Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 217 Entries. Sunday, March 10 View Page Started the 2013 patch prep today by building our first long gourd trellis. We will be building one other one in a week or two depending on the weather. The trellis is 16 feet tall but will be buried (once the ground thaws) approximately 2 feet. The top is 12 feet long and 4 feet wide and it is covered with plastic coated fencing. Three of us built it in about 2 hours and were able(just barely) to lift it upright. We have 2 x 4s supporting it at an angle on the ground until we can bury. Saturday, March 16 View Page The 2013 season is fast approaching and we are slowly getting ourselves prepared. Today we turned some of the recycled wood from our old pool deck into a potting bench. Tomorrow we will be starting some of our garden vegetables and the bench will come in handy. Saturday, March 16 View Page We also built in a sink to hold potting soil. This is not the prettiest but used our old wood and will be highly functional. Sunday, March 24 View Page Today it warmed up to mid 30's and the inch of snow from last night has melted. I got a chance to build 3 new hoops out of the 7 I will need. Here is a picture of the new patch.(under the snow)The single hoop will be an 800 square foot plant and the two together will be 400 square feet each. Plastic will be put on around mid April to start warming ground. Sunday, March 31 View Page Happy Easter and happy patch work. We had a warm day today to get some more patch work done. We built the 2nd lagenaria long gourd trellis today and it is pictured here on the right. The trellis is 14.5 feet high and has a top of 12 feet by 4 feet and is covered with plastic covered metal fence. The two hoops are set between the 2 trellises and is 66 feet long. Each of these plants will be roughly 600 square feet. Sunday, March 31 View Page Here is a picture of the back corner of the old patch with the new lagenaria long gourd trellis (built 2 weeks ago) and next to that is the space for the 150 square foot contest pumpkin. To the left of the 150 hoop will be my competition field pumpkin followed by assorted gourds and luminas. Sunday, March 31 View Page Here is a photo of the new patch and the measured out space for the 3 hoops. This patch will get 4 more yards of compost with in the next couple of weeks. Sunday, March 31 View Page Here is where the watermelon will be. The space is roughly 8 x 24 for 190 square feet. I ran out of piping to finish the hoop but I will be getting that next weekend. Now we just need to add 6 yards total compost and soil test than spring ammendments. Sunday, March 31 View Page I have run blue construction tape around what my goal will be for 150 square foot contest. After really seeing what this looks like, I am skeptical whether I will be able to grow one in such a tight area. Time will tell! Saturday, April 6 View Page Kerry and I moved 6 yards of compost by shovel and wheelbarrow. Today we had a high of 38 degrees and a 15 mph North wind. This is the spot where old long gourd trellis was and compost is on planting spot as well as around hoop for the soon to be 840 Young. Saturday, April 6 View Page Spread a yard on the 2 hoops here and a big wheelbarrow full of compost on the new long gourd trellis. Saturday, April 6 View Page Here is the new patch with a total of 10 and a half yards of compost. Hopefully I can get it semi balanced so a few plants can grow well here. Saturday, April 20 View Page Today we put film on hoop houses and got the full electrical set up. Here is glow number 1 for 5 plants. Saturday, April 20 View Page Here is glow number two. The small hut on the left is for the watermelon. Sunday, April 21 View Page Here is the patch in daylight. It is a bright blue sky day but unfortunately our high is in the low 40's today. The lg trellis on the right is the future home of the 129 Young. The hoop next to the trellis will be the home of the 777 Young again and the hoop to the left will be the 723 Kaczenski. Sunday, April 21 View Page The closest hoop will be the 617 Young (1059 VM x 777 Young). The middle hoop will be the 811 Gerhardt and the farthest hoop next to the trellis will be the 993 Vincent McGill which will be my 150 square foot competition plant. The trellis will be the home of the 137.75 Wright long