Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 175 Entries. Sunday, March 1 View Page Time to start the 09 diary here on Bigpumpkins. I believe this is either year 4 or 5 and I want to again thank Ken for a wonderful website. Here is the temp at 10am this morning in beautiful warm VT. We are not supposed to get temps above 20 degrees for the next week. Sunday, March 1 View Page Here is a pic of the patch. Still frozen tundra and will be for atleast another month probably. Sunday, March 1 View Page This is an old library card catalog that my wife found this winter. We thought it would make a nice storage place for a few of the seeds I have accumulated over the last 12 years of growing. Sunday, March 1 View Page As you can see with the drawers open it makes a nice place to save and categorize seeds by growers last name and year. Sunday, March 1 View Page Here is a picture of our giant onions that we started back in December. They always seem to look a little beat up this time of year. Sunday, March 1 View Page The line up for 2009 (if everything germs) 1502 Wallace, 1385 Jutras, 1102 Pukos, 695 Young and 486.5 Young. My sons Parker and Andrew are back in the patch this year (so they say)so pretty orange is important but they wanted bigger so we added the 1502 and 1385. Our long gourd selection is yet to be determined. Saturday, April 18 View Page Here is a pic of some test germs using new to me Coir pots. These are made of the outer layers of the coconut and are supposed to breath better and breakdown faster than a traditional peat pot. I also like the 5 inch size which is hard to get around here. Locally I got these from Essex Home and Depot a small farm supply store in Essex VT. But here is a link from online if anyone is interested. http://www.americanhort.com/coir.html#Anchor-57337 Sunday, April 26 View Page Here is a look at part of the patch for 2009. My camera date is off, I took these pics this morning the 26th. Tilling in the winter rye can be a pain in the butt and the first couple weedings are a pain, but the green nitrogen they add to the patch is worth it. Sunday, April 26 View Page I have transplanted the onions to their new home. They seem to be not real happy at the moment but they should aclimate fine. Sunday, April 26 View Page Here is a pic of our attempts at an early fair pumpkin. Leading the pack is the 695 Young in the middle. This is our first attempt of growing an early pumpkin. Time will tell if it works out. Sunday, May 3 View Page The day finally came to plant the seedlings in the patch. Here is a view from the long gourd side. I changed around the electric a little to put the cords in the back to make the patch look a little less cluttered. Long gourd has not been planted yet. Sunday, May 3 View Page Here is a peek at the pool side. my 14 year old son Parker is standing in the back corner and has rejoined me this year in the patch. He has also talked me into trying something else other than orange. Time will tell how we do. And Duff, I will be watching my emails again for comments on my green pool. LOL Sunday, May 3 View Page Here is a picture of Parker planting the 1502 Wallace. We also have the 1270 Marsh as a back up in this hoop. This plant will have around 650 sq feet of dirt to grow in. Sunday, May 3 View Page Here is a pic of the 1502 planted. Sunday, May 3 View Page Here is the 1385 Jutras in the patch. This had a badly torn cot on one side but is growing ok. This will be backed up with our 695 Young and this plant will have roughly 520 sq feet to grow in. Sunday, May 3 View Page Here is the 1161 Rodonis. This plant will be backed up by the 1102 Pukos and will have 400 square feet to grow in but we will let the rest grow out on the lawn. Sunday, May 3 View Page Here is the 695 Young fair plant. This has gotten pretty beat up by the infra red light and might not be selected to keep. Overall the plant looks very strong though and will probably do fine. Sunday, May 3 View Page Here is our 486.5 2008 seed that we will probably keep as our early fair plant. It is a 772 Poirier x 588 Young. We are hoping for a real nice color here and hopefully heavy genes from the 588. Sunday, May 3 View Page And last but not least our onions for 2009. They have been beaten up pretty good by the weather, but are still kicking. Sunday, May 10 View Page Another week has slipped by and the plants are all surviving so far. We had a number of storms roll through yesterday and we received 2 inches of rain. Long gourd will be planted out next weekend. Sunday, May 