Award Winning Pumpkins!
Many people enter contests at fairs from everything from pies, riding, Axe throwing and of course gardening. It is a sport for most people and a yearly exciting event. Ribbons are won and everyone knows everyone, it is a lot of fun.
However, if your are like me and your just one who likes to have a great garden and produce huge award winning vegetables then this is how.
The main trick I am going to teach you here is how to grow award winning huge pumpkins.
You foundation is the most important of all so lets start there. I If you soil is not correct and the foundation is not set right ..it is hard to get anything to grow.
Making enriched Soil and foundation
- Till the area you are going to plant in, this is very important so the roots can grow deep and have a good start to do this
- fertilize. if you know of anyone who has horses or cows get some manure from them and till this into your soil. If not you can make your own mulch or you can buy fertilizer at walmart. I will tell you more about mulching next.
- Make sure the area is well airated ….basically the soil is loose you don’t want it packed down as it needs the air in it to help the seed.
Making your own Super Mulch
- Mulch is easy to make yourself and is the best thing for your garden. An easy way to accomplish this is to get a steel can. large container such as a drum and fill it with grass clipping, left over vegetables, banana peels, basically the organic stuff you generally throw out.
- Put this stuff in the drum and cover.
- Once a day, go out and roll the drum around, within a few days it breaks down and you know have great mulch.
- Rake the mulch into your prepared soil
Now to the Garden
- Some people like to buy the vegetables already growing and then plant them. I prefer seeds in the packs or fresh.
- Make sure to read how far apart the seeds must be and if they need a mound or not. How much sun they need and how much water they need
- You want to plant the ones that need the same type of care next to each other. for example: if you have seeds that need lots of sun plant all of them in their rows together, if you have seeds that need more water then plant them on another side. Otherwise they all will get the same amount of sun or watering and they will die.
- Make yourself rows and allow enough room for you to get around as you will need to be able to get in there and weed and take care of your plants.
- For pumpkins it is best to give them their own area and make a mound for them.
- To plant the seeds I like to just press them into the soil with my finger so I know they are fully covered.
- Then of course water like crazy
Now here is the fun part.
when your pumpkins start to come up and you see the stalk getting a little thicker, this is what you do.
- Get a dixie cup and fill it half way with milk
- at the base of the pumpkin stalk make a slight cut so that the stalk is fine but that you have a shred of it to put into the cup
- this is similiar to a slice (like cutting the skin off of an apple but not taking it all the way off just letting a piece hang)
- Now that piece that is hanging you put into the dixie cup of milk
- make sure the cup is secure and use string if needed to keep the peice of stalk in the milk
- make sure is continues to have this milk so check it every few days.
- the pumkin will now absorb or drink this milk and it grows like crazy
Sounds bizarre I know, but I used to go to the county fairs all the time and see the biggest pumpkins ever and I always wondered how they grew them that big. Well I asked my Grandpa when he was alive and he told me the story of the farmer he knew who lived next door.
I of course thought he was joking, but one year I decided to try this.
And it worked, I had the biggest pumpkins ever.
Just as a fun thing…after you have harvested your pumpkin and are finished with the showing ….cut it open pull out the seeds and clean them.
Put them on a baking pan, add some salt and bake until lightly brown. these are great for eating.
Now continue to make mulch year round and continue to put into your garden and remember that the skin and insides of the left over pumpkin can go back into the mulch.
Each year your garden area will produce better and better because the soil will become perfect.
