Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 37 Entries. Tuesday, February 19 View Page It has been a loooooooooooooooooooong three years without growing but this year I'll finally be growing again. I want to thank everyone in advance for being kind enough to send me seeds, since I'm basically having to start from scratch. I look forward to having seeds of my own again to send out to anyone and everyone, because I've missed the bubble pack days very much. That being said, I have to grow one year in Atlanta, and then we'll probably have to take a year off because we'll be hopefully moving to Massachusetts the following summer. First things first is to send out a soil sample this week, and to start some test germinations and prepare protection for the two plants I hope to have...and that about sums it up for now. HOPE! Thanks to all of you! Michel Friday, February 22 View Page Practicing test germinations: Filed and soaked seeds in water 48 hours ago. Planted in small pre-soaked peat pots at 6pm this evening in a moistened mix of premium seed starting Jiffy Mix. Set these in a tupperware wrapped in plastic on the computer monitor. Hope to have a heating mat for the real germinations. Donations welcome! (grin) Starting from scratch this year here in Atlanta with many new pests and scorching heat and mildew out the gazoo, but I have hope to try for a new pb and grow my first squash.(I need to pray to the Sherwood and Hester gods a bit more maybe...(grin)). Have a small tiller, unlimited compost and just need to find or purchase some cow manure. Nothing goes in until the soil test is returned. Then I'll need advice. So far the plan is to try the 1092 Martin. I have one seed that is cracked and should hit the ground this year, so that pretty much settles that. No backup seeds yet, but I hope that some are on the way...The squash will most likely be a Sherwood squash. If Jim sends me some 2007 hopefuls, I might plant one, or one of the older Sherwoods. You know how it goes. Stuff happens and minds change, but this is the plan for now. Now it's time to wait for the test seeds to hopefully sprout. Thanks again to all the growers that have welcomed me back. It has been a long 3 seasons without growing. I fell out around the end of the 2004 season but at least made it to Ludwigsburg to give away my seeds and display a pumpkin. Wednesday, February 27 View Page Yesterday one of 7 test plants sprouted. Today another one is up. I think the top of the computer isn't hot enough, and I soaked the seeds two whole days in regular water. That was probably too much. Seeds are very old as well, so that doesn't help. Need to get some saltpeter again to soak seeds in but only for one day, and a heating mat. Wednesday, February 27 View Page Patch has been mowed to the mower's lowest setting. This is already causing erosion problems with the big rain we had afterwards. Bought 4 bags of moo-nure and one bag of mushroom compost so far. Already have superthrive. Wednesday, February 27 View Page Mailed out soil sample to U. Mass today. Sunday, March 2 View Page Started digging the new patch this weekend Sunday, March 2 View Page One pickup load of pure horse manure from Cumming GA today. Not adding it to the patch yet. Sunday, March 2 View Page Another view of the backyard patch. To start off, it's 20 x 20ft. Soil is nicer than I thought it would be. Now it's time to finish digging and then wait for the ammendments and soil test to get here...and hopefully more seeds! (grin) It was beautiful weather today to dig, so after pulling out most roots I hope to be able to till and maintain it with the little Mantis tiller I have if I can get it to run well. Best regards to all of you! Michel Sunday, March 2 View Page After quite a few days now only two seeds of my 7 test seeds sprouted. Heating mat has been ordered for the next test. I soaked the seeds probably way too long (2 days) and the heat on the computer monitor wasn't that steady and my soil mix was a bit too moist. Try Try again... Wednesday, March 5 View Page UMass soil test arrived by email. Added 40 lbs of the recommended 56 lbs of LimeRite to the patch and dug a bit more of it today. Will add the additional 10 lbs when I till the rotted manure in and mushroom compost. Need to add 14lbs. of bone meal and 4lbs. of Blood Meal once the lime has a few weeks to get incorporated into the soil. It's a bit late to change soil pH but the ph was 5.5 so I have to do something. Thursday, March 6 View Page Almost done digging the patch. Added 4 bags Moo-nure and one bag mushroom compost and a few cups of kelp meal. Started germination test II today. Soaked seeds for 12.5 hours from 9:30 am to 10pm and then planted in premoistened starter mix in 3 inch peat pots. Now they are in my special pot on top of the heating mat. Looks like it is maintaining 84 to 86F. Time to wait. Probably need to soak the seeds a bit less and soak them in saltpeter like I was doing in germany with perfect germination results. We'll see. Friday, March 7 View Page Got a bit of rain today again and sprayed 2 gallons of diluted humic acid on the patch. Saturday, March 15 View Page This is the second patch which will be for my squash plant. Thank you Dave for the 1055 Pitura seeds! They gave me the motivation to start digging