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Mill Creek West by god Virginia

who has grown the largest totally organic punkin considering ground has to be totally organic for at least 7 years and no non organic ferts or pesticides! anyone have a idea???thanks for youre thoughts keith

2/18/2007 11:52:35 PM

Newcastle England

hi kieth,ive got a large reclaimed plot,it hasnt been cultivated for over 10 years.no pesticides or herbicides ever been put on it.guess what im gunna grow one of your seeds in it and will do it organically.i dont use artificial fertilizers or pesticides on any of my veg crop anyway.it should be interesting to see how things turn out,i'll keep you updated. peter

2/19/2007 6:15:02 AM

Rhode Island

soil and soil ammendment speaking the wallace patch last year was totally organic

we do use some insectacide and fungicide that are not organic.

yes a tiny bit of over spray will drop to the soils surface. but not enough to disturb any living organisms,etc.

with a totally organic garden your chances for success are really limited

pap

2/19/2007 8:40:24 AM

[email protected]

Keith,

The 7 years of zero chemicals is the Produce standard for "certified organic". I doubt that very many growers are that stringent about going zero-chemical.

So much as 1 squirt of Roundup, fungicide or insecticide in 7 years is an immediate DQ.

We were 100% organic at the school last year but I know that Roundup was used there within the last 3 years (see 2003 diary for the "vine tip incident") so we're a few years away for the "hallowed ground" standard.

That said, the school's 100% Organic PB is 214 lbs.

2/19/2007 8:53:06 AM

Montoursville, PA

Pap is saying what I have said many times over. Healthy patch, sustainable soil principles at least presently have to be recognized trends while the word totally organic leaves pumpkins perhaps very limited if at all possible. A purist organic person would likely have to eliminate the pumpkin from the included grown plants to maintain purely organic growing. To attempt to certify the word organic would be a nightmare into which I would hate to see become an issue in our growing of the American Giant. On the other hand I see a pleasing recognition and result by those who lean heavily into healthy and sustainable soil management.

2/19/2007 10:44:49 AM

Newcastle England

i'm not totally sold on the organic movement,i aim for non use of chemicals if at all possible.but i do understand that events may make it neccesary.i stopped using pesticides 5 years ago when so many were being withdrawn from the market here in the uk.i installed 2 large ponds to attract frogs and native wildlife.i must be honest though and say the first 3 years where hell,but slowly my land has accepted natures way.and by being patient i'm now reaping the rewards.patience is the key word where i garden.i used to use at least 4 large tubs of slug pellets every year,ive never used any for the last 4 years.the frogs and ducks sort them out.
my youngest even made the local tv news with a powers seed last year.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahsREq7gv7s

2/19/2007 1:02:00 PM

Paradise Mountain, New York

After watching the DVD from Dr. Donald Horneck at the 2006 California Seminar, My pumpkins this year will be grown from an all organic garden. I used very little fertilizer last year. Last fall I recovered my whole patch with twelve inches of new soil that I got from our County's highway Deptartment. The dirt was taken from people's lawn and ditches along our road. I got to pick out where and what spots I wanted the soil from. I added manure and lots of compost during the fall after I covered my patch. This spring I'll do a soil test again. Then I'll add kelp meal, corn meal, fish meal,worm castings, soybean meal and add some gypsum if the soil test says I need to. The later part of summer, I started getting into worms and producing my own worm castings. By planting time I will have over a ton of worm castings for my pumpkins. I'll be using the worm castings along the main and seconarys as the vines grow. One big thing I learned also from Dr. Donald Horneck is, it's best to use compost in the fall. He says if you did a test on compost you will find compost has more salt in it then manure does. I was surprised to learn this. it's just natural from the things we add to the compost pile...PumpkinBrat

2/19/2007 1:59:00 PM

Dummer Twp - Ontario

Hey Dog thats Atlantic Giant grown in North America, developed originally in Atlantic Canada and by the way Basketball was invented by a Canadian as we all know!

2/19/2007 3:46:44 PM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

7 years ? Shouldn't that be 3.

2/19/2007 5:35:07 PM

Tremor Axc is correct 3 years is the rule not 7

2/20/2007 3:42:19 PM

[email protected]

Woops...so he is. Sorry. The school is closer than we thought!

2/20/2007 11:15:03 PM