Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 72 Entries. Monday, April 1 View Page Photo of my wet patch. Soil is high organic matter and does not drain well as it is close to a creek. When the creek level is high, the water rises up underground, so in some cases you can dig a hole in the garden and water fills in....in rainy years I fight to grow with rotting roots and diseases, like 2024.   Saturday, April 13 View Page Made new huts that are larger to try this year. Got to be able to take the wind, hold the heat, but be propped open later in the year and not blow away.   Monday, April 15 View Page Straight down view on the patch. 120x75 plot, lots of room for these huge plants.   Thursday, May 16 View Page Here is the lay of the land.... we have 2.5 acres in Ham Lake, Minnesota. Been growing here since 2014. Previously lived in north Minneapolis for a few years and grew a 1,240 pounder in 2009 and a 1,422 pounder in 2010. Best I've been able to grow in this peat muck is 1,956 in 2022 (3rd Stillwater)   Saturday, June 1 View Page Here are the plants after the hoops are off. Little tables are protecting the main vine tips.   Sunday, June 2 View Page Laid down some walking pallets to try and stay out of the mud.   Friday, June 14 View Page Half way through June and I think some other well known local grower(s) are already pollinated! Ha! Slow and steady is the game in this patch. This low ground is the last to thaw and first to freeze in the fall.   Thursday, June 20 View Page June 20 Overhead.   Wednesday, June 26 View Page June 26 and there is a lot of vine burying to do...and keeping away the weeds to keep the 'Mr. Perfect Patch' title that gets thrown around. Ha!   Friday, June 28 View Page This plant is the 2749 Gienger. Looks like I have a keeper under the little white table.   Thursday, July 4 View Page Into July and lots of vine management left....still dealing with too much rain which makes the soil ripe for compaction while I'm out on the walking boards. This is the kind of soil when it gets wet and compressed that if you push a broadfork into it and pull down you'll get a sucking sound while trying to get it apart...not good!   Friday, July 12 View Page Overhead view of the patch for July 12th.   Friday, July 12 View Page Here is the keeper on the 2749 Gienger. This plant had thin stems, consistant growth, but would drag its vine tips. It never would cobra like the other plants, but grew all the same.   Friday, July 12 View Page Every year we get a few rows of Canna bulbs planted in the rear with three rows of zinnas and a boarder row of moss rose...or portucala? Ask Chris Brown how to say it! Travis had some of the front row Portucala, or moss rose, at his MN state fair booth this year that had a pinwheel of colors. First time I had seen that.   Friday, July 19 View Page Now we're growing fruit! To the left is 2749, at the bottom is a 2560 Maverick, middle right fruit is 2501 Bernstrom, middle left is 2222 Gienger which is just a few days old on July 19th! Top of photo is another Maverick fruit.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page July 23rd look at this 2222 Gienger plant and baby fruit. This was my last try to pollinate after several aborts and a yellowed plant. This area of the patch is the lowest by just a few inches but in peat muck that just means its even more of a swamp under the soil surface. This pumpkin will be a keeper!   Tuesday, July 23 View Page Another drone shot of the patch.....little did I know the baby fruit in the lower middle will end up beating out all the others in the end by hundreds of pounds.   Thursday, July 25 View Page Maverick plant and fruit.   Friday, July 26 View Page Another view as I'm getting excited will we pull out of the rain squalls and still be able to get some big ones?   Thursday, August 1 View Page August 1st. Plants only have a few few left to fill in and we are done slithering around in the dirt! Seems like the weather is finally drying out a bit but I fear the damage may already be done underground....   Thursday, August 1 View Page The Maverick. Great shape and color.   Thursday, August 1 View Page The 2222 Gienger baby of the patch getting ready to surge! Plant is greening up much better.   Thursday, August 1 View Page Maverick fruit. Had to get a picture with it.   Friday, August 9 View Page Another shot of that Maverick....   Friday, August 9 View Page Sunset over the patch.   Saturday, August 17 View Page The St. Croix Growers Association (SCGA) patch tour has arrived! We had a great turnout and it was the first time I've been chosen to host the members. I was really hoping I was going to have some mighty fruit to show off but it is what it is I guess! Fun and frienship will outlast the best of fruit.   Saturday, August 17 View Page Photo taken by Serene Stang of me with my 2501 Bernstrom fruit. You can see some of the group hanging out in the background.   