Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 139 Entries. Wednesday, June 7 View Page This is the 1553 Weston on the right and the 1662.5 DeBaccco. The 1553 was originally the back-up but it looks like it will get the call.   Wednesday, June 7 View Page This is the 1756 H/J on left and 2002 Hawley on right. 2002 is the back-up. Planting back-ups at right angles like this allows us to get by the critical laying down period before having to make a call. A drainage ditch is in the foreground with pipe installed will be covered as plants grow to it.   Wednesday, June 7 View Page The 1965 Brandt. It had a horrible start. The first two true leaves only got as big as a quarter. She is getting all the TLC I can give her and she is starting to respond. Thanks Josiah for the seed. I love an underdog story. Stay tuned.   Wednesday, June 7 View Page Our 1882 Gehweiler. The first pumpkin opened on June 5th at 15 feet. Trying to recreate the magic of Jason Terry when he grew his 1577 in 2015. The seed was planted March 22.   Wednesday, June 7 View Page Our 1730 Werner starting to take off. Have high hopes for this one.   Wednesday, June 7 View Page Our 1403 Haist. It is our only shot at a squash this year, so far she's looking healthy.   Monday, June 26 View Page Sad day in the home patch. My 1553 Weston is infected with mosaic virus. It is hard to see from the picture but the newest leaves are mottled or mosaic and the ends of the vines are sticking straight up in the air. They don't have the downward turned "gooseneck" of a healthy vine. These are classic symptoms of mosaic virus, so I pulled her. That is no fun. I enjoyed growing her for the time I had her. This hobby is definitely a roller coaster ride.   Saturday, August 12 View Page Our 1730 Werner. I call her She-Tank. She is a solid cube. Her vine is looking rough and she's slowed considerably. Taping at 769.   Saturday, August 12 View Page Our 1756 H/J. Taping at 840 and doing 33 a day. She looked like a shoe in for our 1000 lb goal, but remember we are talking about pumpkin growing. Next photo will explain what I mean.   Saturday, August 12 View Page Three days ago no sign of trouble, and believe me I'm always watching with a discerning eye. Pull up to the patch to see the entire vine had collapsed from the pumpkin out. I was physically sick to my stomach.   Saturday, August 12 View Page I named her Jessie G when she was very young, for American Ninja Warrior Jessie Graff. Those of you who watch the show get the reference. First because she was"running lean" from the start. I had to cut the stump and 4 side vines when she developed foaming stump issues. Thanks for the advi7ce Rick and Danny.   Saturday, August 12 View Page Second, because if she's going to finish this run she's going to have to pull off the impossible.   Saturday, August 12 View Page And third, from where I stand she's a Lilly white beauty. Lol   Saturday, August 12 View Page Visited with Gail Newsome in his patch on a hot day when he had been working hard. He was sweating like crazy and loving every minute of it. You would be hard pressed to find anyone that loves growing these giants any more than Gail. His plants were looking great and the kind were just starting to take off.   Saturday, August 12 View Page This is out 1403 Haist squash. The fruit is just starting to go, but I must tell you about the plant. About 6 weeks ago she had an entire side vine collapse in two days and it had tracked into the main and was moving out the vine. It looked just like phyto and she should be long gone, but somehow she keeps holding on. I've never named a plant before, but I call the Patriot because just like New England in the Superbowl she don't know when she's been beat.   Saturday, August 12 View Page Trying melons this year to get a better understanding to help me be a better emcee for the melon growers. Have no idea what we're doing, but have a couple at about 60 lbs. Nice to have some diversity in the patch. Thanks Chris for the 318.5 seeds.   Saturday, August 12 View Page This is what happens when you plant jack-o-lanterns in giant pumpkin "jacked" soil.   Saturday, August 12 View Page This is what happens when you plant jack-o-lanterns in giant pumpkin "jacked" soil.   Sunday, August 13 View Page This is a photo of our pumpkin, the Vann Hook bushel gourd and Brooks watermelon. They were carved last Halloween at Brenner Childrens Hospital. I share this because if you are like me you get discouraged this time of year when you're losing plants that you have invested so much of yourself into. I could not have imagined a more noble end to our pumpkin from last year than this. If it brought just a little joy to one of these critically ill children or their family, then all the toll was worth it.   