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Buffalo, New York

Countless hours, dollars.....

I have never in my 29 years alive seen a summer like this.Windy everyday (today 30 mpg gusts). Cool nights and rain everyday.....I would say the wind pisses me off the most.

Many more vines rolled over today with these gusts.....I'm done.

I refuse to reanchor them anymore....the fruit are growing and they are what they are.

I guess we can blame this on 2 things?

Mother nature or the Lord above being a elfin ahole.

I laugh at the same time though......isnt this summertime?

7/26/2009 12:47:09 PM

ordinary,VA

The wather man on T.V. said this is the year without summer for the N.E.
but man it is cooking down here today 97!! with heat idex in triple digits...

7/26/2009 2:56:33 PM

Ohio

Beautiful weather here...........If you like AUTUMN.

7/26/2009 3:06:46 PM

hamilton,Ontario

never have i seen rain like today..........my leaves are all fugged and have some splits now on some vines.It is what it is.cupsalways half full..........cheers

7/26/2009 3:18:30 PM

Anamosa, IA [email protected]

Jeremy, I have a few years on you, but I have seen worse weather. In 23 years at our acreage, we have seen the wettest and driest years on record in Iowa. We have had frost in every month of the year except July. Just last winter we had the coldest temperature ever in Iowa, -40. 1988 was the hottest since the dust bowl. 3 years ago a tornado missed our house by about 500 feet. I have been swarmed by cucumber beetles and had one entire pumpkin season wiped out by disease.

I learned not to invest too much money or emotions into growing plants around here. You never know what is going to go wrong. You just do the best you can with reasonable inputs and hope for the best but expect the worst. That way when things go bad you aren't too disappointed, but when things go good you can enjoy and be thankful.

And I try to never blame God for the things that go wrong. The way I see it, the devil's dirty deeds and my dumb mistakes account for most of my failures. But I also try to thank Him for the things that do go right.

7/26/2009 5:14:07 PM

Cincinnati, OH

Curse mother nature, but be careful on the other. Pumpkins are the last thing he's worried about saving.

7/26/2009 7:00:23 PM

Columbus,ohio

Hasn't hit 90 all month here. Finailly rained the other day.

7/26/2009 7:11:13 PM

Columbus, OH

Nothing I hate more then wind, it can ruin a perfect day all by itself.

7/26/2009 7:18:54 PM

Pataskala,OH

The weather in ohio has been good. Stop complaining or mother nature will show us what real bad weather is.

7/26/2009 8:49:50 PM

Webster, NY

I've seen nice trees just covered with fungus from all the rain. Things just aren't drying out.

7/26/2009 9:25:05 PM

[email protected]

Uhhhh...right then...The weather stinks we agree on this. I can only ask God to help me deal with His plan however He wishes that is.

Try to not take pumpkins too seriously. We all care enough here to be here or we wouldn't be.

For me it's like the lottery. I never have gotten all 6 numbers. I got 5 once. But we still buy tickets from time to time.

Its like the stupid Lotto ad. You can't win if you don't play.

Quite frankly I don't ever *expect* to take a world record. But just associating with these fine growers & friends is a significant reward in itself.

Jeez that reads cornier than I expected but I'm still not deleting it.

7/26/2009 9:42:33 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Jeremy, it can be heart rending to have nature against your plans. You have had a rough one, I agree.

Being a gardener, means you cope with what you're dealt, and try to land the crop anyway. Even with extreme gardening, dealing with the lousy weather, which is what we have all over this year.

What you shouldn't do is give up. Go through to the end, you have this much in it now. If you get something, great, if you don't, you've taken notes and learned. This forum is great because you can share, see what others have shared, learn more, and be more prepared.

The Almighty will do whatever; and be thankful for what you do have and what you do get. The other part, I call Ma Nature, is the way I address those things still mostly beyond my control but I can do something about.

I just spent one body breaking day today getting some patch things put to rights. Even my better half says nothing else is getting you moving this year, just pumpkins. Because. If I'm growing it has to be done and it's my plate full. God bless'm for understanding why I'm growing, my need to grow, and my need to git'r'dun.

It IS *just* pumpkins though. Scale bending or compost heap, I have to ride the ride, and remember in the end, it's just gardening (extreme).

7/26/2009 10:08:31 PM

Adams County

try taller wind breaks, bury vines a little deeper, and try to get the plants in as much sunlight as possible so the leaves stay smaller than ones usually grow in more shaded patches

7/26/2009 10:09:33 PM

Glosta

Been bad here too. Main snapped on me the other day but with a little care it actually looks like it's gonna keep going. 1/2 my patch is still submerged in about 2 inches of water. Vine rolled on the second plant had to rebury everything. This being my first year you think I would give up and say it's not worth it, but on the contrary it makes me want to try even harder.

I also lost 1/2 my corn to wind and over soaked ground. just picked em back up used a stake to keep em up. They retook and are still growing.

The resilencey of nature is amazing, We help it as much as we can to get the best out of it but in the end is all we can do. Things beyond our control are nothing to get frustrated about, it's the things that we can control that should bother us. Since we can't control the weather, just give it a big "OH Well" and keep plugging along. I hope you stay with this, I find it to be energizing and very enjoyable. Plus the great people I have the chance to learn from and hopefully meet someday, make it all that much better.

7/27/2009 8:02:35 AM

[email protected]

Ya gotta remember a good positive attitude helps in all things, including pumpkin growing. Make the best of it and there is always next year to look forward too. I know I am behind last year, and weather hasn't really helped much, mother nature doesn't know what season it is, and it is Summer. We can only hope for some better weather come August/Sept. It's a long way til weigh off time. Good luck, and chin up!

7/27/2009 10:42:00 AM

Ireland

You guy,s get one bad summer and feel like quitting. You should try growing here in Ireland, where we get 1 good summer every 6 years, and our last one was in 2007, so the next is due in 2013. Almost every year it,s cool, wet, sunless most day's, dreary, windy etc,. etc,.

7/27/2009 11:16:25 AM

Ireland

you said it Eddie!

7/27/2009 1:39:27 PM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

Jeremy, calling the Lord an elfin ahole??? Not only are you setting yourself up to never grow a pumpkin but God help you in the rest of your life! Geez!

And oh yeah, I did find it offensive.

7/27/2009 6:01:49 PM

Midway, UT

Could be worse...www.denverpumpkins.com

7/27/2009 11:37:23 PM

Ireland

Hi Ya Twinnie. Call me on 0872246254. Janie Brady off in a canter this year. I have not seen it yet but reckon it,s over 150 lbs and growing strongly

7/29/2009 10:23:01 AM