From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Ray, North Dakota

I am at my brothers in Minneapolis for the holiday, and all of my relatives think I am goofy for thinking about this. Anyone else get this vibe from other people? Now I know I have to do this!

11/24/2005 1:45:16 PM

Knopp, Germany

i do not go anywhere that i do not have internet access to this site. everyone that knows me personnally calls me pumpkin head, oh well...LOL

11/24/2005 2:00:30 PM

Pumpkintown, SC

welcome to our world...there's no turning back now

11/24/2005 2:38:05 PM

N.Benton/Ohio

Herbie.all those people will want to try it after they see what ya been talking about.All summer long this year al my friends and coworkers were probbally sick of heraing about what i had growing in the patch untill they seen them.i have now given away about 250 of my seeds to them so they can try next year.Im shure i will be hearing there stories now also.
BryanCeresna
Good luck next year ^^

11/24/2005 2:44:11 PM

Puyallup, WA

Once you have been growing six years and you win the local fair competition, you will finally get some respect.

11/24/2005 3:06:58 PM

Ontario, Canada.

Everyone thinks we are a little off the deep edge. Just today during a snow storm came a knock on the door. A lady in town heard of my patches and asked for some seeds. That is three times this week someone has come by and asked me for seeds. I usually trade seeds for a few bags of leaves. I have collected a hundred or so bags of leaves this fall by trading a few packages of seeds. My town only has a few hundred people but everyone knows Kahuna the pumpkin guy.

11/24/2005 6:21:47 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Herbie be fore warned; this is only the beginning. Help me out folks if I forget anything. Crazy...?...?...? Naw...

Around Town, I used to just be "the Pumpkin Man" (fortunately I've earned other ranks now too). Wait for the surveyors as they shoot the angles of the patch. No more lawn. Vacation days taken to tutor elementary school children. Heated, ventilated & Mercury Vapor lit covertible greenhouse. Timers. Irrigation systems. Wind breaks. Tall trees removed. Dump trucks of manure. A John Deere 310 back hoe to triple dig the patch. Kubota L35/King Kutter for tilling. Thermostatically controlled misting system with digital delays. Multiple $400/lb fungicide purchases. Waking up at 4:00 AM to make sure you're ready to pollinate. Waking up in a cold sweat worrying about aborts, deer, rabbits, squash vine borers, cucumber beetles, Squash bugs, vandals, only to have a neighbor roll the vine on purpose to make room for his roofer. Motion detector & infared beams for intruder alarms. A dedicated freezer(s) just for seeds. Male flowers in the refrigerator with a gallon of spoiled milk on TOP of the fridge. Starting a growers club, patch tours & 2 day long seed auctions worth thou$and$ to benefit said club. Cell phone bills in the hundred$ to solicit seed donations. Incorporating & filing for 501c(?) tax exempt status. Business checking account. Website. Newsletter articles. Organizing a brand new GPC sanctioned weigh-off on a beach complete with $4 million insurance, sponsors, food service, taffic cops, newspaper & TV reporters, etc. Trips to Niagara for seminars. New IBM Lap-top for seminar Power-Point. Soil & Tissue nutrient analysis complete with UOPS Next Day Air charges on top of lab FEE$. Pathology lab fee$. $pecialized chemical application equipment. $olo Mi$t blower$. Hundred$ in postage & bubble pack envelopes only to have USPS sorting machines chew up $50+ seeds. Paper, film, CDs, VHS tapes...

continued

11/24/2005 7:33:37 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

We've seen & done some extreme things for pumpkins.

This isn't a hobby....it isn't even insanity in the usual sense of the term....it's much bigger than that.

This competitve hobby has broken men, women, Federal pesticide laws, bank accounts, hearts, backs, families, careers, leaf springs, tractor tires shovel handles, U-Joints & vines.

The fever has turned enthusiasm into outright theivery.

But through it all Giant Pumpkin growing has spawned friendships worth more than their members weight in gold. It makes people smile. It can keep young people off the streets. It can keep grown men out of trouble & gin mills. It makes weak spirits rise up to grow strong. It makes good relationships into great ones. It can make bad habits fade away. It can turn good practices into good habits. This "spobby" has an honorable element that is never compromised by the learned veterans. And we know who they are. They are the ones you can trust to cover your back. They make it all worth while.