10 View Page Here is the green pool part of the patch. Sunflowers and onions are still doing well. Sunday, May 10 View Page 1161 Rodonis. This plant has been doing well. This is always a hard time of year due to the slow growth and the weather. Things will change soon as the weather warms. Sunday, May 10 View Page 1385 Rodonis. This plant has had some issues but is starting to grow better. I am still hoping to keep this but have a 695 Young right next to it just in case. Sunday, May 10 View Page 1502 Wallace. This plant is doing fine so far. It just needs to get used to our cold VT weather. Sunday, May 10 View Page 486.5 Young. This is one of our early fair plants and is competing with the 695 Young. We are going to need to make a decision by next weekend for lack of space. Sunday, May 10 View Page 695 Young Fair plant. This is doing well so far. It will be a tough decision on this or the 486.5. Does anyone have a coin? Sunday, May 10 View Page All of the onions have new leaves started so I think they are going to make it. I am hoping to break our 3 1/2 pound record from last year. Sunday, May 17 View Page Another week and we bit more growth. This has to be the most frustrating times for all AG growers. The weather has been somewhat cooperative but a frost is in the forecast for the next two nights. Sunday, May 17 View Page Here is a peek at the other half of the patch. The most change on this side is the color of the pool has gone from green to blue (sorta blue. Overall the plants are behaving well. Sunday, May 17 View Page We have put out our best growing LG so far and that is the 125 Urena. Hopefully this plant will hold up the next two nights. Sunday, May 17 View Page 1161 Rodonis. This has been a trouble free plant so far and is growing nicely. Sunday, May 17 View Page 1385 Jutras. This was a slower starter but is starting to catch up. Just needs to get used to my cold VT dirt. Sunday, May 17 View Page 1502 Wallace. So far so good with this plant. It seems to be adapting well to our soil so far. Sunday, May 17 View Page 695 Young. This one out over the other two in the hoop. It was planted a little earlier than the rest in hopes for our late August fair. The 695 is down and running about 3 feet long so far. Sunday, May 17 View Page Here is a pick at our giant onions. Still doing well and covered with floating row cover tonight with frost warning. Sunday, May 24 View Page Another week has passed and the plants are still alive. That is always a main goal this time of year. The pictures of the overall patch will get more exciting in a week or two when green houses are pulled. But I like these to show off my great weeding job. LOL Sunday, May 24 View Page Here is the other half. The sunflowers survived 2 frosts but are still doing fine. Sunday, May 24 View Page 125 Urena Long Gourd. Growing slow, but starting to vine out. Boy do the slugs like to eat lg's. We use a product called Sluggo that works very well and safe for garden and pets. Sunday, May 24 View Page 1161 Rodonis. This plant is doing well. Hopefully will start vining soon. Sunday, May 24 View Page 1385 Jutras. Not as many leaves as I would like on this plant, but is starting to pick up the pace. Sunday, May 24 View Page 1502 Wallace. This plant is growing well and has been problem free so far. Sunday, May 24 View Page 695 Young. This plant is really starting to stretch out. We are hoping to bring a nice orange one to our local fair. Sunday, May 24 View Page Giant onions. These are starting to pick up the pace as the soil warms up. Hoping to break 3.5 pounds which is my record from last year. Sunday, May 31 View Page May 31st and a day time high temp of 58 degrees. Welcome to Vermont. The garden is progressing slowly with good growth although a bit on the slow side. The plants are too tall for the heat lamps so all of the electrical was removed yesterday. We are also expecting a light frost tonight with temps in the low 30's. Sunday, May 31 View Page Here is the other half. You can see the 695 Young uncovered and growing well. The floating row cover will come out tonght to protect that plant as well as other types of veggies that we have started. Sunday, May 31 View Page 125 Urena. Still alive but growing very slowly. Warmer weather should get this moving along. Sunday, May 31 View Page 1161 Rodonis. This plant is still doing well despite the cold rainy weather. this should be down and running by next weekend. Sunday, May 31 View Page 1385 Jutras. This plant is down and starting to slowly run. Doing