Sunday, August 13 View Page The organizers of the event; Gail Newsome in the center with the carvers, Donnie and his son. They have been doing this for many years and really had their act together.   Sunday, August 13 View Page Gail giving an interview with a local TV station. We were not allowed to take any pictures of the children, but their reactions to the giant fruits were priceless.   Sunday, August 13 View Page I thought the bushel gourd was particularly impressive. The dark green rind gave it great contrast to the light. So I guess I'm saying keep the faith on these long hot summer days when the weigh-offs seem so far away. Our 588 was the only pumpkin that made it sound to a scale last year, but it was so worth to have had the experience at Brenners. Seeing those kids and their families struggling with life threatening diseases really puts things in perspective.   Thursday, August 24 View Page She green, she ugly, she mean, SHE-TANK.   Thursday, August 24 View Page Jessie G. Oh girl, you're earning your name. Your run could have ended at 200 lbs when the stump was foaming and wilt was tracking out the vine.   Thursday, August 24 View Page You should have shut down when the whole vine leading away from you collapsed, and definitely when that had tracked to the side vine on the other side of you at 840. Two very knowledgeable people on this site confirmed what I feared, that it was probably phyto. But you kept going and now your charting north of a grand. You go girl.   Thursday, August 24 View Page Our crazy squash vine, The Patriot. It should have been dead months ago from phyto, but it somehow kept growing and overcame it. It has a crazy energy that I can't control, which could easily be explained by too much nitrogen except that very little was put into the soil. It's doing a pretty good job of pushing a squash on a side vine.   Sunday, August 27 View Page Need to backtrack and take care of a little housekeeping. This was our 1965 Brandt plant back in July. Josiah was so generous to share a seed. Had big plans for this one. She had a rough start but was starting to come around nicely and then...   Sunday, August 27 View Page ...a few days later came back to the patch to find this. Most likely phytophora. Took her out fast. Very disappointed but did get to pollinate her to the 1756 H/J before she went down. This is the same stuff that hit our crazy squash plant, but it hit back!   Tuesday, September 5 View Page That's MR WRINKLES to you. Actually that really is the name of that variety of pumpkin.   Tuesday, September 5 View Page Visited Gail Newsom' s patch today. He has a nice one going on a Van Hook seed. We taped it at 848, and it should go heavy with the genetics behind it.   Tuesday, September 5 View Page Jessie G is still hanging in there. She's approaching the dirty dozen. That's my brother and growing partner, Bruce in the picture.   Tuesday, September 5 View Page She Tank loaded for Knoxville. She shut down way too early on us. Barely got 60 days out of her. I'm afraid she may go light since she didn't have time to mature.   Wednesday, September 6 View Page Knoxville bound tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. One of the perks of using your daughter's bed spread to cover the pumpkin is you can play Twister after the pumpkin is unloaded.   Thursday, September 7 View Page Nuff said.   Thursday, September 7 View Page What happens in Knoxville stays in Knoxville. I've got to stop hangin' with these crazy melon growers.   Thursday, September 7 View Page Great first time weigh-off at the Tennessee Valley Fair today. Hats off to Dave Cantrell and his crew. Congrats to Todd Dawson with his winning 283.5 melon, also a new North Carolina record.   Thursday, September 7 View Page Congrats to Jason Terry on winning the bushel gourd competition with his 185.5 entry.   Thursday, September 7 View Page Congrats to Jason Terry with his 1366 winning pumpkin. We had some drama as, his brother Jeremy weighed a 1331 and Garry Ganter brought a 1325. Interesting finish.   Thursday, September 7 View Page Our She-Tank gave us a nice surprise at the scale. She taped 828 by the old chart and 863 by the new one. She went crazy heavy at 1050 to give us our first Quad. Can't wait to cut her open to see those walls. Her seeds should have nice potential as she came from the 1730 Werner and I crossed the 1756 H/J into her.   Thursday, September 7 View Page All the winners with Jason's winning pumpkin.   Friday, September 8 View Page Two words about color. First, my compliments to whomever at the GOV decided on the red and black color scheme. It makes for an awesome ribbon. Second, don't know where all the green came from in She Tank. She started out yellow then was turning a nice orange, but eventually went more and more green. Maybe she wants to be called She Hulk. All I know is, at 1050 she can be any color her little heart desires.   