BIG NEWS, BIG NEWS, BIG NEWS !!!

Did you notice we changed our name? We are no longer Bitterroot Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off, but now we are BIG SKY GIANT PUMPKIN GROWERS !!

MORE BIG NEWS...

We, the Big Sky Giant Pumpkin Growers, will be staging our first and only fund raiser for our group - An Internet Seed Auction hosted by

bigpumpkins.com

on
March 7th at 6pm MST (8pm EST/5pm PST).

Mark your Calendars! We've acquired seeds from the world class growers and will be offering over 20 seed lots with several top seeds per lot.

All money raised goes directly into the cash awards, prizes, and general cost of running our weigh off on September 25th at the Cornfield Maze.

This is your chance to gain some proven GIANT genetics to raise your personal best pumpkin this year, and perhaps smash the 500lb Montana State Record!!!

Please visit bigpumpkins.com and sign-in (a one time registration that costs nothing) ahead of time and visit a chat room to see what other growers are chatting about; or view the message boards for every topic you can imagine related to raising giant pumpkins.

On Feb. 28th our auction will be in a chat room with a link on the bigpumpkins.com home page. Soon I will post the list of seeds and the auction rules on their home page as well.

If you do not score a seed lot at our auction but would like to contribute your support to our weigh off, you are welcome to mail directly to me, Kim Thomas, 835 Orchard Dr, Hamilton, MT 59840. I appreciate and thank you all in advance.

MORE SEED Options...
There is now a relatively new site that is an excellent way to get great seeds, good genetics, & all it costs is the price of postage to get them to you. Here is the link http://seedoutlet.com/

I am also in the process of putting together an info flier for 2004 to go with the seeds that I distribute here in the Bitterroot and Missoula areas. There will be two outlets for picking up free seeds -
In Hamilton, pick up seed packets at the Ravalli Co. Fair Grounds Office, M-F, 8-4:30, after March 1st.

In Missoula, pick up seed packets at Ibey Nusery on Grant Creek Rd, across from the smokejumper center, during regular business hours.

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Remember that the Ravalli County Fair will be hosting its own Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off during the fair with terrific cash prizes! We now have two venues to grandstand our giants!
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Everyone, everyone! Here is an opportunity to score some terrific seeds for 2004 for the benefit of charities, and some are very reasonably priced...thus far. Check it out!

This is a direct quote pasted from the Pumpkinnook Newsletter, Jan.6, 2004:

We get back to the world of pumpkins with our Annual Charity Seed auction, getting underway right now! Wildly popular, here is your chance to get some great genetics. And, as always there's more items to bid on than just pumpkins.

Charity Seed Auction

To get to the auction, go to http://pumpkinnook.com/auction.htm

This is our fifth year holding the auction. The selection of items up for bid is the biggest yet. Just wait until you see what many generous top growers have donated for the auction. It includes:

** Seed from the 1385 Daletas, the world record giant pumpkin
** Seed from some of the biggest green squash ever grown.
** Many copies of the ever popular George Webster Pumpkin Videos
** Autographed set of all three of Don Langevin's World Class Giant Pumpkin books, an invaluable collector's item
** Mega Deals with over a dozen seed packets, including 1000+ pound seed
** Giant Tomato seeds
** lots, lots, lots more


If you are a new grower, you'll find ample opportunity to get great seed genetics. If you are an experienced grower, here is an opportunity to add to your collection, and to try some of the greatest genetics available.

There will be two rounds over an eight day period. There is more than 30 items in each round. Make sure to browse and bid during both rounds. Round One is live now.

It's a truly charitable event. 100% of the bids goes to the charity or nonprofit group indicated on each item. You write the check to the charity. Pumpkin Nook and the donors cover all operating expenses of the auction.


Remember, you're helping a wide range of good causes. So, bid high, and bid often.

To get to the auction, go to http://pumpkinnook.com/auction.htm

It's winter all around the country and not much we can do for our garden other than research what seeds we want to grow in the spring and what we'll do differently for our pumpkin patch this year.

Below I've pasted a few winners from a pumpkin poetry contest held recently... enjoy!

Winning entry by David Asman:
I am contemplating my poetic confection,
It is truly concerning seed selection,
And also the pumpkin patch construction,
As a natural organic production!

Two thousand and four approaches initiation,
My heart experiences palpitation,
Will I be rewarded for my dedication,
Or will the year bring forth deflation!

On the net I have viewed erudite conversation,
Of does and don'ts from the pumpkin nation,
A lot of the finest information,
For the pumpkin persons dissemination!

Oh dear, I fear the lack of concentration,
Someone has just mentioned vegetation,
If my leaves are small what vexation,
What if I suffer humiliation!

Oh no, now the talk is of fungal infestation,
And the methods of eradication,
Also varmints and pestilation,
Next thing it will be nuclear radiation!

Heat, snow, hail, precipitation,
Are the subjects for correlation,
What do we do for winter relaxation,
Huntin, shootin or hibernation!

What makes us voluntarily suffer this aggrovation,
Why the miracle of germination,
And the sheer elation,
When the babe is born, end of gestation!

To all congratulations,
And apologies for my poetic girations,
But this is all my own observations,
From an English winter conubation!
- David Asman


2nd place entry by Jim Kilbert

A Toast
Here's a toast to those who wish,
Not for that 12 point buck or trophy fish,
I address those that truly have the gumption,
To earnestly grow a thousand pound pumpkin.

To those of us who strive,
To keep those giant hopes alive!
And to those who will not rest,
Until they reach a personal best.

I am but a mortal man,
But Steve and Charlie proved we can.
Geneva, Dave, and Gerry, too
Raise the bar, and start anew.

Here's to all still in pursuit,
To grow that world record fruit.
Mother Nature must surely grin,
When weigh-off day finally begins.
So large a fruit from seed at start,
With joy we nurture from within our heart.
-Jim Kilbert


3rd place entry by Mike Lehman:

Im hooked on growing pumpkins
Ive done it for a while
When they sprout in the springtime
It makes me want to smile

Ive moved the cars out of the garage
Now Im raising cows and sheep
My wife doesn`t quite understand
That I get my manure real cheap

My neighbors think Im crazy
I rake and haul their leaves for free
I put them in my garden
To grow my big pumpkin 633

Ive moved my lazy boy in my garden
To keep an eye on my pumpkins "of course"
I asked my wife to join me
She said something about a divorce

Now its time to pollinate
My alarm is set and I awoke
After pollinating three 5 lobers
I have myself a smoke

I love growing these big pumpkins
You can even ask my wife
When Im in the garden, 11 oclock at night
She says "I need to get a life"

The kids want to go to the shore
But I cant leave my pumpkins, as a rule
I told them were going in December
When the beaches arent as full

Thank you Mr. Howard Dill
You filled my life with bliss
Without you, I wouldnt of wrote this poem
Or got on the Mallorn list.
- Mike Lehman