Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 81 Entries. Sunday, March 24 View Page well the start of the 2013 season is alot different than 2012 was.and since the weather is not helping me thaw things out,its time to get the shovel out! Sunday, March 24 View Page i had to shovel a path around the greenhouse so i can get in there to work! Sunday, March 24 View Page im hoping my winter rye is as long if not longer than Chris dunn's under this snow!lol. im hoping to get the plastic up next weekend. Sunday, April 7 View Page not much has changed outside.....it is getting warmer but not warm enough. Sunday, April 7 View Page what a difference in the greenhouse!38 degree outside temp and in the greenhouse it was 58 degrees and that is with cloud cover.you can see that just the skin remains from all 1197 lbs of pumpkin i chopped up and spread over the patch.seed starting is coming very soon! Sunday, April 7 View Page I started my first batch of tomato seeds today! some 6.5 marv 5.5 marv and some 5.07 boudyo. this will be my first try at growing giant tomatoes. Sunday, April 14 View Page well its the morning of seed starting day and woke up to 1 degree temps!and under a winter stom warning tonight!im determined to start on time!most of my tomatoes are up! Saturday, April 20 View Page we got 18 inches of snow yesterday,,,,,then woke up to 10 degrees below zero!! Saturday, April 20 View Page this is what it looked like outside on friday after 18 inches of snow fell! Saturday, April 20 View Page i layed the soil heating cables in the ground today.i didnt see any frost while digging,,,,which is a good thing considering what the weather outside the greenhouse is like. Saturday, April 20 View Page then i put up my mini hut over the cables.im hoping the ground warms up to in the low 70's for a next weekend planting! Thursday, April 25 View Page well here they are!1140 finders and a 1197 macCoy for a backup.the 1197 is 4 days younger than the 1140.the ground temp was mid 70's,,,,so it was go time tonight!i added a little blood meal some azos and some rti myco to the holes. i will grow a 980 fredricks in another small spot for my orange one. Thursday, April 25 View Page here is another pic.the little ditch i dug around the plants is to keep the water close to the plant instead of running off. Saturday, May 4 View Page its been cold with rain and snow the past few days.it didnt get over 35 degrees for the high the past couple days.oh well....its time to adapt and overcome! Saturday, May 11 View Page fishing opener today.20 to 30 mph winds and snow.all the lakes up here still have a foot of ice on them!definitely a spring to remember! Monday, May 13 View Page 19 degrees this am! Saturday, May 18 View Page 55 degrees and cloudy today.i put the best looking 5.5 marv and the best 5.07 boudyo in the greenhouse this afternoon.the 5.5's have the biggest root system of them all.next week i will deside on what pumpkin plant to go with.i dont have a whole lot of time this year so we will see what happens!my baby girl comes first! Thursday, May 23 View Page here is my winter rye about ready to be tilled in this weekend. Thursday, May 23 View Page here is the setup for the last 3 weeks.lots of blankets needed!its been a very cold spring!my plants are growing slow so far,but im sure they will catch up.they will be on the ground on friday! then i need to cull one,and im not looking forward to that! Friday, May 24 View Page 28 degrees this morning. Thursday, May 30 View Page i gave the 1197 the chop today.i had a N deficiency that i think i corrected.but plants are way behind this year. Saturday, June 1 View Page 1140 finders is the one im going with.its around 4 feet today.i had a major n deficiency that i think i corrected.that along with the cool weather and my soil cables stopped working make for a slow growing plant.45 degrees for a high today!and low 30's for the next couple nights!yep its june 1'st and we are still using the wood stove! Saturday, June 1 View Page im excited to grow a few big maters this year!here is one of my 5.5 marv's i have going.i have been real imprest with the 5.5's growth! Saturday, June 1 View Page another 5.5 marv! Saturday, June 1 View Page 5.07 boudyo looking nice! Sunday, June 9 View Page 1140 finders is sitting at about 7 feet.another cool week has come and gone.its been cloudy and 50's for high's and 30's for lows.despite the weather the plant is starting to shift up a gear. Sunday, June 9 View Page this is a good sign!a little to close tho. Sunday, June 9 View Page mega bloom on one of my 5.5's! Sunday, June 16 View Page a female opened up about 8 feet out this morning.a little to close for me.there were no males open anyway.the plant will be about 11 feet long today. Tuesday, June 25 View Page well its 88 degrees today and I pollinated one at 13 feet out.i hope it takes! Monday, July 15 View Page a look down the main vine of the 1140 finders.if you look close you can see the pumpkin that's set 13'1/2 feet out! Monday, July 15 View Page some people like to grow em orange.....well I guess I grow em white...lol. Monday, July 15 View Page I think ill name it Phineas! Monday, July 15 View Page I have 4 tomato plants stuffed into my 300 sq foot greenhouse with my 1140 finders.i have 2 5.5 mega marv's terminated and one tomato on each plant.i haven't made my decision on the other 5.5 and 5.07 boudyo.this one is a double on a 5.5 Monday, July 15 View Page a triple on a 5.5 marv. Monday, July 15 View Page I like this pic! Saturday, July 27 View Page yep...its july and i have the wood stove going!the pumpkin is all tucked in with his own little heater to keep him warm.i would be more than happy if i hit 1,000 lbs this year! Tuesday, July 30 View Page I weighed my first tomato today off the 5.5 marv. 2.74 lbs...I thought it would go 3 lbs but fell a little short.thats ok I have a couple bigger ones still on the vine.im hoping to break 3 lbs! Tuesday, July 30 View Page my daughter was pretty excited about it! Sunday, August 4 View Page 39 degrees this a.m......im over it.it is what it is!im still very happy with how the 1140 is growing in these september like temps.i hope we get a nice warm september to pay us back for this cool summer.i