Friday, September 8 View Page Last entry was supposed to be GPC not gov. Stupid auto correct.   Tuesday, September 12 View Page Annette and I went to the patch at 4 this morning to cut vines in an effort to save Jessie G and our squash from Irma' s rains. The band's started at 1:30 am and kept coming. Didn't sleep until 5:30 this morning. Great to have a pumpkin worth losing sleep over, and a wife that loves me that much.   Sunday, September 17 View Page Oh Jessie G. You made me believe in the magic again.   Sunday, September 17 View Page She had very prominent veining when she was very young and it has gotten more pronounced. Hope that is a good omen.   Sunday, September 17 View Page Our squash was on the same growth rate as Jessie G up until about day 35, but then really slowed. Nice green color on the *1403 Haist.   Sunday, September 17 View Page No record breakers, but happy with our first try at watermelons.   Sunday, September 17 View Page Both are on traditional vines. Want to learn how to graft next year.   Sunday, September 17 View Page Picked up She-Tank from the Knoxville Fair today. She decided she wanted to be a squash while she was there.   Sunday, September 17 View Page Dave Cantrell and the staff at the fair we're very accommodating. They put on a first rate event. Nice display of pumpkins and melons. Dave was an ambassador for our crazy hobby as he stayed at the display each day and educated people on how to grow the giants.   Monday, September 18 View Page One thing I like about our ridiculous obsession is that you get to meet the most unique people. Brother Dave Cantrell in addition to having a love for growing giant vegetables, he is participating in a wonderful project of restoring the American Chestnut. It's a sad tale of how it was wiped out by a blight. What a wonderful legacy for those involved if they are successful in restoring this American icon to our landscape. Thanks for the trees Dave. We'll keep our fingers crossed.   Monday, September 18 View Page Trial run of our tripod went well. Special thanks to Cecil Weston for the assistance.   Monday, September 18 View Page Trial run of our tripod went well. Special thanks to Cecil Weston for the assistance.   Thursday, September 21 View Page Jessie G safely loaded. Used our new tri-pod. Some tense moments but all went well. Bruce went out and bought a new truck to carry her to the weigh-off in style.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Weigh-off day in Elkin. Nice but hot day. Our president Sam Lovelace got the forklifts and scale for the event. Thanks Sam for all your hard work. He lost his pumpkins this year but worked to put on this weigh-off for others; class act.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Jessie is our version of the human forklift. Great job to all that got the fruit safely to the scale.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Nice lineup of pumpkins and all except for ours were from NC.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Another view. Danny's big one is closest to the camera.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Chris Kent had a massive bushel gourd. It went light at 266, but it was impressive.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Chris Kent with his second place 247 melon.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Congrats to Todd Dawson on his 260 lb winning melon.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Melon top three. Danny Vester, Chris Kent and Todd Dawson. Sorry I don't have a picture of Danny's melon, but my wife and photographer had found the kettle corn at that point.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Matt Crapps with his 471.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Donna Holcomb with her 501 beauty.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Donna's husband John just edged her out at 504.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Susie Zuerner with her 508.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Michael Hefner with his 591. Michael brings a competitive entry about every year.   Saturday, September 23 View Page HC Williams with his 736.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Marc Rollins had an 805 that went light, but was our Howard Dill award winner.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Gail Newsom with his 4th place 935.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Elijah Meck with his son Owen and their 3rd place 969.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Danny Vester with his massive 1237. It went a little light for him. Danny and I had a fun bet. If he won he buys my lunch and if our pumpkin won, I buy his. His was taping about 150 lbs over ours, so I could all but taste that steak.