gourd. Sunday, April 21 View Page Here are the last two plants. The hoop closest to the house will be for a watermelon (still to be determined) and the hoop to the right will be for the 840 Young (777 Young x 1059 VM). Sunday, May 5 View Page Hard to believe it is May 5th. Our weather the past two weeks has been spectacular. The garden is alomst filled except for a few plants that need to go in later. Here is the old long gourd view. Sunday, May 5 View Page Here is the second shot of the patch. The weather has been very dry which is good to keep weeds down. Sunday, May 5 View Page Here is the 3rd view of the patch with watermelon hoop on the left. These were taken at 7pm. Sunday, May 5 View Page Here is my gamble long gourd which was going to be a back up which is my own 124 from 2011. I figured why not give it a shot to see if it will survive. Sunday, May 5 View Page Next to that long gourd is the 777 Young. This is the same place that it grew for us last year. The result was a pretty 840 pounder. hopefully just as pretty but a bit larger this year. Sunday, May 5 View Page Next is the 723 Kaczenski which I have high hopes for. Sunday, May 5 View Page Here is my entry for the 150 square foot contest which is the 993 Vincent McGill. And as you can see Flat Norm has gone to pot!!!! Sunday, May 5 View Page Here is the 617 Young which I am thinking could be my sleeper plant this year. it is the 1059 Vincent Mcgill x 777 Young. Sunday, May 5 View Page Here is the 811 Gerhardt. Hopefully I will have a bright orange contender from this gal! Sunday, May 5 View Page And finally here is the 840 Young 2012. This is the 777 Young x 1059 Vincent mcGill. 777 Young is the 993 VM x 1059 VM. So last year I crossed the 1059 back to it and this year I am hoping to cross the 993 back in to it. Sunday, May 12 View Page Another week has gone by and all plants alive so far. It has been a very dry May which has helped the garden stay clean but even a little moisture seems to bring on a new crop of weeds. Sunday, May 12 View Page Here is the middle view of the patch. Not exciting for most but reminds me that I need to keep weeded. I spent 4 hours yesterday with stirrup hoe, but still find an occaisional weed that I have missed. Sunday, May 12 View Page Here is the 3rd view of the patch. Watermelon is still inside as we are looking at a possibility of frost for the next 3 nights. I have 12 giant sunflowers planted out and will probably place pots over them to help survive frost. Sunday, May 12 View Page Here is the 124 slowly plugging along and might not survive the next 3 nights with out heat. Stay tuned next Sunday to see if it made it. Sunday, May 12 View Page 617 Young. This plant is acclimating well in the new patch. Sunday, May 12 View Page 723 Kaczenski. This plant is still a little lighter green than I would like but overall growing well. Sunday, May 12 View Page 777 Young. This plant is growing well. Sunday, May 12 View Page 811 Gerhardt. This plant is growing very well in the new patch, 827 Gerhardt here as a back up is doing well too. Might be a hard choice although I really am favoring the 811. Sunday, May 12 View Page 840 Young. This is our best grower so far. Sunday, May 12 View Page 993 Vincent Mcgill. Flat Norm thinks this gal needs a little kick in the pants. Overall not growing bad but is also in a shadier part of the garden. It will catch up I am sure. Sunday, May 19 View Page Almost 3 weeks in to the season and i am happy to report that plants are still alive. Some are growing fine and a couple are growing real slow. Soil temp makes a difference as well as amount of sun. In the past though they all seem to catch up as mother nature warms us up. Sunday, May 19 View Page Second view of the patch. Overall happy with this part of the garden although soil is not quite where I want it to be. I just need to be reminded once in awhile.......... Sunday, May 19 View Page ....that we had a pool here a short 8 months ago. So overall the garden is doing great. Sunday, May 19 View Page Here is the 3rd view of the patch. As of 5/18 all of the hoops are full. Sunday, May 19 View Page 129.13 Young 2012. I have pulled the 124 that got frosted and have 2 of the 129's side by side and will prune to the strongest plant. Sunday, May 19 View Page 777 Young. This plant continues to grow well and problem free so