Monster Pumpkin Memorabilia

We're less than week away from the Monster Pumpkin weigh off, so it's a good time to pick up some future collectors items! Chris has uploaded the poster image to CafePress.com and there you can order t-shirts and mugs and magnets and pretty much anything else you can imagine. Check it out here:

http://www.cafepress.com/PumpkinContest

Monster Pumpkin Weigh Off

The time of reckoning is near!

Last august weekend

We had a great weekend. Our trip to our favorite Hood River B&B was
amazing, we went there to get away from our home distractions to focus
on planning the wedding ceremony and writing the vows. It was so
relaxing hanging out in the afternoon sun being creative.

The B&B has a new addition, chickens! Theses gals came right up to us
and were very tolerant of my photo snapping.

We did a little garden work after arriving home. Here's Leighann with
chard under the hops vines. And here's the next batch of hops ready to
be dried.

Second Heatwave

It's cooking in portland again!

Takes the Lead!

Today is a monumental day, my pumpkin finally surpassed Chris' in the measurement comparisons. While we don't know where this nets out on weight, it is an important milestone for me.

Treatment Time

The powdery mildew on the leaves has been getting worse over the last
few weeks so I did a little research and found that this can be a
pretty harmful problem. Eventually the leaves all shrivel up and the
plant dies. Given that we have about two months left before the big
weigh-off I figured I had to take action to extend the life of my
plant as long as possible.

I took a trip to the local Lowes and picked up a spray bottle of this
stuff. Sounds like just what I need. Gave a good coating to the tops
of the leaves but ran out before I could spray the undersides. I this
starts to work I might try a more home made solution of baking soda
and water.

Seems from conversations with Chris and Nick that they are also up
against this same problem. It's very easy to find info online about
it, and I learned that it's so common that I should have been treating
the leaves preventatively before any symptoms appeared.

This is all good knowledge for Pumpkin Grow Off 2110.

Lush!

I think we're are at the peak of our garden right now, as you can see
everything is full and green. The hops are a couple of weeks away from
picking. The zuchini plant in the foreground has been kicking out big
ones for a month now. And if you look very carefully you can see just
a hint of orange from my pumpkin in the lowere left. My neighbor Nick
said his pumpkins are not doing very well so it looks like it's coming
down to chris and I. Now that I think about it there's still a good
solid two months left in the competition so anything can still happen.

Sunflowers

These are not from our garden, but these are the most amazing
sunflowers and the look so beautiful with the morning light coming in
the front window.

New Graphs

As more and more data is collected over the weeks, there are greater
opportunities to make graphical comparisons. The latest graph compares
estimated weights between the pumpkins that Chris and I are growing,
through the use of a circumference to weight conversion formula I
found online. As with all the other graphs all I have to do is enter
the daily circumference and all the charts are calculated.

To see the graphs, there's a link in the upper right corner of the blog.

Bigger Every Day

The back yard plant is still producing flowers which I thought would
have stopped a while ago, but the bumble bee doesn't seem to mind one
bit. I watched him fly in there and just dive face first into the
pollen pool below. He seemed pretty excited after emerging, covered.

It has also been a while since I've posted a 3D photo and I was
inspired to take one again this morning when I saw this scene. This is
the bigger pumpkin, 39", that's along the backyard fence. Also the
yellow flower that's in the photo is where the bee was. Enjoy.

Judgement Day

Here's my extrapolation of the current data, you know, purely for scientific purposes.

Chris Update

Chris wanted me to post a photo of his pumpkin, the size you see here
is 42" in circumference. Looking good but what he probably hopes that
I omit from posting is how his leaves are getting a mildew and the
vine length is about 2/3 of mine. If Chris wants to boast he'll have
to start his own blog! haha.

Apple Peeler Corer

Our apple tree has been dropping apples for about a month now. We find
that picking the apples before they fall is a good way to get
healthier, more usable fruit. But what to do with them? I think as
purely just an excuse to use it Leighann bought an apple peeler corer
the other day to tackle our growing pile. She can't stop talking about
how it's the greatest invention ever (well, besides her new iPhone of
course). Here she is working mechanical magic on an apple before she
puts it in the food dehydrator.

Hops Update

Here's a look at our hops plants (with some purple morning glory mixed
in). Last year the hops were harvested in late September, which was
actually a little late. This year we are thinking late august to early
september for harvest.

Last Hot Weather Photo

I have nothing witty to say about this.

I'm Melting

As predicted, today is hotter. This is the back yard temp which is a
liitle like a furnance right now.

Ugh

Too Hot

This was the temperature in the backyard yesterday, and today is
supposed to be even hotter!

Leighann and I are cooped up in the downstairs guest room at home
because that's the only window the AC would fit in easily. It's a cool
sanctuary and a blast of heat every time we leave the room.

Sacrifice

I decided to sacrifice pumpkin 1 this afternoon. Growth stopped for a
few days and then it actually started shrinking so I knew it was time
to cut it loose. I don't know why this happened, perhaps it just
started too early. Maybe it was the foam rubber I put under it to
protect it from the ground. Perhaps an infection, who knows. Either
way, the one pumpkin remaining on the plant will get 100% of the
nutrients now.

Heat Wave

(Be sure to keep checking the Pumpkin stats link over in the upper right of this page. It's updated daily)

There's a heat wave going on in Portland right now, and everything is
slowing down. Mensa is especially lethargic, as you can see from the
photo and I installed our window air conditioner in the down stairs
guest room where we've been sleeping.