Sunday, August 18 View Page The day after the patch tour. I had to break the bad news I was just trying to keep the patch looking good for the show, but two fruit have stopped growing, and one is slowing way down. I will be chopping up one of the Maverick plants to get it ready to pull for the Minnesota State Fair.   Sunday, August 18 View Page August 18th taking it all in.   Sunday, August 18 View Page ...and now to skeletonize a plant for educational purposes. I took extra time to cut off all the leaves and stalks to show the hidden vine pattern. Not often a pumpkin dead stops growing with suspected fusarium in the roots and vines clogging up the works. Dang early season excessive rains.   Sunday, August 18 View Page Closer view. What I suspected was a fusarium infection was pretty much confirmed when Shannon Engel spotted some puddles of ooze coming out of some of the vines closer to his viewing position from the fence. Yep explains most of the DMG fruit in my patch! In this case and for the other fruit that came to a halt this year, the rain just rotted most the roots off stopping the major turgor pressure to the fruits.   Sunday, August 18 View Page Maverick down to her bones.   Sunday, August 18 View Page Another view from the STEM or STUMP or... well it was a short ride and at least will get 50,000 eyes and some eager teen fingernail art at the fair.   Sunday, August 18 View Page Me in there for scale.   Sunday, August 18 View Page ..and again...   Tuesday, August 20 View Page OK time to get serious and get this thing off the ground. I lift 94.5% of my pumpkins using the tripod...well that's a guess but I've been using this same setup since 2009 and haven't lost one yet, knock on morning wood.   Tuesday, August 20 View Page ...in ya go youngster, kennel up.....   Wednesday, August 21 View Page I started a new job last fall, but had taken the year off, so nobody knew I grew pumpkins. So I told everyone this fall I'd bring the pumpkins by...always amazing there are folks out there who have not seen these things by now. They liked it so much they put some photos on the company montiors that were also shown at our plants in Arizona and Ohio. Pretty cool!   Wednesday, August 21 View Page Sometimes I have to take that old familar selfie that never gets old! Leaving work and headed down to the Minnesota State Fair!   Friday, August 23 View Page Minnesota State Fair 2024 3rd place. Not many pumpkins this year so usually that is a tell tale that the weights and numbers will be down locally from my experience....but wait what the heck is that I see pulling into the fairgrounds....   Friday, August 23 View Page Meet Joe Morgan. He's only been growing a few years and reminds me of when I started out...he grows on a city lot with a backyard converted into a garden space amongst trees, buldings and tons of tree rats and peter rabbits..but Joe pulled off his own miracle and everything he wanted...to WIN the MN State Fair and boy did he ever, he bested the place with a Minnesota State Fair RECORD!   Friday, August 23 View Page The new Minnesota State Fair 2024 record....1808.5 Morgan 2024 (2222 Gienger x Self) This fruit also went heavy but the fair is not a GPC event so the usual inspections, cutting stems, measuring OTT does not happen. I personally took a look over this fruit and she was 100% and was like slapping tank armor. Congrats to Joe!   Sunday, September 1 View Page A few days after the fair started I noticed one of my other fruit went from 52 pounds a day by OTT to zero and folded up. Found rotted roots and a few vines riddled with fusarium. I give up with this garbage! This one $h!t the bed at 1,121 pounds.   Sunday, September 1 View Page Maverick fruit has headed to the patch in the sky. Pulled seeds which were in great shape as everything was clean inside.   Sunday, September 1 View Page Checking out, just gotta get this whale chopped up and put to rest away from the patch.   Monday, September 2 View Page Nice seeds. This is 1121 Bogie 2024 (2560A Gienger x 2222 Gienger)...had 52 pounds a day for 4 days before everything went kapooie.   Monday, September 2 View Page Things are really clearing out now. Not the way I had thought the season was gonna go...ya know some people know how things are going to go, like when a pull tab player buys a stack but also grabs a basket for the losers...I never 'grab the basket' in my garden and expect the best but this seems to be how it goes, so not sure what to do. Move? Quit? Grow corn and table squash I guess!   Monday, September 2 View Page We have been blessed with this little baby late pollination has been doing pretty well so all my attention will be going to try to get something sizeable to the scale. Stillwater is no joke and I like to have a fruit at the table there any year I grow.   