Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 115 Entries. Thursday, January 13 View Page This Years Pumpkin and Squash List. I am going for gold with squash for the pumpkin. Thanks to the generosity of Ian Paton and David Thomas this year will be my first for growing giant pumpkins. I will be growing 2 to 3 plants from: 1504 Paton 10 (UK Record) 1366 Paton 10 962 Thomas 10 707 Thomas 09 (Squash)   Monday, January 24 View Page Lots of work to do here   Tuesday, February 22 View Page Too wet down the allotment up in Nottingham so I have travelled to London to build a raised planter for my sister. Requirements are that it must be high enough so that the dog can not cock its leg on it and needs to house some potatoes. Building from treated sawn softwood, 75mm x75mm (main frame), 47mmx47mm (internal frame) and 100mmx19mm (side and base)   Tuesday, February 22 View Page First section completed and free standing too!   Tuesday, February 22 View Page Frame built but base support still to be fitted   Tuesday, February 22 View Page Job completed and just before it got dark too. Cost about £150 to build. Is about 60cm deep throughout. The base consists of slats on top of a frame and these could be raised through the fixing of a few brackets to make raised shelves. As it stands it could cost up to £100 to fill!   Tuesday, February 22 View Page Job completed.   Friday, April 1 View Page This years parsnip and salsify patch and my first time for growing both. Used the end of a pick axe to bore out a 12x4 inch hole and filled with compost.   Friday, April 1 View Page This years spuds: Rocket, Cara and Pink Fir Apple   Friday, April 1 View Page The strawberry patch which has sprung to life after the first rain for the past few weeks. Its been a very dry spring start but April will make up for that with snowball sized hail, monsoon and snow.   Wednesday, May 4 View Page General pic of progress whilst the pumpkins are still in their pots.   Wednesday, May 4 View Page Icerbergs,Beetroot, Salsify, Parsnip, PSB, Brussells and Broccoli all growing nicely.   Wednesday, May 4 View Page Strawberries doing nicely, not long now. Gooseberries doing well too, lots of fruit but the rhubarb is not. Guess its settling in after being moved v.early spring.   Wednesday, May 4 View Page How the plot looked when I took it on back in Sept of 2009. Picture is composed of two cut and pasted together. Actual plot is a lot wider!   Saturday, May 7 View Page Makeshift and very tatty hoop-house for my 1366 Paton 10. Prepared the ground today by digging and weeding a 4 foot square and 1.5 foot deep pit and mixing in at least 5-6 wheelbarrows of manure (not fully rotted). Chucked in some in pelleted chicken manure and growmore fertiliser. OIld carpet down as weed suppressent   Monday, May 9 View Page Peek of the 1366 Paton through a makeshift vent. Just in case I can't get down one morning and its a hot day, I have cut little vents around the clotch. Bit risky if we get a frost but nothing like learning through mistakes   Monday, May 9 View Page Edamame beans (Envy) in the greenhouse. Sown March 1st, germinated in 3 days, in greenhouse after 14 days and transplanted to growing position April 1st.   Monday, May 9 View Page HSL Golden Sweet Mange tout (left) and Stephens Pea (right)   Monday, May 9 View Page In flower   Monday, May 9 View Page Salsify and Parsnips   Wednesday, May 11 View Page Checked on my single plant (1366 Paton) yesterday and nnoticed that the largest leaf (and there's not many of them at the moment)looks to have received some sun damage. The edges are white and look singed. Following advice from D.Thomas I have covered the hoop house with a single layer of debri netting to limit further damage to future growth.   Thursday, May 26 View Page My single plant, the 1366 Paton. Growing steadily as soon to be too big for the hoop house. The netting worked a treat with regards to no more sun damage to the leaves. Thinking on extending the hoop house to prolong the warmth until Junes weather kicks in. Have sown a 555 Thomas (squash) in the greenhouse as my second plant. My other Thomas didn't germinate (in my hands!).   Thursday, May 26 View Page Just to thr right are 6 squash for eating. From bottom right to top is: Spaghetti squash, Thelma Sanders (Acorn Squash), Hooligan F1, Tuffy Sweet (Acorn Squash), Cornells Bush Delicata and Pienna. Have staggered the additional Tuffy, Hooligan, Bon Bon x2, Thelma and Spaghetti where I can on the plot. I like having a backup of each after last years Black Futsu only produced one pumpkin.   Thursday, May 26 View Page Radar red oions harvested early after the tops were blown over by the strong winds experienced over the last couple of days.   