N. Ill. Update

Well, this has been an interesting summer so far.
To the 'other' Greg in N. Il., thanks for the information regarding the
Des Plains weight off site..
Do you have a contact name and number, I would be interested in joining.

As for my pumpkins, here's the story.
Since my last update several months ago a lot has happened. I had
started this spring with
several failures to germinate seeds. I then ordered some #300 pounds
seeds from P & P
seed company (hey this is my first year, what did I know?).. M. Brock
from this list was also kind enough to send me several different
variants from his collection. I had great success germinating them and
the P & P seed and planted outdoors around May 6-7.
While N. Ill has generally been treated kindly by the El Nino phenomenon
we did experience
several severe thunder storms producing dangerously high winds. During
one such storm
a very large chinese elm tree split down the middle sending a 20 inch
diameter 'branch'
crashing the roof of our home, destroying a 15 x 15 foot area of the
roof and knocking out
the electrical service to the house. Now for the bad part. This tree
which is within 10 feet
of the pumpkin patch also smashed the pumpkin plants. The Brock plants
which were my
best hope were smashed beyond recognition. The P & P plant suffered a
split vine and
looked ragged to say the least. After considerable work to clear the
tree and repair the
house and garden I cared for the pumpkin the best I could but had to let
it go for a while
as I visited Mercy Hospital in Aurora for Lumbar Fusion surgery to
repair the L5-S1 vertebrae
in my spine. My ptant recovered and is now a sprawling mess with vines
going everywhere
yet has only produce two pumpkin of appreciable size. I have difficulty
bending and stooping so I don't have OTT readings and the last
measurement I have is 75" circumference. The pumpkins seem to have all
but stopped growing and I suspect this is it for this year. All in all
this has been great fun watching the plant grow and reading the stories
each of you has shared. It will fun to see how others fare at the weight
offs and to plan an scheme for next year.

Greg Schraiber
N. Ill zone 5


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