Pumpkin Pickin

Last Sunday before the Chili Fest Jimmy, Richie and Grandpa G picked a few of their pumpkins. We left a few in the garden in hopes for a heavier pumpkin.

Jimmy picks his largest pumpkin. He had three very nice fruits on his vine. We wonder how big this one would have got without the other two. We bought our pumpkin plants from Cooks nursery. They were labeled as "Atlantic Giants". Unfortunately I don't think they were from the largest of fruits.

Richie picked his pumpkin and we were surprised to find the pumpkin wall was very thin in comparison to pumpkins we have grown in the past.

Richie and Jimmy measure height, length, and ground to ground. We will be posting these for all to beat. Yes our pumpkins are little this year. They had so much promise but just did not grow. We received some good seed from David but they would not set fruit. He had a few grow over 100 pounds but ours started, then shriveled. One of our vines would start to grow into the air and then break as it grew longer. We are joining the Utah Pumpkin Club (yes there is such a thing) and they will help us with some good seed. David's seeds were good genetics we just started growing them a little late and had a problem with fungus and setting fruit.


Richie and Jim weighed the pumpkins on our bathroom scale.

They looked a lot bigger in the garden. I commit myself to growing a much bigger specimen next year. I talked with some other growers and one of my problems might be fertilization temperature. I was trying to do my crosses in mid July and the temp is just to hot for a good set. They explained how to get around that issue and still set fruit in the heat. I will share this next summer. We will be carving these soon with Jacob. I am not saving any seeds even though I we did cross the mutant pumpkin with some pollen from a few of David's plants.

David came over for the chili fest and brought his big pumpkins. The pumpkin on David's left is over 100 pounds. It has a great shape and will be the future of one line of Glassford Pumpkins. Conner's pumpkin is just under 100 pounds... his daddy beat him. I think the one to David's right is called a Cinderella pumpkin. It has a great color and shape. I don't know how large they get. Thanks David and Conner for bringing your champion pumpkins.

This year the Giant Pumpkin Award goes to ..... David and Conner. They are fierce but generous competitors. I hope you continue to grow large pumpkins.

Tallest Cherry Tomatoes

Tallest and Most Productive Cherry Tomatoes

One of my goals this year was to beat my tallest cherry tomato record. I smashed my record by at least 1 foot. Lynne was a big help and I owe all my success to her support.

Heather took some images of me in my tomato patch. While typing this I had to stop and go pick some of these bright antioxidant loaded fruits. I measured the stems at just over 10 feet high. Next year I am going for 12 feet.

The plant to my left is the tallest of the two. Each cherry cage has 3-4 plants in its center. Lynne and Richie helped preserve these plants from late spring snow fall. If you look at this springs posts you can see our early spring set up.

The fruit I am holding is Mr. Stripey its an heirloom variety growing with my cherries. I would recommend this plant if you have some extra space. Its not as productive as modern hybrids but very tasty and when sliced it is a very attractive tomato.

The number of cherry tomatoes on these plants is impressive. We grew sweet million, sweet 100 and a wonderful orange cherry. The orange cherry was the most vigorous of the three. All tasted very good but if I had to pick only one to grow..... I would go with the orange.

I have really enjoyed my garden this year and our tomatoes have been a very bright spot. We have bottled and eaten so many tomatoes I think my family is getting tired of tomatoes. I would like to challenge all within the view of this blog to beat my 10 foot cherry tomatoes. If you think you have game... step up and give it a try. You will enjoy the harvest. I happily award myself with the largest cherry tomato plant among all competitors. This is kind of like my gold metal I won weight lifting. I was about 12 years old and Grandpa wanted me to do some Olympic weight lifting. I was the only competitor in my age group so I won a gold.

Some daylily images





Ye-Ha!!

Wonderful Basil

Heather was a big help this year in the garden. She really used the fresh basil in many of her summer dishes. She made me a basil zucchini dish that was excellent. We grew sage, rosemary, fennel, oregano and basil. Heather enjoyed using the fresh stuff.

Heather's basil is strong and very tasty. A hardy variety that keeps on giving. Thanks Heather for your great culinary dishes this summer. I hope you dry some of your leaves and share the taste and aroma with us throughout the winter season.

