Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 103 Entries. Wednesday, January 6 View Page It has been brutally cold, winter started early and has not let up. Fortunately we haven't gotten too much snow.....Yet. We have a long way to go before we round the corner towards spring. I just purchased some high calcium lime crushed lime for the patch. I went right to the Allyndale lime quarry and got it for $1.87 a bag! That is a lot less than the feed store was asking for it. I wish I had, had a chance to put it down this past fall. The pH has come up quite a bit since I started the new patch in the fall of '08. In the fall of '08 it had a pH of 5.1! I applied dolomitic crushed limestone (that fall) and the pH was 6.3 this fall when I tested. I usually only get around to a once a year soil test. Here is what it came back as. My percent base saturations were 52% calcium 18.5% magnesium 4.4 % Potassium C.E.C. 17.8 Meq/100g All micronutrient levels are normal, a little on the low end. Friday, January 22 View Page We have had a little break from winter, so I used the opportunity to get down half of the limestone needed. The soil lab from UMass recommended 110 pounds per 1,000 square feet. I put down about 60 pounds per 1,000. Friday, January 22 View Page Here it is all done. Like powdered sugar on a donut! It is definitely more satisfying to see the crushed limestone go down then the pelleted stuff. You can see the exactly how even the application went. It also saves some cash. The last application will be in the spring before I till. Friday, January 22 View Page Last fall before it frosted I took some cuttings off of my 5.58 Timm tomato. They have gotten really pathetic, so I took some cuttings off of them. I stuck them in pro-mix sometime just before Christmas. Here they are. Notice the heat pad underneath. Friday, January 22 View Page This is what the whole set up looks like. They are on a heating pad in a 50-60 degree Fahrenheit greenhouse. I have cut a clear contractors garbage bag and placed it over the top. This keeps the environment more humid and also a little warmer. Friday, January 22 View Page Yesterday I couldn't wait any longer, I tugged on the cuttings, they didn't budge. So I dumped them out and was surprised at how nicely they had rooted. Friday, January 22 View Page Here are two of them. When lifting rooted cutttings it is kind of like a kid unwrapping presents on Christmas morning. Anticipation, followed by joy. Friday, January 22 View Page Here they are all potted up into two gallon pots. Now it's time to green them up with some fertilizer. They definitely are looking a little chlorotic. Friday, January 22 View Page I also sowed a flat of onions. Half of it was planted with 'Candy' hybrid onion, the other half was Gurney's 'Sweet Mesquite'. I had sown some 'Ailsae Craig' this past December. Somehow I flubbed the germination. I had it too cold (50 degrees), then to warm. (on a heating pad.) Hopefully I do a little bit better with these. I probably should have brought them to 60 degrees instead of 80-85 which the heating pad provides. Maybe I will purchase some started 'Ailsae' transplants, or maybe I will just see how big I can get the 'Candy' and 'Sweet Mesquite' to grow. Thursday, February 18 View Page I have been running some germination tests on some of my seeds that I have saved in the past couple years. I have been taking a damp paper towel and wrapping 10 seeds of each type in them. Then I put the whole thing in a ziploc and put on top of the fridge. I was surprised at how fast the stuff germinated.(3 -4 days) Giant tomato; 2 pounds plus group (5.58 Timm x self)-----90% germination 1 pound plus group (5.58 Timm x self) -----90% germination Giant field pumpkin; I have seeds from two pumpkins both over 60 pounds. One of them was still immature when it was harvested, those seeds weren't filled out. I didn't get any to germinate. The next batch's seeds were better looking, I got 50% to germinate. Still pretty poor though. Soo.... If you got field pumpkin seeds from me plant 'em thick. Also I did a germination test on a A.G. cross that I had made in 08. Unfortunately, the pumpkin had a stem split that I couldn't keep up with.