Thursday, May 26 View Page Golden Sweet MangeTout (yellow pods) and Stephens Pea (purple pods) producing an abundance pods.   Thursday, May 26 View Page Sweetcorn went in yesterday   Thursday, May 26 View Page Cucumbers: An unusual Red Hmong in forefront which produces a large orange cucumber followed by three Crystal Lemons which are nice little round ones. Have never tried either so fingers crossed for a bumper harvest.   Thursday, May 26 View Page Another pumpkin squeazed in and will cover the patch that is left after I harvest the onions next month. Another pumpkin (spaghetti squash I think) will grow in and around the sweetcorn.   Wednesday, June 1 View Page After a weekend away I came back to find that my 1366 Paton was quickly outgrowing its hoop house. I wanted to build a polytunnel type house for it and started out, without much of a plan and cobbled some materials together that were laying around the shed. All in all I am quite pleased as I wasn't sure I would get it all sealed. I have left a 1m square open at the top for ventilation and there are a few gaps here and there for extra ventilation. Can always move some panels if it gets too hot.   Wednesday, June 1 View Page Side view of the pumpkin house   Wednesday, June 1 View Page Hung a thermometer in shortly after completing and the temperature was 30 oC. Not a particularly hot day so I must be careful and open it up a bit on hot days.   Wednesday, June 1 View Page More and more pods. Cn't believe how productive these varieties are and I only started with 19 seeds of each. Must save for next year and grow double!   Thursday, June 2 View Page The main vine is growing vertically and a large leaf to the front is propping it up further. I twisted it very slightly this morning in an effort to make it lay down better. Need to keep a close eye on it as with only one plant a snapped vine would put me until 2012 Had to completely open up the tunnel by removing both ends due to the temp in there being 30oC this morning. May have to start a routinte of opening up in the morning and closing at night.   Thursday, June 2 View Page The greenhouse is all planted now. Four tomato plants (Ace, Alicante and Big Boy) planted and six sweet peppers (Californian Wonder, Yellow Ringo, Orange Sun and Red Marconi) Support built for cucumbers   Thursday, June 2 View Page Just noticed that my Edamame plants have beans on them. Didnt even notice any flowers! ??   Wednesday, June 8 View Page Vine 3' long now and still not completely down. There was a large leaf stem under the vine and propping it up. It has split under the weight so I cut if off this evening which allowed the plant a little movement. Removed the netting off the top to allow more light in. Have been watering the 2m square mound daily with approx 8L of water but I have a hunch this is too much and will water every 2nd day for the time being.   Tuesday, June 14 View Page Vine 5' long now and is completely down. First hot day for a while now so roof of tunnel removed as 30oC in there. Roof to be left off now but sides still in place for wind protection and vine now protected with some pegs in the form of bent plastic hooping.   Thursday, June 16 View Page Vine 6' long putting out a few 1-2' secondaries. Some pointing in undesired directions. Will have to train and manipulate later. Dug a little of the ground today taking a bit of a risk and not digging too close (about 3' out from the mound. Dug to a spades depth as the ground is quite compacted having not been grown on for at least 4 years. Throughout the plot the soil is good after years of manuring by the previous holder. Roof went back on after this picture as the weather has been up and down and nearly sub 50oF some nights. Have left it open though, not that I have much choice as it is outgroing the tunnel rapidly.   Thursday, June 16 View Page Vine 6' long   Monday, June 20 View Page Vine now 8.5' long and the tunnel has been removed completely. Have pegged the vine down with some folded hoola hupe plastic and will soil up under the junctions this week with some added bonemeal. Will leave off the fertiliser (N) until after polination as I gave a good dose 2-3 days ago. Read somewhere that should have at least 100-150 leaves before setting to support fast growing fruit so Grow baby grow! Picture to follow tomorrow. Hopefully 11' vine with some growing secondaries, may have to do a leaf count.   Thursday, June 23 View Page Secondaries growing nicely   Thursday, June 23 View Page Not sure what the leaf damage is and I can't find the culprit. No slug trails although half a dozen were removed from under the carpet mulch that was around the stump in the early days. Damage is not new.   