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South Hill, Virginia

Now that I've been sucked in by the giant pumpkin obsession I can't help but wonder who the people I communicate with really are. The Internet experience is very helpful yet very impersonal. Down here in the South we like to be "properly introduced".

If I'm not being too forward I would like to know what some of you do during the few hours a day you don't spend pampering your plants:)

I'm a 35 year old community college administrator. I used to be on the mathematics faculty at the college and I think the combination of too much math and occasionally too much beer has given me my bizarre sense of humor. I think my wife of three years thought I was nuts when I began my giant pumpkin quest but she now describes my obsession as "cute". Maybe I can parlay that into a bigger patch next year...I doubt it. This is starting to sound like an AA meeting:)

5/18/2001 11:13:26 PM

Sloughhouse, CA

I'm a teacher also. 27+ yrs. elementary and sp.ed. Reasoure.
Retiring soon to drive the tractor and grow giant pumpkins. A great stress reliever and no more I.E.P. meetings. Suzy in Sloughhouse.

5/19/2001 12:35:57 AM

PA

I'm a 27 year old surgical technologist from central PA. I am the only child of my parents who are both teachers, my dad still teaches, my mom quit to run our dried flower business. I live only a short walk down a lane from them, and I think they have caught the pumpkin bug as well. I also like photography, hunting, gardening, and pumpkin chat rooms.

5/19/2001 8:09:04 AM

Rexburg, Idaho

I think introductions are a great idea, but I've never heard a name like svrichb. Where's that from?
I'm a 35 year old general surgeon in a small rural town in Idaho (5000 ft elevation). We have short summers with cold nights but I love to grow pumpkins. Actually I enjoy gardening but I don't care to eat vegtables (except fresh corn). By growing only pumpkins, I don't have to eat any of the other stuff. Even the corn didn't happen this year as I needed more space for the pumpkins.
Brian Christensen

5/19/2001 8:35:30 AM

Roanoke Il

Hi Mark here secound year grower very lucky last year had a chance to watch a monster grow in my patch the first year out. Had a lot of help from the growers of bigpumpkins.com. If you have any questions this seasons just ask. I'm 37 I work at Del Monte corp. I'm a crewleader in charge of the cookroom. mark

5/19/2001 8:49:05 AM

Greencastle, PA

I'm Tom, as you may have guessed, I'm a student and my mom home schools me, I don't I will grow anything else besides pumpkins corn and cantaloupe this year, I've been to busy with the pumpkins (I think it's pumpkin OCD) :)

5/19/2001 10:40:51 AM

Midway City, California

Hi I am 68 yrs old and semi retired. I was an apprentice instructor and technical writer for 29 years. My present job is really not a job I collect and test water samples along the southern california coastline for bacteria. I drive a jeep along the surf line for about 20 miles stoping about every 1/2 mile to collect a sample.I work two weeks and off two weeks so I have plenty of time to play in the back yard. Cut down two old trees to start a second growing area for this year

5/19/2001 3:40:38 PM

Liverpool , England

Yo...I'm a 49 yearold fireplace installer.I dont do anything else except work, grow pumpkins and go home when it's dark. The wife and kids think I'm a vampire, they only see me when it's night-time.I live in Liverpool, England and have a personal best of 743lb..(3rd biggest ever in Europe)...Alun Jones

5/19/2001 8:53:34 PM

Glenn Springs S.C.

Hey Brent , and everybody else I am 32 been married almost 13years and still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I went to school to be a diesel mechanic but hated greasy hands, worked as a machinist for 6 yrs ,got bored with that . Went to work building custom cabinets ( one of my few long term intrest wood working) but building them everyday is just WORK! I now am a Sr bridge tech with the county where I can retire in a mere 26 1/2 yrs. All I can say about that is go to college Farmer Tom.
My wife thinks I'm crazy ( and Brent Richey ) but she didn't say much when I plowed up 2500 sq ft for my pumpkins or when I told her I was cutting down some trees for them.
I ride around all day thinking how happy I am ( ignorance is bliss).
Jeff

5/19/2001 9:04:50 PM

Connecticut, USA

Hello all, I'm 34 going on 16. I am a software developer/consultant at a small company in CT. This is my third year of competitive growing (fourth year in all). My personal best is 604 pounds grown last year. My wife thinks I'm crazy too. Pumpkins and computers pretty much sums it up.

