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Spokane,WA

This is my third year growing AG's and I got my first seeds from a customer I was giving an estimate on windows. I have no idea on the genetics. Nor did I have a clue as to what I was doing....and yet grew a #220 pumpkin. My question is did you have a neighbor, friend, relative, or complete stranger get you hooked on the hobby?

5/3/2007 7:06:30 PM

Minnesota

I was trying to entertain myself by walking thru a mall, I walked thru a hardware store and they had a weeksseeds stand, alot of the seeds they sold were "grow giant fruit/vegetables" I looked and saw they had atlantic giant pumpkins, I tried them. I might have grown a 75 pounder but I did have 15 or so pumpkins.

5/3/2007 8:06:43 PM

ordinary,VA

Rocky Rockwell.

first grew AG's from P&P.
than i found BP.com, and met Rocky Rockwell.
Rocky was good enough to send me my first bubble(Rocky was my first hehehe).
been hooked ever since.
Rocky was good enough to answer every (dumb question) i could think of. with his help i was able to save my first pumpkin using sulfer powder,that had a bad spot that developed on top the pumpkin.
631 & 572 were the weights of my two pumpkins from my first year.
took the 572 to the fair because the 631 was to ugly lol.
When i told Rocky which one i took he told "its not a beauty contest its a weight contest" lesson learned.

Big Thanks to Rock!

5/3/2007 8:21:24 PM

GreatFalls,Montana

i just wanted a competive growing thing cuase i liked to garden and i found this sight.

5/3/2007 9:05:17 PM

Sort of Sunny Sometimes, WA

Pete and Cindi Glasier. I had to beg them.

5/3/2007 9:07:39 PM

my dad brought home one of the How to Grow books that one of his students had in class, and he thought I would be interested. It was going to be a half-hearted attempt until I met Shannon (GR8PUMPKIN.NET) and he gave me some seeds and another How to Grow. It was all downhill from there!!!!

5/3/2007 9:15:18 PM

Eugene,OR

A little old man named Leighton Youngklaus from the Santa Rosa Men's Garden Club gave me my first seeds five years ago. This club puts on a kids weigh-off at our local harvest fair each year. They weren't the best seeds and I didn't have a clue about what I was doing...but Leighton got me hooked. Leighton passed away last month at the age of 92.

5/3/2007 9:27:38 PM

Somers, CT

I was working as a server engineer in Hartford and ran into two very smart web portal developers. One showed me their pet project web portal site. The next day they both brought in a packet of seeds for me. After I froze my first plant the dark haired one brought me in one of his extra plants in a bucket. Over the past five years they both have provided seeds, ferts, advice and even a trip to somewhere around Providence where I met a bunch of crazy people who knew even more about these orange (sometimes green) monsters. The best thing is their personalities are projected by all on this site.

5/3/2007 9:46:37 PM

Woodburn, Indiana

Thomas Beachy

5/3/2007 9:55:18 PM

Oswego, New York

George Krul got me hooked. Had big pumpkins in his yard and I was like, "George, how?" and he told me, and then I was like, "do you have seed?" and he was like, "ya," and I planted them and grew a 197# and then I was hooked. Bonnie

5/3/2007 10:05:13 PM

maine USA

My son Randall. KathyT

5/3/2007 10:59:40 PM

Minnesota([email protected])

If I recall correctly, the first grower to help me with advice, was Ron Rahe. It was on another gardening website.
Thanks Ron!

5/3/2007 11:06:59 PM

[email protected]

I had followed Howard Dill since his 827 in 1995 was written up in Ag Retailer magazine. I tried to obtain seeds then but had no luck (no internet). We saw the giants at the Durham Fair in 2003, came home & googled "big pumpkins" & ended up here.

Chris Fasciano, Bart Toftness & Dave Garrell sent me my first AG seeds.

