Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 46 Entries. Wednesday, April 22 View Page Seeds were started last night and the smell of warm peat moss permeates the air. The past two seasons have been a wash. Pumpkins were grown, but the patch was on its own so the results were what can be expected in those circumstances. This year I am more motivated to produce something, but we'll see how that turns out. Priority #1 is to get a decent job. Pumpkins are somewhat lower on the list but moving up from the past couple years. I've started a bunch. I collected many seeds over the years and haven't acquired anything new this year. I figured it was time for some of these to see dirt while still viable, and as always had to throw in a few of my own. I don't have room for all, but will have to make some difficult cuts if they all germinate. Here's the list. 1097.5 Beachy 02 - my last one of these 1005 Mombert 02 - it's time it saw dirt in my patch 1070 Pugh 06 - Stan is a grower I admire and I don't know why this one hasn't produced, not grown or they blew, but I thought I'd give it a try. 724 Perham 06 - I know the Perham's too and they did well with this one. 1028 Johnson 06* - gotta have green this ones a no brainer. 857 Platte 04* - gotta have green 716 Michalec 05* - gotta see what this greenie can do. 583 Michalec 02 - This produce a 715 and 601 on the same small plant in 03. Gonna try it with just one fruit this time. 763 Biss 03 - Not many progeny but all good size. I like Dean and wanted to grow one of his. This was the obvious choice. 603.5 Muller 03 - Best odds for something pretty and orange. 696 Michalec 04 - I have to see what this one can produce. 975 Summers 03 Shannon got an 1145 from it, I'd be happy with that. There were so many others I would love to try, but there is only so much space and time. I'm planning on having 8 plants in the patch, two will be squash. Saturday, May 9 View Page Finally got the plants into the patch today. 6 pumpkins and 2 squash in the final lineup. 1028 Johnson and 857 Platte are the squash. I broke the stem on the 716 so that resolves the dilemna on which one to cull. My 696 and the 975 Summers failed to germinate. I only had to omit one remaining plant and so I found a home for the 1070 Pugh. That means the 583 Michalec, 603.5 Muller, 1005 Mombert, 1097.5 Beachy, 724 Perham and 763 Biss are all getting room to stretch thier roots out. The plants have been hardened off and will be without cloches this year. I am relying on the plants to know what to do and when to do it on their own in this environment. The cloches I have been using did not seem to help last year and when the wind kicked up did more harm than good. I have neither the time or resources right now to put into improving them. Hopefully we'll have a decent spring for a change to get them off to a good start. Saturday, June 20 View Page Spent the day killing weeds and burying vines. I guess I won't be growing bush pumpkins after all. Runt of the patch is the 724 Perham. Nice looking little plant though. Little leaves, little vine, looks like a regular pumpkin. The two squash plants are the beasts of the patch. 1097 Beachy and 603.5 Muller are not far behind. 763 Biss is a nice plant with a skinny vine and smaller leaves. 1005 Mombert has a double main that has forked at about 3' out and one side will be culled this week. 583 Michalec is looking good, but not as long a vine as most of the others. There's a female at about 18" out on the 1028* Johnson that should be open Monday or Tuesday but there won't be a male around for at 10 days. Not that I would pollinate something that close to the base of the plant anyway, but it was nice to see. Thursday, July 9 View Page Eenie meanie miney moe, I can only keep one and two have to go. This is on the 857 Platte one of these should be pollinated on the 12th with the 1028 Johnson. Monday, July 13 View Page Pollinations are moving along and I finally got a main vine pollination on the 1005 Mombert with two males from the 1097.5 Beachy, a side vine fruit was set on the 12 with a single male from the Beachy plant. Still no open females on the 724 Perham, this plant lags behind all others in all ways. My 583 had the main tip broken of by an impatient grower who was trying to get it to lie down and behave. I cut it back and trained the last secondary to take over as the main, but I won't get a fruit set on the new main for at least another week, more likely two. The Beachy plant and 724 Biss and 603.5 Muller all have multiple fruit set on them and culls will be next on the agenda. Both squash have a couple main vine sets and I will probably go with the later set fruit as the genetics are more what I was