Taking part in the world's first Hive Pumpkin Competition shouldn't have been overly complicated.
Apart from fun, interesting pictures and stories, a possible prize, this competition was also a kind of hobby for me.
Plant the pumpkin seeds in a pot around the beginning of May. When a root sprouts from the seed and its first leaf emerges, transplant it into a garden or a larger pot. Water it, water it, water it and harvest it at the end of October.
Simple, right?
In the posts I published in the previous months, you could see that the very long autumn period in this part of Europe had a very bad effect on the pumpkins growing in my garden.
Only one of them survived that period and saw the harvest.
October, September, August, July, somewhere in between..., June, May
Tour of the garden at our cottage during the summer months, was is necessary for watering plants (both pumpkins and everything else we have in the garden).
At the beginning of October, I had a surprise visit to the cottage, when I didn't have time to go to the garden and pick a pumpkin that was planned for the competition part of #hwc2024.
Unfortunately, due to very busy business obligations (but also personal), I didn't get to go to the cottage until now.
Fortunately, my mother did.
She picked a pumpkin, put it in the house, so that birds or other pests would not destroy it.
And she took pictures.
The pictures may not be of the highest quality, but the pumpkin looks good.
I told her to put some recognizable object next to the pumpkin, to give an impression of its size.
Maybe a pack of cigarettes or a can of beer?
But since my mother is not a smoker, nor does she drink beer, she sent me pictures of a pumpkin on an ancient but very precise scale, while next to it there is a mixer and an old iron.
The pumpkin may not be the biggest we've picked in previous years in our garden (7,360kg), but with this year's weather conditions, I'm pleased that it survived at all.
During November, I plan to visit the cottage, when I will take a few more pictures of the pumpkin and post it here, as the last part of my participation in the competition, before I cut it into pieces and prepare it for baking in the oven or making potash.
Thanks to @der-prophet and @hive-world-champ for running this interesting and beautiful competition.
I look forward to the announcement of the winners for #hwc2024 as well as the next competition season.