Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 56 Entries. Monday, April 30 View Page Hey Eddy, recognize anything? The ends of the greenhouse will have to wait until this summer, but the patch expansion is complete and there are plants in the ground. Tuesday, June 5 View Page How quickly things can change..... I was in the backyard, pulling some weeds and fertilizing my plants. I had a 848 Mackenzie and 905 Vincent-McGill growing nicely. Then I looked to the southwest and saw this. This storm moved in very fast. I had less than a minute to close the hoophouse and get inside. Tuesday, June 5 View Page It took the storm less than 10 seconds to destroy the hoophouse. It has stood up to 100km/h winds for days on end this spring. Today was different. Very different. Tuesday, June 5 View Page Sorry for the bad picture, but I was trying to avoid getting blown away in the wind and rain. Both the 848 and 905 had mains about 3 1/2 feet long. The binder clips I use to hold the plastic on just flying off, sounding like a machine gun. There was a tornado touched down 8km south of here. There's trees down all over town, we lost power for 3 hours. What a nice year I had going. Tuesday, June 5 View Page Out at the farm, more destruction. The smaller hoophouses survived with some smaller damage, but the big one we put up less than two months ago has been hit hard. There was too much lightning going on for me to check the plants, but at this point, I'm just glad it didn't hit our house. Tuesday, June 5 View Page Out at the farm, more destruction. The smaller hoophouses survived with some smaller damage, but the big one we put up less than two months ago has been hit hard. There was too much lightning going on for me to check the plants, but at this point, I'm just glad it didn't hit our house. Tuesday, June 5 View Page Another view. Those are steel pipes that have been mangled. Tuesday, June 5 View Page So let's just review what the pipes looked like a few day ago. For the record, this was what was growing nicely earlier this evening. At home 848 Mackenzie and 905 Vincent-McGill In the greenhouse at the farm, I had a 1634 Werner and a 1610 Lieber Alex had in the greenhouse a 160 Kapaleri and a 905 Vincent-McGill Alanna had a 1065 Delaney and a 160 Kapaleri Andrew had a beautiful 1421 Stelts (3 foot main) and a 1012.5 Matesa (just a few inches behind, but also very nice) I also had a smaller corner of the garden with a 852 Vincent and 1376.6 Mackenzie We'll see what survived in the morning. Wednesday, June 6 View Page The morning after. The squash plants at home. Please ignore the weeds. Wednesday, June 6 View Page To my shock, the plants survived the night unprotected. By this evening, the plants looked pretty good. I have no clue as to the strength of the wind, but the next few pictures will show what it did to the trees around town. 848 Mackenzie on the right, 905 Vincent-McGill on the left. Squash seem to like growing in my backyard. Wednesday, June 6 View Page The small hoophouses hold up much better in the wind. This is what the farm patch looked like this morning. Every plant was in tact. These hoophouses are a little flexible and lower to the ground, so they can take more. Andrew's plants are in the house on the right with the door open. Wednesday, June 6 View Page Inside the greenhouse. My job once I got some time in July was to finish the ends. Now I have no clue what to do with this. Wednesday, June 6 View Page From the south side. As Eddy said in his post, 1 1/4 inch steel pipes were pushed in easily. Wednesday, June 6 View Page The pipes were bent at the base. Again, please ignore the weeds. This is a new patch that used to be grass last year. Wednesday, June 6 View Page On the other side of the farm yard, more damage. Wednesday, June 6 View Page An spruce tree also were blown over, as well as a few apple trees and countless branches. Cleanup starts tomorrow. I guess I'll have more firewood for camping season. My kids seemed fine hiding in the basement last night, but my youngest confessed today that he was quite scared. My plants dodged a big bullet yesterday, but in the grand scheme of things, they are just pumpkin plants. No one got hurt. Thursday, August 2 View Page The storm of June caused a lot of work, but the greenhouse got repaired and the ends are almost finished. Here is Alex's 160 Kapaleri. He pulled the 905 Hunt as it was not producing any females. We waited as long as we could to make a decision as he could not set a fruit in 2010 or 2011. We crossed this with the 848 Mackenzie Thursday, August 2 View Page Alex's 160. It was pollinated on July 16th. Kind of an odd shape so far. Thursday, August 2 View Page My 1634 Werner, crossed with the 1421 Stelts Thursday, August 2 View Page Alanna's 852 Vincent. Also pollinated on July 16th. She crossed it with the 848 Mackenzie. She wants to see what happens crossing a pumpkin with a squash. Her plant got beat up by the June storm, as well as steady winds in early July. She lost a number of secondary vines to the wind. Thursday, August 2 View Page Oops, Alanna's was pollinated on July 17th. This is Andrew's 1421 Stelts. Also