Friday, September 6 View Page The boneyard is stacking up. The 2749 had stopped growing and had a huge growth crack under the fruit so off to the wood chipper as it goes...1121 is in there too....uugh   Thursday, September 12 View Page September 12th...we are sitting on a 2501 Bernstrom fruit top middle that stopped growing nearly a month ago but no signs of rot. We did have a major heat and humidity event for a few days around the time it quit so must have prematured. Top left is a patch of office pumpkins; jack b little and baby boos. 2222 Gienger baby fruit continues to grow well as she was pollinated after the majority of the heavy rains occurred.   Sunday, September 22 View Page My wife Heather and I took a day to drive up north in Minnesota to see grower Jerry Gibson. He grows, competes, comes to all the events, seed auctions, he's everywhere, like Trump. Also has a fall patch where he sells his gourdgeous fruits and fall mums. Here is the sign to his ponderosa.   Wednesday, September 25 View Page Stopped over to see Travis' fruit. Man yet another sledgehammer year after year in the same spot it's quite amazing. Bonus points if you can identify the character in the photo!   Friday, September 27 View Page Pulled my 2501 Bernstrom fruit that had stopped for over a month. Not a thing wrong with it. Dunno. Got it over to the Nowthen Heritage Festival and came in at 1,193 pounds. 1193 Bogie 2024 (2501 Bernstrom x 2749 Gienger)   Friday, September 27 View Page I took back my 810 pounder from the state fair to put on my driveway this fall. Here is the 810 lined up against the 1,193 pounder on the trailer.   Friday, September 27 View Page Our 2222 Gienger baby fruit has really done well late season. Maybe I should give this pumpkin growing another try next year. One of the best colored fruits I've had!   Saturday, September 28 View Page Well? It's all I got, so I can't complain! Just keep pushing and see what we get at Stillwater.   Wednesday, October 2 View Page Just one left....   Friday, October 4 View Page Frost has toasted the plant so thats game...not getting any more gains. I'll have some play time to cut off stalks and leaves to show the vine pattern.   Friday, October 4 View Page Leaves went Captain Crunch overnight....   Saturday, October 5 View Page Picked up some paint cards at Home Depot from the best orange colors I could find....we're in the range   Sunday, October 6 View Page The 2501 Bernstrom plant that matured the 1,193 pounder way early started putting out suckers mid September...so snatched a probably 20 day old boo and entered it at Anoka Halloween...I was not last....but did get to enter a fruit at all three shows, so kind of a morale boost to not give up!   Friday, October 11 View Page Harvested and cleaned up the desk pumpkins. Have a local play farm looking to buy them all of us so that works out.   Friday, October 11 View Page Over to Travis' patch to help with the lift. First, gotta get some drone shots!   Friday, October 11 View Page The World Record Patch!   Friday, October 11 View Page Liftoff and she solid!   Friday, October 11 View Page Travis is all loaded up for yet another run to HMB!   Friday, October 11 View Page OK now that Travis is gearing up for the road, I gotta get my fruit loaded up for Stillwater! Here's a quick drone shot of the leaves gone, vines up, and 6'2" me next to the 2222 fruit for comparison...   Friday, October 11 View Page Loaded up and ready for tomorrow!   Saturday, October 12 View Page Do we have a shot here? At least I'm liking the color pop and comments from the crowd! I think if the crowd has a vote I might have a chance at best looker? I think they got the Mayor on the way to make the solo choice for HD and I don't have his CashApp tag...dang it.....   Saturday, October 12 View Page 1684.5 Bogie 2024 (2222 Gienger x 2749 Gienger) ...I've grown 1700, 1800 and 1900 pounders, but this is my first within the 1600 pound class. I have all fruit I've grown documented with photos over the years if you're ever browsing on Pumpkin Fanatic.   Wednesday, October 23 View Page After Stillwater, the pumpkin was booked for a ride on a float in the Anoka Halloween Day Parade...it's a pretty big deal around here, gotta be one of the biggest parades. Huuuge. Travis has the big tools to move these things so I headed over to his place, but he was busy. His daughter Lily had no problems getting me unloaded! Start 'em young they say!   Sunday, October 27 View Page Did a little amending of my soil and got it tilled in and shank ripped the whole dang thing. Not much I can do to make my patch better. I'm in low ground so I mud up fast and fight root disease all the time. Also we're the last to thaw and the first to freeze down by the creek. Stuff I didn't think about when we moved here. All I saw was a gopher mound of black gold and said sold! Here is a dry 2025 please! Cheers!