havent had to water our garden in about a month!im going to weigh what i think will probly be my biggest tomato this year tonight!will i break my goal of 3 lbs.....stay tuned! Sunday, August 4 View Page here is another nice one I have going on the 5.07 it will probly start turning red this week. Sunday, August 4 View Page here is one on one of my 5.07's living outside. all my other big ones are in the greenhouse. its about 20 days old and im hoping to bring it to the weighoff. Sunday, August 4 View Page day 40 for the 1140 finders.i might of had a new personal best if the weather was like last year.still growing very well for 60's for high's and mostly cloudy sky's.i am growing blind this year...with my soil test money going for diapers!lol.im loving this dad thing! Sunday, August 4 View Page im keeping an eye on it...if I have to take action I will. but for the most part its been staying in one spot. Sunday, August 4 View Page stem end view Sunday, August 4 View Page top view Sunday, August 4 View Page nice! I got my goal of 3 lbs for the first time ever growing a tomato plant...im pretty happy with that.it was grown from the 5.5 marv. Sunday, August 4 View Page 3.04 macCoy I believe it is a five bloom Sunday, August 4 View Page my girl posing with the 3.04! Sunday, August 11 View Page Aspen is growing almost as fast as these pumpkins grow!i never would have thought she would be doing half the stuff she does at almost 9 months old! Tuesday, August 13 View Page day 49 for the 1140 with a cc of 153"...my 1197 last year was 153 on day 49.thats pretty cool!still putting on pretty good weight for low 40's at night.im heating just the pumpkin at night.might get down to 39 tonight but the forcast is looking up! Thursday, August 15 View Page I weighed this one tonight off the 5.07 boudyo. this one surprised me and just kept on growing! its probly around 70 days old today. its either a 5 or 6 bloom. Thursday, August 15 View Page my model Aspen with the 3.34! Sunday, August 25 View Page here is a triple starting to turn off the 5.07 its cc is 22 3/8 inch never thought I might have a shot at 4 lbs this year! we will see! Sunday, August 25 View Page another view of the triple! Sunday, August 25 View Page day 61 for the 1140 pumpkin with a circumference of 166 inches.im starting to think I may have a shot at a new PB. the weather has been HOT here since last week.close to 90 everyday this week it looks like.it was 70 degrees last night! Sunday, August 25 View Page a low view of the kin Sunday, August 25 View Page a foggy view of the stem end.very hot and humid in the greenhouse during night fall.i always have a fan running on the stem end during the day.i did keep the secondary at the pumpkin this year...something I didn't do last year.somthing else I did different this year is let the vine bend down almost 90 degrees from the pumpkin.when the pumpkin got close to touching the vine I just stuck a foam wedge between the two and the vine just bends out with the pumpkin.by doing this I only had two free up one tap root.last year I think I did three. Sunday, August 25 View Page some nice fresh leaves filling in for the final push! Sunday, August 25 View Page last year at this time powdery mildew was taking over and the aphids were sucking the life out of my plant.im glad I got some great products to take care of them!i have not seen one aphid this year!other than a few weeds the plant is looking great.and to think I almost pulled this one. Friday, August 30 View Page final cc measurement on the 5.07 is 23 1/4 inches Friday, August 30 View Page wow!a new state record!but only until I seen someone else enter one just a little bigger on the gpc.oh well...I cant complain!thanks a lot fabrice for the seeds! Friday, August 30 View Page me holding the 4.57 MacCoy (big zac) it was grown on the tiny little plant shown just below the tomato.it was actually grown in the spot where I throw my compost. Friday, August 30 View Page my model with the 4.57 Saturday, August 31 View Page day 67 for the 1140 169 cc and slowly pluggin along a slight hint of orange is peeking thru the mostly white skin. the heat wave is over.62 and cloudy on sunday!but the 1140 kin loves the cool weather! Sunday, September 1 View Page these giant tomato plants are crazy! we have a few going with about a dozen maters on each plant. we picked three of them tonight to make some sauce and just for the heck of it i weighed them. 2 lbs 1 3/4 and 1 1/2......5 1/4 lbs for three maters!! Tuesday, September 3 View Page 36 degrees this a.m! Saturday, September 7 View Page here is a pic of a bee in our zinnias! Saturday, September 7 View Page this plant was grown from a cutting on one of my 5.5 marv's a nice healthy young plant.it might be a little late but it does have a couple small ones on it. Saturday, September 14 View Page day 81 for the 1140 pumpkin.173 cc still putting on 6 lbs a day. its turning a little orange and some green! I have been watering less with the cool weather but giving it more potash than last year.and I think that's what is giving me higher gains at this time than last year. Monday, September 16 View Page 28 degrees this morning. first frost and hard freeze of the season! Sunday, September 22 View Page 28 degrees this a.m! Sunday, September 22 View Page day 89 for the 1140 with a cc of 175 inches. a cloudy and cool week for the most part. Sunday, September 22 View Page top view! this makes it look smaller than what it looks like in person. but notice the plywood its on is 4 feet wide. Sunday, September 22 View Page A rare stem view!this camera is amazing!this pic was taken from only two feet back because that's all the room I have. Sunday, September 22 View Page I thought I would have had to cut the button off early in the season.but it has stayed put the last month. Tuesday, October 1 View Page the 1140 finders is now the 1122 macCoy! Tuesday, October 1 View Page My daughter Aspen on top of the 1122 MacCoy Tuesday, October 1 View Page Aspen approves this pumpkin as the Howard Dill Award winner. Grown by Bill Foss. Tuesday, October 1 View Page Aspen found a friend at the weigh off! Saturday, December 28 View Page this has been the norm all winter very very cold and lots of snow!