The night before the weigh off

On the eve of the weigh off, it was time to lift this giant. When you see a pumpkin this big, the thought of lifting him seems impossible. In the past, we lifted some of the smaller giants with a giant canvas similar to a tarp with handles around the outside and lots of man power. This pumpkin is too big to lift that way.

Instead, we used a tripod and a pulley system. Two people were able to move this giant (while I captured the whole thing).

Ready to lift this giant.

The first moments as the pumpkin is lifted off the ground are a bit nerve wracking. Will the knot hold? Can it really be lifted? Then as it slowly inches higher, I quickly shoot a picture under the pumpkin.

Why would the bottom of the pumpkin matter? Well, at the weigh off the judges will be checking the under side of the pumpkin to make sure it is solid. Thankfully, this giant looked good.

As he settles into the truck, I think we were all breathing a sigh of relief. Another step closer to the weigh off has been successful.

Tomorrow, this giant gets weighed. I will blog pictures after the weigh off.

Here is our proud grower with his giant. I am so grateful he lets me visit the pumpkin patch and photograph his giants as they grow.

 Be sure to check back here tomorrow evening to hear all about the weigh off.

Two days until the weigh off...

This morning, I walked down my driveway and saw a giant pumpkin on a truck. It felt like fall. Today is two days before the giant pumpkin weigh off and the first entry arrived.

Tonight, I visited my friend's pumpkin patch to see the giant pumpkin cut off the vine. His pumpkin this year is an unusual color. It has only the tiniest bit of orange around the stem.

This was the main vine from the giant pumpkin plant, and the original marker. The 1422 on the marker indicates the seed that was used. The seed came from a pumpkin that weighed 1,422 pounds.

It was time to cut the pumpkin off the vine. According to official weigh off rules, no more than one inch of vine can remain attached to the stem (and yes, there are judges at the weigh off that check).

Giant pumpkin has been "set free" from his vine. He is all bundled up for the night. Tomorrow, we lift him (yes, there will be a blog post with lots of pictures of how we lift this giant).

I had to stop by and see the long gourd too. He is still growing.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for pictures of the lifting of the giant pumpkin. The weigh off is on Sunday. Check out the weigh off facebook page. I will be blogging Sunday night about the weigh off, so check back Sunday night too!

The pumpkin is growing...Fall must be coming

I love visiting the pumpkin patch. I love watching the giant pumpkins grow. I love the reminder that all my favorite autumn things will be here soon. I think giant pumpkins are the most exciting thing in a garden because their growth is so obvious from visit to visit. When I babysat a giant pumpkin patch in the past, I swore they looked bigger at night than they were that morning. Yes, they really grow that fast and could gain 20 pounds in a day during peek growing time.

Growing a giant pumpkin is far more complicated than just throwing some seeds in the garden and hoping to come back and find a big pumpkin waiting for you. Here is one giant pumpkins set up. He is protected from too much sun. He is also protected from the cold.

I removed the cover to take a peek at this giant. Did you know that pumpkin color is genetic? I didn't, until I started visiting the pumpkin patch. Some pumpkins have genes to be bright orange while others are much lighter in color. It is interesting to see their color change as they grow (and to see the myriad of colors of the giant pumpkins that arrive at the weigh off).

If you aren't already following my facebook page, please visit https://www.facebook.com/JessicaCollinsPhotography. Also, if you enjoy seeing the giant pumpkins grow and want to see one in person (and are in CT or surrounding area), be sure to check out https://www.facebook.com/Ridgefieldpumpkinweighoff.

Remembering my favorite little forgotten cabins

There used to be this amazing Trading Post. I was drawn to it from the first time I saw it. It sat beside a lake and was surrounded by all these little cabins. Immediately, I was drawn to them.

After sitting forgotten for quite some time, the trading post was demolished. To see more photos of the Trading Post, I paid tribute to it here.

The little cabins remained and I have photographed them many times. You can find my previous blog post on them here. The two above were next to the trading post. You can even see the remains of the teepee to the left of the photo above.

You can see the teepee remains better in the photo below.

When I drove by yesterday, they were gone. 

I was so sad to see the empty space, and I thought it was fitting to take a look back at the many photos I have of these beautiful little cabins. 

The forgotten buildings

I know I haven't blogged in a while, so my comeback needs to be big. We ended up in an area yesterday near some fabulous forgotten buildings. I knew I needed to find them, and somehow quickly ended up in just the right spot. 

Standing in front of this building there was so much to take in. The details on the building...it must have been beautiful once. The state of decay and destruction...how did it go from beautiful to destroyed? The graffiti...I normally get upset when I see graffiti on forgotten places, but some of this graffiti was amazing, and I wanted to study it. It wasn't a quick spray of paint, it was a picture, a story, a message.

I wandered among these skeletons of buildings wondering what they were like years ago when they were filled with life. Even in their forgotten state, they were beautiful. Boarded widows, broken glass and yet, you could still see the details that made them special.

Last stop on our tour was the Savoy Hotel. One of those take your breath away places. It was HUGE. Seriously huge and yet somehow forgotten. How does a place this big become forgotten. I am in awe of this place and planning another visit back her soon.