good so far. Sunday, May 31 View Page 1502 Wallace. This plant is starting to run but is still up in the air. Hopefully we will be grounded by next weekend. Sunday, May 31 View Page 695 Young. This plant was started earlier for our local fair and is doing well. The male blossums are starting to develop but no signs of females yet. Sunday, June 7 View Page This week I am starting my diary off with my son Parker's Lacross team. They just completed their 8th grade year with an undefeated season in the Northern VT Youth Lacross League. Parker is the first player in the back row on the right side, standing next to two coaches. Now that the little bugger is done with lacross he will be pulling lots of weeds. Of course until football season starts in early August. Sunday, June 7 View Page Here is one side of the patch. This has been transition week from hoops to unprotected. We also have removed the plugs on all electrical and the watering system is in place. Plants are growing slow, but still look healthy. Sunday, June 7 View Page Here is the other side of the patch. My back is hurting, we need faster growth so I can weed less space. Sunday, June 7 View Page 125 Urena. Still plugging along. I really think lgs need warmth even more than pumpkins and we just haven't had it yet this year. Sunday, June 7 View Page 1161 Rodonis. Nice thick vined plant. Growing well and has landed. Main vine about 20 inches. Sunday, June 7 View Page 1385 Jutras. This plant is growing a little crooked but is fairly agressive. Main vine at 28 inches. Sunday, June 7 View Page 1502 Wallace. This plant is starting to adjust to our colder soil and has picked up the pace a bit. Currently around 22 inches. Sunday, June 7 View Page 695 Young. This plant is slow on the secondaries, but they are finally popping out. Currently around the 6 foot mark. Sunday, June 7 View Page The giant onions are getting thicker and no sign of bulbing yet which makes me happy. Hopefully will beat our 3 1/2 pounder this year. Sunday, June 14 View Page The weather has finally started to warm a bit and the plants are slowly starting to respond. We are still a bit behind, but are crossing for a better weather season than last year. We have also culled down to our final plants for 2009. Here is a peek at part of the patch. Sunday, June 14 View Page Here is the other half of the patch. Still lots of dirt to weed every week. Sunday, June 14 View Page 125 Urena. Slow growth still but has doubled in length since last week. Hopefully will be on the trellis and climbing next week. Sunday, June 14 View Page 1161 Rodonis. This has been a nice agressive grower. Hopefully it will keep it up when it comes to the pumpkin. Sunday, June 14 View Page 1385 Jutras. This has been a solid grower and the largest of the fall plants currently. Sunday, June 14 View Page 1502 Wallace. This had the strongest growth this week and is starting to get some secondary growth. Sunday, June 14 View Page 695 Young. This is our early experiment and is doing well. We are hoping for an early pollination on this plant and see a female, but it is a ways away still. Sunday, June 14 View Page Giant onions are starting to really grow. A couple have started bulbing, but the majority are just getting thicker with out bulbing which is a good sign. Sunday, June 21 View Page Cloudy and rainy seems to be the theme so far this summer. But thankfully we haven't had quite as much rain than last year. The plants are slowly starting to take off and a few females are starting to pop. Sunday, June 21 View Page The rest of the patch. Sunday, June 21 View Page 125 Urena. This LG has finally hit the trellis and is starting to climb. We seem to be a bit behind with everything so far but the marathon has just started. There is lots of time left for both the goods and the bads. Sunday, June 21 View Page 1161 Rodonis. This has been a steady Eddy for us. Nothing much to report but vines are nice and thick. This plant is a little over 6 feet long and starting some nice secondaries. Sunday, June 21 View Page 1385 Jutras. This has been the best grower so far for the later plants and is about 71/2 feet long and has some nice secondaries that will need burying soon. Sunday, June 21 View Page 1502 Wallace. Nice grower so far and is about 6 1/2 feet long. Secondaries are just starting to come. Sunday, June 21 View Page 695 Young. This is our early start plant and we have not pollinated as of yet. Plant is about 10 feet long with a nice looking female at 8 1/2 feet. I am hoping to pollinate