(So I lost the fruit) It was estimated at almost 500 pounds. It was a (1225 Jutras x 772 Poirier) The seeds did not look mature, and Unfortunately they did not germinate. Too bad, I am not aware of that cross being done by anyone. I guess I can throw that bag of seeds into the compost now. Friday, February 19 View Page Go Boston Celtics! If they can get healthy, they will be serious contenders. The Cavaliers look really, really good though. J.J. Hickson is beginning to remind me of a young Scottie Pippen. If Hickson continues to develop the Cav's could be dominant for years to come. (The pumpkin in the picture is my small one off the 769 Lombardi. The man next to it is my brother Ned, also a huge Celtic's fan.) Monday, March 8 View Page I started the giant watermelons in pro mix. I am hoping to have them at least a couple feet long by the beginning to middle of May when they go into the garden. It seems really early to start, but they really don't grow super fast in the conditions that I give them. Here is what I have going so far; 164 White 08 (225 White x 146 James) 157 Bhaskaran 09 (255 Mitchell x open) dark seed 153 Leonard 09 (197 Leonard x 255 Mitchell) 180 Bhaskaran 08 (231 Mitchell x open) 213 Kent 08 (211 Leonard x self) 243 Kent 09 (213 Kent x 267 Edwards) 181 Masterson 09 (unknown genetics) 207 Masterson 09 (unknown genetics) 103 Masterson 09 ('Mountain Hoosier x open) I plan on growing a giant 'Blue Rind' and crossing it with the 'Mountain Hoosier'. I think they are really pretty. Monday, March 8 View Page A hot dry summer is what I will need to grow some big melons. We are due for that. Saturday, March 27 View Page A couple different styles for my cold frames. The smaller ones work great for the melons. The larger ones can be used for pumpkins. Both should give you about a month of protection. (Depending on the weather.) I will show them in use later this year. Saturday, March 27 View Page I had forgotten these were still in the garden. I saw them the other day while tilling. I dug them up, some were bigger than I had thought they would be. I did not grow on raised beds last year. I guess my soil is soft enough now to grow them in ordinary rows. To me parsnips are a very under-rated vegetable. Just peel off the skin, halve them, cut out the hard inner core. boil until soft (like a potato). Fry in butter until golden brown. Salt and pepper. It can't be beat. Saturday, March 27 View Page This hole is 2'x2' and 18" deep. It has been dug in preparation for a manure hot bed. A cheap and easy way to heat a cold frame. Although it does require quite a bit of work to set up. I will show you how I do it. Saturday, March 27 View Page I fill in the hole with fresh manure mixed with hay. The manure is directly from a dairy cows stall. It is already hot and steaming as I remove it from the stall. It also doesn't smell so great.(Which is a good sign that you have the right stuff.) The manure must be actively decomposing already, otherwise you may be just making a big pit with manure and hay. A lot of work for nothing. Saturday, March 27 View Page After filling the pit up the ground level with manure. Add 6" of your pumpkin top soil back over the pit. Saturday, March 27 View Page I mixed in a little fresh chicken manure (from under the roosts) Plus some Osmocote. Whatever your secret recipe is! I try to keep it simple and cheap. Saturday, March 27 View Page Then cover it with your cold frame. This keeps the rain off, and allows for the soil to heat up. To much rain could stop the decomposition, which in turn would shut off the heat. It should give off heat for quite some time. 3-4 weeks. maybe. Hottest at first then slowly tapering down. Probably because lack of air to the pit. I have heard of people using pipes to get air into the pile. I don't see the point, if I can get 3-4 weeks, that should be enough to get me through the worst of it. I will check the soil temps in the morning. The cold frame is already condensating heavily, that is a good sign. Friday, April 9 View Page This year I am hoping to beat my watermelon's I grew in '07. The one in the picture weighed 128 pounds. The same plant also grew a 136 pound beauty. ( That's my friend Bob in the picture) Saturday, April 24 View Page The season is underway here. As usual I am getting very busy, so my entries will be fewer and farther in between. I would rather be outside working than on the computer anyways. LOL I have split my set out dates again this year. In hopes to have some early pumpkins for some of the early fairs here. Also I am hoping that it splits the workload a little and maybe one half of the season will have growing conditions that are more conducive to pumpkin growth. My kids will be growing this year too. They want to be responsible for every aspect of growing. I am willing to bet they will grow some big ones, maybe even beat me. It was hard for me to give up a few of my prime spots, but what better way to spend time with them. We may not grow the biggest pumpkins, but we will sure have fun trying. Saturday, April 24 View Page My son Meteku's 666 Horton 09 squash (1033 Magdycz 07 x 1055 Pitura 06). He has said that he would like help maintaining the plant so I guess we will be a team. This was set out in the beginning of the month, on heating cables from Hollands. The cold frames were removed the day the picture was taken, as you can see the wind was blowing pretty hard. I use bamboo to hold the young plants up. Sunday, April 25 View Page !239 Marsh, this