5/19/2001 9:28:37 PM

Puyallup, WA

Greetings...I am a third year grower from Washington State.
I have been an optometrist in private practise for nearly 34 years and married to the same wife for over 35! We live on a "gentlemens farm" of about 2 1/4 acres in the Puyallup Valley...not far from the patches of Lincoln Mettler and the even better known, Joel Holland. I kept hoping that their knowledge would permeate my "thick skull" by osmosis, but to no avail. As usual, I have had to learn the "hard way"....last year proved that...a total "bust"! Things will be different this year. You can ask my wife, I am very focused this spring!
In addition to gardening, we love and raise rhododendrons
and I drag race a '73 Dodge Dart(10.28@130) with my son who lives next door along with his family. My other son lives in the Boston area.
I have found that the friends made in the Pacific Northwest Giant Pumpkin Growers Association have simply been wonderful to me! I hope that I can "pay them back" for all the help they have given. They are a "neat" bunch of people!
I enjoy reading all the posts on the two pumpkin internet sites...but I've got to say that the person who said to add Purina Cat Chow to the growing site has brought me nothing but grief so far...dogs, cats, birds and bunnies find the hoop houses very inviting!!

5/20/2001 12:48:07 AM

Commack, NY

alright.......i guess i'll take the plunge also,what the heck......i'm 28, and i work as a financial analyst in manhattan, besides pumpkins i like to play with cars......speaking of which, stan you and i should chat sometime about that dodge dart of yours, low 10's, awesome!! i'm not a mopar guy myself, but racing is racing........and fast is fast!! i am currently working on restoring a '74 ford bronco that i traveled to utah, from ny to get.....in the winter you can find me on the slopes snowboarding almost every weekend. i'm very much the outdoorsy type. ahhh, pumpkins and snowboarding, could life be any better? doubt it!

5/20/2001 8:16:33 AM

Mid Michigan

Hi, Rick here......I'm a 44 year old quality technician for General Motors. Been Happily married for 17 years. I'm a 1st year grower, after an all-out challenge from my father -inlaw to see who can grow the biggest pumpkin. As you can tell by the handle (cuzbiker) i'm a harley enthusiast, the better 1/2 has her own bike too, and my 14 year old son is a motocross maniac! He started on an 80cc 3 years ago, and has moved up to the 125 class this year. I have a 16 year old daughter that is.....just a normal teenager. Doesn't like to stay home, and is a social butterfly.
Want to add a word of thanks for all the help, seeds, and tips i've gotten from the nice people on this web site, i have a good chance of winning this challenge because of all of you!! Good luck everyboddy!!........Rick

5/20/2001 8:23:35 AM

Rush, NY

At age 70, I'm 2 years older than Water. I grew up on a Minnesota farm and entered the Navy for 4 years at age 20. At 25 I started college an obtained BS and MS Engineering degrees from the U of Minn. Went to work at age 30 for Eastman Kodak and took an early buyout in 1984 at age 54. Now, I'm semi-retired (like Water) and only work from sunrise to sunset from mid-April to the end of October. In addition to taking care of the yard in Rush, N.Y. and 3 acres of yard and flowers at our 50 acre Nunda, N.Y. farm I grow 5 acres of pumpkins, gourds, squash, Indian corn, etc. that we sell at the farm in October. My Wife of 42 years decorates items with Dried flowers that we sell along with the other stuff. We have 5 children and 8 grandchildren.
My wife doesn't share my interest in Giant pumpkins and Squash. I have been growing them for 17 years and she only complains when I won't go on a long summer vacation because of "Those Damn Pumpkins".

