Pumpkins Just Keep Getting Bigger

The Weekend saw the UK Pumpkin record be smashed by the Paton twins at the UK Annual Pumpkin Festival in Southampton.

There winning Pumpkin weighed a staggering 1,884lbs it was only 218lbs short of breaking the world record. It measured 17ft round and was putting on 35lbs a day at its peak and watered it with 100 gallons of water a day to get it to swell. There hard work payed off when they received a cheque for £1000 off the sponsors Thompson and Morgan.

Stuart Patern commented  “ We’ve always been confident of getting the world title eventually and it’s brilliant to be installing  a new greenhouse for 2015 on better soil with better drainage and twice the amount of growing space. We should be all set to take on the Americans and the Swiss.”

Thompson and Morgan have committed to sponsoring the even again in 2015 and should the world record be broken on British soil have offered to pay out £10.000 to the winner.

T&M Horticultural Director, Paul Hansord said: “It used to be said that the world record would never leave the US, but if the Swiss can do it, we can do it. Our seed quality just keeps getting better thanks to the Patons’ selective pollination, and UK growers are upping the game every year. I’ve every confidence the Paton boys can bring the title to UK shores in the near future.”

 T&M will be selling seeds from the Paton twins Pumpkin under the variety name Pumpkin ‘Paton Twins Giant’.  It’s a popular line with amateur growers at just £9.99 for two huge seeds with the genetics to become a record breaker.

If you are wanting to grow a big one next year then this is the seed you need to get your hands on.

Video of the week

This was a great series produced by Channel 4 in 1999 presented by Monty Don one of his best series.

This episode is all about Pumpkins and Squashes.

Getting Squashed

It's that time of year again when the squash and pumpkin harvest comes in from the garden. It's been a good year for Squashes and Pumpkins they just wanted to grow and did not get any mildew till late on in the season. All i had to do was keep them watered and they just romped away particularly the Pumpkins they seemed to grow before your eyes. Like blowing up a balloon although some of them did pop and rot into a soupy mess but luckily they did not all go that way.

Gourds growing over the arch

I grew a lot of gourds this year over our pergola probably too many judging by the harvest we got off them. But they do make great decorations around the house and garden and if dried will last for many years. They can be painted as ornaments and in some African country they use them to eat out off instead of plates they are the ultimate disposable plate.

Gourds and squashes drying in greenhouse.

They are a great vegetable for the self sufficient gardener as they will last months if stored well and can be turned into many dishes from soups to pies. Keep them frost free and dry leave a slight gap between each fruit so that if one dose rot it wont spread to the others. Fingers crossed they will last till way into the spring when we should have some new crops in the garden to eat and we don't have to eat out of the store.

Pumpkin Harvest

Video of the week

With the National Giant Vegetable Championships taking place this weekend. I thought it fitting for this weeks Video of the week to be a time laps of a giant pumpkin growing from seed to harvest.

Taking on the Big Boys at Malvern Part 2

Back in June i announced that i was going to have a go at growing giant veg and Taking On The Big Boys at Malvern in September. Well we where off to a good start the onions, pumpkins and leeks where all romping away better than could be expected. But unfortunately just as the onions where starting to swell they got hit by downy mildew. So unfortunately they had to be lifted which was a real shame as they where doing so well. 
But they had to come out to stop the downy mildew spreading to all my other onions they are drying nicly in the greenhouse now good for the kitchen if not for Malvern.

But the great surprise this year has been the pot leeks they are doing really well and are the biggest i have ever grown. They are growing outside just in a bed that was manured in the winter and have no protection so will not be as big as anyone who has grown them in a tunnel or greenhouse. But they are the biggest i have ever grown so I'm really chuffed to bits with them just hopping that they are still as good in September.

And now for the pumpkins well they have taken over one corner of the garden and we have three lovely pumpkins that are fairly big. Which is great but they do seem to have stopped growing in the last couple of weeks and although they are a decent size. They will be no where near the size needed to get any where close to the other competitors at Malvern we will have to wait and see if they end up at Malvern.
What ever happens i will have a leek at Malvern and may be a pumpkin but we have had great fun growing these giant veg which is what it is all about.
Has any body else had a go at growing some giant veg this year for the first time or going to Malvern with some other entry do let us know.