is my son Ethan's plant. (963 Stucker x 919 Richards) Last year he grew this seed and it produced a real beauty. Very thick stems. Hopefully we don't have any catastrophic weather this year so we can really see it grow. It is on soil heating cables. Sunday, April 25 View Page This is my plant, the 1087 Bhaskaran. (843 Heyne x 1290 Poirier) The 843 Heyne is the same cross as the 998 Pukos. Dave grew a long low bright orange beauty off of this seed last year. Sometimes I think Dave Bhaskaran could grow any seed and have it turn out bright orange, another grower with that gift would be Bart Toftness. He grew a 1385 last year that could have easily taken a Howard Dill award! This plant is on a manure heated hot bed. Sunday, April 25 View Page This is my daughter Emily's plant. The 487 Ciesielski 09 est. (364 Webster x 1239 Marsh 08) I am expecting big and orange from this one. This one is on a manure heated hot bed. Sunday, April 25 View Page This is a picture of the 487 Ciesielski fruit from last year's garden. Sunday, April 25 View Page With the early set plants off and running I decided to plant my later plants on 4-21. Here is what I planted. 1116 Traylor 08 (1130 Jutras 07 x 1385 Jutras) My plant. 989 Traylor 09 (1386 Jutras x 1116 Traylor) This one is going into my no-till spot across the road. 1078 Marsh (1252 Marsh 08 x 1161 Rodonis) This is my son Ethan's second plant. He is hoping it will grow big and ugly. The more canteloped and off colored the better. He wants one that has looks only a mother could love. He knows which ones always go the heaviest at the weigh off's. LOL With that being said I have to remember it is a long season, it will have it's up's and down's. Monday, May 10 View Page The weather has been very windy and cold! High winds for the past 3 days, A light frost last night, looks like tonight could bring a frost too. I had a lot of covering to do. I got an early start and put the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in last week. Sometimes you can get away with it sometimes not. Looks like I guessed wrong! Doh! Hopefully tonight will be the last frost. If the winds stay strong we might be spared. "If you don't lose any plants to frost you are not starting early enough" -Dick Raymond Author Of 'The Joy of Gardening' Last week we put in the late plants 1116 Traylor 08 (1130 Jutras x 1385 Jutras) 1078 Marsh 09 (1252 Marsh x 1161 Rodonis) My son's plant. 989 Traylor uow 09 (1385 Jutras x 1116 Traylor) This ones going in the no-till spot. Pollinator grew the 1449 Traylor. That brings me to a total of seven plants. I have decided not to do the nine that I had originally intended. I gave those spots to my kids to plant some veggies in. Hopefully I will be able to take good care of my plants this year. Sunday, May 23 View Page 1116 Traylor. Looking good. I was worried at first because when it germinated, I couldn't see the growing point between the two cotyledon leaves. Obviously it was fine. It has been in the garden since the beginning of May. The 989 Traylor is also about the same size. Sunday, May 23 View Page 1078 Marsh '09. My son will have to choose which one he wants to keep. Sunday, May 23 View Page 487 Ciesielski '09. On target for a mid June pollination. This was transplanted into the garden in early April on a manure heated hot bed. It's been out in the open since the middle of the month. I would love to grow a pumpkin over 1,000 pounds this year, that is my goal. 1,000 and bright orange would be even sweeter! Sunday, May 23 View Page 1087 Bhaskaran 09. This one looks like it wants to grow two mains. It has that real aggressive secondary on the left hand side. This one was also on a manure heated hot bed. I am hoping for a nice long orange one on this one. Sunday, May 23 View Page 1239 Marsh '08 This plant has nice glossy dark green leaves, same as last year. The 1239 produces fine looking plants. I am noticing some yellow in the vines again. Big and orange? Cuke beetles have been vicious this year. I even found some in the spinach. I have seen a squash bug already too! Sunday, May 23 View Page The 666 Horton '09 squash. The biggest plant. This one has soil heat cables. I have to say after evaluating both the soil cable plants and the manure heated plants; there is very little difference. It's hard to believe that such an age old practice (manure heat) can compete with modern technology. Monday, May 24 View Page The "Pumpkin Princess" predicts a good growing season. I hope she is right! Friday, June 4 View Page This is the 213 Kent Watermelon. I thought all of my melons were goners. The day I put them in they all wilted big time, then we had a spell of cold weather and the leaves curled up. They managed to survive despite everything and have started growing nicely with the warm weather we have been enjoying. I have them on black plastic with a