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Oh Jessie G, you just kept running through all the obstacles nature threw at you this year. She went a little heavy at 1328. All these years ive been asking growers how to go over 1000, and this year I stumbled onto the answer quite by accident. Just name them after a girl, then get out of the way.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Bruce and I had quite the roller coaster ride with Jessie G this year, but in the end it was all worth it. Real excited about the cross (1756 H/J x 1965 Brandt)   Saturday, September 23 View Page Group shot of the growers. Great group of people.   Saturday, September 23 View Page Danny, you missed a great meal at Cracker Barrel. That bet was just for lunch today, right?   Thursday, September 28 View Page Our carport the night before the Dixie Classic Fair.   Thursday, September 28 View Page Our heaviest melon went 173. She was short and fat and went heavy to the chart as many with that shape do. Grown from the 318 Kent. Thanks Chris. We are pleased for our first year.   Thursday, September 28 View Page My wreath for the most decorative display of ornamental corn. I grew the corn and flowers, except for some wildflowers I collected and dried. Big Daddy doesn't just grow pumpkins.   Thursday, September 28 View Page My bushel gourd from the 270 Kent weighed 158. Very pleased for the first try at these. Thanks again Chris for the seed. I hope these become a regular category at GPS weigh-offs.   Thursday, September 28 View Page Let's try again for a picture of the 173 melon.   Thursday, September 28 View Page Some people were interested in seeing the walls of She-Tank since she went 22% heavy.   Thursday, September 28 View Page 10 inches on top. Hard to measure and get a good picture at the same time.   Thursday, September 28 View Page 11.5 inches at the stem end.   Thursday, September 28 View Page Our little She-Tank is going to be a mommy. Unfortunately most of the seeds are not filled all the way out. Will do a germination test on some of the partial seeds. Oh yeah, please don't tell my wife what I used her colander for.   Thursday, September 28 View Page Jessie G on the scale at the Dixie Classic Fair. We knew there might be an issue with the accuracy of the scale at Elkin. We had less than ideal conditions as the scale was set up on grass. Danny Vester had weighed his pumpkin before Elkin at 1263 and it weighed 1237 there, so we knew there might be an issue.   Thursday, September 28 View Page The scale was calibrated and certified by Amanda Weiner from J. A. KING and she stayed on site until our pumpkin was weighed.   Thursday, September 28 View Page She weighed in at 1342 at the Dixie Classic Fair.   Friday, September 29 View Page Got to talk pumpkins with people all day today at the Dixie Classic Fair. After several days of "fair food" my cc measurement should explode. It was awesome to see people's reactions to the giant pumpkins, but I must share one in particular. There was a little boy that came back to our pumpkin several times. He didn't say anything, but his face said it all. He was absolutely awestruck by the size of Jessie G. He seemed to be mesmerized by her. I saw in him myself 50 years ago. That's where my obsession with these giants began.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Several nice watermelons showed up for Allardt.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Allardt pumpkin line-up.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Another view of the pumpkins. They only had 9 or 10 entries but 4 went over 1300, which is a strong showing for the south.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Chris Kent brought an impressive 247 bushel gourd.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Bruce and I finished our year with a win in the squash category with our 719, grown from the *1403 Haist. A nice finish to a special year for us.   Sunday, October 8 View Page The top three is squash. From left to right, myself, Susie Zuerner, Gail Newsom and my brother Bruce.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Jordan Terry with his 3rd place 253.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Chris Kent with his 2nd place 273.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Frank Mudd with his winning 304 watermelon.   Sunday, October 8 View Page The top three watermelon winners at Allardt.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Congratulations to Tim and Patrick, 2nd year growers for setting the Georgia state record with their 1306 lb pumpkin. They will be a team to watch in the future.   Sunday, October 8 View Page The Terrys were out in force. Congrats to perennial favorite Jason Terry with his 1342 Howard Dill award winner.