far. Sunday, May 19 View Page 723 Kaczenski. Plant has been an easy grower so far. Still a little lighter green than I like but seems to be healthy. Sunday, May 19 View Page 137 Wright on the left and 124 Young on the right. Really want the 137 but wanted a back up just in case. Sunday, May 19 View Page 993 Vincent McGill. This little plant is just slowly plugging along. Patience Flat Norm she will fill 150 square feet before you know it. Sunday, May 19 View Page Here are two 617 youngs 2012. They are both pretty equal so i am not sure what my keeper will be yet. Sunday, May 19 View Page 811 Gerhardt. This plant is growing slow but sure. Already got the forward lean going on and is looking to vine in a week or so. Sunday, May 19 View Page 840 Young. This plant is growing well. I have 800 square feet for it to fill. Sunday, May 19 View Page 282 Dawson watermelon. First melon to ever see dirt in my patch. I hope I can give it what it needs. My climate may be too cool for success but I want to give it a try. Friday, May 24 View Page Received almost 4 inches of rain last night which puts us at 6 1/2 inches in two days. Rain and snow forecasted for next 3 days. Monday, May 27 View Page The old adage "what a difference a day makes", sure is true. Today is a bright sunny day with a bright blue sky. The past week has probably been one of the most challenging weather wise I have ever experienced. Monday, May 27 View Page This past week we have received 10 and 1/2 inches of rain, 3 days in a row hitting highs in low 40's and to top that off frost this morning and possibly tomorrow morning as well. Monday, May 27 View Page Since the rain stopped Sunday evening I have spent 8 hours in the patch trenching and using a stirrup hoe to attempt to dry out the soil. The ground water is so high it even came up in the protected hoops. Supposed to be sunny and dry tomorrow after a cold start. Monday, May 27 View Page Here are the 129 Young long gourds. I dug them up 2 days ago as they were unprotected and brought them inside. After tonights cold weather it is supposed to be warmer for the rest of the week. Will probably plant them back Wednesday. Monday, May 27 View Page 777 Young. This plant is in older patch and has stayed a bit drier than most. Doing well but slow growth due to cold weather and no sun. Monday, May 27 View Page 723 Kaczenski. This plant is doing well, just not a fast grower as of yet. Monday, May 27 View Page 137 Wright Long gourd. Brought this plant in a couple of days ago as well. I left the back up 124 Young in the garden with a bucket over it and it still died from the wet and cold last night. Have another 124 to go in as new back up. Monday, May 27 View Page 993 Vincent McGill. This little gal is starting to grow better. Ahhhhh don't be shy Flat Norm! Monday, May 27 View Page 617 Young. Both of these are doing well but I am thinking this will be the keeper. Monday, May 27 View Page 811 Gerhardt. This is growing well so far. Monday, May 27 View Page 840 Young. This plant is doing well. I cut a kick stand leaf off so looks a bit weird right now. Monday, May 27 View Page 282 Dawson watermelon. Look out you southern growers. This will be the first ice melon! Friday, May 31 View Page Testing new BP app. Works sweet! You can even edit this! Friday, May 31 View Page Test picture from my phone tonight. Saturday, June 1 View Page We have had a real 3 day hot streak but strong storms are predicted for tonight and tomorrow bringing a cold snap. Here is patch view 1. Saturday, June 1 View Page Here is patch view 2. Saturday, June 1 View Page Here is patch view 3. Saturday, June 1 View Page Two 129 Young's competing for the top of the trellis. Saturday, June 1 View Page 777 Young flagging a little from the heat. Saturday, June 1 View Page 723 Kaczenski continues to grow well. Saturday, June 1 View Page 137 Wright on the left is primary for this trellis. 