Re: newbie tale: the pumpkin giant that wasn't

Hi, Marc!
Half Moon Bay is on a Monday because Columbus Day (Monday) is a holiday for some people.
I lost my best pumpkin 3 weeks ago. My two others will go - one to Santa Rosa and the other one somewhere as yet to be determined - and will not win any prizes.
At Morgan Hill look up Walt Dabel and Jim Martin. They are both down your way and can tell you some hints about growing in your area. Wonderful dear men, both of them.
If I don't see you at a weigh-off this year, I'll look forward to meeting you at the mid-winter seminar in Elk Grove.
I don't know if other weigh-offs besides Santa Rosa accept previously- weighed entries. Usually it's a one-time rule when a contest is just getting started. Santa Rosa accepts previously weighed pumpkins as long as they did not place within the top 10 elsewhere. We draw some Elk Grove contestants every year who just leave the pumpkin in the truck and boogie on over. Come on up! 

Kathie in Santa Rosa (looking forward to the harvest party)




On Sep 6, 2010, at 8:03 AM, Marc Siegel wrote:


Hi Kathie,
Thanks for the NorCal dates. I've never been to a weigh off and it'll be a great way to meet folks. I plan to go to Morgan Hill and will arrive in the morning to mingle with the contestants. Will you be there and entering a pumpkin? What is the current state of your pumpkin? Are others on this list 
going?
I'm also interested in HalfMoonBay, but dunno about skipping work. Maybe. Isn't HMB the granddaddy, or in some way special. It's curious that the weigh off there is a Monday. I wonder why. Perhaps the weekend crowds aren't 
helpful to true competitors?

Can someone enter a pumpkin in more than one contest?
Yours, Marc
___________


On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 8:28 AM, Kathie Morgan <fishrap@att.net> wrote:


Hi, Marc from San Jose!

Where do you go from here?

Elk Grove on 10-2.

Santa Rosa on 10-3.

Uesugi Farms in Morgan Hill on 10-9.

Half Moon Bay on 10-11.

Salinas on 10-16 (closer to you than Auburn on the same date).
Introduce yourself to the rest of us and hang on for the ride of your life. 
Welcome aboard!

Kathie in Santa Rosa






On Sep 5, 2010, at 8:07 AM, Marc Siegel wrote:

Hello,
I m Marc from San Jose and have been lurking here for a month, reading and learning from your advanced techniques. Thanks. I m a first year grower 
and
have had an amazing fun ride in my first season. Unlike your 500+
pounders,
my giant is now about 5 pounds, yellowing and turning soft. Not to fear: 
I
have two baseball size beauties gaining an ounce per day.
I d like to tell you my story and see if you have any helpful advice for 
salvaging the season.  My journey started in April when I attended a
workshop by Stuart Shim (http://bit.ly/9r6J0o) in San Jose, CA.  He
motivated me to dig (by hand) a 4 x4 x4 hole and fill it with delicious amendments, manure etc. I sprouted the seeds he provided in a peat pot 
and
was so excited to sink the finest baby into its special mound on May 30. Quickly it established and began spreading its vine briskly. Each day, 
with
excitement, I interrupted my work at least a dozen times to check in. Soon 
flowers came and I read up on the advanced techniques for just-right
pollination. I decided to let the pumpkin have its own sex, and I d keep 
the
most desirable. That s when the forementioned giant started and once it 
was softball-sized, I started breaking off the other budding babies.
It was late June and all was good. Confident, I began trashtalking that 
(no
matter what!) I was gonna grow a pumpkin that weighed more than me.
Currently I m at 200lbs but vowed to lose whatever weight it took to make 
my
goal.
During a San Jose heat storm, I first encountered wilting leaves (though I had just watered), and a very friendly guy taught me about misting. Rigid leaves left me pleased I had mastered this advanced technique. Every few days I mixed some fish emulsion with water and treated my beauty vine to 
this stink juice. I buried a few of the vines, My daily dozen visits
continued, and loved my new sport.
Then, things went horribly bad. I got busy in life, didn t pay as much attention, and somehow latched to the notion that if a little water was 
good, a Niagra was better. I watered every day, sometimes for hours,
spewing
it up and overhead. To compound matters, I didn't think much about
fertilizing or snipping tertiary sprouts. Eventually my Prize stopped growing, and over time all the plant's leaves yellowed. Eventually I got a clue and stopped the incessant watering. But the damage is done. The once yellowed leaves haven't really come back. The leaves near the tap root are dead or drying up. But the growing ends of several vines are delicious 
dark
green and growing and producing flowers and baby pumpkins. Is there hope?
I'd appreciate any advice on where to go from here, for this season, or 
next
year, especially information on watering schedules. I'm not embittered but 
enthused. This hobby is SO COOL.
Yours, Marc

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