one further out but it is getting late. Sunday, June 21 View Page Giant onions are doing well and have still not bulbed. Sunday, June 21 View Page Here is one of our biggest onions compared to a pen. I think a few of these are much larger than where I was at last year. I am not sure why they haven't bulbed out yet and am hoping this is a good thing. Sunday, June 21 View Page I am part of a leadership group who helped out the Northeast Disabled Athletic Association with a hand cycle clinic this past Saturday in Stowe Vermont. Here is a pic of a few of the folks as we started fitting people with hand cycle bikes. This was a great event and we saw 6 new people that got to try a hand cycle for the first time. I was fortunate to demo one and was amazed at how fast they can go. Sunday, June 28 View Page Last few days of June are upon us and the plants are starting to kick in. About time! We have had a crazy couple of days weather wise and seem to be in another difficlt new England weather pattern. All in all the plants are doing well and seem to be healthy. Sunday, June 28 View Page The plants have doubled in size since last week and hopefully will again next week. Hoping for early July pollinations but need to see what the sets look like and if they land out far enough. Sunday, June 28 View Page 125 Urena. This is starting to grow better and is climbing well. I am going to tie it down in a few spots as it grows to help stabilize it early. Once the secondaries start growing out and clinging on the plant is much more stable. Sunday, June 28 View Page 1161 Rodonis. Still a very steady plant. There are a couple of females showing but not out far enough for me yet. Sunday, June 28 View Page 1385 Jutras. One of the best growers so far. A couple females showing but am going to wait for a little more length, plant is around 11 feet in length now. Sunday, June 28 View Page 1502 Wallace. Another strong grower. A little over 10 feet long and a few females showing but nothing far out enough yet. Sunday, June 28 View Page 695 Young. This plant has been a steady grower and is starting to fill its 400 square feet nicely. Sunday, June 28 View Page Here is the first pollination on the 695 Young. I pollinated this on June 25th and it was crossed with the 1385 Jutras. This may be our keeper here although it is only 9 feet out. The nect pollination will be ready by early July but I think the extra few days of growth will be better for an early fair than one farther out and later. Sunday, June 28 View Page Giant onions. These are growing very well. They are just starting to bulb. This is when the fun starts!!!!! Sunday, July 5 View Page Today was a beautiful bright day in my backyard. This has been the first full day of sun in the past 10 days. Patch is slowly starting to dry out(hopefully before next line of storms due tomorrow night. Pollinations have been slow in coming and we might have to decide on some pollinations in the 9-10 foot range. Sunday, July 5 View Page Here is the other side. The patch seems empty this year with the cold weather slowing growth. We also have had 5 plants in the past and am growing just 4 this year. Most plants are close to 20 feet wide and between 12 and 15 feet long. Sunday, July 5 View Page 1161 Rodonis. Still growing strong. We have a couple of pollinations coming in the next 2-3 days. I am hoping to get one of these set. The future pollinations are at 11 and 13 feet. Sunday, July 5 View Page 1385 Jutras. This is one of the strongest plants so far. We have a pollination about 3 days away at 13 feet. Sunday, July 5 View Page Here is a pic of the 1st pollination on the 1385 Jutras. It is a nice 5 lober pollinated with a 1502 Wallace. It is about 9 1/2 feet out (not as far as we like but a July 1st pollination gives quite a long growing season. Tune in next week to see if it stays or goes. Sunday, July 5 View Page 1502 Wallace. this plant is starting to kick it in. 1st pollination was messed up real bad with lots of seeds in blossum. We are waiting for number two, which is at 13 feet and should open in about 3 days. Sunday, July 5 View Page 695 Young. This plant is filling its square in nicely and we are starting to terminate vines. We have 2 pollinated on this plant. Sunday, July 5 View Page Here is the female on the 695 Young pollinated July 4th with the 1385 Jutras. It is a cross we wanted and it is at 12 1/2 feet. We are keeping an eye on the 1st we pollinated, but are not happy with its size as of day 10. Sunday, July 5 View Page 125 Urena. This little long