The second stop of the N.H.G.P.G.A. patch tour was at Jim Kuhn's house in Goffstown, NH. Jim is the current New England champion having grown a 929.2 pound pumpkin in 1997. This is a shot of Jim with his 801.5 Stelts plant. The 801.5 comes from the 825.5 Shymanski 1996 crossed with the 562 Rose 1995. This is a very popular seed this year and is therefore very hard to get your hands on!
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Jim speaks very highly of Tony Ciliberto from Wilkes Barre, PA. This is a shot of Jim with his 678 Ciliberto plant. The 678 Ciliberto comes from the 563 Geerts 1995 crossed with the 612 Ciliberto 1994. Like most of Jim plants, this one looks very green and healthy. He must spend lots of time weeding because his garden looks immaculate! To grow as many plants as Jim does and to keep them weed free is incredible!
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This is Jim with his 780 Eaton plant. At the time of the picnic Jim claimed this was going to be the first 1000 plus pound pumpkin grown in New England. Since then we have learned that it blew up! Sorry Jim, I'm sure you will get a big one by the time the Topsfield Fair rolls around!
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This an 865 Metler plant. Jim is addressing the crowd of people who came from the picnic to check out this plants. Throughout these photos you can see the boards that Jim walks on to help prevent soil compaction in his garden.
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This is Jim's 935 Lloyd plant. He said he was having trouble setting fruit on the main vine on this plant. Jim has grown this seed before and seems to always have trouble setting fruit on it.
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Jim seemed to be having some trouble with his 815 Checkon plant. It appeared to be stunted. Since the plant was having problems anyway, Jim decided to conduct some experiments on it. I know he was playing around with Ironite. Jim found the pH was lowered by Ironite. The jury is still out on this one. When we get more information we will pass it along. Check out the Ironite website for more details.
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Jim uses these custom made greenhouses to protect his seedlings in the early part of the season. This is New Hamshire so the Spring can be pretty cold. Notice the ventilation holes on all sides to prevent them from getting too hot.
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Here Jim is showing us the tanks for his watering system. These tanks feed the drip hoses throughout Jim's garden.
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While talking with the New England champion Ken went into a deep trance so he could absorb more of Jim's vast pumpkin knowledge. Thanks again Jim for sharing your pumpkin patch with all of us. We look forward to seeing you at Topsfield with a big one!
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