Tuesday, June 28 View Page Vine at 12' with only real female contender at 11'. Pinched off the females off the first three secondaries on the left hand side. Will leave all the ones on the right hand side vines just in case I have a pollination problems later as 'beggers can't be choosers'. More females on the main please. Need them showing soon for setting around the 10th July.   Wednesday, June 29 View Page A side view (had to type something)   Wednesday, June 29 View Page 'All Year Round' cauliflowers harvested. Harvested 6, 3 for friends 3 for the freezer. 1 more on the plot for eating fresh once it gets bigger then in go the Purple Cape and Romanesco for autumn/winter harvesting   Wednesday, June 29 View Page Red Hmong Cucumber   Wednesday, June 29 View Page Red Hmong Cucumber   Monday, July 4 View Page Main vine at 13-14' now and the only contender on the primary is at 12'. I am worried about positioning the fruit. At present it is pointing up and I am not sure if this will be a problem later and tear itself of the vine. I also want to coax the vine round 90 degrees as you do but to do so I must twist the vine around by 180 degrees. This results in the fruit (which has a nice long shape, but short stem) pointing down. Will get a photograph put on tomorrow. A lot of effort considering the fruit may not even take. May have to consider the best secondary to grow from due to space limitations. Photograph to follow.   Monday, July 4 View Page Vine at 13' and just before I started to train the vine at 90 degrees where the female is. If it aborts I will just move it back and may have to go with a secondary on one of those right hand side vines.   Tuesday, July 5 View Page It would seem that I made a big fuss about nothing. The fruit was perfectly positioned. Just a bend in the vine needed for correct angle.   Tuesday, July 5 View Page A close up of the first female. Should be open tomorrow.   Wednesday, July 6 View Page Female opended this morning. All night I was worrying as I wanted this one set yet forgot to cover to prevent the rain getting in. It rained first thing. Anyhow, upon checking the flower out I couldnt help but notice the aboundance of seeds that should be in the fruit   Wednesday, July 6 View Page Just before I pinched it off   Wednesday, July 6 View Page Next contender on primary and at 15' There are plenty of fruits on the secondaries that should open before this one (which maybe around 13th July) and I will let most of them set   Wednesday, July 6 View Page Should I grow from one of these secondaries?   Wednesday, July 6 View Page Double female on secondary vine. Is this usual?   Thursday, July 7 View Page Red Hmong Cucumber. Made a boo boo and left the males on. It looked lovely, had a lovely crunch but boy was it bitter. Was fun seeing my two year old try it. Bad daddy!   Friday, July 8 View Page Polinated this morning. This flower is much better than the last with only a few seeds in flower. I can live with that but not sure about the poistion which is 5-6' out on the 3rd secondary. Got the job done at 9am just before it rained and covered with this little table. Only had one male to use so lets hope it does the trick. The 4th vine is gorwing more strongly with twins to pollinate in the next few days followed by the fruit at 15'.   Friday, July 8 View Page Polinated this morning. This flower is much better than the last with only a few seeds in flower.   Friday, July 8 View Page Not sure about the poistion which is 5-6' out on the 3rd secondary. Got the job done at 9am just before it rained and covered with a table. Only had one male to use so lets hope it does the trick. The 4th vine is gorwing more strongly with twins to pollinate in the next few days followed by the fruit at 15'.   Sunday, July 10 View Page Polinated one of the twins on the 4th secondary. No seeds in fruit or deformed lobes and nicely symmetrical.   Sunday, July 10 View Page Plant stands at 16'   Tuesday, July 12 View Page Other twin female would be open today for the bees to pollinate. Will check on progress tomorrow.   Wednesday, July 13 View Page 5 days and has a circumference of 6'. This one definately took and is on the 3rd secondary. Not ideal position but will see how they all get on before selecting a keeper.   Wednesday, July 13 View Page Pollinated at 15' this morning and another perfect flower.   Wednesday, July 13 View Page 17' long and also 17' at widest point. The left hand side vines dont get as much sun and can only grow to 8'. I have therefore bent the first and subsequent vines round the back and then run them backwards to get a few extra feet per vine. Vines on the right hand side can run to the edge of the path at 9' but I will allow them to maybe 15' by trailing them over some of the old beds which will not be in use soon.   