gourd is behind where we were last yr, but it is filling in nicely. I am hoping it makes it to the top of the trellis by next week. Sunday, July 5 View Page Onions are doing well and slowly starting to bulb. We are not at the size of last years but we are still hopeful. Sunday, July 12 View Page Another so-so growing week has passed us by. The plants are all looking healthy but growth continues to be slow. We have also had a few large storms go through us. Sunday, July 12 View Page Here is the rest of the patch. Sunday, July 12 View Page Because of all of the wild weather I purchased some hail netting. Here it is pulled out and covering most of 3 out of 4 plants. This isn't perfect but allows me to sleep a little better at night. Sunday, July 12 View Page 1161 Rodonis. Still plugging along at about 16 feet long. Sunday, July 12 View Page Here is the first hopeful on the 1161 and is at 10.5 feet. It was a 5 lobe with seeds in the blossum and I pollinated it with the 1385 Jutras. Hoping it takes due to next available about a week away, which is way late. Sunday, July 12 View Page 1385 Jutras. Sunday, July 12 View Page We are hoping for this little girl to become huge. It was pollinated on the 10th at 13 feet and was a 6 lober. Pollinated with the 1502 Wallace. Sunday, July 12 View Page 1502 Wallace. This plant is really starting to take off. Sunday, July 12 View Page This is our first pollination today on the 1502 at 13 feet. Unfortunately it to had seeds in one lobe but was a nicely shaped 5 lobe flower. Used 3 males from the 1385 to pollinate. We are hoping this one goes because the next is about 5 days away. Sunday, July 12 View Page 695 Young. This plant continues to be a very strong grower. The side vines it is sending out are very thick. Sunday, July 12 View Page This was pollinated July 4th and is 12.5 feet out. It was a nice 5 lober and pollinated with the 1385 Jutras. Sunday, July 12 View Page 125 Urena LG. This has been slowed a bit by our cold wet weather as well. Almost to the top of the 12 foot trellis though and hopefully producing females soon. Sunday, July 12 View Page Giant onions have been growing slowly as well. All are starting to bulb, but I have noticed the growth is much slower than last year. Last year I fertilized a lot early and I felt they might have matured a bit too early. I will start some ferts in a week or two seeing the green growth is still adding leaves on most. Sunday, July 19 View Page Another week is by us and I wish I could say the weather had treated us better. But it hasn't! LOL It is what it is and I am just happy to be growing giants. Plants so far are healthy, I applied captan on a couple of areas on the stumps that look suspicious. The leaves are still green and no sign of major disease yet. Will be foliar spraying some happiness tomorrow. Sunday, July 19 View Page Here is the other half. The plants are filling in nicely but are still a little slow compared to past years. It seems I just get my soil dried out and then mother nature hits us hard. We received a little over an inch of rain in 20 minutes yesterday from a pop up storm. Sunday, July 19 View Page 1161 Rodonis. This poor plant has suffered the most from the wet. It is in a location that does well in dry and not so great in wet. I have had 2 aborts so far but have a couple more that I will no more about next week. Sunday, July 19 View Page 1385 Jutras. This guy is realy growing well considering the conditions. Hopefully will have his 550 square feet filled in by next week. Sunday, July 19 View Page Here is the hopeful keeper on the 1385 and it is 9 days today. Sunday, July 19 View Page 1502 Wallace. This plant has been the best green grower as of the last week. i think it is getting used to my soil and this crappy VT weather. Ha! Sunday, July 19 View Page Here is our hopeful keeper on the 1502 and it is 7 days old. Our numbers have been smaller than normal this year but I think that is typical for the conditions. Sunday, July 19 View Page 695 Young. This plant is doing well considering it is in a small space. It will get only 350 square feet but it has a ton of leaves for such a small space. Sunday, July 19 View Page Here is our keeper on the 695 and it is 15 days. The last 2 days have been nice growth, I hope it is a trend that lasts the next 50 days or more. Sunday, July 19 View Page 125 Urena LG. This picture is hard to see, but we are finally on top of the 12 foot trellis. Some of the males are starting to blossum and hopefully a female will show in a week or