lightweight row cover. I am very pleased. Still a long way to go. Friday, June 4 View Page My biggest plant, this is the 243 Kent watermelon. Friday, June 4 View Page This is the 181 Masterson, also a very nice plant. Friday, June 4 View Page 153 Leonard, this seed is from the GVGO. I always get some great seeds from them. Friday, June 4 View Page 164 White, This seed was a back up for the 157 Bhaskaran 09. That one didn't survive the initial transplant wilt. To bad too, because it was a beautiful plant. I never figured out what happened, for a while I was starting to think they had sudden transplant wilt. I read a little bit about it on the internet, it's still such a new problem not much is known about it. High moisture under black plastic mulch seem to promote the disease, those are the conditions mine had. These things happen just to keep us on our toes. Keeps us humble. Monday, June 7 View Page Some major storms came through here yesterday. With potential for hail and even tornadoes. Luckily they all missed us. The violent weather ushered in some much cooler less humid air. By the end of the week temps should be back up into the mid 80's. I've been doing some pollinations on the early set plants. I would guess the plants are a week or two ahead of last years early set plants. Lot's of cuke beetles everywhere, even the spotted ones this year. Hopefully this cool weather will slow them down. Tuesday, June 22 View Page This is the 666 Horton 09 Squash. A very vigorous plant it has already filled out most of it's spot. There are a couple squash on it. I will get some pictures later. It was raining when I took this picture and I didn't want to mess with the plant. I don't like to be in the patch when it is wet. All of the fruit are selfed because I don't have any other squash to cross it with. If you look closely you will see a little squash in the picture it is on a secondary vine. Tuesday, June 22 View Page 487 Ciesielski pumpkin, This one has bright yellow stems and vines I expect some big and orange. The fruit that is under the sheet is somewhat misshapen, my daughter may decide to cull it. This plant seems to want to throw off-shape pumpkins. They are thick at the shoulders then taper down toward the blossom end, In my experience those ones usually abort or split. Hopefully we will get some better shaped ones. We certainly have time. One of the advantages of an early start. Tuesday, June 22 View Page 1078 Marsh '09 one of our late sets. I am just about where I want to be with this one. It is just slightly ahead of the 1116 Traylor. My son is hoping for a big ugly one from this plant. I have already pollinated one on the main, I think it is out 8-10 feet from the base. Tuesday, June 22 View Page 1116 Traylor, I have also made a pollination on this one, I think it is about 6-8 feet out. Probably not far enough. I would like to see the plant alot bigger first too before growing a fruit. My goal is to have all my pumpkins be on the main vines this year. Sunday, June 27 View Page It has been very hot and humid. The patch still looks good, quite a few leaves have been burned by the temps and humidity. This squash is on the 666 Horton '09 main vine. Pollinated on 6-4. It is starting to really pick up the pace. I will probably start measuring in a week or two. I don't like to touch the skin until it starts to harden. It is a 666 x self pollination. I am hoping for a nice grey-blue color. I put a real big curve in the vine on this one. It is my first time doing that. Sunday, June 27 View Page 666 Horton x self on a secondary, I dead-ended the vine right after the fruit. No more worries about vine stress. This one was pollinated on 6-15, the pumpkin's on the secondaries alway grow really fast at first. You'd never be able to guess that the one on the main will outgrow it. It isn't how it starts, it is how it finishes. Sunday, June 27 View Page 1239 Marsh '08 on the main vine, it's a 1239 x 1087 Bhaskaran 08 cross. Done on 6-7. Should be a good cross for big and orange lovers. I really love this plant. Big and thick yellow vines, dark green massive leaves, and enormous male flowers. My son and I grew this one last year and were equally impressed. A very, vigorous grower. We are hoping for a real beauty from it again. (except bigger) LOL Sunday, June 27 View Page 1087 Bhaskaran 08 x 1239 Marsh 08 on the main vine. Pollinated on 6-7. This fruit looks similar to the 1239's fruit. Expecting a long orange one from this. I nicked it with my knife while cutting a tendril, seems to be doing fine. Sunday, June 27 View Page This was a cull off the 487 Ciesielski '09. This was my oldest set it was 26 days old when it was culled. I did not like the shape it had. It was solid as a rock, it probably weighed 80 pounds or more! My son carved it up, in his trademark style. The next one down on the main had