trying for, but the first set on the 1028 Johnson is off to a nice start....HMMmmm Thursday, July 23 View Page I have fruit on every plant now and have only the 583 with nothing on the main vine since I broke the growing tip of it off and had to perform a little surgery. The new main tip will have one available to set in a few days. Hot weather has been the standard this summer like no other I've seen in 15 years of living here. And never has it been this dry. It seems all our rain has been over on the other coast this year. I've begun to cull a few fruit set on secondaries and a couple early main vine sets that I did not like either the shape, genetics, or position. It means going with later set fruit but that shouldn't be a problem. I'm going for a personal record this year and don't expect a world record. It's interesting to note how different weather has affected the growth of the plants. I'm already terminating secondary vines at 12' and the patch is filling in fast. Hot and dry are all that's in the forecast for as long as the weatherfolk dare to guess. I'm watering 3 times a day with the whizzers now as I want water getting to the secondary root systems and the soaker hoses can only wet along the main vines. Thursday, August 6 View Page Culling continues with the heat last week taking care of some of it. I lost several later set fruit that I was hoping to keep. It seems the larger ones fared better. I have a couple on secondaries that I would like to grow out without taxing the plants too much, so I cut the secondary vine from the main in those cases. One is on the 1005 Mombert and the other on the 857 Platte* All other plants are down to 1 fruit except the 583 which has the late set on the main vine. It is hardly growing at all though so the larger fruit that is close in on the secondary my end up being the keeper. It has a nice symmetrical shape. The 603.5 Muller is producing a wagon wheel, but so far I have managed to avoid stem stress. The main vine fruit on the 1005 Mombert is now the second largest in the patch and is 8 days younger than the 763 Biss fruit. It is on inch larger than the 1097.5 Beachy fruit and 4 days younger. Here are the crosses. 1028 Johnson* Poll 7-12 5 lobe with 1 857* 857 Platte* Poll 7-12 6 lobe with 1 1028* 763 Biss Poll 7-5 5 lobe with 1 Self (It was only one available) 724 Perham Poll 7-18 5 lobe with 3 1097.5 Beachy 1005 Mombert Poll 7-13 5 lobe with 2 1097.5 Beachy 583 Michalec Poll 7-18 5 lobe with 3 1005 Mombert 1097.5 Beachy Poll 7-9 5 lobe with 3 763 Biss 603.5 Muller Poll 7-9 5 lobe with 2 763 Biss High temps today were lower than our overnight low on this day last week. 30° difference between last weeks high temp and this weeks. If feels good to cool down, but it would be nice to find a point in between these extremes. Thursday, August 13 View Page After a week of cool and now wet weather the plants are starting to come around and put some weight on again. It seems our cool down and the arrival of gray skies put a damper on the growth of the fruit. The rain that arrived on the 10th and has been added to each day since seems to be helping. I can't cover the patch as well with sprinklers no matter how much time I put in there. Everything seems to grow better with rainwater too. The 1995 Mombert fruit continues to be the fastest growing in the patch and is now the largest. The fruit on the 724 Perham has also made some nice gains over the past couple of days. So far it has the nicest shape and appearance. It seems it was worth waiting for after it's slow start. I'll try to remember the camera and get some photo's the next time I get out there. Friday, August 14 View Page That's 1005 Mombert, hey Ken, anyway to add feature where we can edit our posts? I'm always messing something up and then finding it later. It's at 64-64-100 on day 31. Hopefully the forecasted return of warm weather will give it a boost since it has gained 37" this week with most of that over the past 4 days. Sunday, August 16 View Page Bell shaped fruit on the 1028 Johnson day 35. It's a lousy shape but they all wanted to do this and later sets aborted in the heat wave so I'm stuck with this one. It's a slow grower Sunday, August 16 View Page This is a lumpy fruit on the 857 Platte* Again a slow grower and lousy shape. This is a weird plant, wated to flatvine on both the main and some secondaries. This is the fruit on the far right from the prior entry with the triplets. Again the later set fruit aborted in the heat wave. It seems my PB for squash is going to stand for another year. Sunday, August 16 View Page This is the 724 Perham pumpkin. Set on 7-18 and pollinated with the 1097.5 Beachy. Good color so far and a little wider than