two. Sunday, July 26 View Page Another week has passed and we seem to be still stuck in the same weather pattern. Although this past week has been a bit warmer and the pumpkins have started some nice growth. Hopefully it is not to late to pull off a big one. Sunday, July 26 View Page Here is the rest of the patch and a sparkling blue pool. Ha! We have keepers on 3 out of 4 plants so far. Sunday, July 26 View Page 1161 Rodonis. This has been a tough story for us so far this year. The plant is growing very well, but I am having a hard time setting pumpkins on it. It is on a wetter part of the patch and this could be the issue. We tried one more pollination today with a 1502 Wallace. This had seeds in one lobe and seems to be the story of the season. Sunday, July 26 View Page 1385 Jutras. this plant is continuing to be a strong grower and is almost filling its 560 square feet. Sunday, July 26 View Page This pumpkin we are calling Lucky. It was almost culled for the pumpkin before it, but we decided last minute to keep it. Lucky is just starting to pick up the pace and is 15 days old. My 10 day numbers this year were far below any I have ever seen in my patch. Sunday, July 26 View Page 1502 Wallace. This plant has really picked up the pace the last 3 weeks. It should have its space filled and terminated by next diary. Sunday, July 26 View Page This is our keeper on the 1502 and we have named it NOAA. We thought it was fitting for this year seeing I am on there website more than I am on Bigpumpkins.com. NOAA is 14 days old and is a bit mis-shapen which we think is from the seeds in one of the lobes. Hopefully she will make it all the way to the end. This cross is a 1502 x 1385. Sunday, July 26 View Page 695 Young. This pumpkin has been growing very well the last 5 days and the plant has filled its 350 foot garden spot. Sunday, July 26 View Page 695 Young. Here is our keeper and we decided to name her Chance. This was initially started earlier than any pumpkin plant we have grown for our local fair. Unfortunately we didn't get a happy set until July 4th, but it is growing very well. We just hope it has enough growing power with such a small plant. Chance is 22 days old and is crossed with the 1385 Jutras. We are hoping the 1385 will bring consistant heaviness to the next generation. We also think the 695 has a chance to be a very pretty pumpkin. Sunday, July 26 View Page 125 Urena. Here is a shot of the top of the trellis. We are estimating the plant at about 18 feet long. No signs of females yet, but are hoping the show up within the next week. Sunday, August 2 View Page I am posting this a day late due to website isues and a few issues of my own. Yesterday afternoon I somehow managed to injure my back creating drainage in the patch after a storm. Still waiting to hear back from xrays to see if anything major is wrong. Here is a pic of part of the patch before the storm. Sunday, August 2 View Page Here is the other side of the patch. blueberry season is just about over for us but we got a decent crop for such a bad weather summer. Sunday, August 2 View Page 1385 Jutras. This pumpkin was pollinated on July 10th and is just under 100 pounds. My numbers this year have been low but they are still plugging along. Sunday, August 2 View Page 695 Young. This is looking like it will be by far the prettiest in the patch. pollinated on July 4th and sitting around 170 pounds. Sunday, August 2 View Page 125 Urena. This lg is growing well and I am starting to see a few females but nothing to pollinate yet. Monday, August 3 View Page Here is our first set on the 1161. This has been a hard plant to get a set on and we are hoping this will stick. It was pollinated on july 26th. Monday, August 3 View Page 1502 Wallace. This pumpkin is starting to pick up the pace and was pollinated on July 12th. it was right about 80 pounds in the picture. Sunday, August 9 View Page Still waiting for warm summer temps to hit here in Jericho but overall plants look good. If you can notice in my blurry picture that there is no longer a pumpkin under the tarp on the left. The 1385 Jutras blew out on me in a wrinkled spot that went straight to the core. I have 2 females that will open this week and will try to pollinate these for some genetic crosses only. Sunday, August 9 View Page Here is the rest of the patch. Sunday, August 9 View Page 1161 Rodonis. Finally got one pollinated on this plant. This was the same date as our 695 got pollinated last year. Sunday, August 9 View Page 1502 Wallace. Starting to pick