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!
Category Archives: Giant Long Gourd
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.
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!
Greenies battle it out for who will go to the weigh-off!
Greenie-'JABBA the HUT'
JABBA THE HUT is leading the greenies at 329 lbs while Kryptonite is close behind at 318 lbs! JABBA is called a ‘bird bath’ because it’s belly button is sitting on top of the squash instead of on the side which is more common. We will go to the OCt 15th weigh-off in Colorado Springs to let the squashes gain as much as possible. I hope there will be no freeze or snow to kill the plants before then-it will be close. I read that they can continue to grow about 1 week after a hard frost and then you just try to keep the pumpkins from losing weight before the weigh-off. It looks like it will be 33°F on Saturday. I’ll have to cover MAX and the Greenie plants with some protective row cover material.
News on my other giants:
I don’t know how heavy the biggest marrow (zucchini) is yet. I will cut all 4 big ones before we go up and take the heaviest. I do know they are all over 43.5 lbs which was the smallest one I took to the State Fair.
The long gourd is currently 79 inches long and I have a ‘baby’ one growing that is 50 inches long and gaining fast as well!
I’m not sure how big the Giant Pear Gourd is but I think it is close in size to the one I took to the fair which weighed in at 102 lbs.
NM State Fair Results for my Giant Veggies!
It is a good year for me at the State Fair for my giant veggies! I got 5 blue ribbons and first places for all my entries-giant zucchini, giant pear gourd, giant long gourd, giant tomato and giant greenie) and 2 I entered for Elodie ( a second giant zucchini and a tomato) took second places and got red ribbons. We still have bigger veggies waiting for the national contest in Colorado in October…
New Mexico State Fair entries
Today I dropped off my entries for the giant vegetable categories at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds which opens this weekend. I didn’t submit a giant pumpkin this year as I only have 2 going. MAX and BABY HUEY (who I’ve been watching put on 9 lbs a day now for a while). Lava went down to Albuquerque with me to help unload. Here are the candidates I did submit:
This tomato is from a Big Zac variety and is 19.25 inches in circumference and 2 lbs, 14.4 oz in weight. It is still turning red but has completed it’s growth. I didn’t see anything bigger down at the fair. We will see..
This giant ‘greenie’ squash is ‘The Hulk’ and estimated weight is 157 lbs and has put on 7 lbs a day in the last 5 days. Here it is in the back of the Prius. It barely fit in! I still have 2 bigger greenies growing in the garden for the big weigh-off.
Here is the giant Long Gourd, ‘Digi’, which is measured by length-it is 59.5 inches long-basically the length of the back of the Prius with the seats down. It had stopped growing. I still have some longer ones still on the vine that I’m saving for the big contest. In the foreground is the whitish pear gourd.
Here is the third biggest giant marrow (zucchini), ‘Little Boy’, which is 47 inches long and 27 inches wide! It ended up weighing 43.5 lbs which was bigger than the one I took last year to the fair.That one was 34 lbs. I have bigger ones in the garden yet to come for the big contest.
And lastly here is the giant Pear Gourd, ‘Gourdo’, which is 31 inches wide and 41 inches in length. You can’t see it too well here but it is huge. It weighed 102 lbs on the scale at the fair! I debated whether to take it today or leave it for the big contest and decided to take it as it will be for exhibition only up at the big contest as they have no category for it. At least at the state fair I will get a ribbon…
UPDATE-The other giant vegetables in the garden.
Here’s the update on the other GIANT VEGETABLES I’M GROWING THIS YEAR.
1048 pumpkins on Aug.16, 2011
I also have several little pumpkins (biggest 16 lbs.) on another pumpkin plant, the 1048 Grande, that are in great position on the main vine. They were pollinated later and so they are smaller right now but have the potential to get bigger than ‘MAX’. They are growing slowly right now gaining about 5 lbs a day. Hope they take off as well.
This is one plant! HUGE! Biggest I've ever grown. Notice the greenie squash on the right side.
The ‘Greenie squash plant has really blossomed (no pun intended) putting out 5 little green pumpkin type squashes. They are so beautiful, just like a pumpkin only a beautiful green and the plant is huge. Lots of leaves to feed all of them!
Giant Marrow (zucchini)
Meanwhile this giant zuck is doing great measuring 30 inches in length and 12 inches across right now and growing steady. I also have 2 others that are a little smaller than this one on this plant. One of them will go to the NM State Fair but the biggest I will save for the Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth Contest in Colorado Springs in early Oct.
And the giant long gourd has many gourds but one gourd growing about 6-8 inches a day in length but it is not on the top of the trellis. I hope I get one pollinated way up on top so it has 10 feet to grow down! This is the one I showed you only 7 days ago when it was 4 inches long!
Growing gourds- Giant Long gourd plants growing wild
Long gourds grow over the top
Fuzzy little long gourd baby-4 inches long
The long gourd plants are really taking off. They are now over the top of the gourd trellis or tower as I like to call it and filling in. They seem to like the heat, humidity and extra moisture we’ve been getting lately-in fact all the gourds have gone bonkers. Caleb is coming over today and after we check the bees, we are going to reinforce the top of the tower they are growing on as I hear they get extremely heavy as they get longer. They already have some babies growing but not on top where I want them. If they get big enough this month I will put those smaller ones in the State Fair at the end of the month.
I read and heard from a fellow gardener at the SF Farmers Market that gourds are pollinated by night pollinators like night moths. I’ve never seen a honeybee interested in them. We must have some night pollinators here as I have some baby fruit growing on them.