124 Young is just a back up. Saturday, June 1 View Page Flat Norm keeps shrinking next to the 993 Vincent McGill. Saturday, June 1 View Page 617 Young clipping right along and seems to like the heat. Saturday, June 1 View Page Tall sunflowers are back in the garden after digging them up for flood and frost. Saturday, June 1 View Page 840 Young is strongest plant as of right now, hopefully she keeps going. Saturday, June 1 View Page 282 Dawson is happy with the heat but night time lows in the mid 40s next week may slow it down. Saturday, June 1 View Page 811 Gerhardt. Growing well, but had to trim a couple of kick stand leaves. Saturday, June 1 View Page All of today's diary entries were done using the BP iphone app. This app rocks! Sunday, June 9 View Page Summer has begun, "hopefully". Hoops are off except for the watermelon and watering setup is complete. Here is patch view 1 Sunday, June 9 View Page Here is patch view 2. Sunday, June 9 View Page Here is patch view 3 with watermelon hoop still up. Sunday, June 9 View Page 129 Young long gourd. It looks like one has found the trellis. I am about a week away from decision day. Sunday, June 9 View Page 777 Young is growing well. You can see a leaf that I burned with insecticides. Sunday, June 9 View Page 723 Kaczenski is growing well and starting to get a bit darker green. Sunday, June 9 View Page 137 Wright is growing well. By next diary entry the 124 Young (on the right) should be culled. Sunday, June 9 View Page 993 Vincent McGill is starting to kick in and will be halted at 150 square feet. Flat Norm seems pleased so far! Sunday, June 9 View Page 617 Young is growing slow but trouble free. Sunday, June 9 View Page 811 Gerhardt is moving nice and quick now! Sunday, June 9 View Page 840 Young has been trouble free and fastest growing of all the plants so far. Photo is dark from shade. Sunday, June 9 View Page Watermelon seems to be plugging along and has what appears to be runners. Sunday, June 9 View Page Here are two 81 Wolf's. I am hoping a giant field pumpkin is in my future. Sunday, June 9 View Page Also am giving giant tomatoes a shot again this year. Here are the three Marley sisters: to-ma-to. Kind of like Darrel-Larry-Darrel. Ha! Tuesday, June 11 View Page Just shy of 2 inches of rain today and the ground is saturated. This gives us a total of 13 3/4 inches of rain in the past 3 weeks. Best thing is we are mid 60's for day time highs and high 40's for night time lows! Very challenging so far!!!!!!! Sunday, June 16 View Page Happy Fathers Day! My oldest son Parker graduated from high school yesterday and we had a nice family get together for him. This pinched us pretty bad for patch time but my wonderful wife and growing partner pitched in to get it done. Sunday, June 16 View Page Here is a pic of my son Parker and my Father. Sunday, June 16 View Page Here is patch number 2 photo. This year remains challenging and I am almost 2 weeks behind last year but everything appears healthy. Sunday, June 16 View Page Patch shot number 3. Sunday, June 16 View Page Here is the 129 Young starting to climb and is around 30 inches long so far. Sunday, June 16 View Page 777 Young. So far our fastest grower and is around 9 feet long. I have started vine pruning and burying. Sunday, June 16 View Page Marley giant tomatoes are nice and green. Sunday, June 16 View Page 723 Kaczenski is starting to grow well and is just shy of 8 feet. Sunday, June 16 View Page 137 is doing well and has found the trellis. Currently 2 feet long. Sunday, June 16 View Page Flat Norm approves of the 993 Vincent McGill and it is about 5 feet long. Sunday, June 16 View Page 617 Young. Still doing ok but my slowest grower so far. Could be soil in that part of the new patch but we will see how it does. Around 6 1/2 feet long. Sunday, June 16 View Page 811 Gerhardt. This plant is growing well and is about 8 feet long. Sunday, June 16 View Page 840 Young. Still growing well even though it is in wet part of new patch. Currently 8 1/2 feet long. Sunday, June 16 View Page 282 Dawson watermelon. I think it is doing well as it is starting to run and looks healthy. Sunday, June 16 View Page 81 Wolf field pumpkins. These are fun so far and pretty aggressive. Planning on keeping 1 plant on the 200 square foot space. Maybe will grow 2 pumpkins on it. Sunday, June 23 View Page Warm weather has finally come and growth is starting to pick up a bit. Sunday, June 23 View Page Here is patch view 2. As you can see we had wind barrier but still have a couple of weed block pieces down still. Sunday, June 23 View Page Here is patch view 3 with the hoop off of the watermelon. Sunday, June 23 View Page 129 Young. Starting to climb well and a few secondaries are starting. Currently at 51". Sunday, June 23 View Page 777 