the patch which is almost done. I had added lime prior to digging it up and have added bone meal, blood meal, kelp and crab shell so far and have also sprayed with liquid humic acid. The pile of manure will be spread a bit on this patch but mostly left for about 4 months to use later to cover the vines. Saturday, March 15 View Page A picture of the main patch which will be home to the 1092 Martin if it germinates. No decision yet on what the backup plant will be yet. It just poured and a tornado hit the Georgia Dome yesterday about 10 miles from here. We had a great show out the window as we were also watching the movie Twister on tv at the same time. Talk about surround sound! (grin) Just waiting to raise the K in this patch. Greensand and another source of natural potash is on the way, and then it will be all ready to sleep until planting time. Thanks for the 1092 seed again Jim! Saturday, March 15 View Page My new Honda WX10K1A water pump. I just bought it this week and have everything in place so I can water all season with either rain or creek water. Sunday, March 16 View Page And Yes, there is a laundry line post in the main patch. It will probably stay in and be used to support a protective roof to keep the plant safe from falling pine branches. If I ever own my own place there won't be a pine left standing on it. I hate 'em. Tuesday, March 25 View Page The tornado that just missed me by about 6 miles. I got the same storm cloud over our house but without any tornado left in it. Too bad, but at least I still have my soil here... Tuesday, March 25 View Page The little setup I have to germinate seeds is doing well now. A plastic container, heating mat in the bottom keeping it between 80 and 90 degrees, and two plants I started. The 497 White which is 869.5 Calai x Self which I will plant outside and the 595 White which is 582 Hester by Open which I will discard. Both were up at 3 days and the seed coats were removed after 3.5 days. I'm happy with this germination and soaked in NH fish/seaweed and a touch of humic acid concentrate for 8 hours which is included in the germination time above. Tuesday, March 25 View Page The lower forty squash patch for the 1055 Pitura waiting for the final till now only. Tuesday, March 25 View Page The main patch slowly growing in size every day. It started at 20 x 20ft but is expanding to about 24 x 25 and will be tilled as soon as I can get a tiller and that will be it. I'll be using soaker hoses for under the leaf watering, with rain water and ammendments mixed in a trash can and sprayed using the Honda WX10 water pump thru a normal garden hose for foliar application. This is the patch for the 1092 Martin or whatever backup plant I might need. Still hoping a magical 1068 will make it here...or even better a 998.6 Pukos (not likely but there is always hope...grin) Best regards to all the growers! It's also my brother Marc's birthday today. The Lordy Lordy birthday by the way. Friday, March 28 View Page Yesterday I put the 497 I.White into a small prepared spot in the back yard. It actually needed shade cover from the hot sun yesterday. It is the 869.5 Calai x Self and one of the plants I want this year to cross with some other 869.5 Calai and 801.5 Stelts offspring and other crosses between these two. If Frank Lanterman sees this, please send me a 659.5 which is the last seed I'm hoping to get for making my crosses. I'll have pics later. Best regards everyone. Michel Friday, March 28 View Page Yesterday began my outdoor season. I planted the 497 White outside and our low this morning was 57F. Nice weather. Here's the picture, and the cots look like there is almost a toxic level of nitrogen in them since they are dark green. Very hard to tell what is maximum healthiness and what is too much. It's looking great though if the critters stay away. I relocated one possum to heaven yesterday since they abound here and I don't need them in the patch. Friday, March 28 View Page I read in someone else's diary recently that you can always tell a friend by the quality of the manure they give you. I think I'll modify that to say you can tell a friend by the brand of tiller they buy you. Unbelievably enough a friend bought me an 800 dollar Honda today with no strings attached. I'm amazed!...and then I tilled the patches of course. Looking to be wonderful soil this year. Best regards to all and I wish you all great friends such as mine. Friday, March 28 View Page Forgot to send the picture of the 497 White taken yesterday...ooops Saturday, April 5 View Page No pics today but it's blooming here profusely and everything is turning green. The last frost date here is between April 10th and 20th but may or may not come. The moon calendar I read said to plant seeds for pumpkins on the 11th or 12th of April, so that's what I'll do with my main plants. If anything happens to them I still have time to plant the backups this way without wasting great seeds. Best regards to all! M Friday, April 11 View Page The time is 3:12pm. Just started soaking the 1092 Martin (which is a cracked seed) and the 1055 Pitura in spring water on a heating mat with a few drops of NH Humic Acid and a dab of NH liquid fish and seaweed. Frost is scheduled over the next few days followed by temps back up to the mid 70's. Should