It all starts with a seed....

When I posted my last pumpkin post of 2012, I knew I wanted to start the story of the 2013 great pumpkins earlier....at the seed.  I was thrilled when my friend (and giant pumpkin grower) told me he was putting together a seed auction.  So here is where it all begins, with the seed.

When he reached out to other growers for seeds, they responded with seeds coming in from as far as Alaska.

All neatly packaged, listing the size of the pumpkin the seeds came from, and the pumpkins history (the seeds of the 2 plants that were crossed to grow this giant pumpkin).

If you followed the giant pumpkins on my blog last fall, you may remember a world record was set in 2012...the first pumpkin the weigh in at over 2,000 pounds.  The grower sent one of his seeds from that giant, for the auction.  Just how big of a seed does it take to grow a giant pumpkin? Well, it's about the size of a quarter.

Long gourds (the ones that look like over-sized green baseball bats) will be included in the auction too. I was surprised how different their seeds look from pumpkin seeds. For these seeds, the numbers are the length in inches of the gourd (and it's parent gourds).

The seeds from the pumpkin and long gourd I watched grow were all collected and ready to be planted (both this growing season and in future growing seasons).

These are the seeds from the 102" gourd from last season. last year's gourd

Last year, I watched our friend achieve his own growing record, a 923 pound pumpkin. I loved watching that pumpkin grown, following his progress as he grew, and seeing him weigh in at the end of the season. I can't wait to photograph the backyard giants that grow from these seeds.

Have you wondered about growing your own giant pumpkin? I have to admit, spending so much time in the pumpkin patch, I've thought about attempting my own.  Now is your chance to get your own giant pumpkin seeds.  There will be lots of giant pumpkin seeds up for auction this Friday night.  All you need to do is log on to http://www.bigpumpkins.com/ and create a user id and password.  On Friday night, you could be on your way to growing a giant pumpkin of your own.

Under the bridge and through the woods....

I realized I never blogged about this fabulous place I love. A long long time ago there was a factory here and a houses and it must have been amazing.  Not much remains, but it is still beautiful.  To get to the factory remains, we have to pass under this bridge.  I didn't think it would be quite this pretty under a bridge.

I love that there is a no trespassing sign next to an open gate.  There wasn't anything to see on the other side of the gate.

There is very little left of the factory, and nature has taken over; however, it is a beautiful place to visit.

We enjoyed walking the trails around the property. It was so peaceful. 

There was a house here that burned down years ago.  All that remains is a giant chimney and a round structure nearby. I couldn't figure out what it was.  It had a doorway and metal wrapped around it.  It sat on a hill above the house.

The mystery round structure.

All that remains on another house.

There was also a fabulous guard tower high on a hill nearby.  I previously blogged about it -- Guard Tower

Be Kind....

Be Kind....Two little words but a meaning that is so much bigger.  I've followed the Ben's Bells website for a few years.  A family, after losing their little boy, began making bells which they would leave for people to find with the message to spread kindness.  I love visiting their website and reading the stories of those who have found Ben's bells, their letters of how much it meant to them to find this message of kindness and what they plan to do to spread kindness.





I heard that Ben's Bells were coming to Connecticut to bring kindness after the tragedy.  Yesterday, I heard bells had been found.  I was so happy to hear they arrived, but didn't expect to see them myself.  Today, I was out in town, and I saw these.

It was a gloomy overcast day. This bit of color caught my eye and I knew immediately...it was Ben's Bells. They were really here, in Connecticut, to spread kindness.

To learn more about Ben's bells or to read the stories of those who found them, be sure to check out their website http://bensbells.org/

Please join me today in spreading kindness.

My favorite castle...

Everyone should have a favorite castle.  Sitting high on a hill in the woods is my favorite beautiful forgotten castle.  It's magical.

It was built in the 1890's by the inventor of one of the early movie cameras.  He built the castle for his wife.  All the rocks for the castle are from the property on which it was built. They even built a small railroad on the property to get the rocks up to the top of the hill for the castle.

Looking up into the porch you can see the remains on the ceiling.  I can imagine how magnificent it must have been.

Through the openings under the porch, you can see some of the collapsed pieces of the porch above.

Through the window, the remains of a collapsed staircase.

This was my favorite window.  I realize that might seem strange since you can't see much through it. I was drawn to it because it was the last spot I expected to find a bathtub. The window is at the lowest point of the house, and I wonder just how far that bathtub fell.

The last great pumpkin post for 2012....

As it begins to get colder and autumn comes to an end, so does our time with the great pumpkin.  The pumpkin survived hurricane Sandy and lasted through Thanksgiving.  His seeds were harvested, and a delicious pumpkin pie was enjoyed.

Deer have been digging into the pumpkin (thankfully, they waited until now to enjoy some pumpkin).

We visited the pumpkin to see him one last time as he was cut into pieces.  I kept thinking of the Charlie Brown scene when they carved the pumpkin and Charlie Brown sadly says "You didn't tell me you were going to kill it!"

Each piece was huge. 900+ pounds of pumpkin turns into a lot of giant pumpkin pieces.

I am already looking forward to telling you the story of next year's giant pumpkins. Will start the story early...from the seed.

Thank you for cheering on this giant pumpkin as he grew.

A forgotten steel mill...

I heard there were remains of a 19th century iron making complex in the woods in a nearby town.  Supposedly, the furnace and chimney were still standing.  I knew I needed to see it.

As we headed into the woods, we saw the remains on a cellar (above).  We continued onward, and saw stone walls.  Stone walls in New England just sort of appear in the woods.  They always amaze me...the work that went into putting them together without all the tools we have today.

I was hoping there would be more than just stone walls, and there would be a real furnace and chimney waiting along the path.

We made our way through the woods and came to an opening. This stood is front of us!

The chimney was standing nearby. It was perfect.  It certainly didn't look like it was "forgotten" over a hundred years ago.

The two ovens sit up on a hill above the furnace.

Heading into the oven (I never thought i would type those words).

Looking up!