the same look, so we culled it too. I am beginning to worry that this one might have genetic issues. The parents were both beauties, Where does the ugly shape come from? Genetics, who knows what to expect? Sunday, June 27 View Page This one is way down the line on the 487's main vine. This is a 487 Ciesielski x 1087 Bhaskaran cross that I made on 6-17. I have culled the first 3 because their shape were wrong, hopefully this one will work out. I will pollinate some secondaries too. I want to cover my bases. Even though the shape is off, all signs point to deep orange come fall time. Wednesday, July 7 View Page The weather has been extremely hot with high temps around 100 and high humidity. Night time lows are still in the 70's. The plants look really sad right now as I don't have enough water to keep them healthy. The giant melons are just about the only plants that seems to be O.K. Very, very dry here too. I hope I can hold things together until our next rain. This weather may keep any world records away from New England and the Northeast this year. Two years straight with out a summer, I guess we were due. Sunday, July 11 View Page Yesterday we received some sorely needed rain. Just in time too! Looks like things are going to cool off here for a bit also. Temps in the mid 80's, I think that is just about ideal for the Atlantic Giant variety. It seems that warm nights also help to pack on the pounds. Wednesday, July 14 View Page What a bummer. I lost my chosen fruit on the 1116 Traylor. I Had set three on the plant. I culled number one about a week ago because it was only 8 feet out. So it was between number 2 and 3. I chose 3 because it had better vine positioning and better shape. (#2 was a wheel) So yesterday I cut #2 off and hoped for the best. I checked on the chosen one this a.m. and it had aborted. Well I am not going to give up just yet, on my vine tips their are little pumpkins. A pollination two weeks from now may still grow pretty big. It is funny how your prospects start to dwindle as the season progresses. What feels like a stacked line-up in June or early July can quickly turn into a desperate situation. LOL Monday, July 19 View Page 1116 Traylor, we are back in business. I have had a few pollinations on some side vines. The heat and humidity have been intense but it looks like a couple may have taken. Some are really long. I am excited! Thursday, August 5 View Page This is the melon on the 103 Masterson 'Mountain Hoosier'. It has the nice dark color of the 'Mountain Hoosier' and it looks like it has picked up some length from a 'Carolina Cross' type. That is a two liter Coke bottle for a size reference. Thursday, August 5 View Page This is a 164 White melon. It is a wide one. It reminds me of a 'Cobb Gem' type. ( That is the variety they used to grow as the #1 giant type in the 50's and 60's) Lloyd Bright has some wonderful pictures in his book of the old varieties. It is interesting to see how the giant types have changed since the early part of the 20th century. I would just love to have some of the old 'Triumph' seed. Unfortunately that strain is lost forever. Thursday, August 5 View Page 153 Leonard melon. It is one of my top three. Another great seed from the GVGO. I am guessing it's over 100 pounds. I don't really measure my melons. I grow them more for fun and eating. Although some of them will make it to the local fairs, there are very few people who like to grow giant melons up here in New England. Thursday, August 5 View Page 181 Masterson. This is a beast. I call it "Lumpy" as it was kind of lumpy and misshapen as a young melon. As it grows it is filling out. It is one of my top melons right now. My problem is that my plants are all very small and I have been fighting mites and aphids all year. Thursday, August 5 View Page 213 Kent, one of my top three and also one of the prettiest. Thursday, August 5 View Page This is a shot of the entire giant melon patch. A few week s ago. I am embarassed about the small plant size. I don't know why the plants never filled out. I do have a couple of ideas though; 1) The plants were very small when I set fruit on the vines, I should have waited a while then set fruit on a larger more aggressive plant. With giant pumpkins if you have a rapidly growing pumpkin the plant grows very little after that. 2) Constant pressure by spider mites and aphids, I have been battling them all year, and appear to be losing. The weather has been wonderful for growing, as it has been Hot! Hot! Hot! If I had managed things a little differently I could have done a lot better. I am still pleased though as I am thinking I will get a bunch of melons over 100 pounds. I will keep fighting until they are cut from the vine. Thursday, August 5 View Page This is a 75'foot row of melons My son and I did from seed. They are 'Jubilee' Charleston Gray' and 'Sugar