Show Time

Look at the top photo and you will see a hint of yellow in the center female flower. This means she is almost ready. Could be tomorrow, could be the next day.

Just before I grabbed the camera I saw a bee resting atop a nearby leaf. It was just sitting there.....waiting. Like one of those crazy shoppers who wait for hours to be first in line for the after Thanksgiving Day sales. This bee isn't going to miss out on the pollination of the year. I'm sure it can sense the magnitude of such a pollination. It will probably earn some type of recognition like induction to the hall of fame for bees, or perhaps some type of trophy- Most Valuable Bee. It's obituary will probably read "Here lies Mr.Bee, Born 2010-Died 2010. He lived life to the fullest. Accomplishments include working for the queen his entire life, pollinating countless amounts of flowers, making honey, and fulfilling his life long dream of pollinating 'THE BIG SHAQ'."

Now is the time for SHAQ to show us what he's made of. Two more months and a king will be crowned. I hear other growers talk of volleyball sized pumpkins already growing on their plants. Their plants have already matured to the state where all of the energy is being pumped into the pumpkin. Not so fast with SHAQ. I look at it as their plants being cocker spaniels, and SHAQ being a St. Bernard. Will it really matter in two months that the cocker spaniels were born 2 weeks before the St.Bernard? Doubt it. It's almost show time. With a little luck I'll be renting a crane in two short months to hoist the monster called THE BIG SHAQ.