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Patriarch Bruce Terry set a personal best with his 1353 which placed second.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Larry Burton brought an absolute rock that went 18% heavy with his 1419 DMG.   Sunday, October 8 View Page The 2145 strikes again. It grew a 16% heavy 1594 rock for them. John and James were two happy campers.   Sunday, October 8 View Page John and James set a new site and Kentucky state record with their 1594.   Sunday, October 8 View Page A gathering of southern heavy hitters; Jason Terry, Susie Zuerner, Frank Mudd, Chris Kent, John Brammer hiding behind John Van Hook.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Renewing old friendships over dinner after the pumpkin festival.   Sunday, October 8 View Page As you may notice from the last two photos, John Van Hook could not seem to wipe that smile from his face. Congratulations again John and James. A special day for you both.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Chris with his massive 247 lb bushel gourd.   Friday, October 13 View Page The line-up of pumpkins at the NC State Fair.   Friday, October 13 View Page Chris Kent had the fattest, rounded melon I've ever seen.   Friday, October 13 View Page Todd Dawson had a big melon.   Friday, October 13 View Page TJ Lovitt was so proud of the pumpkin that he and his father, Gary grew. It was our Howard Dill Award winner.   Friday, October 13 View Page Susie Zuerner has worked closely with fair personnel to organize the NC State Fair weigh-off. They have put together a nice event for growers to showcase their fruit. Here she is with her tenth place watermelon.   Friday, October 13 View Page John Brooks has been growing for a while. He has had a tough year. I was glad to see him finish with a pb of 206 pounds, which placed eighth.   Friday, October 13 View Page Andrew Vial set a new personal best of 256 pounds and placed 3rd.   Friday, October 13 View Page Chris Kent's round melon went an impressive 315.5 pounds and placed second.   Friday, October 13 View Page We had an exciting finish in the melon competition as Todd Dawson set a new North Carolina record with his 316 pound melon, just edging out Chris Kent by a half a pound.   Friday, October 13 View Page Gary and TJ Lovitt's 570 lb pumpkin won the HD award.   Friday, October 13 View Page HC Williams with his 699 lb fifth place pumpkin.   Friday, October 13 View Page Arrive Phillips placed fourth at 708.   Friday, October 13 View Page Susie Zuerner placed third at 791.5.   Friday, October 13 View Page Sam Jenkins had a massive pumpkin that was damaged but set a new personal best for him at 1116.5 pounds. He grew it in the extreme heat near our NC coast, which makes it even more impressive.   Friday, October 13 View Page Mark Rollins had a gorgeous pumpkin that also went heavy to the chart at 1118, a new personal best. It placed second.   Friday, October 13 View Page Congratulations to Elijah Meck who set a personal best, State Fair site record and NC state record with his 1458.5 lb winner.   Friday, October 13 View Page Congratulations to all the growers.   Friday, October 13 View Page Thanks Todd and Dawn for having us to your place. It was like something out of Better Homes and Gardens. Just a beautiful place, and the food was the best. Good to hang out and talk shop after the weigh-off.   Friday, October 13 View Page The passing of the guard. The old NC record holder and the new.   Friday, October 13 View Page Ok, Danny. This officially satisfies our bet.   Friday, October 13 View Page Let's try this again. Artie Phillips with his 708 lb fourth place pumpkin. It was 1am after a long day when I posted and auto-correct slipped one in on me.   Friday, October 13 View Page The results of the NC State Fair 2017.   Saturday, October 14 View Page Both our watermelons had Hollow cores.   Saturday, October 14 View Page Jessie G had nice thick walls. 12.5 inches at the thickest point.   Saturday, October 14 View Page Jessie G had a good seed count. Unfortunately most were not filled out to the tip. Seed collection day for melons, bushel gourds and pumpkin.   Sunday, October 29 View Page Took a trip to Bald Head Island to do a little fishing. View from the ferry.   Sunday, October 29 View Page Fishing was slow, but it was interesting to see the large ships come so close to shore.   Sunday, October 29 View Page Deer are everywhere on the island. No hunting and everyone gets around on golf carts. No cars except for utility and construction workers. The deer don't fear humans.   Sunday, October 29 View Page Saw two bucks chasing a doe on the golf course. Two golfers drove their golf cart within 20 feet of them and teed off. Never phased the deer.   Sunday, October 29 View Page Beautiful sunrise the day we left.