Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 49 Entries. Tuesday, January 29 View Page The compost piles that I started in the fall will be ready to till in when the rainy season is over in March or April. The 772.2 Poirier will be planted in site #1. I'm not sure yet what is going in site #2. Some of the ones that I'm considering are the 670 Daigle, 603.5 Muller, 855 Emmons or maybe one of Todd Kline's or Glenn Andrews seeds. I will probably change my mind half-a-dozen times before its time to plant. Thursday, February 28 View Page We had a break in the rain with temperatures in the low 70's yesterday. I raised the wheels on my mower and mowed my winter rye cover crop. I did not sow the seed as dense as I had in past years. Wednesday, March 12 View Page Today we had temperatures in the low 70's so I gave my cover crop its first tilling. Friday, April 4 View Page I saw in Vineman's diary that he was doing raised beds. Since I also have heavy clay soil, I thought that this was a good idea, so I'm giving it a try. Thanks for the idea Russ ! Tuesday, April 8 View Page I hauled in 2 yards of compost for the raised pumpkin bed. Tuesday, April 8 View Page I am mixing my new load of compost with some stuff that I have been aging for a year.... and also minxing in some aged topsoil. Prior to the raised beds I had good soil to about 11" deep, with hardpan below. With my new 8" raised beds, I will now have good nutrients to a depth of 19". Raised beds = better root growth & drainage Monday, April 14 View Page On Saturday we had a high of 92 and on Sunday a high of 93 degrees in Napa. This is well above the seasonal norm for mid-April. For the upcomming week we are expecting upper 70's to perhaps low 80's........ thats more norm for this time of year. Wednesday, April 16 View Page The recent hot weather opened a few blooms on our rose bushes. Wednesday, April 16 View Page Our Double Delight rose tree is going nuts. New blooms every day ! Wednesday, April 16 View Page Our Mr. Lincoln rose tree is about ready to explode with roses. Its amazing what 2 days of 90 degrees will do. Saturday, April 26 View Page Last night the 772.2 Poirier and 1689 Jutras went into the germination chamber. Tonight I will start a few more. Monday, April 28 View Page The 772.2 and 1689 both pushed-up in about 57 hours. Thursday, May 1 View Page The first two plants, 772.2 Poirier and 1689 Jutras, are in the patch in their temporary protective huts. Monday, May 5 View Page Hey Steve..... tell Stephen it finally germinated ! On day 6 there was still no movement on the 731 Jepsen/Luce, so on day 7 I dug down in the soil and saw that the seed case was starting to open. On day 8 it was up and looking good !! I started this seed for my friend Sharon (who lives here in Napa). She will be planting it in her patch in about 2 or 3 days. Tuesday, May 6 View Page It was 78 degrees in Napa today...... the 1689 Jutras plant likes it !! Friday, May 16 View Page We are having another 102 degree day here in Napa. I have been using umbrellas and chairs (and a lot of water) to protect the young plants from the high heat. The 1226.5 Kline is under the umbrella on the left and the 556 Andrews is shaded under the right one. The 1689 Jutras is trying to stay cool under the white chair in the background. Friday, May 23 View Page We have had some very windy days this week, with gusts up to 45 MPH. To protect my plants from the wind, I used some benches and plywood as a protective cover. It is working good so far. The 1689 Jutras is in the foreground and and the 772.2 Poirier is in the background. Saturday, May 24 View Page First female on the 1689. 11 feet out. Saturday, June 14 View Page My 1689 Jutras plant has survived the past 10 days of high heat and high winds with very little leaf burn. Looks like we will be having temps in the mid 80's for the next few days. This is more the seasonal norm for this time of year. Saturday, June 14 View Page The 1689 Jutras is my strongest growing plant. The 772.2 Poirier (background) is also growing nicely. Tuesday, June 17 View Page I have lots of blooms on my Sun Gold tomato plant. This is one of my favorite varieties. Looks like I will have a good crop this year. Saturday, June 21 View Page When I took this photo the temperature was 105 degrees. We have had 4 straight days of temps near 100. The forecast for tomorrow is 105 again. I have been using umbrellas and tip covers to keep the 1689 Jutras cool. The 1689 seems to be a fairly heat resistant