Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 22 Entries. Monday, January 25 View Page I would Like to thank Ken D. for helping us hold our live SIGPGA auction on this site last night. A big Thank you to all the great growers that donated seeds to our club as well. Thank you to everyone that participated and bid on lots during the Auction. To all of you it is very much appreciated. And last but not least, thank you Cecil for helping our club as the auctioneer. He cranked out 81 lots in 3 hrs and 10 min.. We did very well and all the proceeds will help us put on our 2021 Bloomfield Giant Pumpkin Bash.   Monday, February 8 View Page The Southern Iowa Giant Pumpkin Growers Association (SIGPGA) will be holding a live seed auction on bigpumpkins.com Friday night February 12th starting at 8 pm Eastern time. All the information and auction list can be found on the homepage of bigpumpkins.com under SIGPGA Auction details. This is our biggest fundraising event. All proceeds will help our club put on the Bloomfield Giant Pumpkin Bash this fall. Any support that you can give us on the auction will be greatly appreciated. We have a Tremendous line up full of top genetics of all sorts of seeds for your growing needs. Thank you to all the great growers that donated seeds for our auction.Any questions I can be reached at 641-208-5659. Thank you.   Saturday, February 13 View Page I would like to thank everyone that participated and bid on seeds at our Southern Iowa Giant Pumpkin Growers Assoc. auction Friday night. Thank you Ken for allowing us to use your site. Also I would like to thank all the great growers from all over the world that donated seeds to our auction. Last but not least thank you Cecil Weston and Don Young for helping Paul and Erin Harrington as well as myself during the auction. It is very much appreciated!   Saturday, March 13 View Page Trying to play catch up on my tomato plants. If you get behind on 900 tomato plants you're in trouble. Plants are growing fast a starting to fall over. Getting them tied up and suckers picked off. Takes a lot of time in my evenings after I get home from my real job.   Thursday, April 22 View Page Plan of attack this year.   Wednesday, April 28 View Page I picked a couple early orange maters 3 days ago. They passed the taste test!   Thursday, April 29 View Page Bushel Gourd selection. I have a couple grandsons growing some this year too. Fun growing these things. Great thing to have young growers attempt. Pretty good success rate on them. Can't hardly kill them.   Friday, April 30 View Page 40 hrs and the 2051 Marshall seeds has already popped up. I've never seen one this quick on germination. Hope it's a good sign!   Tuesday, May 4 View Page I will have several pictures of this post. They will be in seperate posts below this. So anybody wanting to make some mini greenhouses here you go. Last year a company was putting in fiberoptic lines across our county. Talking to a foreman I was able to get several of the pex pipe reels for free. They are made of 1 1/2" square steel tubing on the outside part of the wheels and 1 1/4" tubing on the braces. The cross members of square tubing between the two wheels and that holds the pex pipe are 1 1/2" tubing. I unbolted the cross members to seperate the wheels and to transport. My son in law helped me cut the wheels in 1/2. We then cut 3 braces out of 1 of the 1/2 moon pieces from both wheels to be used for the side base rails. Took 3 of the cross members to be welded between the wheel arches for the top. It has some weight yes, but should last me many years. 2 guys can pick it up and move it. It is 8' wide and ends up being 11 1/2' long. It will be welded together. I am thinking about using hinges in the center of the endwalls vertically with 2 pieces of polycarbonate to open one or the other or both to let heat out on which ever end the wind is not coming from. Aluminum wiggle wire channels will be screwed onto both side bottom base rails and over the top of the endwall arches. 6 mm greenhouse plastic will be used to cover the hut. Any end wall ideas are welcome. Even my stiff body can step inside through the endwalls with those braces left in.   Tuesday, May 4 View Page One of 2 wheels to make the mini greenhouse.   Tuesday, May 4 View Page One wheel split in 1/2. This will be one end wall frame.   