News Flash!!!!

Meteorite Lands in Newstead Resident’s Frontyard.

An early morning jogger noticed a large object in the frontyard of a property in Newstead.

The passer by immediately notified authorities claiming she had found, what she believed to have been, a meteorite.

On closer inspection by the authorities, they discovered the object to be ”a pimpin’ great pumpkin”.

Investigations are continuing and the site remains closed for viewing. Upon speaking to the resident, authorities believe that the pumpkin is being grown as part of a Pimp Your Pumpkin Competition. Despite allegations of GM and the use of purple pigmentation, no fowl play is believed to be involved at this stage (other than the strong odour of chicken manure that lingers around the property)

Guess the pumpkin No.3

Someone told me that we would struggle to grow a pumpkin over 40-50kg. Well, how wrong were they!!!
Check out this monster...

That's a size 10 thong to give you a sense of scale

Guess the pumpkin No.2

Who's pumpkin could this monster be?? Well, it was a pumpkin, honest!!!

Oh well.. There's still hope

Fellow Pumpkiners: How's Yours Goin?

Guess who's this is:

Actual email received with the photos:

Subject: dear clog. i know not blog, but down in my bog i found ......

…a pretty pimp’n yella fingy.

Note; very secret hiding spot complete with “wallaby Proof Fence” and “floppy top possum abatement system”.
Security provided by “cows with guns”.

Other security initiatives include;
“rat proof, pressure cooker compost system”,
“bird proof effort justification/ offset system (harvest garden for the missis)”,
“frost proof, glass enclosed jump starter system, (never used)”,
“free standing, sacrificial anode patch for the natives (still need to build jail around the raspberries).

Quiz question; what single piece of plant security system in the picture can be traced back to Vermont Rd and Uncle Chris. Hint; it is not in active service.

Dear little clog, I not know how to blog, causes my brain to chog, makes me sick as a dog.

We're back!!

Sorry, it's been a while, but we're back on deck. Things are going pretty good with our plant. Yesterday we were treated to the most magnificent flower display, and old mate Mr Bee was busy doing his thing

Pity there was no girl flowers about for him to take the pollen to..

What to do with pumpkin #2

Ever heard of potato or orange guns? Check this out!!

For your viewing pleasure

Pumpkin Risotto

I know it's a bit early yet, but i am going to start putting up pumpkin recipes.. After all, if these babies grow to 300kg, that's a lot of pumpkin!!!

First cab off the rank is pumpkin risotto (We had it for tea tonight)

1 Butternut pumpkin
2 cups arborio rice
Mushrooms
Bacon
Boiling hot chicken stock
White wine
Cheese (parmesan and cheddar)

Peel and chop up the pumpkin and boil it for about 15 minutes.

Melt a good knob of butter in a heavy based saucepan, add the arborio rice and cook it in the butter for about 5 minutes until it goes translucent and "nutty". Add a good glass of white wine. When all the wine is absorbed, start adding cups of hot chicken stock, stirring constantly, until it wont absorb any more moisture.

In a seperate saucepan, fry the bacon with the mushrooms. (do all the above at the same time as it makes a bigger mess in the kitchen. Looks like total chaos, but trust me, it all comes together)

When the pumpkin is cooked, put it in a blender with some of the water.

When the risotto is cooked, take it off the stove, add 2/3 off the pumpkin puree (we keep the rest for Finn food), the bacons and mushrooms and handfuls of grated cheese Yummo, the kids love it, and don't be put off thinking it takes forever, i had it on the table in a little over 20 minutes! Served wth snow peas (that the mouse didnt get)

Late Starters

Some people received their seeds a couple of weeks after the first mailing went out. So as not to disdavantage these people too much, we have decided to have a handicap system. We will weigh our pumpkin two weeks before the weigh in date and add the weight gained over the last two weeks on to the weight of those who received their seeds late.

Next project

We have a little resident mouse living in our compost bin who has taken a liking to our snow peas. The other day Christine was taking in the washing and could hear him munching away on our peas. He was sitting on the fence having a good old feast. I'll try and get a photo of him over the next few days

Still a bit early for pumpkins

It might still be a bit early for pumpkins, but there is plenty of other action in the garden at the moment

Nationwide Competition

This little project of ours has grown into a nationwide comp!!! We have two contestants in WA. Not sure how to arrange the weigh in just yet, but we'll work something out. Might need to organise a satellite link...

Hot hot hot

Some people have reported that their seeds are a bit sluggish getting out of the blocks...

Remember you need heat!! The soil needs to be at least 20 degrees...

Suburban yard solution

Think you don't have enough room to plant your pumpkin? You can plant your pumpkin on the edge of your lawn, allowing the vine to grow out on to your lawn.

Pile compost along the main vine, allowing the vine to grow over the top of the compost. The plant will send secondary roots down into the compost along the length of the vine. When the plant is done, you can just pull out the plant and top seed/dress where the pumpkin was growing..

Preparing the soil for planting

By now most of your seeds would have sprouted and you would be thinking of a place to plant the seedling. Soil preparation is the all important thing to remember here.

Dig a big (1m x 1m x as deep as you can)hole in a sheltered but very sunny spot and fill it with layers of compost, manure, and straw. You can either mound some soil on the top into which to plant your seedling, which will help with keeping the seedling warm, or leave a depression in your soil in order to aid with watering.

Make no mistake, these pumpkins grow big people, so you need lots of manure and compost to feed the plant...