plant. Wednesday, June 25 View Page The photo that I was posting for today somehow wound up in my diary as a May 24th entry. Its my first pumpkin on the 1689 plant. Saturday, June 28 View Page Cat nap ! Friday, July 4 View Page I got a late start on my long gourd because of poor germination. The 127.56 Urena starts its climb up the gourd tower. Thank you Leonardo for the plant! Friday, July 4 View Page Another shot of the gourd tower. Friday, July 4 View Page The 1689 Jutras is my best plant. I am 2 days away from my first germination (12 ft. out). Friday, July 4 View Page 1689 plant. Side view. Sunday, July 6 View Page I did my first pollination on my 1689 Jutras plant today. It was a five lober, 12 ft. out. It was pollinated with the 1370 Rose. Wednesday, July 9 View Page Last year I had a lot of aborts on days when I pollinated when the temps were 95 to 105 degrees. This year I am trying to remedy that problem by using ice houses to keep the newly pollinated females from aborting in the 100+ degree heat. This white styrofoam ice chest (ice house) is covering a female on my 723 Bhaskaran plant. The temperature was 97 degrees when this photo was taken. My next diaary entry shows the inside of the ice house which is 12 degrees cooler. Wednesday, July 9 View Page Inside the ice house I have a thermometer and some frozen rubbermaid "blue ice" packs. Under the cup, the newly pollinated female on the 723 Bhaskaran is enjoying 85 degrees. Outside the ice house the temperature is 97 degrees, and it topped out at 103 degrees by the end of the day. We are expecting even hotter weather the next 2 days. I guess we'll know in a week or two if the ice house did the trick. Wednesday, July 9 View Page The male flowers on my 1689 Jutras plant have been huge. This one measured 8 inches in diameter. Thursday, July 10 View Page Pumpkin, 3 days after pollination on the 1689 Jutras. Pollinated with 11 males from a very agressive 1370 Rose plant (from Loren Vanderschoot's patch). 11 males......yikes !! (anything worth doing is worth overdoing !) Monday, July 14 View Page Pollinated second female on 1689 with 1370 Rose. 17 ft. out. Wednesday, July 16 View Page The pumpkins on my 1689 Jurtas have been torpedo shaped. Here's the 1689 pumpkin on day 10. Wednesday, July 16 View Page The 10 day measurement on the 1689 Jutras pumpkin is 28 inches. Saturday, July 19 View Page This pumpkin (about soccer ball size) is on the 556 Andrews (603.5 Muller x 940 Mombert 00). G did a great color cross on the 556. This pumpkin sould be a nice dark orange. I pollinated it with the 1689. This morning I pollinated another one on the same plant with the 772.2 Poirier. Saturday, July 26 View Page My grandson Tylor has set up a play station in my genetics patch with some plywood and crates. Saturday, July 26 View Page Day 20 measurement on my 1689 pumpkin is 63" circumference. Monday, July 28 View Page I pollinated this pumpkin on the 723 Bhaskaran 01 (400 Reynolds x 850 Wallace) a couple of weeks ago on a day when the temp hit 103 degrees. The ice house that I used that day kept the temp around the pumpkin less than 90 degrees. This pumpkin should be a nice orange color. Saturday, August 2 View Page This morning there was a hot air balloon hovering over my long gourd tower. Maybe its Leonardo Urena spying ! .....lol Saturday, August 2 View Page It landed in a park about a block from my house. Leonardo was not in the gondola...... just a few tourists. Saturday, August 2 View Page It only took them a few minutes to deflate the balloon, pack it up and drive away. Thursday, August 7 View Page The pumpkin on my 1689 is turning soft on the blossom end (possibly blossom end rot). I am treating it with sulfur and got the fan blowing on it. It doesn't look very good right now. Saturday, August 9 View Page The cool weather here has slowed down the pumpkins, but not my tomatoes. I picked these "sun gold" this morning..... one of my favorites. Friday, August 22 View Page Patch cat Abbey likes to nap in the genetics patch on the 723 Bhaskaran pumpkin. Friday, September 5 View Page This pumpkin on the 723 Bhaskaran in my genetics patch (aprox. 350/400 lbs.) is starting to turn a nice orange. This is now my largest pumpkin. I lost the pumpkin on the 1689 plant in August due to blossom end rot. Monday, September 8 View Page Pumpkin on the 723 Bhaskaran plant - blossom end. Thursday, October 9 View Page I did not get a big pumpkin on the 772.2 Poirier, but the ones that I got had a nice orange color.