Young. Currently leading the patch. Female at 8 feet should open in a couple days. Plant is 12 feet long. Sunday, June 23 View Page 723 Kaczenski. This plant has been problem free and has first baby at 7 feet that should open in 2 days. Plant is just over 10 feet long. Sunday, June 23 View Page 137 Wright long gourd. This plant seems to like our soil and is growing well. Currently at 45". Sunday, June 23 View Page 993 Vincent McGill is really picking up the pace after a slow start. Currently at 6 1/2 feet with a baby at its tip. Oh yeah flat Norm is liking that! Sunday, June 23 View Page 617 Young. Still the runt of the new patch but healthy. Currently at 9 feet. Sunday, June 23 View Page 811 Gerhardt. This plant continues to grow problem free and we pollinated a 6 lobe female at 7 1/2 feet with 2 males from 777 Young. If she takes I may keep her for our early fair. Sunday, June 23 View Page 840 Young growing well and starting to throw females around 10 feet. Currently plant is 11 feet long. Sunday, June 23 View Page 282 Dawson is finally starting to move with the warmer weather. Longest main is about 3 feet long. Sunday, June 23 View Page 81 Wolf field pumpkins starting to vine. Sunday, June 23 View Page Marley tomatoes still plugging away. Not fast growth but the foliage is a nice green. Sunday, June 23 View Page Two hours after taking these photos a large storm went through and dropped 2 inches of water in 40 mins. This is by the 129 Young trellis. Sunday, June 23 View Page This is by the 840 Young. Looks like I won't be able to get near this plant for a few days! Wednesday, June 26 View Page My son Andrew took a few pictures yesterday of the most recent flooding we have had. This is the opposite side of the pumpkin patch and those are the raised beds we built last year. The brook does not belong there. Wednesday, June 26 View Page Here is a pic of the fence just in front of the raised beds. Again, the brook does not belong there! Wednesday, June 26 View Page 129 Young long gourd. Hmmm not really sure why it isn't growing fast? The pond covering the long gourd does not belong there! Wednesday, June 26 View Page 840 Young is quickly learning how to swim. Wednesday, June 26 View Page Over view of new swamp. By the way, the swamp does not belong there. LOL Wednesday, June 26 View Page Vermont flooded out 2 years ago with tropical storm Irene and went on this Vermont Strong campaign to show how strong willed we are! Once in awhile I have to keep reminding myself of this strong will. Wednesday, June 26 View Page The future forecast is for 3-5 inches of rain in the next 2 days, which could prove devastating to our area. We have recorded 19 1/4 inches of rain since May 20th. But through all of the problems the 282 Dawson still was able to open a male blossom! Hopefully that is a positive sign! Saturday, June 29 View Page Thought I would post pictures while the patch is pretty and we have more thunderstorms this afternoon. Here is patch picture 1. Saturday, June 29 View Page Here is patch picture 2. The plants look ok but yellowing on some leaves and stunted secondaries are starting to show from saturated ground. Saturday, June 29 View Page Here is patch pic 3. Saturday, June 29 View Page The 129 got flooded out big time a few days ago but seems to be ok. Just shy of 8 feet today. Six more feet to top of trellis! Saturday, June 29 View Page 777 Young is still best growing plant. I have a pollination at 8 feet and 10 feet. Another possibility this coming week at 12 feet. Saturday, June 29 View Page 723 Kaczenski is growing really well. Nice pollination at 7 feet but hoping for a further out try. There is one at 10 feet that should be open in a few days. Saturday, June 29 View Page 137 Wright long gourd is doing well and is just under 7 feet tall. Saturday, June 29 View Page 993 Vincent McGill is starting to stretch out. Flat Norm is smiling and the plant is a little over 9 feet with pollinations next week at 6 feet and 8 feet. Saturday, June 29 View Page 617 Young is still plugging along. Not in the best soil but is at 12 feet long with babies at 10 and 12 feet. Saturday, June 29 View Page 811 Gerhardt is doing well but in a wet spot of the new patch. Although it shouldn't be bad we have just gotten to much water. It is 13 feet long and we seem to have a nice 6 day old baby at 7 1/2 