Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 20 Entries. Sunday, April 27 View Page Hello my name is McKenna, I am the daughter of Duke (aka-the Pumpkin Pastor). I am growing my first pumpkin all by myself this year. I am growing the 500 Northrup because I wanted a big, orange, pretty pumpkin. Sunday, April 27 View Page Here is part of our patch prep. I am helping to shovel manure to the patch. And we had already added lots of amendments. Sunday, April 27 View Page Here I am putting the seed starting mix into my pot. I added water to it until I got just a few drops out when I squeezed it. Sunday, April 27 View Page Here I am unwrapping my seed after I soaked it. Sunday, April 27 View Page I am now finally getting to plant the seed. I filed a lot of seeds and practiced planting them and germinating them, getting ready for this day! Saturday, May 3 View Page The 500 Northrup hasn't come up yet and doesn't show any signs of it and it has been 6 days. So I started my backup today, the 1041 Sherwood. I should get a big orange/red pumpkin from it. If the 500 Northrup comes up I will use that still. Saturday, May 3 View Page Happy Pumpkin Growing!!! Tuesday, May 6 View Page Well my 1041 Sherwood only took 2 1/2 days to come up. I am still sad that my 500 Northrup didn't come up. But I still have a good plant that is doing well and should give me a nice looking pumpkin. Friday, June 13 View Page Here is the latest picture of my plant. It is finally in the ground outside and it is starting to grow real good. It is starting to curve, so I am trying to "train" it to go the right direction. Tuesday, July 1 View Page Here is my pumpkin plant, it is a 1041 Sherwood and it is growing great. I am beating my dad right now, but the season is long. I am just hoping to win the Jr. Division of the RMGVG weigh off. I hope there isn't a "Wiz Jr." or "Biz Jr." or I could be in trouble, for that much the whole world could be in trouble! Saturday, July 12 View Page I got a baby pumpkin about 9 ft. out on my main vine, this will be the first one that I pollinate, I hope it takes, and now the excitement will begin! I am either going to use a flower from my plant or I am going to try and get one from a 789 Steeve, either way, I should have great seeds to grow another good looking pumpkin. Tuesday, July 15 View Page Here I am tearing the petals off of a male flower from my plant, getting ready to pollinate my pumpkin. Tuesday, July 15 View Page Here I am pollinating my female flower. It is about 9 1/2 feet out on the main vine. The pumpkin itself is already pretty big, so I am hoping it will be huge by the end of September. Saturday, July 19 View Page Well my first pumpkin is pollinated and growing, it is about 4 days old and has an 9" circumference. I will keep posting as it grows and as I pollinate more. Monday, September 1 View Page My dad decided that since I have done 90% of the work this year, that the one and only pumpkin we have this year should be mine. So I am back in the competition again. We have had well problems and 3 of our 4 plants died. So the one that survived is the 1075 Sherber, which is the Colorado state record from last year.) My pumpkin is 173" OTT which means it is about 120 lbs. and it is gaining about 5 lbs a day. Monday, September 1 View Page Here is my giant sunflower from this year. It is 10'6" tall. I just planted it in the ground and it got watered with the pumpkins. I didn't do anything else to it. It is a "Mile-High" sunflower I got from the Wiz when we joined the RMGVG club. Saturday, September 27 View Page All my hard work paid off, I won the Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetables JR Division. My pumpkin was 171 lbs and I grew it from a 1075 Sherber. Saturday, September 27 View Page Here is me and my new buddy Joe. It was his seed that grew my JR Division winner this year, and this is his new state record, 1134 lbs. Good job Joe! Sunday, November 30 View Page Here is one of my seeds from my 171 pumpkin this year. I planted one to see if it would grow, and it sprouted up in 3 days and is growing strong. I just planted it in dirt from the yard and then just used plain water and it looks like a good grower. I may have to grow one next year. Sunday, November 30 View Page Here are two of my seeds for next year, the 1347 Wallace that I got for winning the JR Division at the RMGVG Weigh off in Littleton, and the other is the 1290 Poirier given to me by a nice Kansas grower. I still want to grow a nice big orange pumpkin too. I am pretty sure I can beat my dad (Pumpkin Pastor)in size and in prettiness with these two seeds.