Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 55 Entries. Friday, January 11 View Page first diary for 2008, once again, this will be a rest year sort of :) I am in the process of preping the soil on my new patch and will let it sit all year and go for it next year. I will probably grow a tiny plant just for fun by the side of my house, we'll see. Here is my wife and the new area covered with leaves Friday, January 11 View Page just to catch everyone up, new job, new house, new wife lol (just married, first and only wife ;)), new year, still gaining strength with my health, and fishing when possible. Here is my wife with me on her first trip to south san diego bay with a nice bonefish being displayed. Friday, January 11 View Page a couple more wedding pic's for everyone to see :) Friday, January 11 View Page a picture of my wife and my mother and father in law at the reception Wednesday, January 30 View Page plans for the patch continue to move ahead. 3 yards of composted cow manure was delivered this afternoon to the new patch site. My wife is my new pumpkin side kick, mrs pumpkin boy:) She helped me level it all out over the patch. Tilling will be done on the 10th, and the 400 sq foot area will sit for 2008 I am growing for fun this year in a 4 by 7 foot area of soil along our driveway, the plant will be 100 to 200 sq feet if I'm lucky growing over rock and a multitude of things. I will start in march and have chosen two seed options, the 980 kuhn 2001 (712 x 723) and the 500 mitchell 1999 (825 shymanski x 865 mettler). Both proven genetics and good seeds. The 500 is great in the heat, and I grew the 980 as a pollinator 4 years ago and was really impressed with it. My challenge is to grow a 500 lber in this limited area! The 1000 lber will wait for next year's patch lol :) Pic's to come later Thursday, January 31 View Page This is the updated pic of the patch. 3 full yards of composted manure are ontop and spread out. 4 inches of leaves are under the manure, tilling is on the 10th. Me in the pic for a size comparison. Thursday, January 31 View Page Touchdown!! Just kidding. I'm standing in my 2008 patch lol. It is full of weeds and flowers now, 5 by 8 feet, we'll have some fun this year while the big patch waits for next year. I have a lot of experience in tiny patches from my prior years before I got a good area to grow. 500 lbs is possible even in southern california with this tiny area IF everything goes perfect:) But atleast a 300 lber I hope:) Time will tell..... Monday, February 11 View Page This is a shot today of the main patch. Gourdzilla (Vince), my fellow pumpkin friend and Charger fan was over to help till it up. 3 full yards of manure, and a ton of leaves. My plan now, get some worms in it, rake my extra leaves over the top for the summer to keep weeds off, and maybe add some more grass clippings and organic matter. Come on 2009! lol Monday, February 11 View Page me and my 2 foot high pile of left over leaves. Will be raked over the patch. I met the guy who takes care of the park grass and yard work. I live in a mobile home park and he told me he would get as many leaves as I need. Cool! Monday, February 11 View Page my 30 sq foot 2008 patch! Put in some manure and fertilizer, and tilled over the weeds. Still need to pull a few weeds. Will start my season in a couple weeks. Monday, February 11 View Page view from the road, our mobile home on the left and patch on the back right Friday, February 15 View Page hello from warm and sunny san diego! lol Me and the beautiful mrs. went for a drive today in san diego. I bet most people don't know it snows in san diego, well it does :) To us, snow is an amazing thing that we can go to and say WOW! Throw snow balls, slide, etc. This is me with a double thumbs up for having fun! This is why we don't plant too early even in san diego. Friday, February 15 View Page me and my wife having fun! Friday, February 15 View Page so much fun I had to put one last snow picture. The only bad part is after the storm leaves, the snow melts really fast! The storm was so bad that a 30 mile stretch of the freeway was shut down all night with hundreds of motorists stuck on the highway due to heavy snow and ice. The storm was not predicted by the weather people, so it was a big mess! But fun :) Wednesday, February 20 View Page getting in some fishing with my wife before planting time. Went to san diego bay. This is what my wife caught for our first fish, a nice sculpin. Super good eating but very poisonous fins! I was nervous holding it for a pic lol. Wednesday, February 20 View Page a nice sand bass here. We managed 20 fish in about 4 hours on the water. A couple cool stories.... Wednesday, February 20 View Page my wife having fun fishing in the picture. Well, here goes my fish tale! I hooked into what felt like the bottom on one of our drifts. I handed the pole to my wife and ran the boat towards where it was stuck hoping to get back my 5 dollar spinnerbait lure. We kept going and I soon realized we should have reached the spot by then but the line was still away from the boat. I took the pole back and realized it was moving heheheh. I knew exactly what it was! I was actually upset becuase I knew I hooked into a 100 to 150 plus lb bat ray. I landed a 20 lb ray on the same pole in 3 to 4 minutes, this ray would not move with all of my weight into it. I fought it for 25 minutes as it swam around! After 25 minutes, I felt helpless