Wednesday, July 13 View Page Side profile of the patch. Forefront soon to be covered in secondary vines   Wednesday, July 13 View Page Just noticed my prediction on the 6th July Entry of the flower opening on the 13th. Bang on! Must play the lotto this weekend.   Sunday, July 17 View Page Pumpkins on the 4th and 4rd Secondary's at day 7 and 9 respectively. Its been cold and wet for the last two days now. Probably the worst 'Summer' I can remember!   Sunday, July 17 View Page Close up of Vine 4 and Vine 3. 10 day measurement of V3 pumpkin is 11'. Its been growing at an inch a day. Same for V4 pumpkin which is about 8' on day 8. Really need some sunshine.   Sunday, July 17 View Page Pumpkin at 15-16' too young to measure but I hope it grows more quickly than at 3rd and 4th secondary. Another female at about 17-18' (an estimate). Just have to wait and see as I didnt cover it and am not sure if it opended today (its raining again!)   Wednesday, July 20 View Page Well since I have two pumpkins on secondary vines, one pollinated at 15.5' and one pollinated today at about 17-18' I decided to pinch off all the flowers which totalled about 10 females and at least 50 males. Weather is still poor with maximum of 15oC.   Thursday, July 21 View Page Pumpkin on 4th secondary pinched off along with a few missed male and females at the end of secondary vines. Pumpkin on 3rd secondary = 14" on day 13 Pumpkin on Main at 15/5' = 8.75" on day 9 - 90 degree curve put in.   Thursday, July 21 View Page Correction to above. Main vine pumpkin is 8.75" on day 8 (not day 9)   Thursday, July 21 View Page 1st pollinated on V3   Thursday, July 21 View Page About the size of a grapefruit   Thursday, July 21 View Page 8 day pumpkin at 15-16'   Thursday, July 21 View Page The secondary vines are filling out nicely and soon to be pinched off on the left handside. Running right hand side vines to 10'   Friday, July 22 View Page Pumpkin on main vine cut off today. Checked underneath it and it was quite badly damaged. Just one pumpkin left and its on a secondary.   Tuesday, August 2 View Page Well, my pumpkin finally took off somewhere around day 19 whereafter it started to grow at 2" per day (previously 1" per day). A summary of recent measurements: day 15(17"), day 17(19"), day 22(27"), day 25(35"). The 3rd secondary was terminated at the pumpkin and a box of fish, blood and bone was spread over the entire patch and watered in.   Tuesday, August 2 View Page This photo was taken on the 29th July and shows a split on the pumpkin stem which hasnt reached the pumpkin yet. Lets hope it doesnt or thats me for the season.   Tuesday, August 2 View Page This photo was taken 3 days later on the 1st August and shows the split getting both seeper and wider but thankfully not spreading along the vine (yet!). Need to seek opinions of some experienced growers!   Wednesday, August 3 View Page Just realised that I have been measuring the circumference up and under the pumpkin and not around and parallel to the ground. Off to the plot with a tape measure!   Wednesday, August 3 View Page Remeasured with cc. of 41" and OTT measurment of 101". Estimated weight from chart gives 29.5 lbs which although a PB for me is still a long way off my target of 500 lbs.   Thursday, August 4 View Page cc. of 45" and OTT measurment of 109". Estimated weight from chart gives 36-37 lbs (= gain of +6-7lbs)   Thursday, August 4 View Page Was raining today and the pumpkin was getting wet so I put together a new cover (See previous entry) to help keep the stem split dry. The pumpkin grew 4" in circumference overnight and I decided to put a small cut in to help prevent the stem split if it gets bigger. Better to make the decision while I can just incase it travels further down the stem to the pumpkin   Thursday, August 4 View Page Now I wanted to keep the split dry but the cut I put in it (maybe 5mm deep) is now flooding water into the split. Need to wait for the new cut to heal and then try and dry the stem split up and maybe clean with 10% bleach. Seeking advice this very moment   Monday, August 8 View Page Been wasting some time today by putting all my measurements down on a spreadsheet. Worked out that if my pumpkin was to hold the same growth for another 55 days then I could hit the 300lb mark easily. Sounds good on paper doesn't it. The weather doesn't resemble summer today. Day 26 and 27 showed OTT increase of 8" and CC of 4". That has dropped a little which is hopefully a reflection of the weather. I also terminated all the secondaries today. Probably a foolish thing to do but I really want to direct growth into the pumpkin while its growing and appreciate that I will not be