Mystery gourd (I don't know what type it is)
This little pear gourd came from an 89 lb giant pear gourd
I’m growing three types of gourds this year-giant long gourd, giant pear gourd and a mystery gourd (not sure what type it is but looks like a small pear). All the gourd seeds were extremely hard (at least for me) to germinate-they took forever to come up and some I had to plant twice, but once they came up and I put them in the garden, they have been easy keepers and give a certain lushness to the garden without lots of water. They are part of the Curcubita genus which includes, pumpkins, squash and cucumbers. I bet you didn’t know pumpkins and squash are part of the gourd family did you?
So far none of the gourds seem to attract bugs-like the squash bug, perhaps because of their scent when you handle the leaves. They are kinda stinky but not too bad. But like I said, they are beautiful to look at and the leaves and small furry fruits are fantastic. Both are really soft to the touch, like suede, unlike pumpkins or squash whose leaves are rough. They also have beautiful delicate flowers. I’m really enjoying them so far.
Mystery gourd flowers
Long gourds trellis
Baby long gourd plants-4 inches tall
Here are the baby long gourd plants that hopefully will grow into giant long gourds! I can’t imagine it. They’re so small!
Long gourd trellis in garden
Here is the giant long gourd trellis that Caleb and I built that will offer support to the long gourd plants that will grow up it. Yea right! It is 10 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. I can’t imagine growing a long gourd that tall much less even think about those teeny weeny little plants going all the way to the top of this gigantic trellis but it will be fun to try! I guess I better move the ladder down to the garden…
long gourds growing on trellis (not mine!)
Here are some pictures of the 2007 world record long gourd that reached just over 127 inches that another person grew. The plant is really beautiful. In the picture above the long gourd was so tall they had to dig a hole in the ground so it would keep growing straight! If it hits the ground it will start to curl.
Looking up at the gourds from inside a trellis-Beautiful!
Here is a picture looking up through the trellis at the long gourds. This looks so lush! I wonder what I will be able to do in this desert!?
The current world record for long gourd is a whopping 135 inches tall-that’s just over 11 foo tall. Now that’s a lot of gourd! Wish me luck-I’m going to need it!
Starting Long Gourds
My goal!
This year I’m going to try planting Long Gourds. I understand getting them to germinate is no easy feat. First I just nipped off the very tip of the seed and soaked it for 24 hours although I read you can soak for 8 hours. Then this morning I put the seeds between damp paper towels and in a ziploc baggie and put them on my heating mat to keep very warm. In a few days they will put out a root and I will put them in pots. Then they should germinate. Hopefully all will go to plan!
Apprenticing
The other day when Caleb, the beekeeper, brought his bees over, I mentioned that when I applied to the Santa Fe Farmers Market, it asked on the application if I want an apprentice and I checked off yes. So Caleb asked if he could be an apprentice and I said yes. We will have flex hours as we work for ourselves. Today he came over from 8:30-12:30. I really enjoyed working with Caleb.
First we took some soil samples from the giant pumpkin patch that I’m sending off to a lab in California to see what the soil might need. I’ll have to fill out the paperwork tomorrow and send it off. It looks pretty good but I’m anxious to see what the test says. Then I can figure out what amendments it will need.
Then we planted the giant pumpkin seeds, giant marrow seeds, some tomato seeds, transplanted some new tomato seedlings, soaked the long gourd seeds and made some tomato cages! Got a lot done in 4 hours.
New GIANT VEGETABLES To Grow in 2011
My GIANT (competition) VEGGIES for 2011
I’ve expanded my giant varieties this year, adding to my existing list from last year. It’s a obsession inside an obsession! It’s just that it is so much fun to see how BIG some of these varieties can grow. Last year, Kong, my giant pumpkin grew at it’s peak, 18 lbs a day. That’s incredible and one can actually see the difference from morning to evening in growth. This year I also plan to get one of those time lapse cameras that I will set up in the pumpkin patch to see them growing! The big boys who grow giant pumpkins tell me theirs put on 30-40 lbs a day. Imagine! I’m going to plant the same 895 Grande giant pumpkin seed that gave me the New Mexico State Record in 2010, its offspring (mine)-421 Cabossel, and one more-1046 Grande. I like Grande as a grower and his seed did so well here for me in Santa Fe. I think it’s because he’s a grower out of Colorado and we have similar growing conditions and soil.
New varieties for 2011 include giant green squash (looks like green pumpkin), giant green pear gourd (this one was from an 89 lb gourd that looks like a giant pear) and long gourd (this one came from a 96 inch long skinny gourd-I’m going to have to build a tall trellis)!
Also this year I’m going to get serious about growing the giant marrow (last year I sort of ignored it till it started getting big and it was one of the most fun things to see grow) and of course I’ll be trying to break into the 3-4 lb tomato range and I always love my Titan sunflowers (I call them the guardian angels of the garden) with their 20-24 inch heads. It’s going to be an ambitious year and I can’t wait!! Last year was a tough year with so many personal losses but this year feels different! I can’t wait!
2011 GIANT PUMPKINS
895 Grande 08 (1016 Daletas x 1385 Jutras)
421 Cabossel (895 Grande x self )
1046 Grande 10 (901 Hunt x 1385 Jutras)
2011 GIANT GREEN SQUASH
903 Noel 07 (848 McKenzie x self)
GIANT MARROW (like giant Zucchini)
206.5 Wursten 09 or 75.4 Wursten 09
43 Cabossel 10
GIANT TOMATOES
7.18 N. Harp 09n (5.58 Timm x open)
5.416 N, Harp 09 (5.58 Harp x open)
Big Zac (fr Totally Tomato)
GIANT PEAR GOURD
89 Scherber 10
LONG GOURD
96″ Scherber 10
GIANT SUNFLOWERS
Titan
giantveggiegardener 