be warm again by planting time. Pics to follow... Friday, April 11 View Page Time is 5:20pm. Just planted 1092 and 1055 in peat pots and placed in the germination chamber. Tuesday, April 15 View Page 1092 Martin and 1055 Pitura have sprouted after 60 hours or so. The 1092, which was a badly cracked seed sprouted without the seed coat. I put a flourescent light on the plants first thing this morning. So far it's a great season beginning! Friday, April 18 View Page Just a note that I planted the 1092 Martin in the main patch and the 1055 Pitura on the "lower forty" patch. The root tip of the 1055 had dried out, so I don't know how much that will affect the plant in the long run, but I think I'll keep it so I don't have to use up my second 1055 seed. Weather is perfect for pumpkins right now with a high of about 76 degrees today. Monday, May 5 View Page Planted the 699.5 Conley and 689.5 Sandercock seeds yesterday for a friend's patch. He doesn't know it but I'll bet his pumpkins if any will turn out orange...and I might have a polinator...who knows. Thanks a lot to the growers for the seeds!...Buddy and Ned, respectively. Soaked the seeds for about 3 hours in seaweed/fish and a dab of humic concentrate. They are in my heating mat setup, hovering about 78 degrees. Monday, May 5 View Page My own patch notes.... 1092 Martin had a cold start but is looking very healthy with two nice leaves and looks willing to lean in the right direction. 1055 Pitura Squash had a slow start too, but I think I'll stick with this plant instead of wasting my second 1055 seed. 497 I.White plant is doing great. It was the early planting and it is growing straight up now and I'm working on laying it down. If it lays down, she's ready to run. She's putting out doubles at every other node though so I won't pollinate with her, but hope to have something orange for the family from it. This was our 869.5 Calai x Self that I needed to try. I might start another plant tomorrow as a possible polinator but it's getting late. Might have to self my plants again this year. No big deal since my expectations are low and so is my pH which I changed from 5.5 to only 6. I may apply dabs of limestone thruout the season but don't want to mess up the soil now. Tuesday, May 6 View Page soaked the 1236.5 Wolf 07 for about 3 hours and planted it directly in the patch today. Also spread a bag of limestone on the patches and lawn but kept it away from the plants. Hope it will bring up the ph a bit from the 6.0 I have right now. I'll get another bag and sprinkle it lightly after each rain from now on. Pics to follow. Thursday, May 8 View Page 497 White bit the biscuit. It toppled over and cracked the main stem at the base so I soaked a 1008 Reiss which is also 869.5 Calai x Self and planted it a few minutes ago to hopefully use as a pollinator if it grows. No big deal. Thursday, May 15 View Page 1236 Wolf is trying to push it's way up in the main patch today. The 689.5 Sandercock was planted in my friend's patch about 4 days ago, and the 699.5 Conley seed did not germinate. Thursday, June 12 View Page No pics today. Got some badly needed rain last night finally. 1092 Martin plant is the best and I expect to set a pumpkin on it in a week or so. The plant kinked a bit where it first layed down and I only have 3 side vines and the main buried on it so far but the leaves look beautiful and are large, and I have a protective sun screen over the base of the plant. The 1055 Pitura squash also kinked very badly but it starting to run nicely and should be fine as long as it can put down more roots at each node. Pics to follow later. Good luck to everyone! Mike Tuesday, June 17 View Page My own notes: Stopped fertilizing today because main vine is about 18 feet long (1092 Martin) and tiny females aborting before even fully forming. I covered vines with the red clay and it became too hard for the secondaries to push thru, so I ended up with too few secondaries. At least the flowers are able to push thru but for now on I will bury vines only with compost. Pine needles falling from great height penetrate the leaves like tiny bullets, so a complete overhead cover is necessary from day one to protect the leaves...as well as to protect from sunburn. Ants and mice make homes under walking boards in as little as two days so these must be removed every other day at least. Saw first jap beetle today on halloween pumpkin plant. Haven't seen any squash vine borers yet!...but I believe what I have seen are spotted cucumber beetles..about two or three at most. Good news is that if more secondaries or tertiaries grow quickly, I can still end up with a big plant to push a pumpkin if I can set one. 1055 Pitura is growing well but is very hard to keep on the ground. We'll see. 1236? Wolf polinator plant is tiny as I left it uncovered when I had to go to Germany for ten days so it is stunted but recovering slowly. It might have males to polinate with... Saturday, June 21 View Page Bad news... Snapped the 1055 main vine in half, but will leave the plant in to see what can grow with a half severed stem...and to hopefully at least get a 1055 x self pumpkin for seeds. Bummer but it wanted to grow straight up in the air...no clue how to lay these pumpkin vines down. It sure is discouraging this year.