Tales From the Dragon's Keep 
Chapter Five - Good Times, Bad Times
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Beowulf makes an 831 pound impression at Half Moon Bay!!!
 
In the days of my youth, I was told what it means to be a man,
Now I've reached that age,
I've tried to do all those things the best I can. 
But, no matter how hard I try, I find my way into the same old jam. 

 
Sept 21 The 789 Zunino fills a 30' by 40' patch and the pumpkins turn bright orange.  Over a dozen smaller pumpkins have now set on the plant.

 
 
 Oct 10 Pumpkins from the 789 Zunino:   Top: Olivia hugs Mateline Too,  350 pounds of fluorescent orange.  Bottom: Amanda hugs Pippin Two from the 789 Zunino.  Shaped like a 150 pound apple with a long handle.


 
 
Sept 21 Sandra poses with Cindy.  Cindy split on the blossom end at about 450 pounds but still lasted in my pumpkin display for several weeks.

 
 
Sept 26 Beowulf the Blue Nose - Beowulf develops a bad case of gummy stem rot.  After weeks of trying to control it, I'm forced to cut Beowulf from the vine two weeks before the weigh off so his nose can dry out.  I coat the stem with copper fungicide per a prescription by Alan Reynolds.  The nose job works!!!

 
 
Oct 2 Pumpkin Party!!  I hold my annual party to amass a big enough crew to move the pumpkins.  Here the lifting crew gets ready to tackle Beowulf.

 
 
Oct 2 Grunt time.  The lifting crew positions Beowulf on the pallet. 

 
 
Oct 2 Nils gets the feminine touch.  Pretty pumpkins seem to attact all the girls.

 
 
Oct 4 The Channel Eleven News Team hears of my pumpkin crop and does a video shoot of the pumpkins for the 5 o'clock news.  The kids get lots of air time climbing on the pumpkins.

 
 
Oct 6 Tony poses with Bellaluna (983 Ciliberto x 846 Calai).  My Ciliberto plant was heavily diseased but still managed to grow this nice est. 502 pounder.  Great shape and color!

 
 
Oct 8 Weigh-off Day!!!  Beowulf, Amanda and Diane wait for the trip to the scales.  Note Gary Miller in the background at the white truck with his 984 pounder. 

 
 
Oct 8 Amanda rides Beowulf to the scales at Half Moon Bay.  Weighing in 10% over OTT at 831 pounds, Beowulf places sixth overall out of a total of 65 entries. 

 
 
Nov 26 Thanksgiving Harvest - Olivia poses with the last of the spawn of Athena's child - the 789 Zunino.   The final tally on this plant's production is twenty pumpkins with a total combined weight of 3,700 pounds.  This doesn't count a least two dozen smaller culls.  Weights ranged from 50 to 450 pounds. 

 
 
Nov 6 Ina hugs Nils - A child of the 937 Mombert.  This pumpkin was grown on the blossom end and harvested at about 300 pounds before it was completely mature.  Sitting on the front porch it greeted my visitors and turned a brillant orange.

 
 
Nov 8 The pistache tree in my front yard mimics the color of the pumpkins in a stunning display of color. 

 
 
Nov 10 Amanda, Olivia and Tony harvest seeds from Bellaluna.  The cycle ends where it began - a seed bearing the potential of all you can imagine.

The End!

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