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Lillington,nc

Hi to all giant pumpkin raisers. I am Nell Grimm COurt Advocate and counselor with SAFE of Harnett County in Lillington, NC. I work for victims of Sexual Assault and Domestic violence and human trafficking. Our idea for an October Fundraiser in Sept/Oct of 2011 is to get the pumpkins that are big enough to scrape out and paddle race down the Cape Fear River as part of an all day event. We want to call it Our Pumpkin Palooza. We have two people willing to grow them, we need seeds, instructions, help from growers that have grown these before. Any North Carolina grower's information would be helpful.Seeds and instructions that are reliable would also help, Contact Safe of Harnett 910-893-7233 [email protected] and [email protected]. Any volunteers? We want to have a family day with races on the Cape Fear River, A pig picking, a band or bands, and a giant pumpkin paddle race, all to raise money for a new domestic violence shelter.We want to do this in the fall and already have a restaurant location on the river willing to host the site. It could be really fun. THanks for any help you could offer. Nell Grimm. Court Advocate/Counselor Safe of Harnett

1/8/2011 11:17:21 PM

Ohio

Neil, great thing you have planned for a great cause. Your doing the right thing and have came to one of the best sites on the internet as to get some direction in how to grow these giants, and my advice to you is find a couple experience AG growers if you can as a mentor to the couple of growers you have lined up in growing these giants for your race, who I assume theses couple growers you have haven't grown giant pumpkins before?
You have also come to the right site to find A mentor near you to help your growers on how to grow these pumpkins big enough to use as boats.

Directions on paper in how to grow are great, but even better is Books I,II,III ''How to grow Giants Pumpkins'' would be even better for beginners, but a couple years growing these Giants with just a little experience are also better and this site you found is the best avenue to growing enough AG's(atlantic giant pumpkins boats) to make your race complete.
Its not as easy as one thinks to just throw seeds in the ground and they just grow to a monster size for boats to be honest, there is alot more to it then that,ALOT more,espically if you have never grown them before and even have a ton of experience gardening other fruits and vegetables behind them. Cuase these pumpkins are alot diffrent ,trust me,,LOL.

I Hope Im not discouraging you,lol, but you can do it here on this site, learn as much as you can before spring about how to grow these pumpkins and Im sure you will find a semi experience grower on this site to help you along the way for your fund raiser to be a complete success. Good luck.

Brooks

1/9/2011 5:20:32 AM

Muddy Waters

you might want a back up plan like having exp.growers donate 700 lbers in case your growing is not great.a really hot year could do you in,its not easy growing these Giants you have to be dedicated and sometimes medicated.LOL

1/9/2011 8:16:25 AM

Hi nell. I am in Raleigh. What Brooks has said is correct. You will definitely want a back up plan for pumpkins. Counting on one or two new growers to produce 700 pounders, especially in our climate, will not be reliable.
You will also need to talk to some people that have boated in pumpkins before. You will need a waiver for people to sign for liability purposes, perhaps restrictions on age of boaters, whether or not motors will be allowed, etc.

I would say 700-900 pounders are best sized for boating; others with more experience may correct me on this.

1/9/2011 11:45:12 AM

Webster, NY

I have about 100 seeds from a 300# with good genetics. If you want, give send me an email.

[email protected]

Dave

1/9/2011 11:58:52 AM

South Hero, VT

Neil, contact Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce: http://www.vermont.org/chamber/contactus.aspx on the Lake Champlain Giant Pumpkin Regatta. http://www.vermont.org/pumpkin/index.aspx

They helped raise $21,000 for charity last year(their 3rd year) during Columbus Day weekend.

A lot of planning, a lot of work, a lot of fun, and a lot of money for charity.