5/20/2001 5:36:01 PM

South Hill, Virginia

Brian,

The name svrichb is actually a username concocted for me by the system office for the Virginia Community College System. I work at Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC) which is where they get the "sv". My name is Brent Richey so they take the first four letters of my last name and my first initial, hence svrichb. From the age of 18 to 22 I destroyed much of my brain where usernames are stored so to keep up with things I just use the svrichb whenever I need to register somewhere.

Jeff,

I think your wife and mine may end up in the same support group.

Stan,

That's one heck of a Dodge Dart you have there. Our family had a 72 Dart but I don't believe that slant six produced quite enough horsepower to run 10's:)

5/20/2001 7:01:13 PM

canal winchester ohio

Hello... 3rd year grower ,378,353 so far.I,m 36 years old a teamster in the trucking industry. I only have room for 1 main plant & 1 pollinator a year , so I don,t have much room for error.I drive my wife crazy with these pumpkins but my kids love it, so I guess that evens it out. I grew up in Circleville Oh ,home for the past 90 plus years to the Circleville Pumpkin Show.So you can say pumpkins are in my blood. .. Well thats about it ,hope everybody has a personal best in 2001......... Paul

5/20/2001 8:50:37 PM

Herndon, VA

Here goes...I'm a 33 year old Computer Systems Engineer, married, with a son that will turn two years old in September. Since about age 13, I have always had some kind of garden to tinker with. I started growing 'normal' pumpkins 4 years ago because I enjoyed carving them, but hated buying them "by the pound" at local stores (obviously a problem if you like BIG PUMPKINS). Due to numerous bouts with bugs & diseases I had just about given up and was not planning to grow pumpkins at all in 2000.

Then my wife got me some seeds from BIGPUMPKINS.COM (found via a "freebie" email list.) and so I gave it one more try. That year, grew a personal best of 186 and became obsessed shortly thereafter. One nice thing, is that I can actually blame my wife when she brings up "Those Damn Pumpkins". She, of course, would blame BIGPUMPKINS.COM. Besides pumpkins and gardening, I am also a computer nut....a hobby also aquired at age 13. Good luck this year, everyone! And thank you for all of the help and advice. Bryan

5/20/2001 10:40:35 PM

Choctaw, OK

Geeze....most of you guys are fairly old...no offense or anything. I am 18 years old and just recently graduated from High school. I have been growing since i was 11. At the moment I work at Wal-mart, and have been the past two years. My personal best is 762 lbs (a.k.a. Iris). I plan to go to college but not sure what i want to do yet...any suggestions? Anyway, i am a nut when it comes to pumpkins....a hobby just as relaxing as it can be disappointing. And i don't know if there are many people that like manure as much as i do....lol.....all i know is pumpkins love it!

I am a very active baseball player also. This is my last year with high school and also play during the summer for a very competitive program. So my summer consists of sleeping, eating, growing pumpkins, working, and baseball. Very busy!

Best of luck and wishes to all...grow'em big!

Casey

5/21/2001 1:00:24 AM

Yukon, Canada

Hi I'm Vaughan growing up here in the Yukon! I'm 35 and my last job was running a small Library and Learning Resource Centre for a First Nations organization. Last year was my first go at growing an AG - it reached 58 lbs. This year I am hoping for a big improvement - thanks to BigPumpkins.com and Amy, I've got some really good seed. My goal is to grow the largest pumpkin ever in the Yukon. My long term goal is to grow the largest pumpkin North of 60. Well, nice to meet you all and good luck in the patch! Vaughan

5/21/2001 1:20:49 AM

Puyallup, WA

What's with all this "relaxing" talk? Since when is it "relaxing" shoveling 15 tons of manure? Does anyone really find it "relaxing" checking your seeds every four hours to see if they have germinated? I sweat "bullets" every morning when I go to the hoop houses to see if the bunny has decided to eat my plants. I worry about the temps inside my hoop houses all day at work. This is not a "relaxing" hobby! Good thing I'm not a "drinkin' man"!