and couldn't even move the fish but maybe six inches up with all my force and strain. It felt like a mack truck and I was afraid my rod was gonna break. I have no doubts I could have landed it in about 2 to 3 hours, but decided I didn't want to waste the day on one fish. So I cut my line with pliars on purpose. O well, there went my 5 buck lure! My wife then hooked into another fish that took her drag out for about 10 seconds and then SNAP went the line! Well, that is our fishing tales for yesterday. :) Tuesday, February 26 View Page at 5pm san diego time, my seeds were started for this year's small patch. Two 500 Mitchell '99 seeds and one 980 Kuhn 2001. Usual method, took off the shells and started in wet paper towels in zip lock baggie ontop of the vcr. Let's see what happens :) Thursday, February 28 View Page my update isn't good! lol seems my old 99 and 2001 seeds aren't cooperating and wanting to sprout, been 40 hours and no root growth as of yet. I usually get root growth around 20 hours. I have my doubts but still waiting abother 8 hours before I give up. So..... I have a good number of old seeds still, might as well use them right? :) As of 10:15 am this morning, I started another round of seeds. Unfortunately no more 500 Mitchells or 980 kuhns. The list is as follows: 774 Mombert 2000 (801 stelts x 567.5 mombert) 801 Beachy 2002 (846 calai x 705 stelts) 673 Kuhn 2003 (845 bobier x 898 knauss) 955 Conley 2004 (846 calai x 1016 daletas) I know the conley has grown over 1000 lber and has been recommended for the heat. The 774 mombert is a dark horse for beautiful and big that has never been grown much, and the 801 and 673 both have great genetics, I don't even know what they have grown lol, but that is ok for my small patch this year, going with the dark horses for fun. Saturday, March 1 View Page good and bad news to report! The bad, both 500 mitchell seeds were thrown out today, they just wouldn't sprout. The good, the 980 kuhn came to life and is now in it's pot in soil. Of the new seeds, only the 673 kuhn has sprouted so far and is in a pot. Due to being in a new house, I have no heating pad for my pots! Bummer lol, oh well, try to keep them in a warm place in the house and see when they come up. pic's will come when the plants arrive :) Thursday, March 6 View Page a picture of the 980 kuhn on the right, 673 kuhn on the left. Growing well, they are in one gallon pots for size reference. I damaged the 673's seed leaf by trying to help it uncurl, but it cracked badly and is small now :) It will make it tougher lol. Thursday, March 6 View Page the plants under the grow light, will be transplanted soon. The 801 and 955 are not impressing me right now, so it looks like a kuhn fight for the surviving plant will happen. I will put both the 980 and 673 in the ground and cull to one. Monday, March 17 View Page confused pumpkin grower in this pic! lol After taking last year off, my misting system, timer, etc are all over the place and I am trying to jog my memory on how everything goes even after using the system for 4 years :) I ended up putting the whole system on backwards heheheh No wonder it wasn't working. After an hour of tinkling around, things fell into place except some old rubber seals that need to be replaced on my hoses. Monday, March 17 View Page this is the dripworks timer I have had for many years, great timer. I painted it white so it stays cool in the hot sun many years ago. I have a two way hose valve connected to the spicket, then the timer, then a filter connected to a hose, which runs to 1/2 inch tubing where my microsprinkler is on a 3 foot stake. Just being a fun small patch this year, I put on a very low output sprinkler. I usually use a different one for a big main patch Monday, March 17 View Page my 980 kuhn as of today, growing well so far. Monday, March 17 View Page the 673 kuhn as of today. Both plants look healthy and normal, Iwill keep the one that does best with the heat here. As soon as it warms a little, should get a good idea which does better with the weather. Monday, March 24 View Page Today marked the day of death in the patch! I culled down to one keeper plant. The 980 kuhn has been assassinated and the 673 kuhn is alive and well as the winner. Both plants really were growing well, but the last two days were at 90 degrees and the 673 kuhn managed the heat better. Plus, it is a great seed for potential being an 845 x 898 cross not being grown much. I will self this plant when the time comes. Friday, March 28 View Page here is a pic of the 673 kuhn as of today, 3-28-08. Growing nicely in our mild days this spring here in san diego. A smaller sized plant so far, but very healthy and ready to start running soon. Friday, March 28 View Page another view of the 673. Heat tolerance for the eplant has been better than average so far which has been a nice surprise. Since I'm just growing it for fun, will get some good seeds for genetics with the 845 x 898 parantage of the 673. Friday, April 4 View Page picture of the 673 kuhn as of today, growing very nicely. Nothing but pleased with this plant so far. We'll see what she grows! Tuesday, April 22 View Page 673 kuhn as of today, main is around 5 to 6 feet out now, growing well. Plant looks good except I noticed some yellowing on the leaf edges this evening. I have had it a little before, but seems more now. Leaves look good color, I am assuming it is heat that is doing this. Not been hot, but