beat up by the wind, his plant has suffered big time this spring, but the amount of moisture has been good, not like the past 2 years. He crossed it with the 1634 Werner on July 1st. Thursday, August 2 View Page Ok, I've messed it up again. Alanna planted the 1065 Delaney and crossed with the 848 Mackenzie. This actually is the 852 Vincent, crossed with the 1634 Werner on the 16th. This one had a corner spot with bad soil and no heating cables. Something took off the main vine just past the pumpkin just after pollination. Thursday, August 2 View Page Finally, the 848 Mackenzie. I'm shocked it survived the June storm and bounced back nicely. We just got back from vacation and the vines have started taking over the fence. We replaced the wooden one with chain link back in April and it allows the vines to climb up it. We even planted sweet peas, but you can only see them from the back alley any more. Thursday, August 2 View Page The 848. I wanted to cross it with the 905 squash, but that didn't work out, so we used the 1634 Werner. Sunday, August 19 View Page Back from a week away camping. Here's the view of the farm patch. Sunday, August 19 View Page Inside the greenhouse. In front is the 1634 Werner, in the back is Alex's 160 Kapaleri squash Sunday, August 19 View Page Alex's 160. The squash of July 17th that we crossed with the 848 aborted a few weeks ago. We got a little lazy and figured this one wasn't needed, so we never pollinated it. Lesson #342, pollinate everything. Good thing the bees were paying attention. This one opened on the 24th of July. A little late, but it's growing fast now. Sunday, August 19 View Page Andrew and his 1421 Stelts Sunday, August 19 View Page Alanna's 1065 Delaney. It's long like a peanut. Alanna's and Andrew's plants were beat up bad in early July by the wind, they are not growing too fast. It could also be because they are spending too much time on the golf course. Sunday, September 30 View Page It's been a beautiful fall. With the exception of a few frosty nights a few weeks ago, it's been great weather. The sprinklers have been going non stop to keep the trees and grass happy. I can't remember the last significant rainfall. Here's the yard and the 848 Mackenzie. Sunday, September 30 View Page The farm patch. The plants that were not protected from the frosts two weeks ago are pretty much done. Monday, October 1 View Page Andrew's 1421 Stelts Monday, October 1 View Page Andrew can't make it to Smoky, so it's time to pick his pumpkin. Monday, October 1 View Page It's a breezy day. This thing was swinging in the wind. Final measurements were 83 80 123 for an OTT of 286 Monday, October 1 View Page Thank you to Gouw Onions in Taber. They've got a scale and were nice enough to let us weigh his pumpkin. I don't know how far they ship their onions, but the warehouse was packed with millions of the things. The smell was great! Monday, October 1 View Page Andrew has a new pb! 469 pounds. The pumpkin made its way through town and awaits Halloween in our garage. He crossed the 1421 Stelts with the 1634 Werner. It was set only 8 feet out July 1st and had a tough time with the wind in early July. Thursday, October 4 View Page It's pumpkin picking time. Alanna and hers Thursday, October 4 View Page Alex's 160 Kapaleri Thursday, October 4 View Page 1634 Werner. The kids named it 'buttcrack' Thursday, October 4 View Page 'Buttcrack' on the trailer Friday, October 5 View Page 848 Mackenzie at home Friday, October 5 View Page 848 Mackenzie at home Friday, October 5 View Page 848 Mackenzie going to the trailer Saturday, October 6 View Page Here's the load up at Smoky Lake. We stopped in Calgary to pick up my mom and dad. It was a great fall day. Saturday, October 6 View Page The pumpkin lineup....minus the 2 biggies Saturday, October 6 View Page Alex's squash 250lbs. He's a happy boy Saturday, October 6 View Page The 848 Mackenzie. 604 lbs is good enough for first Saturday, October 6 View Page Alanna's Saturday, October 6 View Page The 1634 Werner Saturday, October 6 View Page Teddy came up with us and went everywhere in Smoky Saturday, October 6 View Page We gave the 618.5 for the pumpkin drop. My dad enjoys using power tools on pumpkins. Saturday, October 6 View Page After an early rise, long drive and lots of sitting around, the kids needed to blow off some steam. We missed the pumpkin drop, but they left Smoky Lake happy, and with a few prizes. Monday, October 29 View Page It's time to get things ready for Halloween Tuesday, October 30 View Page The kids like to get all the seeds out Tuesday, October 30 View Page Alanna Wednesday, October 31 View Page The growers and their pumpkins/squash. Where's Andrew? If you look at his pumpkin, you'll notice two arms coming out of the side of his pumpkins mouth. Andrew spent 1 3/4 hours inside his pumpkin talking to and scaring some kids. It was a cool night, but it was warm inside his pumpkin. Although his hands were quite frigid when he came in. I was a little worried about his plan, but about 100 little kids came to the door and were quite thrilled with a talking pumpkin. A few even gave him some of their candy.