Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 37 Entries. Sunday, January 6 View Page Looking forward to the 2013 season. After the results of my soil test, in mid October I added gympsum, kelp meal and some humic acid along with approx 2 yards of cow manure and fully composted leaf mulch in each area. Plan on 3 plants in 2013. Picture of the winter rye in mid November. Sunday, January 6 View Page Bought a 275 gallon tote to water the patch and add my drench program to. Also bought a water pump to pump it out. Looks like it should work pretty well. Wednesday, January 9 View Page Making a worm bin for castings. As you can see the tiny 1/8 inch air holes on the side of the bin with the bin filled with newspaper for the bedding. I also drilled holes on the bottom for drainage. Did this once before and had a blast. Thinking of doing a large scale operation once I get this goiong. Wednesday, January 9 View Page 2,000 red wigglers ready to go in. Cant wait for the castings. Will let the worms settle in for a day or 2 and then I will start to feed them. Casting should be ready in a few months. Once the bin is full of castings I will put another bin right on top of the worms for them to crawl up into it. Saturday, January 12 View Page Pruned and sprayed the apple trees with fruit tree spray today Saturday, March 9 View Page Test Germination - 801 Leonzi germinated and popped through the soil in just over 3 days. Now testing out the grow lights. Waiting for the seed case to come off. Just think, in a little over a month we will be in the patch. Still snow in there btw!!! Friday, March 22 View Page Soil test taken and will be sending out tomorrow. My mud room is loaded with fertilizer I recently acquired.....lmao Saturday, March 30 View Page Today was a nice day to work in the patch. I tilled in the winter rye and planted some more with mykos. Working on building another greenhouse. Tomorrow I plan to dig a trench for my new water lines. Planting time is just around the corner and I feel like I am already so far behind. The patch is in great shape though. Saturday, March 30 View Page also sprayed the apple trees for future reference :) Saturday, April 13 View Page The official season begins today. I started the following seeds (2) 1495 Stelts, (2) 1789 Wallaces, (2) 1381 Checkons, (1) 1216 Leonzi and (1) 801 Leonzi. All are in the germination box as of Saturday morning. I used promix bx soil with myco. The temps in the germination box should reach between 85-90 degrees. Just for the record, the 1495 Stelts is the smallest seed I have ever seen. Saturday, April 13 View Page Set up the heating cables today. All 3 spots have them and are ready for the hoop houses. Saturday, April 13 View Page Also started on the irrigation system with the kids. Took off all of the old sprinkler heads and now they are ready for the new ones. Monday, April 15 View Page The hoop houses are in and the heating cables turned on. The winter rye continues to grow as the weather warms up. Hopefully a few seedlings will break through the soil as tomorrow will be Day 3. Tuesday, April 16 View Page I sprayed merit on the patch with my backpack sprayer: 3 gallons of water and 7 teaspoons of merit. I then drenched it in with 140 gallons of water. The water was laced with nutrients. This was to drench the merit in and feed the winter rye at the same time. My water pump worked great. Also, the seedlings should be up tomorrow. Thursday, April 18 View Page Greenhouses all set. Heating cables working nicely. Thursday, April 18 View Page Let the games begin..........all seeds germinated. I will start another round tonight. Sunday, April 21 View Page The seedlings have been in the hoops every day for some sun. They look great and are getting big. 801 Leonzi and the 1381 Checkon look the best so far. I also repotted them tonight into 1 gallon containers. Saturday, April 27 View Page Planted 1495 in spot A, 1789 in spot B and 801 in spot C. The 801 Leonzi is looking the best so far. All seedlings received mykos, rootshield and a drench of water and seaweed. The plants are looking really good. The soil temps in the hoops are a nice 80 degrees. The seedlings also have a plastic ring around them to try and keep the corn seed maggots away. I also mowed down the winter rye. So far the patch is in good shape. Saturday, April 27 View Page 1495 Stelts Saturday, April 27 View Page 1789 Wallace Saturday, April 27 View Page 801 Leonzi Monday, April 29 View Page Started eight 2.62 Leonzi giant tomato seeds. They are the 7.33 Hunt x self. Should grow some large tomatoes! Thursday, May 2 View Page Feed winter Rye with some nutrients. Already had to mow it down. Mowed it on Sunday. the plants are growing nicely in the hoops. The 801 Leonzi is really growing well. It is the 1725 Harp x 1605 Sweet. 1789 Wallace and 1495 Stelts not far behind. Friday, May 24 View Page I mowed down the winter rye again and put the hoops back on the plants as the next few days will be rainy, windy and a little on the cool side. The 801 Leonzi and 1789 Wallace are neck and neck at around 3 feet long and lying down. The 1495 Stelts is almost the same size and lying down. The plants over the last few days have grown a lot. Monday, May 27 View Page I tilled in the winter rye and added all of the recommended ammendments. The hoops houses are now off and temporary hail netting is up as well as the wind breaks. The 1789 and 801 are still neck and neck with the 1495 not far behind. Monday, June 3 View Page After it rained there were a bunch of cucumber beetles on the plants so I sprayed Talstar at 1 tablespoon per gallon with the back pack. I also buried secondaries on all plants and used mykos and rootshield. All 3 plants are between 6 and 7 feet in length. They look great. The permanent hail netting is going up and will also be used as a shade cloth. Wednesday, June 5 View Page 801 Leonzi at 8+ feet Wednesday, June 5 View Page 1495 Stelts at 9+ feet Wednesday, June 5 View Page 1789 Wallace a 9+ feet Monday, June 10 View Page All 3 plants are at least 10 feet out. I already took off pumpkins on each plant. The 1789 Wallace had a male flower open today. This weather is crazy with rain and more rain. The plants are looking really nice, I just hope we get some good weather to fill them out. I drenched early this morning with biotamax, mixed with 15 gallons of water. The rain is washing it in nicely. Monday, June 24 View Page � I pollinated the first pumpkin on the 1789 today. It was a nice 5 lober about 14-15 feet out. It is hot today so I have the ice around the pumpkin and will spray the plant with some water throughout the day. Tomorrow a pumpkin should open on the 802 Leonzi and the 1495 will open either tomorrow or Wednesday. Friday, July 5 View Page Not really sure whats going on but the pumpkins are not growing. I have the biggest and best looking plants but no growth where it matters. Had a few aborts and have last shots coming up in the next few days. I think the rain over the last few weeks did me in for the 1st round. I aint out yet :) Saturday, July 6 View Page Lets see if this works............1495 x self Sunday, July 7 View Page 5 lober on the 1789. Lets see what happens with 90+ temps. Got the coolers out with some ice. Will be misting the plants on and off the whole day. Sunday, July 7 View Page 1789 x 1495.....fingers crossed. This one is way out on the main....... Sunday, July 7 View Page cool picture, under the canopy of the 1495 plant Sunday, July 7 View Page Top of the soil temps are over 100 degrees, air temp is 95 degrees and inside the pumpkin cooler is low to mid 80 degrees. I also have been misting the plant on and off since 9:00. Keeping my fingers crossed.