Baby' These plants are a lot healthier than the giant melons and don't have the mites. The Sugar Baby are already ripe, and the Charleston Gray are loaded. My favorite melon of all time for production was a type called 'Iopride', they were shaped kind of like a 'Crimson Sweet' but a little longer and bigger on average. I can't find the seed any more. I would bet that 'Iopride' would rival any hybrid out there for sheer production. Thursday, August 5 View Page I made a mistake, This is the real picture of the 213 Kent. Friday, August 6 View Page Well we lost our big one today. It was on my son's 1239 Marsh '08 plant. We had noticed a bunch of mouse holes around the pumpkin,so we decided to lift the pumpkin and let it finish growing on a pallet. We planned on bringing it to the Marshfield Fair in two weeks. When it was in the air we checked the underside and found a split about 3/4" long by 1/4" wide. The pumpkin had a concave bottom, and I think that this may have predisposed the pumpkin to split. I grow mine on sand, I wonder if I would have had better luck using mill fabric? I really like to see a flat bottomed pumpkin when lifting the pumpkin. I want it to look like a table top. I would love to hear any advice from other growers on how to do this. Friday, August 6 View Page This is a shot of the blossom end. The final measurements on the pallet were; Blossom to stem end 95", side to side 95" and the circumference 175"! Total OTT 365" Which estimates out to 1019 pounds. I think it may have weighed more though, it had a lot of surface area touching the ground and a huge circumference. Friday, August 6 View Page Maybe I will get it weighed. My son and I built a homemade pallet to put it on. It was a 5'x5' pallet! It would have just fit into the bed of my truck. Friday, August 6 View Page A very nice thick stem too! Friday, August 6 View Page Not to mention a very nice orange color! This pumpkin looks almost identical to it's Momma that Kevin Marsh grew back in 08. My son grew the 1239 last year and it produced an absolute beauty. Sunday, August 8 View Page 1116 Traylor last week. Fruit number 2. Sunday, August 8 View Page 1116 blossom end. Doh! Sunday, August 8 View Page Doh! I have never had one look like this. It started out nice and long. Then it turned into a pear shape. I will grow it out. Too late for another set. Sunday, August 8 View Page Luffa gourd, it's my first year growing these. They look like cucumber vines, but have these long stemmed yellow flowers that go way above the vines and leaves. Thursday, August 12 View Page This is a picture of a 'Saticoy' hybrid melon, They are the best for taste that I have found. Unfortunately you can't find the seed anymore. It has a very sparse netting and would probably be a hard one to sell, unless you could educate your customers. We have been eating melons here for about two weeks. I would say everything has been a good couple of weeks early this year. We could definitely use some rain, although the dry weather allowed for the melons to ripen up nice and sweet. Sunday, August 15 View Page The spider mites have rendered my melon plants almost worthless. At least I was able to get some decent size on them before this happened. I will have to do better next year. Sunday, August 15 View Page If you look closely, you can see hundreds of mites on the white sheet covering the watermelon. What an incredible infestation. WOW! Sunday, August 15 View Page I have yet to get any giant tomatoes above the two pound mark this year. I have had many come close though. The tomato in the picture weighs 1 pounds 15 oz. Not too shabby, considering this is a 'Better Boy' hybrid tomato. I have never had one get this big before. The tomatoes are starting to come in heavy. Last year we had none because of the late blight. Sunday, August 15 View Page This is the stem side of the same 'Better Boy' tomato. My favorite variety. Sunday, August 22 View Page This is the 1087 Bhaskaran 08 before picking for the Marshfield fair. It came in second with a weight of 1037. It was pollinated on June 7th at about 10'. It was crossed with the 1239 Marsh 08. Could be a good orange cross. Both parents have orange potential. Sunday, August 22 View Page Blossom end of the 1087 Bhaskaran. Final measurements on pallet were; Blossom end to stem end 95", Side to side 97", circumference 171". For a total of 363". Which would make the chart estimate about 1,000 pounds. So at 1037 it went just about right to the chart. It was my first non dmg. pumpkin to weigh over 1,000! It grew nice and slow all season long. When it was a youngster I almost culled it because the stem had such a bad downward curve I thought it would never have good stem positioning. I was able to slowly raise the stem as it grew and it never gave me any problems. I used styrofoam underneath the vine and gave it slight