up the pace. Sitting at 180 pounds so far. Sunday, August 9 View Page 695 Young. This is starting to get real pretty. Sitting around 300 pounds so far. We need some warmth to get these pumpkins larger. Sunday, August 9 View Page 125 Urena. Just started pollinating on this plant. By next week I will know if I was successful. Tuesday, August 18 View Page It has been little over a week and the plants are still doing ok. We took a weekend trip to York maine to enjoy the beach and to soak up our first real warm weekend of the summer. Except for the 1385 all plants are holding their own. Tuesday, August 18 View Page Here you can see a couple of orange bumps in the garden. We pollinated two pumpkins on the 1385 last week. One on a secondary on the 13th with the 1502 Wallace and one on the main on the 14th with the 1161 Rodonis. I am hoping to get these to a 30-40 day mark for some nice genetic crosses. Tuesday, August 18 View Page Here is a pumpkin affectionately called "Oops". It is an 1161 Rodonis pollinated by the community. I had such a hard time getting a pumpkin set that I decided to keep it. It is going to be small but hopefully will get a nice lawn carver. Here it is 20 days old and about 35 pounds. Tuesday, August 18 View Page Here is "Hailey" on the main of the 1161 Rodonis. It is 22 days old and about 110 pounds. Tuesday, August 18 View Page Here is "NOAA" from the 1502 Wallace. This is probably not going to be a good looker. It is 36 days old and around 370 pounds. With the nice weather it has been growing about 25 pounds a day as of late. Tuesday, August 18 View Page Here is "Chance" off from the 695 Young. This has been a steady grower but nothing spectacular. It is around 450 pounds. Growth has been around 19 pounds per day. I guess not bad for a 320 square foot plant. Tuesday, August 18 View Page 125 Urena. I have a couple pollinated on this guy, day 10 and day 12 numbers are 27.25 inches and 27 inches respectively. Tuesday, August 18 View Page Here are a couple of the giant sunflowers. The tallest one will be brought to the Champlain Valley fair. Not really sure how tall it is, but they are smaller than last years. Sunday, August 23 View Page Life has been incredibly busy lately with two boys in football and all of the assorted late summer activities. Here is a pic of part of the patch. Sunday, August 23 View Page 1161 Rodonis. This late bloomer is starting to look like a pumpkin although it has a wrinkly butt. It is right around 200 pounds. Sunday, August 23 View Page 1502 Wallace. Certainly not a beauty winner but is continuing to grow well. Wish we had a better first half of the summer to really see what this plant could do. Sitting about 475 in this picture. Sunday, August 23 View Page 695 Young. This has been a fun plant to grow and is still plugging along. This was originally designated as our early fair plant and will probably be picked this Friday. It certainly won't win many weight contests but it is pretty. Sitting about 500 pounds here. Sunday, August 23 View Page 125 Urena. This long gourd is doing well and hopefully will continue to grow even with the cold coming later in the week. Here it is about 50 inches long. Monday, September 7 View Page Fall is closing in fast and it has been a couple of weeks since my last diary entries. Both of my boys are playing football and I am the equipment manager for 144 football players. it has been close to impossible to find free time and this past week I have spent approximately 30 hours at our pumpkin booth at the Champlain valley Fair. Here is a picture of the truck loaded and ready to go on August 28th. Monday, September 7 View Page Here is a picture of my wife holding our entry for widest sunflower head. I believe it was 14.5 inches and we came in second place. We also won first for tallest sunflower at 13 feet and 1 inch. And heaviest onion at 2 pound 10 ounces. Monday, September 7 View Page We also saw 6 pumpkins for the fair weigh off. Here is Terry Keim and his son with his 6th place entry weighing in at 358 pounds. Monday, September 7 View Page Eric Hull is pictured here with his 5th place entry weighing in at 435 pounds. Monday, September 7 View Page Here is Michael Cole (Big Papi) with his daughter and their 4th place entry weighing in at 506 pounds. Monday, September 7 View Page Here is my picture and entry grown from our 695 Young seed, which came in 3rd place weighing in at 648 pounds. My son Parker and I were happy with this seeing it went 8% heavy for us. Monday, September 7 View Page Here