Tuesday, May 4 View Page Other 1/2 of wheel. Braces cut out. They will be used for side base frame. The arch will be used as one of the center bows.   Tuesday, May 4 View Page All this will be welded together. 8' wide, 4' high and 11 1/2' long. All from 2 wheels off of a pex reel. I will figure out end wall construction. I will also firgur out some anchor points.   Tuesday, May 4 View Page Aluminum wiggle wire or wire lock channels screwed to side base rails and over each end bow. This will secure and lock the greenhouse plastic on to the mini greenhouse.   Saturday, May 8 View Page Cantaloupe line up.   Monday, May 10 View Page Watermelon line up plus some McCaslin and another Dawson not pictured!   Wednesday, August 18 View Page Well you haven't heard much out of me this year because it is a complete disaster. I'm in the only part of Iowa that is not in a drought. Crazy amount of rain this year. I have gave up on all AG's a month ago. Everything else is pathetic too on my other fruits. I had seeds started that people would kill for. Mother nature can be just flat mean. I have a couple 302 Kent watermelons that I hope to atleast participate in weighoffs with. This one is as perfect of a shape as I think you can get. It's growing so we will see where it gets me.   Thursday, August 26 View Page 302 Kent day 33 great shape and growing!   Friday, September 10 View Page 302 Kent still packing on lbs even in over night lows in the low 50's. Lows are going to get back up in the 60's and highs up to 90 in the next several days. That is what I want to see. Very little rain forecasted finally.   Tuesday, September 21 View Page Bloomfield Giant Pumpkin Bash is on Saturday September 25th 2021. 9:00a.m.- 3:00 p.m. The prize structure is as follows: GPC plaques and ribbons will be awarded.. Giant Pumpkins $2,000 /1,500 / 1,000 / 750 /500/ 250 / 150 / 100/ 75/ 50 Watermelons $300 / 200 / 100 Field Pumpkins $300 / 200 / 100 Long Gourds $150 / 100 / 50 Bushel Gourds $300 / 200 / 100 Marrows $100 / 75 / 50 Tomato $50 Howard Dill Award (must weigh atleast 500 lbs)$100 plus HD plaque Largest Davis County Exhibits Giant Pumpkin $250 Field Pumpkin $50 Watermelon $50 Longest Distance driven by exhibitor $50 This will be held on the South Side of our Courthouse Square in Bloomfield. Very easy to find our Courthouse. U.S. Hwy 63 comes right to it in the Center of town. It will be held on Franklin street. First and foremost if you feel ill then do not come to our event please. We will be offering food or drink this year. All proceeds helps our grower group fund this weighoff. No alcohol allowed. Also exhibitors and attendees should bring their own chairs if you wish. Exhibitors should plan accordingly on clothing since this will be out in the wide open come rain or shine. No pre-registering is required. Our registration fees continue to be the same. $15 per class except no fee on Tomato. Exhibitors can weigh more than one fruit per class and only pay the 1 registration fee for that class. 1 exhibit will be entered toward placing and prize money and the others would be exhibitions only. Grower needs to claim which exhibit is toward placing and what will be exhibition if they have more than one exhibit in the same class.. All will be officially weighed or measured and entered on the GPC web site. Green Squash will be weighed against AG’s towards prize money. Green Squash will be entered and placed per the size on the GPC web site under Squash. Howard Dill pumpkin will have to weigh at least 500 lbs to be considered. We will start weighing at 9:00 a.m. and weigh until 12:00 p.m. so exhibitors need to arrive accordingly. Awards and prize money will be handed out after that. All exhibits will be released at 3:00 p.m. and no sooner.   Monday, October 4 View Page One bright spot in this terrible wet year of growing for me. I won the Ryan Norlin Giant Pumpkin weighoff watermelon class in Anamosa this last weekend. Personal best 176.5 lbs. It went 11% heavy and was only 70 dap. 302 Kent x Open. Love the shape of this melon. Can't wait to start next years growing season.   Tuesday, November 2 View Page Harvested my one and only butternut squash. It was grown on the 65.5 Brown seed. Terrible wet year for me. Tickled to get it on the scale today at 63 dap. Small plant with no care. I believe it to be the Iowa State Record. 44.44 lbs on certified scales. Hope to have better weather next year.