hitting 1000lbs. Apart from the location of the pumpkin which is not ideal, I cant help but wonder what the condition the soil is in. For next year I will get some soil tests done and ammend the soil as neccesary with manure and green manure in by the autumn   Tuesday, August 9 View Page Well its grown a bit in the last 7 days but nothing to write home about. Its lost its nice round shape and has dip just above the blossom. Sounds quite hollow on tapping it so any weight estimates could be unrealistic but then again it could be just how they sound. Measures 57"cc (+2") but only +3.5" OTT. Please be just a reflection on the weather. Total OTT is 136" = 63 lbs. My initial target was 500 lb then 300 lb. Now I just wonder if I will break 150 lb.   Tuesday, August 9 View Page My two year old son who I am not allowing to sit on it yet.   Friday, August 12 View Page Picked up a gear again. Presumably as the temp has increased to 21oC. Still cloudy and no sun. Measures 155 (OTT) est.92 lbs on day 35. This picture shows the ugly side. Scuffed and scratched and a little bumpy. Appears to be a sag just above the blossom about the width of an avergae persons fist. Looks to be outgrowing its tent quite quickly   Friday, August 12 View Page The pretty side and showing the healed stem split.   Sunday, August 14 View Page Could visibly see some growth ttoday as the pumpkin is getting very close to the edges of the mini tent so I will have to make it bigger in the next few days. Measured 166"OTT so I have broken the 100lb mark with and estimated weight of 106 lbs. Roll on 200lbs   Wednesday, August 31 View Page 225"OTT - Est 249 lbs. Seems to be putting on average about 7lbs a day. Weather still gloomy although the rain helped I am sure.   Wednesday, August 31 View Page 225" OTT = 249 lbs   Friday, September 2 View Page Make that 10 lbs a day, now at 231" = 269 lbs   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Measured on the 4th September at cc:106, bs:65, ss:66, total OTT = 236, est 286 lbs. I fear it could weigh less though as it has quite a few dips in it. Measured again today and no change. End of the season I fear and I dont think I'll be taking it anywhere. A bit of an anti-climax for it to stop so suddenly when I had hopes of hitting 350lbs. Its an ugly pumpkin and I'll get a picture loaded up soon. Its cold and wet here in the UK and it has not been much of a summer. However, the plant still looks healthy. What to do with it? Bathroom scales to the plot with a carving knife to get a weight? Seems so harsh.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page 236" OTT = 286 lbs Nb estimated final weight was 279lbs (234") based on Holland's 77% final OTT on day 40.   Wednesday, September 7 View Page In the centre is next years patch for a 1098 Moretti. Patch measures 600 square foot. I have put aside some soil from this patch for testing. A third of the patch has had manure added and a crop of grazing rye sown. Its provides a nice vibrant green cover over the winter and I plan to get the other 2/3 of the patch weeded, manure added and rye sown by the 23rd september. Due to availability I am going to have to use a 50/50 mix of vetch and rye for the remaining patch. A least vetch will create nitrogen to the soil when dug in whilst rye will just make sure that the current level of nitrogen is not leached away over winter   Wednesday, September 7 View Page A chart of growth vs time   Thursday, September 8 View Page Some of my squash curing in the greenhouse. I would have left them on the plant longer but a few vines were coming down quite quickly with powdery mildew and I wanted the plants of the plot to limit spread to my 1366Paton. Curing (clockwise from top left to right) are: Spaghetti squash (x6), Hooligan (x12), uchiki kuri (x1), Tuffy sweet (x5), Thelma sanders (x4), Spaghetti squash again (x2) and Bon Bon (x4). I have already given away 3 or 4 spaghetti squash and a couple of hooligans so all in all not a bad harvest considering the weather. Still on the vines are delicata (x2), butternut (x1) and Tuffy Sweet (x2) and another Thelma sanders is at home. Lunga Pienna di Napoli failed to pollinate so none of them to taste. I did pick a Tromba di albenga which really did look like a snake. It is bright green,about 1m long and is being cooked tonight! Once they have matured I'll taste and decide what to grow again next year. This year I did try to grow some gem squash (Rolet) and Loofah but both failed to germinate so I will definately try next year. Plan to add Black Futsu to my list but space is limited due to growing two AG's next year. On reading other diaries, and reading of others problems, cracks and splits I think 2 AG's is a must. Considering I only had one this year I am happy to have a pumpkin still. I am getting a little greedy and wonderig if 3 AG's would be possible but that would involve some carefull planning so that I can fit some potatoes and cauliflowers in for home. We'll see.   