5/3/2007 11:18:58 PM

Massillon, Ohio

a local weighoff at a feedmill when i was in 8th grade. i didnt do so hot (110 lbs), and didnt have access to better seeds than they had given out. i hung it up for a few years, but got back into it thanks to free seeds on bigpumpkins.com !!

5/3/2007 11:55:14 PM

Ohio

About 5 years ago I was playing the Yahoo pool game and by just luck while playing we started talking about Pumpkins, It just happend to be Lisa Wentzell,(I won every game we played, Ha!, OK, maybe I lost one or two), but from that day on she got me hooked on growing these giants!

5/4/2007 12:07:17 AM

Delaware, Ohio

Went to the circleville pumpkin show, they sell seeds, 4 for 4 dollars, so I thought, what the heck. I had never even planted a petunia, but my patch partner John reminded me of the seeds last spring, I put them in the dirt, started paying attention here, and grew a 400# pumpkin. Don't know who's seeds they were, but, I had so much fun, I'm hooked. Paul Huffer was a big help to me last year. Now I have great seeds, some education and my seeds won't germinate. Started 8 seeds Sunday....nothing. Yes, Brooks,I'm a digger. Kinda wish I didnt know what I was doing.........

5/4/2007 12:32:15 AM

western Kentucky

Andy Wolf and Glenn Andrews sent me my first seeds a few years back. This winter I came across a packet of seeds from G, and that got me wanting to try again. So, like we've all said before it's G's fault.
Thanks yall and good luck this year. Justin Peek

5/4/2007 12:35:05 AM

San Diego, Ca.

Back in 1991 my uncle bought a package of Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds from some mail order place and gave me some seeds to try. I grew a 110lb pumpkin the first year and thought it was the biggest thing ever grown. I grew those seeds for the next 2 years but the pumpkins got smaller each year and I figured "those guys back east" kept secret how they grew the really big ones...(They probably used milk...LOL) So not having a clue, I gave up.
Then in 2003, once again my uncle handed me another package of AG seeds. I didn't grow anything too big during that growing season but I was determined to figure out how to grow bigger pumpkins so on one fateful day I did an internet search typing in "big pumpkins" which of course led me here and from then on I have been hooked. I met Duster(Jim) through BP who lived not too far away and he became my tutor on how to grow these things. I also found out that "those guys back east" were not keeping secrets as I had thought but instead were more than willing to share information on how to grow monsters.
This year I have started plants for nearly 20 people who have never grown an AG before, I share what I have learned from this site with them. This may be the beginning of an obsession for them too.

5/4/2007 12:40:09 AM

Netherlands

I grew in Canada back in 1988 already for a local agricultural fair and then immigrated to The Netherlands. When I went back for a holiday in the fall of 2003 my dad showed me a picture in the paper of Bryan Dueck's new Canadian champion, the 1373. When back in The Netherlands I ordered seed from Howard Dill and haven't looked back since then.

5/4/2007 1:19:48 AM

Windham Maine

On a stroll thru a local fair I saw the giant pumpkin display and said to my wife "I can do this" I went home ordered seeds from howard dill and first year grew 1-396 and another 350 and that's how it all began!!!

5/4/2007 6:10:37 AM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

I blame it all on Martha Stewart. In the fall of 2000 we had just come in the house from playing in the gardens. While flipping the channels to get back to Blues Clues. I saw Giant Pumpkins on forklifts. From there it all was down hill. I got seeds from Jim Kuhn and some other grower. I grew a 375lb Squampkin. From that day forward I promised my self Big and Orange.

5/4/2007 7:56:37 AM

Marion,IN

I have 2 boys and every year for Halloween we would take a trip to a pumpkin patch to buy pumpkins. I decided to grow our own pumpkins. The first year we had small field pumpkins. My boys still wanted to go back to the pumpkin patch they had been previously to buy a "big" pumpkin. I got on the net, found BP.com and Steve Hatfield (Moondog) hooked me up with my first bubbleope of seeds. My first year growing resulted in 231.5# p-kin. The boys loved it!

