

I also took my two biggest zucchini (so far) to the fair as they don’t give ribbons for them at the national contests. One was 38.5 lbs and the other was 33 lbs.  Last year’s record I set came in at 62 lbs. at the Colorado weigh off. I still have more zucchini growing that I hope will get bigger than last year.

 

Curly Top Virus -tomato problem right now

I’ve noticed a few of my tomato plants have got curled leaves, lost their bright green color and their veins turn purple and I’ve got several friends with the same problem who have contacted me about what this might be. I’m pretty sure its Curly Top Virus transmitted from the beet leafhopper which has been really prevalent this season. This is not to be confused with leaf roll where the tomato leaves roll. I think the combo of leaf roll and purple veins is the key. Read on.

Here is some info on Recognizing Tomato Problems from Colorado State University website. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/02949.html

‘Curly top virus is transmitted by the beet leafhopper. This problem is common in western Colorado but seldom found in eastern Colorado. Infected plants turn yellow and stop growing. Upper leaflets roll and develop a purplish color, especially along the veins. Leaves and stems become stiff; fruit ripens prematurely. It is difficult to control because leafhoppers migrate from southern areas. Hot, dry springs with predominantly southwest winds usually indicate increased problems with this disease. No chemical controls are effective. Use row covers to protect tomato plants from the leafhopper.’ Of course this is for Colorado but applies here as well.

Unfortunately after tomatoes get the virus, you should pull the plants. I’m concerned that a leafhopper might bite an infected plant and then bite a healthy plant and infecting it.  So far 4-5 of my plants have this. I’m pulling them tomorrow..

Fall Garden Projects-First up-putting the pumpkin patch to rest

Horse manure on top of pumpkin patch

I’ve been really busy this fall around the garden since the Pumpkin Bash. It seems like I never have time to do any projects when the garden is going so I try and get some of the projects done in the fall before the dead of winter. Last week cleaned out the pumpkin patch and then I rented that Bobcat where I spread out about 4 yards of horse manure on top of it. I really needed to dig it in or it would blow away before spring.

giant rototiller-16 hp

So yesterday I rented a giant rototiller (16 hp) and plowed in the 4 yards of manure, 50 lbs dried molasses (it smells so sweet), 50 lbs mushroom compost (are we cooking here?), and 50 lbs of gypsum (for calcium-makes strong bones, I mean strong plants!) in the pumpkin patch.

final pumpkin patch done

Now it looks so beautiful and is ALMOST ready for next spring! I still have to dig in some leaves (in the holes where I will be planting the pumpkin plants next spring) and a little (I mean very little) composted chicken manure to start the decomposition process so they can decompose over the winter and become leaf mold or should I say leaf gold by spring. This will be the third year for this pumpkin patch and boy what a difference three years makes when you add amendments each year. It’s starting to look good and the rototiller just cut through it fluffing it up together. I don’t like to rototill very much because of how hard it is on the soil microbes but felt that I needed to do it for now since this dirt was so void of any organic material and hard as a rock. I think after this year I’ll won’t have to do it again. I will add more mychorrizial next spring to help replenish the soil microbes.

Max and Kryptonite done

Max and Kryptonite are done. Gone. Cut up and given away for food. A good ending to a great story. The giant pumpkin season is now done. In fact all the vegetables are done. Well almost. Gardening is never really over. Now it’s time to  get ready for the next gardening season or you can wait for spring.

Either way, you should clean up your vegetable garden of all the plants that have by now frozen and died and dispose of them with the garbage collectors or in a landfill. Why take them to a land fill and not compost them? Most of us don’t really compost hot enough to kill all the disease pathogens especially going into winter. I do compost the actual fruit or vegetables just not the plants. Powdery mildew, early blight and other diseases can be spread to next year’s crops- so bag the plants and dispose of them in a landfill. They’ll still break down, just not in YOUR garden.

MAX gets AXED tomorrow morning

The inside of giant pumpkins are beautiful

Yes folks it’s true, Mad Max will get axed tomorrow morning at the 4th Annual Pumpkin Bash  here in front of  Liquid Light Glass’s studio at 10AM. We are looking to give away mass quantities of fresh organically grown giant pumpkin tomorrow by noon. And if anyone sez they don’t taste good, then either they weren’t grown organically or they’ve never tasted one cause they are delicious. Better come early cause last year it was gone in one hour!  Any Leftovers will be donated to Kitchen Angels or any charitable organizations that feed the hungry.

Some people have asked me if it’s hard to see my giant pumpkins get cut up and the answer is yes. I have to work through the thought of cutting them up but then I tell myself it’s better than rotting in some compost pile-which isn’t bad either as it goes back to feed the earth.

But they have a higher purpose-feeding people. Besides I need the seeds!

JANNINE’S PUMPKIN SOUP
Here is a great recipe for pumpkin or any winter squash soup

INGREDIENTS:
About 10 lbs of pumpkin or winter squash
Chicken broth or vegetable broth or water
1 can Coconut milk (whole or  lite)
fresh grated ginger
honey to taste

Cut, quarter and clean out your squash of seeds and stringy stuff.  Put oil on exposed edges and put face down on foil lined cookie sheet in a little water and place foil on top of squash  so it doesn’t dry out. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 min-1 hr or until soft when pierced by fork. Scoop out  flesh and place in a big soup pot and add 8-10 cups of either water, OR chicken broth OR vegetable broth-your preference. Then take a mixer or one of those hand held  blender wands and mix till smooth. Heat and then add the can of coconut milk, some fresh grated ginger (peel first) and honey to taste. Do not boil. Yummy!