With the quality and use of basil Heather you receive the coveted herbal award. Many have tried and failed ( I will not mention any names) but your dedication to herbal culture is unmatched. For this reason we give you "Herb Award 2010". Keep up the good work and hopefully you can repeat another year.

Watermelon Champion

Melon Champion Richie Glassford

Raises the Bar for Sweet Fruits

This is the first year we have successfully grown watermelon. Thanks to Richie and his efforts we have enjoyed some new sweet treats. He planted two different varieties. One was more circular and another bacilli like.

He also grew some fantastic cantaloupe. We have a couple more left on the vine ready for this weekend. I recently spoke to Richie and asked him what kind of advice would you give young melon growers around the world ? He paused and said, "give them water ". I also saw him give liquid fertilizer and work tirelessly on soil condition.

Richie grew both watermelon and cantaloupe. A total of four different varieties.

I think Richie is trying to save a few secrets for next year. We are all proud of your botanical prowess and give you the "melon award" for 2010. Richie keep on growing !


By the way this photo shoot was very difficult because the said subject would not smile. Many different faces were pulled to deceive and throw off his identity. Secretly he does not want to be known as the champion for fear of botanical retaliation.

Thanksgiving Point Pumpkin Weigh Off

Wow check out these pumpkins !! Grandma, Grandpa, Richie and I went to Thanksgiving Point to witness the giant pumpkin contest. This is the official pumpkin weigh-off in the state of Utah. I was very impressed with the monster pumpkins grown in our local area. Utah is about 700 pounds shy of the national record but I am sure one day will be in the running for the biggest pumpkin.

Many people wandered up and down the display gawking at the mega fruits. I was surprised so many people came out to witness the giants. Those who grow big pumpkins put in many hours of observation and work to get their plants to perform at their genetic potential.

Richie stands next to two large fruits. I talked to some Utah growers and they invited us to be apart of the pumpkin brotherhood. We will join the group this spring and hope to receive a generous number of seeds.

Grandma calculates how many pumpkin pies she can make with this big one.

Richie announced his intention to grow the largest pumpkin in Lindon. He wants to experiment with his own hill next year. We will have at least four big pumpkin growers in our house next year. Grandpa G, Pappa G (me) Jimmy and Richie. We are hoping to have at least 10 different plants next year. This Sunday we will be posting this year's fruits. David (my brother) and Conner (nephew) will try to bring their large pumpkin to the festivities.

We will be sharing our pumpkins success this Saturday or Sunday.

The Glassford Family Fall Festival Begins

Fall Festival

The second annual Chili/Pumpkin Fest is only one of the many activities going on this week. The Annual Glassford Family Fall Festival began today with 5 members sitting down to lasagna, homemade bread sticks, salad and some fresh tomatoes (hybrid and 2 different heirloom varieties) For desert we made a peach (Elberta queen) cream pie, tasty!!

Fall is in the air and the harvest is being celebrated this week. The climax of activities is happening Sunday afternoon at the "Chili/Pumpkin Fest" Those in attendance will bring their favorite pot of chili along with a delicious pumpkin treat.

Everyday this week (if I have time) we will celebrate our harvest. We have been greatly blessed this year with a bumper crop in all areas of the garden. I wish we could have had more time to bottle and preserve more of the garden.

Wow look at those pumpkins. Lynne harvested her little pumpkins this week. Out of all the little pumpkins growers, Lynne produced the most little pumpkins on one plant. Her record is 15 ripe mini pumpkins. David and Gina came in a close second place with 10 mini pumpkins.

Here Lynne is trying to rush my photo shoot. I am sorry but there are certain things you just cannot rush. This is one of them.

Lynne was a huge competitor this year in the mini pumpkin class and she is definitely the one to beat next year. I encourage all to try your luck and dedication to the smallest of pumpkin fruits. The competition is to grow the most mini pumpkins on a single plant.

Lynne grooms her little beauties before I took the first shot on this blog entry. Congratulations Lynne on a wonderful growing season. Lynne I challenge you to better your pumpkin skills and beat your record. Don't settle on this years success. I encourage you to study soil science and use nematodes and fungi to improve your soil culture. Good job Lynne you are the first place mini pumpkin champion of 2010.