5/21/2001 1:25:35 AM

Saegertown Pa.

hi Im 39 Im a foreman at a tool and die shop. I have a great wife and 4 children and 1 grandchild. they all think Im a little fanatical about growing giant pumpkins but Im that way about every thing I get into. this is my third year growing.my other hobby is archery I shoot 12 months out of the year.and I enjoy hunting,and any kind of gardening. quinn

5/21/2001 8:46:17 AM

Indianapolis,In

HI, I'm 34 yrs old. I work for Navistar International(UAW) . I build the 7.3 Power Stroke diesel engines found in alot of Ford HD vehicles. Enjoy photography, bow hunting, duck & goose hunting, football , gardening and traveling.

5/21/2001 9:56:55 AM

Billerica,Massachusetts

HI: 14 year grower here 39 married 5 kids,i'm employed by MIT as a Project Technician. raising 5 kids and pumpkins doesn't leave much time for anything else.

Glenn Peters

5/21/2001 10:03:36 AM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

Hi, I'm 32 years old, I work second shift at 3M as a electrical test tech. Giving me plenty of time to nurture my pumpkins. This is my second year growing, first year with some good seeds. My wife thinks I am over obsessed,and wishes I would pay as much attention to her. My daughter on the other hand is only four, and is getting hooked at an early age. My other hobbies are fishing,painting and gardening. I raise rabbits just for their manure. So hopefully it will pay off this year. Here is to a good warm growing season and plenty of rain!!!! Shannon

5/21/2001 10:16:53 AM

Deer Park, WI

I just turned 24 three days ago and Im feeling old. Graduated from college last May with a B.S. in Biotechnology. Currently a Lab Supervisor at Pharmasan Inc. We test hormone levels in people and make healthy recommendations based on lab results. I Enjoy ATV's, Guitar, Drums, Weight training, anything outdoors, and of course, Giant Pumpkins.

5/21/2001 11:31:54 AM

Western Pa.

Kilr's Turn!

I'm 45 years young and share the area around my patches with my wife and 3 kids. In 1997, I threw some "Golden Mammoth" pumpkin seeds in the ground and ended up growing a 72.5# pumpkin, that took 2nd place at Canfield, Ohio ( one of Ohio's best fairs!). I took a picture of my son sitting on the pumpkin in the patch, and the photo ended up on the cover of the October 1998 issue of "Gardening How-To". I then took a beginner's seminar at the O.V.G.P.G. This got me "hooked"! My first AG was 373.5# in 1998, this is my 4th year, and I have grown 4 over 400#, with my personal best at 481.5#. (I'm hoping for a lot better this year!) I'm a union pipefitter by trade and have a gentleman's farm of 20 acres. I also grow all kind of fruit, vegetables, and even shitaake mushrooms and bamboo! I attended Penn State and am a Penn State Master Gardener, where I have taught several seminars on raising Giant Pumpkins. I owe a lot to Tim Parks and the entire Ohio Valley group, who did and continue to do a great job nurturing such growers as myself and Dave Stelts. (I love being mentioned in the same sentence as the "Champ".) The Ohio Valley Growers is the best organization I have ever been a part of, and this website "RULES" as far as the sport of growing these giants.(Great job, Ken and John!) Just a warning to all new growers, we are all part of an addictive obsession that gradually takes up more and more of our time, money, and brains. (But I love it!) WELCOME TO THE CULT!

kilr

5/21/2001 6:09:31 PM

Newville/PA

Hey everyone. I am 14 going on 15 and I go to school. Thank god I only have 8 1/2 more days of school. Then I can work with my pumpkins all day. This is my first year growing giant pumpkins and I don't know if I am going to grow next year. I haven't decided. It all depends on how well I do this year. If I do good I will stay. My plants have been the same size for about 1-2 weeks. I was just wondering if that was ok?