MAX TO GET AXED/4th Annual Pumpkin Bash on Friday Nov 4

MAX GETS AXED at 10 am this Friday, Nov 4th at our studio at the 4th Annual Pumpkin Bash. Afterwards at 11 am, we will give all of Max away to anybody that wants a piece to cook and the leftovers will go to Kitchen Angels and the Food Depot.  It will be especially fun as this year we will also crack open the giant greenie squash as well. That’s 788 lbs of pumpkin squashes to give away! I let my friends and the guys who lugged the squashes around take a whack at Max to see who can split it open. Anyone who wants to take part as Mad Max gets axed come on by and please take some nice organic fresh pumpkin home as well!

PBS program-Lord of the Gourds on today, Sunday Oct 30

For any of you that might be interested in seeing the program that got me into giant pumpkin growing (where I thought they were a bunch of nuts) it will be on TODAY on KNME, Sunday afternoon at 2pm entitled ‘Lords of the Gourd: The Pursuit of Excellence’ featuring Joe Pukas from New York and the Cooperstown Weigh Off. A really fun program!

Mad Max goes to the Weigh-Off in Colorado Springs

Here are some pics of the weigh-off on last Saturday in Colorado Springs. It’s always fun to see everyone’s results after growing these giants for 6 months or more. I planted all my giant veggie seeds on April 7 of this year-that was 188 days of the plants growing. No wonder we become attached! And the actual pumpkins/squashes were pollinated around July 10, which was 95 days for my pumpkin/squash to grow. That’s 448 lbs of growth in 95 days! Most growers get around 120 days to grow these behemoths but here in Santa Fe we have a much shorter growing season as most of you know plus we’ve been in drought this year and on a good year we don’t get much rain compared to say Ohio or New York or just about anywhere else!

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How We Loaded the Giant Vegetables in a Truck

Mad Max and me looking like a mad hatter with that hair! Last day before cutoff.

Many of you asked how to I load these giant vegetables. Here are some pictures of the guys loading the giant pumpkins into the truck. If the pumpkins get much bigger, I’ll have to get them in with a hoist.

Many thanks to Janet and Tom Hiron for loaning me their truck, Pepe, for hauling these behemoths up to the weigh-off in Colorado and to the ‘Mad Max’ guys who loaded them. It truly takes a village to get help grow and promote these giants! Tomorrow I will post pics of the weigh-off.

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4 New Mexico Giant Vegetable State Records Set in 2011!!!!

Giants Unloaded at Studio after the Weigh-Off

Four New Mexico Giant Vegetable State Records Set yesterday!

Yesterday I set 2 NEW New Mexico Records and BROKE 2 New Mexico Records that I set last year! My giant pumpkin, ‘Max’, ended up officially at 448 lbs breaking Kong’s record of 421 lbs last year. My giant marrow, ‘King Zuc II’ (zucchini) was 62 lbs which broke last year record of 43.5 lbs. My giant green squash, ‘Kryptonite’ (greenie) set a new record of 340 lbs and my long gourd, ‘Jake the Snake’, set a new record of 80″ in length. My giant pear gourd, ‘Gourdo’, weighed in at 103 lbs which was one lb more than the one at the State Fair earlier in September but there is no category for it. Sorry it took so long to post this but we had to get back from Colorado and get the guys back to unload all the giants at our studio! The next two posts will show the loading and Weigh-off but I wanted to get this out for all you following!

Weigh-Off time is upon us!

The crew-from left Spooner, Ed, Per, Ira, me, Javier, Daniel, and Beto-THE KONG BOYS!

The weigh-off is almost upon us. Tomorrow the pumpkin/greenie squashes will be cut at 8 am and loaded in the truck on pallets. How do I get all this weight in the bed of a truck? 8 strong men! These guys are the best and nicest guys around and I REALLY appreciate their help. I couldn’t do it without them. Here are last year’s crew with my giant pumpkin, ‘Kong’ at 421 lbs. This year’s giant pumpkin, MAD MAX is 463 lbs and the ‘Greenie’ squash, Jabba the Hut is 347 lbs.!  Hope the guys have been working out! More pics tomorrow of the loading of the giants!

Giant Pumpkin, MAD MAX reaches 463 lbs today-Sunday Oct. 9

Today MAD MAX (according to the tape measurements) reached 463 lbs. That’s 42 lbs over last year’s record of 421 lbs!  Remember it could weigh lighter than the charts, but I feel pretty good that it will now beat the old record. It has to be all the extra water it’s been getting this past week. Over 2.2 inches in the pumpkin patch! Simply wonderful. That plus it’s been getting some extra fertilizer (seaweed and fish emulsion) right now. Pump it up MAXIE! The weather has been challenging but it hasn’t gotten down to 32°F (0°C) yet in the patch . It was suppose to but I’ve truly LUCKED OUT! I have the pumpkin plant covered with row cover and of course MAX has been covered for a month now with blankets at night. Now if it can just get through tonight, I think the rest of the week is suppose to be warmer and then it’s off to the races on Saturday!

Meanwhile the greenies are getting scary! That’s scaary good! Jabba is 349 lbs and Kyrptonite is 341 lbs! They are still battling it out for who gets to go! I hope one of them will actually sit on the mini pallet I picked up!

The other giants going to the weigh-off (if there is space) is a long gourd at 79″. It doesn’t weigh much but may have to hang off the truck. We’ll put a red bandana off the end of it! LOL. There is also a giant marrow (zucchini). I can use as a spacer between the pumpkin and greenie! And a giant pear gourd-ah what’s another 100 lbs! It should fit in the corner!