feet. If this continues it will be our pretty pumpkin for our fair. Saturday, June 29 View Page 840 Young is in a real wet part of the new patch as well but is doing ok. It is about 15 feet long and has a pollination at 10 feet and a couple more babies at 12 and 15 feet. Saturday, June 29 View Page 282 Dawson watermelon is picking up the pace and is a little over 8 feet long. Saturday, June 29 View Page The Marley tomatoes are doing fine although they don't like the continued wet. Saturday, June 29 View Page The 81 Wolf field pumpkins are starting to run. It will be fun watching them grow huge! Saturday, June 29 View Page 1 hour after first photos were taken we got another thunderstorm that dropped 2 more inches of rain. Here is the 129 Young long gourd trellis. Saturday, June 29 View Page Here is the patch. I am not sure how many of these we can keep recovering from. Saturday, June 29 View Page Last photo to show what a 40 min storm can do to 8 hours worth of work! Sunday, July 14 View Page Back from a wonderful Maine beach vacation. No striped bass but a few nice evenings surf casting. The patch is starting to dry out after a horrific May and June. I don't believe I have a chance for a new personal best but it is what it is. Here is the first patch view after 25.4 inches of rain in 2 months. Sunday, July 14 View Page Here is the second patch view. Almost all of my secondaries stopped growing due to the saturated soil and hot temperatures. This was my 3rd day watering this year. I have been fertilizing very heavy to see if I can get green growth back. Time will tell. Sunday, July 14 View Page Here is the 3rd patch view. The pumpkin plant here has taken the brunt of the water unfortunately. Sunday, July 14 View Page The 129 Young long gourd has been growing very fast and is roughly 17.5 feet! Sunday, July 14 View Page I don't want to brag about how fast the 129 Young is growing but this bird barely escaped with missing only one feather caught by a tendril. Sunday, July 14 View Page The 777 Young finally has a female at 17 feet crossed with the 811 Gerhardt. Just 3 days old but keeping fingers crossed. Sunday, July 14 View Page 723 Kaczenski is doing well and this is crossed with the 840 Young (777 Young x 1059 Vincent McGill). Day 19 and about 55 pounds. Not great numbers but this year I will take what I get. Sunday, July 14 View Page 137 Wright long gourd seems to like my soil as well and is at 17 feet. No females showing yet but hopefully soon. Sunday, July 14 View Page The 617 Young is doing ok but like all plants in the new patch it is stunted badly. Here is the pumpkin crossed with the 723 Kaczenski. Day 14 and about 29 pounds. Sunday, July 14 View Page The 811 Gerhardt is doing very well but unfortunately is stunted as well. A real bummer the bad weather is affecting this plant as the pumpkin is gorgeous but not a lot of plant behind it. Currently at 21 days and crossed with the 777 Young. Approximately 65 pounds. Sunday, July 14 View Page The 840 Young keeps aborting females and secondaries but was also in wettest part of patch. Finally starting to see life again and hopefully a pollination attempt in about 4 days. Sunday, July 14 View Page The 282 Dawson watermelon is starting to take off and over 20 feet long. No females that I have seen yet but hopefully soon! Sunday, July 14 View Page The Marley tomatoes have been pruned heavily but are doing well! Sunday, July 14 View Page The 81 Wolf field pumpkin is doing well and first female is about 12 feet ot and should open this week. Wednesday, July 17 View Page Hey! Lookie what I found tonight! Not sure how old she is or even if she is pollinated. About an inch long. Wednesday, July 17 View Page Hey! Lookie what I found tonight! Not sure how old she is or even if she is pollinated. About an inch long. Friday, July 19 View Page 129 Young long gourd has a bad virus. Will probably pull it this weekend. 