5/21/2001 7:17:17 PM

Ontario

Hi Everyone. I'm a mother of 2 and grandmother of 2 little boys. My husband of 26 years and I live on a small 5 acre hobby farm near Niagara Falls. I work in a large greenhouse and was recently promoted as Assistant Grower. We grow Calla Lillies,Mums and Mini Roses. Each day we have 750,000 plants growing. My co-workers call me the Pumpkin Lady. I wonder why? I try not to talk about them, but I can't help it I'm addicted. I guess they don't mind they are going to grow one at work. We are going to open a tourist centre next month, so people can see what goes on inside our modern greenhouse . They decided to plant a corn maze outside and I asked if they were interested in a AG pumpkin plant and they said yes, so I have been named their pumpkin consultant as well.
My other interests besides gardening are, watching my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, reading,and going for drives with my husband in his 55 Chev Belair.

5/21/2001 8:15:35 PM

Kentucky - USA

Hi People, I'm 36 and have a small lawncare service. My hobbies are fishing,electronics,computer/website programing, and of course pumpkin growing. This will be my second year attemping to grow a very large pumpkin and the first year to have good seeds to do so. Thanks everybody.

5/21/2001 10:27:45 PM

Colorado Hail, CO. Elev. 5,900 FT

I am the madman clone grower of Colorado Springs. I'm 36 going on 19 {my wife says] and have been growing for 10 seasons. I have my own yard care service {plenty of organics!], and have always had good luck growing ANYTHING. I take advantage of any method or product which helps me excell at growing. I am always open to new ideas, and believe a person can never stop learning. My personal best came last year with a tiny 432 pounder. I expect to double that this season, at least, as I finally listened to everyone and seeked out good genetics. My hobbies are simple...plants, fishing, and Buccanner football! So what drives a person to keep a pumkin alive all winter? Grow them for 10 years, then lets talk!
Marc

5/22/2001 1:00:17 AM

Deer Park WA

Hi gang, I may as well chime in. My name is Gerry Gadberry I'm 40 and have been growing plants and things my entire life mostly because we were pretty poor growing up so I did'nt get to grow giant pumpkins untill recently (last 4 years)as they are not the tastiest of the cucerbites. I am a electronic/controls specialist for Eastern Washington Univerisity and have the best wife a man could ask for.

5/22/2001 1:10:44 AM

Sloughhouse, CA

Casey if you are not sure what you want to do in college try your local community college. It is cheaper and you can try a variety of classes. Also it is easy to transfer to the local State College or University. If you like agriculture or AG. Engineering try California Polytechnic State University( Cal Poly) at San Luis Obispo. A great school and you will love the town. Or try U.C Davis. Suzy a Cal Poly Grad.

5/23/2001 11:43:25 PM

vancouver canada

hi everyone. my name is doug and im 37 and a first year grower of giant pumpkins. i work as a rater in the transport industry. need rates call on me. anyhow i love gardening and am hoping for one at least triple jennifer lopez's head (ha ha) good luck

5/24/2001 4:19:44 AM

Modesto, CA

Hello everyone, I am a 26 year old female, married with 2 kids (girl/boy). I am a certified chef but now I just use my expertise for home and entertainment and I'm going back to school to be a paramedic. My biggest hobby right now is growing giant pumpkins but I love anything from gardening, crafts, to the rugged outdoors. My husband is from Alaska so we lived up there for a few years and I wish we still live there but my parents would not be too happy if I took their grandchildren away from them again.

5/24/2001 12:35:22 PM

southern MN

HI,
I am 30 years old, married with 2 kids (a 3 year old and a 10 month old). First year growing AGs but several years of growing smaller ones. I grew up farming on the family farm of a couple hundred acres, growing corn and soybeans and some sweet corn and peas for Green Giant. I spent 5 years in the Navy as an Aviation Elect. working on the F/A-18. Left the Navy for college and graduated with a BS degree from Minnesota State, Mankato in Environmental Science with an emphasis in environmental toxicology. I also have two minors of chemistry and geography. I worked several years as a industrial waste water treatment operator. Currently I work for the county I live in as a County Feedlot Officer and Ag. Inspector. I only have 2000 charaters to describe this job so lets just say I spent alot of time looking at cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, seeds, crops and weeds.

