I’m Back from my Pumpkin Hiatus

I’m Back

I’m back from my break. In this post I talk about what I’ve been up to. What it means for you, my dear reader, and what’s happening moving forward.

Thanks to everyone that checked in to see if I was OK.

Really appreciate it. And yes I am all good. Just needed a break.

Having a Break was Good

Having a break was good.

Helped reset things, I think. And while I might not have been posting, I was still working on pumpkin related items.

I think this is the longest break I’ve had with not posting a blog post. 2 3 whole months.

I looked back at previous years, and some posts were educational. Others were just filler posts to make sure I had content coming out. A real mixed bag, if you will.

What I Realised

There were a couple of things that come to mind.

Firstly, I want to do quality over quantity when it comes to writing these blog posts. Sure there might be the odd random post thrown in the mix occasionally.

But having good content that actually helps people beats something that is entertaining and of no real value.

Secondly, I think I’ve been a bit too broad with my thinking. Most of the information on the website works for most growers. Of course the more experienced growers out there will be doing things at large scale. With fancy setups.

Which is great. And I’ll cover that when I can.

But for a lot of people. Basically my target audience. I’ve realised are first time or newer growers. Growing in a small space.

I know how to grow in a small space. And I know how to get a giant pumpkin out of it.

I do need to step up my game this upcoming growing season. I want a pumpkin I can’t move easily. I want a pumpkin I’m going to struggle to get out of this back yard.

I like to think of myself as the gateway between first time backyard grower to people wanting to take it further. The people that want to make a pumpkin boat, or drop one from a helicopter.

Thirdly, someone linked to my seed starting video a while back and posted it online.

I’m proud of that video. And I’m also proud that people from all around the world end up on my website. Seriously I think a lot of information is going to be lost in general to things being posted on FB groups and pages when no one makes a website.

But one thing that came from that video being posted. Is what I’ll call constructive criticism. “He should spend less time videoing things and more time burying vines”

Which is a fair point of view.

It comes down to balancing doing things and documenting them. I admire people that can do both equally as well.

But thinking about it. When you look at content. How many of the biggest growers in the world are posting updates all the time? Not that many. They are busy getting results.

Finding that balance between doing things, documenting them, making them valuable and informative is what I’ve been thinking about.

What Did I Work On?

Glad you asked.

Updated download area

The downloads / free resources are all in one area now and it’s easy to grab the ones you want. It looks much nicer than how it did.

Talking about downloads. I’ve almost finished updating the guide to running a pumpkin event. The first version was free and quite a few people grabbed it.

This updated version will be a paid product. Have to pay for stuff somehow.

But everyone that got the first version will get this new updated version free. Keep an eye on your emails for that.

New Calculator

I made a calculator that will give you rough estimates of when key moments will happen in the pumpkin’s life.

It’s found on the Lifecycle of a Pumpkin page.

Of course, everyone’s pumpkin / location and growth will be different. So it’s only a rough guide. But ideal for the first time growers out there. And can be helpful in working out a starting date.

Updated Pages

The How-To Pages have been neglected over the years. I’ve started going through and updating them with as much useful content as I can. Still got a lot of work to do there. But will have it done before the start of our season here in NZ.

Tweaking Behind the Scenes Stuff

There’s a lot of things you can do behind the scenes on a website.

I’m doing currently is making sure posts and pages that are helpful are going to rank better in search results.

It’s a bit nerdy but it’s great to see improvements. And the traffic grow from people all around the world.

Pumpkin Seed Importing

I’ve been working on the seed importing thing. First, I created a page that has the history of what we’ve gone through and all the rules laid out by MPI.

I’ve passed this info onto the GPC who will be discussing it in their next meeting.

The biggest thing they can do to help grow the sport of giant pumpkin growing in New Zealand is to help us get good seeds.

What’s Next

A bit more planning

I’ve still got a lot of things I need to plan. Mainly patch prep related things. Will see how that goes.

Saving up some money

Saving or finding new ways to bring in some more money to cover things.

Creating content ahead of time

I’m bad at creating content just in time. Some things you’ll see from me might have been filmed and edited only a couple of hours before you see it.

I’m trying hard to make things ahead of time.

This will reduce my self imposed stress. Help the content be better as well.

Buy me a coffee

If you like what I do. Want to support the site or say thanks

Think about buying me a coffee. It helps support what I’m doing.

In Conclusion

Thing are good. I’m working on updating and creating content.

We’re still a while away from our season starting. It’s time to think about what you want to achieve.

And keep up with the Northern Hemisphere growers.