it is long. Growing pretty well. The weather has turned from wet cloudy and cool with daytime highs in the low to mid 60's to sunny and warming so I'm hoping the growth rate picks up a bit from last week. This is when it has to do it. Sunday, August 16 View Page This is the 763 Biss fruit. It's the oldest in the patch pollinated on 7-5 and selfed. Nothing else was available that day. 2 later sets were culled for bad stems and another couple aborted in the heat. Plant didn't want to grow secondaries for a while then straightend out. This one was the most prolific at flowering early in the season. Sunday, August 16 View Page This is the 1005 Mombert fruit and was pollinated on 7-13 with the 1097.5 Beachy. Right now it's the largest in the patch by a couple of inches. Very symmetrical shape and the plant has been easy to manage. I've only sprayed once for aphids and will again soon as I'm starting to see more cucumber beetles out there. Diseases have not been a problem so far, (knocking on wood as I type this). Sunday, August 16 View Page This is the 1097.5 Beachy fruit. The plant has been a beast and the pumpkin has been pretty ordinary. It was pollinated on 7-9 with the 763 Biss. It's the third largest in the patch and growing steadily if not impressively. Sunday, August 16 View Page This is the fruit on the 603.5 Muller. Kind of a wagon wheel, but I've kept it from tipping back onto the vine. It was pollinated on 7-9 with the 763 Biss. Again steady, but not impressive growth and the 4th largest in the patch. I expect it will be passed by the pumpkin on th 724 sometime this week. It looks like it will be showing the good color this seed is known for. All other fruit that were set on this plant wanted to grow the same shape. Sunday, August 16 View Page Last is the 583 Michalec fruit. It's growing on a secondary not far from the base of the plant. I'll measure how far out after harvest. It was pollinated on July 18 with the 1005 Mombert. I snapped the main on this plant trying to get it to lay down. This is a nice symmetrical pumpkin and growing steadily if not impressively. There's a small one on the new main set much later that has stem problems and I should probably cull it, but it's really not growing much at all so i've left it alone. Saturday, September 5 View Page I took photos on the 24th of August, but they ended up on the wifes laptop. So no pictures to post. On the 28th the 1028 Johnson squash went down due to a blossom end splint. It was fed to the cattle. I now have a tie for largest in the patch with the 583 Michalec fruit and the 1005 Mombert fruit. Everything is slowing down and I won't measure again until maybe Friday, that way I can't be too disappointed with my numbers on until then. We've had some of and on heavy rains the past couple days and then the sun comes out. The 583 has developed a stem split. It's only 3" deep, but bears watching. It will be a disappointment if it doesn't make it as it was stunning that it grew at such a rate for a while that it caught and passed everything else in the patch. I expected so little from that one baseds on it's late start and unfavorable position on a close in secondary that I never put anything under it so it sits right on the soil. It also was a slow grower early on. Now the 724 Perham is the runt of the patch along with the 857 Platte squash. Friday, September 11 View Page My Puyallup Fair pumpkins. The orange on was grown on the 724 Perham plant is is now the 369 Michalec 09. The pale one was grown on the 763 Biss and is now the 447 Michalec 09. Wednesday, September 16 View Page This pumpkin on the 583 Michalec 02 was pollinated with the 1005 Mombert 02. It will now be known as the 588 Michalec 09 est. Seeds are drying, pumpkin fed to cows. Wednesday, September 16 View Page And this is why.... final measurements were 86" EE 90" SS 127" CC. Seeds are big and fat and haven't been counted but there's more than I can grow. It's a bummer when the biggest and fasted growing fruit splits. I had cracked the stem back on 8-13 and it seemed to recover from that only to have this happen. The split was noticed on 9-5 and into the cavity 11 days later. Wednesday, September 16 View Page One last view. I'll probably grow this seed again, I still feel it has great potential and I just need to do a better job with it. Wednesday, September 16 View Page This is the squash on the 857 Platte 04*. It's been growing very slowly. All summer long it's been growing very slowly. As a result, it's not very big. Wednesday, September 16 View Page This is the fruit on the 1097.5 Beachy 02. Much paler color than the last time I grew a seed from that pumpkin. Smaller too. I'm watching a stem split on this one as