Friday, September 9 View Page One thing I forgot to mention is the size of the spaghetti squash. The first three squash were on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd secondaries of the plant and they set quite early on in the season. The biggest spaghetti squash of all was pollinated on the primary vine some 6' down and grew extremely quickly. Just goes to show the differnce between primary and secondary (despite have 3 secondary squash). I wonder what my 1366Paton would have given me if I had kept the pumpkin at 17'? Also, remeasured my pumpkin today: cc 108.5, ss 67.5, bs 66 = 242 OTT = 307 lbs. Looks like I hit my target just need to get the scales out to prove it. I took the cover off a week ago and you can see where the little bit of extra growth has split the skin that is hardening up. Only small cracks but something to avoid next year with a fast growing one towards the end of the season (I hope)   Wednesday, September 14 View Page Growth creeped up to 5.5lbs a day from my last entry. Yesterday was at 329 lbs. The skin is getting quite tuff on one side now as a result of exposure to the sun Could still hit 400lbs by the end of the month, especially if it comes in heavy. Oh I hope it comes in heavy!   Tuesday, September 27 View Page Pumpkin now at an estimated 392 lbs (263.5") at day 81. Almost finished autumn/winter prep for one of next years patches which will put be in a good position for 2012. I added manured and sown grazing rye to this second 1/3rd of the patch during my lunch break. The final 1/3rd of this patch still needs to be dug/manure/cover crop. Its been quite easy so far as the heavy weeding was done well in the previous year. However, the next patch (1100 square foot) is where the hard work begins. Its been covered with brambles, nettles and weeds for the last three years and will take a long time to prepare. I'll probably only be able to complete half of it in time to be able to get a cover crop sown before it gets too cold. Patch 1 = 1098 Morreti (Autumn Prep almost complete) Patch 2 = 852 Myers Patch 3 = 1504 Paton   Monday, October 3 View Page According to OTT estimates I have entered the 400lb weight class whic is great as I never thought I would see 200lb at one point. Tapes 416lbs. The local newspaper are keen on doing a page 3 with a picture of my two children sitting on it. One big enough for the kids to sit on was always my ambition. Now I have a new one: to grow a 1000lb plus one. Roll on 2012   Thursday, October 6 View Page My five year old daughter just loves to pose!   Thursday, October 6 View Page No.2   Thursday, October 6 View Page No.3 At one point she stood on it and that was fine but when she started to tap dance.....   Thursday, October 6 View Page My five year old little girl and two year old mischief maker   Thursday, October 6 View Page My favorite photo so far!   Friday, October 7 View Page Made an appearance in the local paper. This is online version.   Monday, October 10 View Page Ditched the string and used a proper tape measure. Seems my measurements have been a little high although the ground is not level so not as accurate as could be. Final Measurement, D94 = cc 122, ss 74, bs 72 = 268" = 412 lbs. Just need to locate some hire scales and a pulley and I'll get it weighed. It does seen to have bulked out a little in some of the narrower parts.   Monday, October 17 View Page Well today was the day that I got my rusty old tool out! Using electronic bathroom scales I cut it into 11 peices and recorded 494 lbs. Couldnt be happier with that as it is some 16-20% heavy. 16-20% heavvy? Well, 7 days ago it had been putting on 2.07 lbs a day for 14 days so assuming it continued to grow at that rate until today then it would be an estimated 426 lbs and hence 16% heavy. Based on 7 days ago it woul de 20% heavy. The former is more reliable but 16% is brilliant. Seeds harvested and will be cleaned up later   Monday, October 17 View Page Back ache had set in by now. 494 lbs! I would never of moved it without a hoist and 4 wheeled trolley. Two things I do not have, yet! But next year.....   Monday, October 31 View Page Copied this from a picture on the net. Started at 10pm and finished at midnight when the wife came in to see what I was up to and shrieked at the pumpkin shavings all over the kitchen. Will have to tool up a little better next time as only had a 12 inch kitchen knife so all in all not a bad result considering I still have all my fingers and thumbs.