leaves seem to burn when warm here a little. I will show a close up. Haven't sprayed anything, unless a neighbor did somewhere. Tuesday, April 22 View Page a look at one of the leaves, not all of the leaves have it either, but many do. Any ideas besides heat? Tuesday, April 22 View Page another view of the 673 Tuesday, April 22 View Page stump on the 673 kuhn Wednesday, April 30 View Page 673 kuhn as of tonight. Had a super heat wave for april, temps way up over 100. Put up shade cloth to protect plant. Growing nicely. Pumpkin on main about 8 feet out, will pollinate in a week or so, males are starting to flower now too. Wednesday, April 30 View Page another view of the 673. Sunday, May 11 View Page the 673 kuhn as of today. I pollinated at 9 feet out on the main on the 10th. I used a 24 hour old male in the fridge, see if it works. Wouldn't ya know I had a male pop everyday except the one I needed it for? :) Sunday, May 11 View Page 673 again, little blurry in the pic. You can see the small little pumpkin on the main in the left side of the picture. Sunday, May 11 View Page the main vine fruit on day 1, hope it takes. If not, have another on the main that will go in 10 days or so. Monday, May 19 View Page 673 kuhn as of tonight. Been scorching hot for 5 days, anywhere from 98 to 104 degrees. Put up some shade cloth on part of the plant, took it off as temps are cooling off. This plant doesn't seem to like the high heat. I have to laugh, I know this is just a "fun" plant in a very small area of lousy soil, but my pumpkin on this thing so far is crawling! lol :) In 8 years growing, the lowest day 10 measurement I ever got was 20 inches, that includes some other "fun" plants in bad areas. Day 10 is tomorrow on my main pumpkin, and as of tonight, I am at 14.75 inches. So I;m estimating around 16 inches tomorrow. Not sure why. Plant looks fine. I'm guessing it is a combo of a real slow starter and high temps. One day my growth went down to only .75 inch. Well, we shall see, but it doesn't bolster my confidence in the 673! But I know day 10 measuremnt doesn't mean anything really, we will see what happens in the next 2 weeks. Monday, May 19 View Page Here is a picture of the little guy! Monday, May 19 View Page one more picture of the plant. It has really been growing like mad with the vines in the high heat! Pruned off a lot of plant and fertilized trying to jump start my fruit a little. Tuesday, June 3 View Page my fruit on the 673 kuhn as of this morning, day 24. I have to admitt something pretty embarrasing lol. In my 8 years growing, this pumpkin is by far the slowest growing thing I have ever seen! :) I think a big max would beat it! hehehehe I honestly do not know what happened. I have grown in very small areas before and the slowest day 20 measurement I have ever had is 52 inches circumference. My pumpkin on day 20 was 36.75 inches!!!! Yikes. As of day 24, it is 48.25 inches and growing 2.75 inches a day. Yikes. A few theories I have. One, the 673 does not take the heat worth a darn even with misters on. It gets real floppy even in 80 degree weather with misters on. Another consideration is soil, but I don't think I have any major deficiences. The plant looks very healthy and normal in every way, it would be showing some kind of health issues, there are none. So, my conclusion, the 673 kuhn seed I am growing sucks! hehehehe I think it is just a bust for some reason unknown. My mind has turned to my main patch for next year which is just sitting and ammending. Will tes tthe soil in a couple months, and ammend more in the fall and go for it next year! Tuesday, June 3 View Page another view:) Tuesday, June 3 View Page the plant from afar Friday, July 25 View Page my fun season is over now. Here is a pic of the 673 kuhn, officially taping out at 220 lbs. Not going to weigh her, my main emphasis is on getting the big patch ready for next year! She did turn out a nice color though;) Friday, July 25 View Page my wife and the 673 kuhn:) Friday, July 25 View Page me and my wife showing off a nice bay bass in the south bay. We went with my dad and scored 123 fish in 5 hours fishing time. A great day of fun! Friday, July 25 View Page another nice specimen Friday, July 25 View Page a nice halibut tried to eat our grub as well, it went 27 inches. Nasty guys with big teeth lol. You can see the fishes large mouth in the picture. Tuesday, August 26 View Page while waiting for next pumpkin season, hit san diego bay on the north side. ALso went out in the ocean for 40 minutes or so in our small little boat. Here is a keeper halibut we caught in the bay. Tuesday, August 26 View Page we caught 6 smackeral in the ocean, here is one of them. Next time out, I want to go off of the kelp for bonita and yellowtail, neither of which I have had the chance to fish for very much as of yet. Tuesday, August 26 View Page and a nice bass back in the bay. We bagged 18 fish for the 4 hour trip. Next priority, send out a soil test of my patch and ammend in october! Wednesday, December 10 View Page here is my patch, rested all last year. Still waiting to till and have all of my leaves tilled in. Warm san diego winters makes me till late if I want all of the good leaves. Will till in a couple weeks! Wednesday, December 10 View Page another view of the patch. We'll see how the patch produces next year, never grown in ever, virgin soil. Gets more shade than I want, but hey, we'll go for it and see what happens.