Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 4 Entries. Thursday, March 12 View Page Hello folks! This is my inaugural grower's diary entry, so I think it's only appropriate to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Cassidy, hereafter known as "Gardeneer-in-Training," or GIT as pumpkinpal2 christened me. First and foremost, I am male, despite the fact that my name is commonly considered feminine. I suppose it's better than being a boy named Sue. ;) I was born and raised in the sunny Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada. Our winters are somewhat mild, the frost hangs on far too late, and our summers get hit enough to rival Arizona or California. I've heard it said that the Okanagan is the Napa Valley of Canada. It is, in fact, Canada's only true desert, and yes, we technically have scorpions despite my never seeing one. A frozen wasteland it is not. Thursday, March 19 View Page Somehow, my upbringing led me to pursue an education and career in civil engineering. To pay for my education, I went to work in orchards and small family farms every summer (we simply don't have giant commercial farming operations like in the States). My parents thought that the work would do me some good, to learn the value of a dollar. They were right, but it also changed me, somehow. I'd never cared much for gardening growing up, but something about nurturing a crop along was infectiously exciting. I relished the challenge. But I was merely tending to fruit trees and vegetable crops (the Okanagan, like parts of Ontario and Washington, is renowned for our orchards). It was enjoyable work, but it wasn't something I did at home. And then, the pumpkin arrived. Fall and Halloween were a highlight of my childhood years. My mother always put a herculean effort into decorating, the bulk of which consisted of various gourds, squash, and pumpkins. Thursday, March 19 View Page Continuing from my previous entry... I got it in my head, in my teens, that I ought to try saving seeds and plant them the following spring to save some cash. I did just that, but at the same time, my mother brought a pumpkin seedling home from a nursery. It received no care, but come Halloween, we had a 50 lb pumpkin. At the time, I was in awe of its size, until my father did a quick internet search that revealed an entire world of pumpkins weighing in excess of 2000 lbs. 2024 was a reset year, for many reasons. I was no longer in university, I'd learned some hard lessons, and I was armed with sage advice from a couple of books written by giant pumpkin growers. I managed to grow 320 and 415 lb pumpkins, although the 415 suffered severe sunscald and never made it to a weigh-off. Friday, March 20 View Page I started my seeds yesterday after getting home from work. I've got the process perfected to the hour, which saved me last year when I poached my first set of seeds. I spent all of Wednesday evening labeling and filing the edges of the 15 seeds I've selected. As soon as I walked in the door yesterday afternoon, the seeds underwent a 6 hour soak in warm water, then were wrapped in moist (not dripping wet) paper towels in labeled plastic bags on my germination mat. This process regularly results in seeds sprouting 33 hours after the 6 hour soak, so those that germinate on time will be ready for planting shortly after 7am tomorrow (Saturday). That gives me plenty of time to wait for stragglers, or even start a second set of seeds should something go wrong. I know that this might be a little early, but I'm keeping a close eye on temperatures and vapour pressure deficits, and I think I can give myself a solid head start with the help of soil heating cables, cold frames, and heaters.