1/9/2011 3:42:51 PM

Durham, NC

Hi Nell.
My name is Randi Byrd and I live in Durham. My pumpkin patch is in Knightdale (Wake Co.). I agree with Brigitte that making lots of plans around the expectation of having giant pumpkins survive and make it to your event is a lot like gambling. However, if you can formulate a plan B to maybe bring in pumpkins from elsewhere, that would be good. Definitely talk to those who have planned events like this up north. My email is [email protected] We can stay in touch. I also know some community folks in Harnett Co. I work for the UNC-Chapel Hill American Indian Center and we work with the Coharie Tribe (in both Sampson and Harnett). There is even an association called the Harnett Country Coharie Indian Association. Many folks kept up with my pumpkin news in 2009 and so there is interest in the whole giant pumpkin world down there and connection to Native culture.

1/9/2011 8:40:07 PM

Lillington,nc

thans so much for the input, I need every connection I can get, this idea is starting now jut because growing pumpkins is so different

1/9/2011 10:08:41 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Hi Nell I think that if each of your new pumpkin growers grow even one pumpkin each between 700-900 pounds their first year trying that would be great! But you will need many pumpkins for your Palooza. I suggest looking in the diary section of this site, which you can sort by location, and find some established growers in NC that you could commision to grow pumpkins for your event.

1/9/2011 10:49:05 PM

South Hero, VT

Nell, sorry about misspelling your name in first post.

North Carolina Giant Vegetable Growers: http://ncgvg.com/

Start local, first. Also try getting in touch with the Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada Pumpkin Festival: http://worldsbiggestpumpkins.com/

They started the whole pumpkin regatta craziness in 1998, based on an idea from Danny Dill.

Get all the help you can. One person can't do this alone.

1/10/2011 5:01:43 PM

Lillington,nc

Thanks to all growers for assisting Safe of Harnett, your kindness is deeply appreciated and we are going to have a fun day involving pumpkins large or small on the Cape Fear in Lillington in the Fall. All of your input and support is very helpful
Warmly,
Nell

1/11/2011 10:28:40 AM

Pinetops,n.c.

hi nell, i am gary lovitt of pinetops, n.c.. this will be my first year growing but have been learning a lot from the established growers on bp chat. i am planning om growing 6-8 giant pumpkins this year and would be glad to send one for your very needy cause.plus i will talk to some other n.c. growers and others about the subject and feel very strongly that i can get you some "boats" to use in the regatta.very nice thing you are doing , keep up the good work. zepfan(gary)

1/11/2011 1:40:49 PM

Pinetops,n.c.

nell, if you were to come in chat one night when most of the regulars are in you could ask for seeds, pumpkins , ideas, etc. and will probably get more than you expected, there are a lot of good people in this hobby and i am certain that they would be more than willing to help.thanks, gary lovitt

1/12/2011 12:14:18 PM

Long Island,New York

Sounds like a near perfect opportunity to start a new Giant Pumpkin Weighoff and Regatta. I'm sure the guys/girls down there would open thier arms for a new wieghoff opportunity and gladly perhaps donate giant pumpkins to the regatta. Grab ideas from Maine, Dill's, and Cooperstown, for sponsorship ideas. Giant Punpkin Growers will do almost anything for a fully sanctioned GPC wieghoff.......just an idea....contact the Nancy Boys and Elkin Sam and Mr D and Me for potential opportunities and dates that work......

1/12/2011 1:46:12 PM

Winston Salem NC

Hey Nell im Rick Holder from Winston Salem. If you shoot me an email I'll trade some info with you. Seeds, growing instructions/help and possibly some pumpkins if all goes well wouldnt be a problem.
[email protected]
Rick

1/17/2011 8:48:48 PM

The North Coast

Greetings nell, I grow out in the western part of the state and I will have to admit, I would love to attach a motor onto a pumpkin and throttle it up. I do not grow many pumpkins in a year but I'd be interested in competing if you got the project off the ground. I agree with LIpumpkin in that it would be a great opportunity for a new weigh in location. Our local weigh in is weeks before the end of the growing season and I would love a later weigh in date to take advantage of the entire growing season. Get in touch with me if the idea gets legs @ [email protected]. Yo Rick, nice pumpkin a while back...it has been the southern benchmark for years. By the way, I have dreams of a 1259. I told my wife I'd retire if I got there! Cheers to ya and good luck in 2012.

1/18/2012 11:02:20 AM