137 Wright still looks ok! Friday, July 19 View Page 282 Dawson day 2. Hopefully! Friday, August 9 View Page Season unfortunately has not been able to be saved here after record rains of May and June. We have kept plants in patch as no disease is present, just old beat up leaves. Ground saturation plus mid 90 degree temps terminated all secondaries in late June and it took a few 4 weeks to restart that growth but unfortunately too late for most pumpkins. Here is patch view 1. The 129 Young lg got diseased from the standing water around her and is pulled. Friday, August 9 View Page Here is patch view 2. Friday, August 9 View Page Patch view 3. Friday, August 9 View Page 777 Young is the only normal growth that we are getting. Not great shape but we are hoping for good color. Friday, August 9 View Page 723 Kaczenski is still slowly growing but not quite as pretty as we hoped. Friday, August 9 View Page Looky here we may final have a 150 square foot pumpkin. She is at 10 days today and has a 22 inch circ. Friday, August 9 View Page 617 is turning a nice dark orange. The plant is just starting to put new growth on. Way too late but good to get roots down in new garden. Friday, August 9 View Page 811 Gerhardt. This plant never had a chance here but I like the cross. By looking at the patch I did not think this was a low spot but the 25 inches of water helped me realize this. Lol Pumpkin is very pretty though and a nice cross with the 777 Young. Friday, August 9 View Page 840 Young has had a very tough season as well. If this were not a new seed of ours we would have pulled plant a month ago, but we really want to see what a semi finished fruit looks like. We are hoping to get to 40 days with her even though she is at day 8 currently. Friday, August 9 View Page 282 Dawson seems to be surviving ok with a very tough season. She is 16 days old today and has an ott of 79 inches. Friday, August 9 View Page 137 Wright long gourd is still holding on. Barely! I germinated both of mine that Tom gave me so I am hoping to get a gourd to maturity for selfed seeds. Keeping fingers crossed that I may have one pollination but only day 3. Friday, August 9 View Page Flat Norm helped me pick a couple cucumbers today. The larger one is from Brad Wursten seed stock and is 17 inches long. Not sure I know how to grow these but they sure are fun. Friday, August 9 View Page Wife and I went to Meadowbrook in NH and saw a KISS concert. Please don't call me as I will not be able to hear you! Ha! Monday, September 2 View Page It has been a great summer even though the garden had some major challenges. We are still going to get a few carvers for the lawn. Here is patch view 1. Monday, September 2 View Page Here is patch view 2. You can see to empty tilled spots here. The closest was the 811 Gerhardt that we took to the Champlain Valley fair and it weighed 279 pounds. It is crossed with 777 Young so should produce orange babies. The back tilled area was the 723 Kaczenski that just never got traction and was culled today. It was estimated around 350 pounds. Monday, September 2 View Page Here is patch view 3. Monday, September 2 View Page 777 Young is starting to orange up nicely. Estimates mid 600's. Monday, September 2 View Page Finally got a pollination on the 137 Wright. Even though it had an issue, I really wanted mature seeds. This is 24 days and is just shy of 100 inches. Monday, September 2 View Page Biggest tomato so far on one of Mr Marley's seeds. Monday, September 2 View Page Here are the three Marley sisters looking good for early Sept. Monday, September 2 View Page Best Starr field pumpkin. Monday, September 2 View Page Best Wolf field pumpkin. Monday, September 2 View Page 617 Young never had a chance with early floods but does have sweet color. Sitting around 300 pounds. Monday, September 2 View Page 840 Young at 30 days. Too bad this kin won't show its true potential but looking good so far. Monday, September 2 View Page Seems like my watermelon was slowing down a bit but wasn't sure why? So I found a large cull this morning which weighed 8 pounds. So I looked a little harder towards the back of the plant near my house. There I found 2 more culls; one that weighed 12 pounds and this big momma here weighing just shy of 24 pounds! Hmmmmmm Wonder why main melon was slowing down! Ha. Monday, September 2 View Page Here is my keeper on the 282 taping just under 80 pounds at day 40. Sunday, September 8 View Page Here is the start of our fall front lawn. White pumpkin on right is a rental from Montreal. The two in the middle are mine and the one on the left is a rental from South Hero VT. We will be covering tonight as a frost is in the forecast. Sunday, September 8 View Page 617 Young from 2012 (1059 VM x 777 Young) certainly has the red orange color. Monday, September 9 View Page 777 Young. 