5/4/2007 8:09:48 AM

West By God Virginia

I've always liked pumpkins and heard about giant pumpkins from time to time (probably little news blurbs). I decided to do a search in late September of 2005 and found BigPumpkins.com. Then the hook was in! I can't remember who was the first person to offer me seeds, but I know the first 4 were Tom Privitera, Don Young, Cary Polka and Shannon Engel. Things went into obsession mode when I hitched a ride with Keith (burrhead) to Kentucky to meet the Van Hooks. Seeing that field full of giants was a site indeed! Then we went to the Allardt TN weigh off the next morning and saw more giants.

5/4/2007 8:17:46 AM

Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada

All of the great guys at Niagara piqued my interest and I decided if I was going to work in this field, I should probably have some practical information to share as well. I'm gonna try...so that I can at least tell new growers what not to do.

5/4/2007 9:05:50 AM

Minnesota

One night at work, after doing an internet search i came across an old phone number from a person who wrote a report back in the early 90's. What were the chances of it still being a good phone number? I used my cell phone and called the number. When a person on the other end said hello, i said, is Al Eaton there? He said, speaking. After a great 30 minute phone conversation i had some seeds coming my way. I phoned him in the mid-summer of my first growing season and to my surprise my plants were on track with a top growers plants and that is when i knew i had what it took to grow some big ones. I ended my first year with two over 1000. Someday i hope to leave the same impact on someone just getting into the hobby. Good Luck to all growers this year and we will see you at the scales.

5/4/2007 9:09:47 AM

Halifax, Nova Scotia

I saw a news clip of people racing giant pumpkins across a lake. A few years later I had a garden, a paddle and a lifejacket. And I've been hooked ever since.

5/4/2007 9:16:54 AM

Minerva,ohio

well, where shall I begin?

As a young adult I recall several 1 & half hr. trips to Barnesville,Ohio where my great grandmother lived.
We had several family gatherings there around pumpkin festival time, I have a photo of my hubby and I in front of the king pumpkin in '98 that was when we were newly weds and before the bug hit,But that all changed on attending the 2004 Barnesville pumpkin festival weigh-in with my step father and my hubby.
We saw this little bit of a young gal pull up in a BIG truck with a BIG,BEAUTIFUL, ORANGE BEAUTY, and to hear she was from Jackson TWP.,Ohio What?...wait a minute we're from neighboring cities? Yep, it's Christy Dieff I didn't know anything could grow there! Boy was I wrong and from that moment I was up to the challenge to see what my backyard had in store. To top it all off, I was standing by 2 great people who told this over anxious gal all about growin and where to go and to read Don Langvins books, and to later find out it was Buddy Conley and Karen Wiget!!
Thanks to everyone who had a part in my pumpkin education including a secret weapon,my grandmas neighbor, Mr.Todd Skinner. I could go on and on,as you see. But I will conclude with this, my hubby tells me I could write a book about my pumpkin adventures,seems to me he's right.

5/4/2007 10:15:22 AM

Coventry R.I.

i went to the 05 sngpg weigh-off, i had called steve sperry, what i seen, was amazing 1443 1333 1310,, i was hooked, then i meet ron/pap and the rest of the great growes here.

5/4/2007 12:20:48 PM

southwest MO

Raggu!!

5/4/2007 12:20:53 PM

Spokane,WA

Thanks everyone for your posts. Maybe a newbie will read this and see that there is no turning back. Accept the habit and grow em big.

5/4/2007 12:57:31 PM

Dummer Twp - Ontario

I got myself started when I saw a pack of seeds at a box store but it was the great people of this site that got me interested and the support from clubs especially the GVGO, we can't deny that bragging rights are at stake and are nice to those who do well but the non pumpkinj growers marvel at even a pumpkin that is 150 pounds so thanks to everyone who lends advice and seeds etc. Kirk

P.S. Don't be afraid to try something a little different, thats how new ideas are created and we grow even larger

5/4/2007 6:18:39 PM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

Ed Robinette (Mr.D&Me)...
I met Ed here while searching for other Virginia growers and then met him at the weigh-off at Va. Sate Fair. He sent me my first AG seeds that winter. I was hooked right away. Thanks to pumpkin growing I met a wonderful new friend and a great pumpkin growing coach...Thanks Ed!