well, but it's growing so slowly that I'm not as worried about this one. Wednesday, September 16 View Page The beauty of the patch on the 603.5 Muller 03. It a wagon wheel, but it's a pretty one. Too bad about the scar that slightly mars it's beauty. Wednesday, September 16 View Page This has been the biggest fruit in the patch for most of the summer on the 1005 Mombert 02 plant. It was the second largest for 11 days. Now it's once again the largest. Growth has been slow, but it's still growing. It doesn't seem like a new personal best is in the cards this year. Friday, September 18 View Page One of my roses has a stow-away. Saturday, September 26 View Page This is the 541.5 Michalec 09 now. Weighed in at the Farm on September 26th. The fruit was grown on the 1097.5 Beachy 02 plant and pollinated with the 763 Biss 03. It went slightly over the estimated weight. It's probably the ugly duckling this year with it's weeping skin cracks, bumps, stem splits and color issues. I tried to make it look better by standing next to it. I think it might have helped a little. Saturday, October 3 View Page These are now the 476 Michalec 09* and behind it the 509.5 Michalec 09. The Scholz Farm Pumpkin Palace weighoff was a really nice event with the growers driving to the site in a caravan that made quite a few heads turn and jaws drop as all the trucks with pumpkins rolled on by. Saturday, October 3 View Page The 476 was grown on the 857 Platte and pollinated with the 1028 Johnson. It went a whopping 26% over the estimated weight. The 509.5 was grown on the 603.5 Muller and pollinated with the 763 Biss. It went a bit over 10% above the estimated weight and was voted the prettiest pumpkin at the contest. I got a nice pink ribbon for that and a green one for the squash since it won that category being the only entry. I guess it was the prettiest in it's class too. I love the way they look together with the contrast in color. And who says orange tends to go light? Not if they're a wagon wheel they don't! Sunday, October 11 View Page Sorry, best photo I have so far of the 673 Michalec 09. I'll try to get a better one of the pumpkin because it's pretty nice looking. This was my heaviest of the season. No PB but not bad all things considered. This was grown on the 1005 Mombert X 1097.5 Beachy. I hope I have a few seeds in it as this cross has been done before and done pretty well. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Plants ripped out and garden tilled. Small area of cover crop planted, hope to get some more seed soon. Sunday, October 18 View Page More cover crop planted and Garlic too. Mix of vetch, crimson clover, Austrian winter peas and winter rye grass. It looks like decent germination is taking place for the area planted last week. Hopefully weather will remain favorable for a while and let the second crop for the garden get a good start. Saturday, October 31 View Page I've never been one that's often accused of doing anything the easy way. Saturday, October 31 View Page I've always liked a challenge. Saturday, October 31 View Page Most of us have no problem with squashing a spider. Saturday, October 31 View Page That's too easy. Saturday, October 31 View Page If you like a challenge. Saturday, October 31 View Page Try spidering squash. Saturday, October 31 View Page They don't clean up with a tissue. Saturday, October 31 View Page And they're too big to flush down the toilet, even if you wipe their butts with a web. Saturday, October 31 View Page And even little kids don't think they're too scary. Saturday, October 31 View Page Not anymore than this guy was. Saturday, October 31 View Page Some of our Halloween guests over-indulged. Monday, November 2 View Page Was feeding spider parts to the cows today. The cover crop in the patch looks like it's going to do pretty well. It looks like germination rates are pretty good and the seed got a nice even dispersal. Monday, November 2 View Page My best shot of the 673 Michalec 09. 1005 Mombert 02 X 1097.5 Beachy 02. This will definately be planted next year along with the 1024 Mombert 03 which I would like to use as a pollinator. I'm also looking at other seeds from that era for next years patch. Maybe the 755 Mombert 03 uow could be planted. I'm also looking at the 955 Holland 03. Why all these old seeds? Because I have them and I don't think many got a fair shot back in the day because everyone wants the hot seed, the next new best thing, and looking at the genetics of the current top producers (which I don't have) I see that I have in my collection what it takes to build my own. I'm also looking at the 849 Marchand 06. I don't know why it hasn't got any progeny yet, but I think that one needs to see dirt.