To the Brotherhood!

11/24/2005 7:33:44 PM

So. Maine

amen !!!

11/24/2005 10:59:07 PM

Netherlands

Herbie, some of us are still more or less normal.

11/25/2005 2:52:59 AM

Austria

Really, who?

11/25/2005 3:23:31 AM

Knopp, Germany

lol@steel

11/25/2005 4:29:55 AM

Rhode Island

Herbie best advise i can give you is.

Dont take the hobby to seriously.
Dont take yourself to seriously. ( even after the fact )
Have fun with it,some of the people you meet will remain your friends for a long long time.
Always remember---- its only a pumpkin. there will be more opportunities next year.

Pap

11/25/2005 8:31:00 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Brad its the ones that say they are still normal that we worry about. Come on out of the closet buddy :)
Pap's advise is to be well heeded. It's only a pumpkin. Remember at the end of the season. It will be gone. Otherwise you will suffer from post pumpkin depression. We have already seen some of it on the message boards.

11/25/2005 9:09:23 AM

Long Island,New York

I think PPD is going to happen to a certain degree however you attack the hobby. Its just so all-consuming for so long -to stop creates a change in lifestyle too great to not affect us.

11/25/2005 9:24:47 AM

Covington, WA

It's the people that haven't developed some sort of hobby/obsession that make me nervous. Whether its dog shows, equestrian, soccer, dahlia's, roses, kayaking, photography, fishing. These are all healthy recreational outlets. There are also unhealthy outlets if taken to the level of giant pumpkin growing like boozing, gambling, porno collecting, and politics. These are almost as bad as the ones who claim to have nothing like this in their lives and then thier lovers, lies, drugs or bodies start to be discovered and everyone who knows them goes I had no idea, he seemed like a pretty normal guy to me, or say yeah there was something about him that creeped me out, but I had no idea it was like this.
Anyway share your passion, it's fun, it's harmless, it brings people a smile and every season is a new opportunity.

11/25/2005 10:43:07 AM

Knopp, Germany

Chris, and i always thought you were a typical guy from the great northwest..............

11/25/2005 11:39:38 AM

wilmington,ma.

Your wife will always know were you are ! In the patch!!

11/25/2005 12:50:00 PM

Buffalo, MN (Billsbigpumpkins@hotmail.com)

Herbi, you need to show them a monster and they will appericate your new sport. If you make it to your brothes next summer or fall stop in.
I live in Buffalo, MN just a few miles off of 94.

Billf

11/25/2005 9:35:02 PM

Joliet, IL

herbie,
if they call you crazy, take it as a compliment, i have been called worse. lol. yes indeedy, i can admit i am a pumpkin junky. after my fourth AG season last year, my family has accepted the fact that this is not just a flash-in-the-pan hobby. the first 2 years they mostly just rolled their eyes. this year at thanksgiving the first questions they asked was how big of a pumpkin did i grow this year. even one of my nieces did a "show and tell" report on me and my pumpkins at her school. and to see the family pass around our IGPGA club newsletter that i help put together and ask questions and hold a 30 minute conversation on the subject made me realize how serious of a hobby it has become for myself. they always knew i was crazy, now they know i am crazy for giant pumpkins too.

so you are not alone herbie, keep up the craziness and have fun with it mostly.

and tremor, your words written above ring so true and were so eloquently phrased, but keep a man out of the gin mill is what hit home the most...i forgot until these dark days how much money i save in the growing season by staying out of the bar as much. but with the world series of poker running all day long over this holiday, and my thirst for a cold bud, i will now take my crazy pumpkin growing fat ass up to the bar and try to win some scratch at texas hold 'em. and i guarantee the topic of growing giant pumpkins will be brought up tonight...to which all of my non-pumpkin growing friends will say "jeeeeeez, give it a rest. pumpkins...schmumpkins. don't we get a break from hearing about it sometime during the year." and then i will say something fecitious like, "Oh you are all just jealous"...and then i will really hear it. lol. welcome aboard herbie. crazy is the norm around here.

11/26/2005 5:38:10 PM

Ray, North Dakota

heh heh, well put people. It is amazing how many hits a guy can get from one little discussion.

11/28/2005 2:10:47 PM