upward pressure. The stem is now almost perfectly straight. Many thanks to Matt D. for some good advice, regarding this. Sunday, August 22 View Page Side shot of the 1037 Ciesielski '10. Sunday, August 22 View Page These are the two melons I brought to Marshfield. They don't have an official giant melon category but the fair officials were happy to weigh them for me, and display them. The longer one was grown on the 153 Leonard 09. It weighed 113 pounds. I gave this one to the 4-H kids who will eat it at the end of the fair. The big round fruit in back was awesome! It was extremely fat and it weighed in at 116 pounds. That melon was grown off the 164 White. One of my favorite melons I have grown. It looked like an enormous 'crimson sweet'. Sunday, August 22 View Page Here is another shot of them. I really want the seeds from the big fat one. It is kind of a novelty. Too bad these pictures don't really do it justice. Sunday, August 22 View Page 1239 Marsh in the background, I still haven't weighed it. So for now I will call it the 1019 est.dmg Ciesielski '10. It is turning a dark orange. In the foreground you see the 1037 Ciesielski '10, this was grown on the 1087 Bhaskaran. It is on display at the Marshfield Fair this week. It was a 3.5 hour drive for me! It is a wonderful fair, but I don't think I will make the trip again. Just too far! These two pumpkins were crossed with each other, both ways. So I will hopefully have some 1087 x 1239 and 1239 x 1087 seeds for big and orange hopefuls. Friday, August 27 View Page Look what I found in my trap! Saturday, September 4 View Page Picked and loaded the 666 Horton 09 squash for the Goshen Fair. Measurements were; Blossom to stem end 72", side to side 79" and circumference 108". For a total of 259", est. weight 373 pounds. Saturday, September 4 View Page Blossom end shot, This thing was very round! It even had a slightly rounded bottom, so I had to strap it tightly to the pallet for transport. Saturday, September 4 View Page It weighed like a rock at 443 pounds! I was very surprised that such a small squash could weigh so much. The pumpkin in the front is the winning 588 pounder grown by Paul Marino. The pumpkin to the right and in back weighed 401 pounds and it was grown by Dan Kobylenski. Saturday, September 4 View Page A Dennis Masterson duo of melons. The dark melon on the left was grown on his 103 'Mountain Hoosier' from '09. It weighed 76 pounds. The one on the right is a melon from his 181 seed. I still have to get a weight on it. I am hoping it will be over 100 though. Sunday, September 12 View Page 1078 Marsh 09 in the patch before harvesting for the Bethlehem Fair. Sunday, September 12 View Page Blossom end of the 1078 Marsh. I have never had a sunken blossom end before. I think they are pretty, but I wasn't sure if I would lose it to a split or not. I never had any problems with this pumpkin. The vine that the fruit grew on was very small. Usually I would expect a nice thick vine for a big pumpkin like this! Sunday, September 12 View Page A side shot of the 1078. It grew slow and steady all season. Sunday, September 12 View Page Brought the pumpkin to the fair. It tied for third place with Mark Lombardi's beauty. 854.4 pounds. In the front is Steve Sperry's 1222 pound beast. Mark's pumpkin is behind Steve's and mine is to the left of Mark's. Sunday, September 12 View Page 125 Ciesielski '10 watermelon, grown off the 213 Kent. It had a really nice shape. Sunday, September 12 View Page 319 Wheeler squash '10. A real beauty. Nice job Mat. Sunday, September 12 View Page 435.4 Ciesielski '10 grown off the 666 Horton 09. That was the second squash I have weighed off the 666 Horton. Sunday, September 12 View Page Blossom end of 435.4 Sunday, September 12 View Page It was a great year for us at the Fair! Tuesday, September 14 View Page I just measured the 854.4 Ciesielski '10. Blossom end to stem end 95", side to side 102", circumference 154" Total Ott 351". Which would bring it to an estimated weight of 907 pounds. So it went light by about 52 pounds. By the looks of the pumpkin I would have guessed it would go at least 10% heavy. It had the genetics to go heavy. I have got to figure out how to make my pumpkins weigh like rocks, not balloons. Monday, November 8 View Page No big deal, I have a back up. Friday, November 26 View Page My Howard Dill picture for the year. The 487 Ciesielski est. '09 plant at Harvest. Nothing monstrous came off this plant. I got 4 pumpkins between 200-300 pounds each, nice and orange color. Friday, November 26 View Page A picture of the 487 fruit after harvesting. Friday, November 26 View Page We had a bumper crop of watermelons, this one is a'Jubilee',we preferred their taste over the 'Charleston Gray'. 'Sugar Baby' is still one of the best too. Nice and sweet with crisp red flesh. They come nice and early.