5/4/2007 10:29:27 PM

Sloughhouse, CA

I saw some Atlantic Giant seeds at Matsuda's nursery on Jackson highway going into town. I passed by there everyday going to West Sacramento to teach. I bought some seeds and tried to grow them in the hardpan clay soil. Then I found this site and asked what the numbers (642) meant before the name. Len Stellpflug answered my questions and sent me some seeds. One of the packets was a 642 Glasier (99). Len wrote that Pete lives in Napa. Well that year I went to the weigh off in Elk Grove (20 mins) from my house.There I met Cindi and Pete. I have been hooked ever since. Thank you to all the CA growers and everyone on this site.

5/5/2007 2:43:05 AM

Napa Valley, CA

I originally started in 1985 when I saw some of Howard Dill's seeds in the Harris Seed Catalog. After growing for several years, I took a break and then started growing again after visiting Pete and Cindi Glasier's patch in Napa in 1997.
At that time Pete was growing a 567.5 Mombert. It was about 600 pounds when I first saw it and was a beautiful orange color.
I took one look at that pumpkin and I have been growing ever since.

5/5/2007 2:55:29 AM

I accidently found some seeds on ebay for sale...there was a pic of a little kid sitting inside a pumpkin and I was totally amazed..lol..

5/5/2007 5:31:57 PM

Boulder County Colorado USA planet Earth

i rememv=ber those seecds from e-bay wjat a wasye of m
obey,

5/5/2007 6:51:30 PM

Topsfield, Ma.

Hugh Wiberg got me started. He'd put on one man AG growing seminars at local co-op. He was like a Johnny Appleseed for pumpkins...had seeds and young plants needing patches.

5/5/2007 7:45:25 PM

Dorval,Quebec

My growing buddy Peter Jones,back in 1998.He had started a year earlier after being given seeds from a trucker friend in '97 after a trip to Nova Scotia.Maybe the truck had stopped at the Dill's.Ordered some seed from Dill that year as well.One came out a greenie(it does happen),a beautiful mid green. Pete convinced me to take it to the fair.Biggest squash they had ever seen.Luck of some Irish boys.

5/5/2007 8:05:38 PM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

My curiosity and searching brought me to this site. Russ Landry and Doc Gipe sent me my first seeds. Doc helped me getting my garden going and his typical help. Just wish we can see more of Doc. Russ's help is neverending. Both are reliable and you know that their information is always helpful. I will always be grateful to both of these gentlemen.

5/5/2007 10:15:10 PM

Bristol, ME ([email protected])

About 35 years ago, my parents took me to Windsor Fair. They had the winning "giant" pumpkin there on display in the exhibition hall. Back then they were about 250# at Windsor.
Well, we came home and my Dad and I thought we'd try growing a giant, not knowing the first thing about it. We tried 2 years and failed miserably. Years later, I decided to grow pumpkins again for my kids at my own place, discovered BP, met some great folks, and last year, we came full circle, setting the fair record at Windsor Fair.
Thanks Dad.

5/6/2007 7:10:11 AM

San Luis Obispo, Ca.

I like things that make me "nuts." So growing AG's is perfect!

5/6/2007 11:40:35 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

I do volunteer work for a mental health facility after hours. That is where I met LongBeard. The staff sponsors projects for the patients for therapy, so this is how I got started growing big pumpkins with him. Every year we start growing a giant pumpkin and start our friendly competition. The last two years Ive had to humor him and grow small, but this year I'm going to grow BIG.

5/7/2007 9:27:23 AM