Thanks svrichb for starting this string of posts. It is amazing how much I have in common with all these other people (other than pumpkins).

- I too had a Dodge Dart (it would lay a pretty mean patch of rubber if you started on gravel then onto tar, but low 10's would have been a dream).

- From MN and joined the Navy like Len (now if I could only grow pumpkins like him).

- Dated a girl attending Cal Poly SLO while in the Navy. Casey, Suzy is right it is a great school and town.

- And like everyone else (even thought I never grown a giant)I have turned a hobby into an obession.

Thanks to everyone who posts ideas, suggestions and have given seeds I have learned soooo much.

5/24/2001 3:38:53 PM

Saskatoon, SK

Count me in. 26 years old. I am a Ophthalmolgy Intern here in Saskatchewan. As a medical resident I have tons of spare time ;) and I thought why not try growing a giant pumpkin. So far so good. Just married less than one month ago check our web site www.WeAreWed.com . Good luck to everyone.

5/24/2001 4:15:27 PM

Leicester, NY

Hello, I got hooked on growing giant pumpkins 5 years ago. I'm 48 years old, married with 4 children, ages 9 to 16. I live and grow my pumpkins in the western part of New York State about 10 miles from where Len grows his giant fruit in Nunda. When I am not in my pumpkin patch, I make a living as a land surveyor and mapper. The first pumpkin I took to a weighoff back in 1997 came in at 388 pounds. I thought that was huge, until I walked around the weightoff site. My personal best, which was grown last year, is 1096.8 pounds. Best of luck to all of you this year and always in your quest to set a new personal best!....Joe P.

5/24/2001 10:22:35 PM

Greencastle, PA

Stan, I want to be a gentlemen farmer too
RainyDays, your rabbit manure will be made of pumpkin vines
Kilr, and everyone else, Ken and John are the leaders, they know all, lets go replace the amazon with a big pumpkin patch!

5/25/2001 4:29:43 PM

derry n.h u.s.a.

HI people:
I'm a 37 year ole hubby of 11 years with 2 kids,Ages 7 & 15. I own a small roofing service and have for 8 years or so.Const is my main trade. My wife who is jealous of the patch from time to time works for the phone company.She likes to make fun of my hobby(growing pumpkins).I enjoy all outdoor hobbies,hunting,ice fishing,archery,gardening,sking,etc.And yes there were a couple of Dodge Darts in my family.But my dad dident hot rod em.Kinda wish he had LOL.I look forward to growing giants each season.I might even name one of them this season if it gets big enough over 500lb would be great.
Best of luck to all this season.
John Girgus
Derry N.H

5/25/2001 5:50:37 PM

Connecticut, USA

Well, I work with Ken at the same small software company in Connecticut specializing in custom web sites.

Ken actually got be hooked on growing AGs two years ago when I was in search of a non-computer related hobby. I remember not being able to believe how fast the plant overtook the 6' x 6' area I had appropriated for it! Then I set a pumpkin... that was all it took.

Last year was my second year growing, and I was very serious about it (trying to best Ken). This year I hope to break 600 lbs.

When I am not busy with this site or growing, I enjoy playing a computer game called Diablo II.

I have two great boys, ages 3 and 5. The love the pumpkins! My wife doesn't share their enthusiasm. She does tollerate it though.

John D.

5/25/2001 6:27:10 PM

western Kentucky

It is a few days late but here is my life... I am almost 16 my birthday is the 30th of may, and I can't hardly wait. I live in western Kentucky in a very rural area. This will be the first year that I have actually tried to grow a giant pumpkin. But living in Ky and growing up in this farming community, I have to say, taught me a lot about simple gardening techniques that will start the foundation of my giant pumpkin growing knowledge.
I have a lot to learn, needless to say, and I think this site will come in very handy.

good luck everyone Justin

5/26/2001 11:23:22 AM