36 degrees this morning is really slowing her down. Monday, September 9 View Page Here is the 840 Young. Unfortunately she is just 37 days old due to flooding. Weighs just under 400. Tuesday, September 17 View Page First hard frost of the year this morning. I sprayed plants before work but things look pretty beat up. Wednesday, October 2 View Page Here is a pic of the stem end of the 777 Young. Wednesday, October 2 View Page Here is the blossom end of the 777 Young. Wednesday, October 2 View Page Here is my 282 Dawson. The Nutri cal container is 2 gallons for size reference. Wednesday, October 2 View Page Harvested seeds from 840 Young (777 Young x 1059 VM). This is now the 482 Young 2013 est (840 Young x 811 Gerhardt)Had a stem split but did not go through to the cavity. Good amount of seeds drying. Wednesday, October 2 View Page Here is my only long gourd this year and is from the 137 Wright. I am so happy that it made it to 1xx inches. LOL Thursday, October 3 View Page Here is a picture of our largest tomato this year weighing in at 3.39 pounds. Thanks Scott for the seeds! Monday, October 7 View Page We decided to pick melon today with forecast of heavy rains and then a night or two of frost. Safe and sound inside now. Wednesday, October 9 View Page Here is the 777 tonight with the patched cleaned up around it. Hoping to get amendments on and final till this weekend or early next week. Thursday, October 10 View Page Here is the 77 Young x 811 Gerhardt magically floating in the air. I am happy that it is solid. Thursday, October 10 View Page Here she is leaving the patch in comfort with the help of Dick Squires and his critter. Sure makes it easy on the back. We used to push the trailer out of the patch by hand. Sunday, October 13 View Page We were very fortunate to have a warm sunny day for our weigh off yesterday. Here is my wife Kerry and I with our now 127 Young 2013 watermelon (282 Dawson x open). We beat the old VT State record held by Mike Cole by a whopping 3 pounds. I am sure Mike will be back in the hunt next year. Sunday, October 13 View Page Here we are with our now 809 Young 2013 (777 Young x 811 Gerhardt) This pumpkin went a bit heavy to the charts and was estimated at 777lbs. Wouldn't it have been funny to see it weigh in at 777! Sunday, October 13 View Page This is our field pumpkin entry and the first time we have tried to grow giant field pumpkins. The 81 Wolf seed did well even in our flooding and a very late pollination. Sunday, October 13 View Page Here I am with the now 121.125 Young 2013 (137 Wright x self). The long gourd plants took a real beating with all of the flooding and standing water this summer, but I wanted to keep the 137 together as more of a genetic cross hoping for seeds. It far out grew my expectations and feel if I had gotten an earlier pollination on a healthier plant it would have been pushing the state record or more. This is the 3rd year in the row that we have had 120 plus inch long gourds. Sunday, October 13 View Page Lets try this picture of the now 121.125 Young 2013. Sunday, October 13 View Page Here are all of the pumpkins we will keep on our front lawn for the remainder of the year. I seeded our 482 est (840 Young x 811 Gerhardt)and our 279 Young (811 x 777) will be brought to my fathers house next weekend due to him losing all of his pumpkins. Our 809 is on the left VTSteve's 504 is next followed by VTSteve's HD winner 636. The pretty little white one is from mike and Gail Strange. Thanks to all of our friends for helping make our front lawn pretty! Sunday, October 13 View Page Here is a close up of the 809 Young (777 Young x 811 Gerhardt). The gardens have been amended with 150 pounds of Potash 0-0-50, 240 pounds of dolomitic lime, 160 pounds of calcitic lime, 2.5 pounds borax, 30 pounds Magnesium oxide, 5 pounds of copper sulfate, and 2 pounds of zinc sulfate. Also 10 pounds of expiring myco and 20 pounds of winter rye. Note for next year to add 50 pounds of 0-0-50 in old and new patch as well as 20 pounds of manganese sulfate in old and new. Sunday, October 27 View Page WHO DAT?????? He doesn't look flat????? Sunday, October 27 View Page Here is the front lawn waiting for trick-or-treaters. One week from the compost and the official close to the 2013 season.