is Wilbur Horton (Wilbur) with his second place entry weighing in at 726 pounds. Monday, September 7 View Page Kevin Companion and his Grand Daughter pose with his first place entry weighing in at 882 pounds. Monday, September 7 View Page Here is a final picture of the 648 Young at the Champlain Valley fair. Congrats to all of the growers participating in this tough growing year. Next stop is hopefully Topsfield fair for us and then the Vermont State weighoff and regatta. Sunday, September 13 View Page Fall is quickly creeping in and our nights have become quite cold, but the pumpkins are still plugging along. Plants look very good for this time of year although pm is slowly settling in. This has been another rough pumpkin year for us, but each season valuable lessons are learned. Here is part of the patch. Sunday, September 13 View Page Here is the other half of the patch. The 695 Young which was on the left hand side was pulled for the local fair and weighed in at 648 pounds and is now sitting on our front lawn. Sunday, September 13 View Page 1161 Rodonis. This is our great white. LOL Actually we can call it our semi big white. It is currently just under 500 pounds due to a very late pollination. This plant seemed to be tough getting a pumpkin to set on it, but i am happy with this fruit and the cross. Sunday, September 13 View Page 1502 Wallace. This is sitting around 700 pounds and is starting to show its age. Real happy with the cross (1502 x 1385) though and look forward to seeing what the next generation will produce. Sunday, September 13 View Page 125 Urena. This plant has been a real joy to grow and would have produced a monster if the green growth was faster earlier in the year. I think the weather was a big factor in the slow green start. This still has a chance to be a record length long gourd for us. Here it is at 1xx inches at day 36. Ha! gotta keep people guessing! Sunday, October 25 View Page This has been one of the most busiest falls in my life, but probably the most enjoyable as well. My two sons are doing very well on their football teams and the season is still going. It has however made it really tough to keep up with other fun stuff, like maintaining a diary on Bigpumpkins. So here will be a season recap. This pumpkin is from our own 695 Young seed and is crossed with the 1385 Jutras. My wife chose this pumpkin as our fair pumpkin due to the color potential. It taped 600 pounds when we harvested it on August 28th and it weighed in at 648 pounds. It was still doing 20 pounds a day when we picked it. Sunday, October 25 View Page The next pumpkin we weighed was at the Topsfield fair and was the 1161 Rodonis crossed with the 1502 Wallace. This was a surprising white pumpkin that went 700 pounds even which was 21% over chart. When I showed Mr Rodonis this pumpkin at Topsfield he asked for the seed back. LOL No not really, but I do believe this was the whitest 1161 progeny. Sunday, October 25 View Page Next was our Vermont weigh off at Sam Mazza's Farm Stand where we weighed in the 1502 Wallace crossed with the 1385 Jutras. This pumpkin weighed in at 763 pounds and was virtually to tape at 1% heavy. This was a decent looking pumpkin with a bit of cantaloping. Sunday, October 25 View Page The 1385 was a very nice growing plant but sadly enough split on a seam in mid July. So we got a very late pollination mid August on a side vine that ended up being an estimated 270 pounds. This is the cross of the 1385 Jutras x 1502 Wallace. It is the pumpkin on the right hand side of the picture. I am happy to report that we got viable seeds from this potentially great cross. Sunday, October 25 View Page Here is a picture of my son andrew and I (left side of pic) with Dan and Holly Boyce at Topsfield with our 110" long gourd from the 125 Urena. This broke or pb but the Boyce's Long gourd was the new VT record at 115.88 inches. Congrats to my good friends Dan and Holly! Sunday, October 25 View Page And last but not least we pulled off another successful regatta. This is a pic from the growers race. Many of the folks that you see here rowing put in countless hours and effort supporting the regatta and our other club activities. I am truly grateful for all of their effort and dedication to the Vermont club and am proud to be their friend. We truly have a great community of growers from many states as well as our friends across the border in Canada! If you would like to see more of our recent club events just follow this link http://vermontgiants.tripod.com/id28.html