The upcoming temperature predictions are into the 100s, which is
unusual for Portland. We break 100 a couple times a year, if that. The
plants in the garden are doing really well, as the automatic drip
system I installed last year is keeping everything hydrated, with
minimal effort. It works so well, in fact, that this afternoon I
extended the drip system to the south side of the back yard. I
specifically wanted to hook up drippers to the first pumpkin plant and
the four bamboo containers running along the side fence. I even had
enough of the black tubing to run the system into the back fence area,
for future drip hookup.

All is installed now and working well. I like to think that the couple
hours I spent getting it all connected and running pays off as extra
hammok time down the road, something that sounds really nice right
about now.

Roots

Check out this mid-vine root. It dropped down from the vine below a
pumpkin and I suppose it's meant to draw nutrients as a supplement to
the main roots. I pulled it because I want to have a little mobility
in the vine around the pumpkin so I can position and rotate the
pumpkin if needed.

I even like the photo as a still life.

Pumpkin Data

Chris and I are numbers junkies (I blame my dad!) so I started a
collaborative online spreadsheet to track the daily pumpkin progress.
Granted this takes away the element of secrecy from the competition,
but at this point I don't know that I would be doing anything
differently.

I'll get a link to the data up soon....

Long Vines and Pumpkins

Seems like a good time to share a couple of 3D photos of the progress
in the garden, as growth is really starting to take off. The first
image is the long vine that is stretching out in the back corner
garden. There's definitely room for this plant to grow but
unfortunately my first pollination on this plant did not take. I
pollinated a second flower yesterday (and again this morning) and hope
it will take. The vine on this plant is so amazing that it would be a
shame if I don't get any pumpkins off it.

The second image is the baby pumpkin! I'm keeping a daily record of
circumference to monitor growth, this morning it was measured at
11.5". Either way it's looking great!

Bigger and Bigger

Here's a look at the little pumpkin growing from the plant that's
towards the front yard. It's the location with more shade but better
soil. The back yard plant has a pumpkin too, but it's smaller at this
point. That could be because I pollinated it later or, it seems, that
plant is putting a lot of energy into growing really long vines.

Chris' attempt

Here's the pumpkin chris is growing. It's actually looking pretty good
so I'm going to have to sabotage it soon.

I Feel Dirty

This morning I pollinated a female flower. No romantic music. No sweet
talk. I plucked the male flower and rubbed the pollen all over the
female flower. That was it. Pumpkin sex at it's finest.

Hoptastic!

At this rate I hope my trellis string hold up to the weight of all the
vines. Last year we harvested in September, so there's a lot of time
for these to keep growing.

Our Big Farm

I'll tell more about this later for those of you who don't know. We
joined a group of people farming two acres of organic land on Sauvie
Island, twenty minutes from our house. Leighann and I brought out
dinner and wine, it's 75 degrees and were drinking wine. I love farming!

Jasmine Explosion

Our front porch.

Thumbs Down

Just back from a day-time stealth mission to my neighbors yard to see
how his pumpkin is coming along. Big leaves. Stocky vines. No more
room to grow. Mark says: thumbs down!

Future Prize Winner

Here's a look at a female flower on the pumpkin vine in the garden.
I'm reading up on flower fertilization and hopfully this little
pumpkin will be huge in four months. Below is another 3D photo, back
by popular demand.

Another Berry Batch

Here's another batch of fresh rasberries picked this morning. Eating
my yogurt, granola and berries right now!

Fresh Raspberries

Our raspberry bushes are thriving this yeah and we've been enjoying
fresh berries every morning. Here's this mornings picking.

Summer time!

With no rain in sight there's lots of watering to be done. But the
flip side to that is sunny warm days to hang out in the yard with
Mensa. Pretty much her favorite passtime (besides eating) is to lay on
her back in the sun. Such a rough life.

Sunset

This evening's sunset at 9:00 pm.

General Update

My phone now allows me to post multiple photos in the same entry so
I'm attaching three to show the progress of the garden.

Bigger!

Pumpkins are still growing well. Big leaves and even a couple tendrils
forming. Looking good!

Grow Baby Grow!

I know it's been awhile since I posted, I've been pretty busy. But
rest assured that the two pumpkins are in the ground and doing well.
At this point I can't tell if the good soil location or good light
location will do better, too early to tell.

And Then There Were Two

A little mishap this afternoon to report: the wind broke the stalk of
the #1 plant while it was outside for the day. That means I have only
two plants left now, a situation I did not anticipate. Some extra TLC
for the last two for sure.

On a lighter note I am pleased to announce an addition contestant in
the pumpkin competition. My friend (and now enemy) Chris has entered
the running by accepting one of my pumpkin starts. Good luck!

And on the gossip front, I learned yesterday the my neighbor Nick, who
I started the competition with, has planted "Atlantic Giant" seeds.
The seed package quotes 400-500 pound pumpkins!

This is getting interesting.

Six Days Later

Just a quick update. We've been out of town and just returned home.
The pumpkins are looking great and spending a little R&R outside while
we unpack the car.

Road Trip!

Were driving down to California today! The pumpkins are being watered
by our friend Ashley until Tuesday, so they will survive. More soon.

New Digs

The pumpkin sprouts are on pace to outgrow their small starter peat
pots, so this afternoon I transplanted them (peat pot and all) into
these bigger containers. They are now back inside the house, sitting
in the plastic watering tray. At this rate I plan on transiting them
outside next week.

Above is one of the better 3D images so far. Enjoy.