And the 2007 winner is ...............

Here he is, the grand master, along with his 342# beauty.
The official weight for my pumpkin was 133#.

September 22, 2007 - It's final

Well, sad to say, it's that time of year again, we're officially done with the 2007 pumpkin growing season. Dave had an official weight done by the government and took the crown, yet again, at a whopping 342#. It took 5 guys to get it into and out of his truck.

Steve and I did a very unscientific weigh in in our back yard with 2 different scales and about 5 different weights, but I think mine was about 130# and 76" in circumference. I plan to send it to work with Dave on Monday to get a more accurate weight.

My second fruit had started to rot on both the top and bottom so it was deposited into the compost pile along with the vines. It didn't get much larger than a normal medium sized pumpkin. It's good to have my garden and backyard back again.

My big pumpkin stopped increasing in size several weeks ago so I assumed it had completed its growth for the season. The nights have been regularly in the 40s and 50s lately with days in the high 80s and 90s.

September 9, 2007 - 50 F and overcast

We are getting our first taste of fall today. I was starting to look forward to winter since I had bought a new pair of XC ski boots, but now that it is 50 F today, I think I'm not done w/summer yet.

It's supposed to snow above 7000' today. I'll have to check the mountains tomorrow when the clouds lift to see if we actually got any of the white stuff.



Here are the latest statistics on the pumpkins:

Mine:
The beetles are continuing to eat away at my leaves and I'm starting to see mildew on the leaves closest to the roots, but mine continues to thrive.

It measures 74" in circumference and the larger pumpkin appears to be healthy. There is another pumpkin on my second vine that is doing OK but is definitely showing signs of the beetles feasting on it. I'm going to leave it as the sacrificial fruit. I discovered a 3rd smaller pumpkin on my main vine, that I hadn't seen before and I pulled it off today. It was a little moldy and chewed on, so I threw it into the compost this morning. It's time to let all the nutrients go to the main one now. According to Dave's notes, the rapid growth will start to slow down now that the evenings are getting cooler and days shorter.

I'm going to keep the hail / shade screens over the pumpkin. The squirrel has been distracted with the plums this year so maybe he won't chew on my pumpkin.

Dave's:
The latest measurement was 90" as of last night. His vine is definitely healthier looking than mine. He has been manually killing the beetles and the special attention shows. The bugs tend to congregate in the blossoms so its easy to squash a lot w/one stomp by picking the blooms.

August 29 - overcast but no rain

We have an infestation of Western spotted cucumber beetles as identified by Dr. Dave. They've moved from my front yard to the back yard and are eating the leaves of the pumpkin now. They started by eating my string beans and now they have branched out. Dave says he has them on his pumpkins now too.











Mine = 64" Dave's pumpkin = 83"

The nights are starting to cool off so the end of the growing season will be here soon. My tomatoes and zucchinis have slowed their production already.

August 27 - ovecast most of today

We had a hot weekend and then today it was mostly overcast. My pumpkin is 60" in circumference. At this rate I'm going to have to tape 2 tape measures together to keep measuring.

I've noticed that the little yellow beetle with dark spots that are all over my string beans and tomatoes in the front yard are now in the backyard and are on the pumpkin and basil now. Hopefully the pumpkin survives.

August 24 - still growing and raining

We left town for a few days to explore Telluride and I came back to find my pumpkin still thriving. It measured 54" this morning. I've put the hail screens on it as protection since we had hail last week and I didn't want to take any chances. The skin seems to still be soft and not turning hard yet. That could be from all the shade the back yard gets. I noticed lots of little red bugs running all over the surface of the pumpkin. Must be mites of some kind.

Dave says his measured 74" last night. Last year this time it was 81".

August 18,2007 - still getting afternoon showers

My pumpkin is at 37" and Dave said his is at 61". The hot weather and regular afternoon storms are really helping.

I was duly chastised again today for not putting my pumpkin in the front yard. But you can see for yourself how well everything else is doing there. I've really been enjoying all the different tomatoes that we've been eating.

August 14 - no rain but they're still growing

We've had weather in the 90's lately, afternoon clouds, and minimal rain.

My pump measured 29" today.

The North Carolina pumps are dying, who knows why, the leaves are yellowing.

And then there's Dave's pump.........51" around stem-to-blossom.

August 12,2007 - statistics

My pumpkin in the backyard continues to grow and is now starting to take over the grass.
The pumpkin itself measures 24" in circumference. I'm still watering it daily and fertilizing weekly.

Dave has a whopper. He's had 2 fruits abort on the same vine but has a huge one growing on another vine. The plant is heading for the side walk. This is the largest vine he's ever had in this current house. Not having any hail this year was a huge help with the plant growth.

I may have to concede the contest to him already. I may not win the pumpkin contest, but I definitely have a very tall sunflower in the front yard this year. It's at least 10' tall now but doesn't look like it will bloom for a few more days.

A new competitor joins us from North Carolina

We have some new competition this year and it's coming from a southern state. Sean has decided to join in the fun from North Carolina. We're having a virtual grow off here.

Sean planted Burpee seeds in early April and already has a few pumpkins. They were planted in fresh mushroom compost which may be contributing to the leaf color. NC soil is definitely different than what we're growing in, here in Colorado. All of us have had to supplement our native soil in some way or another .

Sean planted both regular and giant size pumpkins but the giant's have not fruited yet. I gave him a lesson in pollination so hopefully that will help his giants get started soon.












The 3 of us are using different growing techniques this year. Dave's plant is on flat turf in his front yard, Sean is growing his down hill, and mine is growing over the edge of a raised bed in my back yard.

The latest news today is that Dave's big pumpkin is starting to show signs of dying, so Sean and I may have a fighting chance this year. But, Dave let another bud pollinate, so he now has a backup fruit in the works.

I let another female bloom pollinate this morning to better my odds this year. My first fruit is about the size of a golf ball now. I have also switched to fertilizing once a week per Dave's advice.

We're at it again in 2007

It's another summer and we're growing pumpkins again. Dave provided me with 2 seedlings this year which I planted in the backyard. Shannon pollinated the first female bud for me on July 26. I've been using organic liquid fertilizer and feeding both vines every other week.

The 2 plants have taken over the boxes and are now proceeding into the grassy area. Fortunately I had already harvested the lettuce and spinach that had been planted there in the spring.

We were very fortunate this year to have NO hail. My vine recovered last year but I never had a fruit.




I plan to plant the pumps in the middle of the back yard next year so they will have plenty of room to grow. One of the vines has already broken off its leader vine when it spilled over the side of the box, despite the edge being padded.

I turned over 1/2 of my front this year (after living here 27 years) and planted the hot weather plants there, tomatoes, peppers, stringbeans, and cucumbers. They are all thriving beautifully and we've already been eating their produce. I was criticized by my competition for not giving this space to my pumpkins .














Dave pollinated his first female bud on July 4 and now has a fruit the size of a basketball.
He has given his plant the run of the front yard which faces east.