Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 155 Entries. Monday, March 30 View Page Here we go.. 2009.. Evaluating the patch this morning I have decided to start turning the winter rye over and get the pile of manure spread on the patch. Amazing how green the cover crop is compared to the regular grass. I have high hopes of fully reaching the 4 digit area with the pumpkins this year. Monday, March 30 View Page Closer shot of the green nitrogen laiden winter rye, just waiting to help me out this year. I have always tried to get winter rye to take, but have never had much luck other than a patch here, patch there. This winter I seemed to have more luck and should get an extra early season nitrogen boost with this stuff. I plan on turning this over by hand with a shovel and then spreading the manure pile. Unlike NED, who got his 30 year old manure from a local farmer, I had to settle on getting local manure from a 30 year old farmer. Close enough I guess. Monday, March 30 View Page Droppedf a shovel into the soil to turn over the winter rye, and was amazed at the amount of worms I found in the first shovel full. You can see atleast 3 worms here, but I found nearly half dozen near the surface on every turn of soil. Monday, March 30 View Page Another pic from a different angle of the patch. I wanted to show the "black gold" of my local farmer manure. My manure is loaded with weedseed and is right out of the horses petoootie..Who needs composted stuff Ned? My stuff also comes from a "horse of a different color" like the ones in the Wizard of Oz. Sunday, April 5 View Page NYSGPGA Beginners Growers Seminar was held today at Bradley Farms in Elmira, NY. Not a big turnout of new growers, but did get some good discussions on vine patterns and general growing tips from some great people. Pictured here was the cast...(from left - Matt Teeter, Mark Lengel, Andy Wolf, Myself and my son Sam, Tom Privatera (Bohica), Big Jess (from BP), and Matt Verschneider (Thumpkin). Sunday, April 5 View Page Tom and Andy came today with some great stuff for my 09 year, picked up 5 pounds of Mycho Fungi from Tom and his Extreme Pumpkin store. Tom brought a nice display of his products and was just simply a joy to have in attendance. That man will do anything, for anyone, anytime. If you havent introduced yourself to Tom in chat or in person, do yourself a favor, do it. Andy Wolf also came today with a split of stuff we do every year. I picked up a few bags of Kelp Meal and Humic Acid from him. Pictured here is the beginning of the patch work. Got all motivated and spent the rest of the afternoon getting blistered hands from cutting and tilling the cover crop in. I then shoveled the pile of manure around. Sunday, April 5 View Page Pictured here is my son Sam. Sam is getting my new patch area to grow his first giant fruit ever, a squash! Man Glenn, do I know how to raise em right! Sam will be growing Karl Haist's 1177. I am make him do all the labor intense stuff, but keeping him out of the pest and disease control for now. I also did his rototilling - mom said no to letting him run the tiller this year. Sam went and learned alot at todays Beginners seminar and will be starting his own diary soon. Here Sam is shoveling as much composted manure as he wants to do to cover his patch. Sunday, April 5 View Page Here is Sam enjoying shoveling shit. It almost brought a tear to my eye to see him enjoy horse shit like I do! Sunday, April 5 View Page Well, last pic for today, the tilled patch in the background is Sams, which he is still shoveling away. The patch on this side of the pile and the posts (which used to be used for lolng gourds) is mine. I still had to turn the cover under and got it done around 7;30 tonite after spending 4 hours in patch. FUN FUN FUN! All this just to try and beat Ned to the 1000 pound mark.. Man is this gorilla ever heavy.. Sunday, April 19 View Page Middle of the week last week I finished spreading the manure. Waited for the blisters to heal from the first run of shoveling.. Ouch.. Sunday, April 19 View Page Next item, spread 2 bags of kelp meal, one bag of humic acid, and the rest of my molasses (after mixing with water, 1/2 cup per 4 gallons of water). Sunday, April 19 View Page Here is a pic of my team, the Athens Wildcats and some happy faces at near midnight. We tood home 3rd place team honors with some amazing competition. Ran into Mark Lengel and his family from Jersey Shore area. Mark and his son grow and weighed in with the PGPGA last year in Altoona. Mark attended the Beginners Seminar we put on 2 weeks ago and is a great guy to have met. I wish him and his son all the best of luck in 09! Sunday, April 19 View Page I went with the Bart method of putting my heating cables in the ground. I used old arrows to route the heating coil back and forth so they wouldnt touch when buried. They can "short" out over time if touching. Sunday, April 19 View Page Buried the heating cables 12 inches in the ground in a 5 x 5 ft area and then removed the arrows. I will leave the area staked off during the season so I cam try to retrieve the cables post season. Thanks for the great picture and idea Bart! (Thanks to Tom Privetera also for the advice on soil cables last night in chat!) Sunday, April 19 View Page Then came the tilling. I love to till, but todays job went on forever. Pictured is the mounded area where my heated plant will be started, and you can see the untilled patch on the left. I got nearly the entire patch done today, everything except about 30 minutes of my sons patch which I will finish tomorrow if it doesnt rain. Soil looks great! I gotta pull out all stops to take down Ned. The man is recruiting help from all over northeastern PA to help in the battle with me. I heard he is now has a patent on Doc Gipes bittybobulater. Monday, April 27 View Page The 2009 Rockwell lineup, papertoweled, ready to go! 1207 Young 985 Werner Backups, 919 Rockwell 1162 Checkon I have also started a surprise seed to try and cross with my sons 1177, here is to hoping it sprouts! Monday, April 27 View Page Wet paper towel with some mycho fungi inside so when the root comes out, she finds some yummy treat! 24 hour check into the seeds and the first one to show a root is the 1177 Haist squash! GO SAM! Monday, April 27 View Page Matt Teeter went turkey hunting in Mexico (better than mexican hunting in Turkey I guess!) so I had to start his seeds for him. Here is his lineup listed in the pic! Not a bad lineup. Tuesday, May 12 View Page The pumpkin huts are in, been in for a week now. Plants went in also. Patch looks nice, and the structures seem to be holding up to the massive amounts of wind we have this time of year. Now for the introductions of this years contenders. (I leave my son's 1177 stuff for his diary, "Squash Growin Sambo"). Tuesday, May 12 View Page In my back corner spot by the hedge row, I have the 1325 Starr, and this nice looking backup plant, my very own 919. I am leaning toward this plant now as my primary, because the star is a runt compared to this nice looking plant from my 1502 offspring last year. This spot was originally the 95 Werner, but the one cot plant never developed a true leaf. I still have it in the pot, but nothing is happening. Sorry Quinn! I really wanted to grow the 985 this year! Tuesday, May 12 View Page Here is Don's 1207 Young. The first true leaf is a bit warped, but hoping everything corrects itself. This plant is in my front spot, along with a backup of my 579 from 07. The growth will start picking up very soon, I need this 1207 to be my key to being monkey free (off my back that is) in 09. Ned is waaay too quiet, so he must have something good brewin.. Tuesday, May 12 View Page The huts, all closed up last night, prepped for the frost. Heat lamps are in 2 cloches, and the other runs off the heating cables in the soil for warmth. The blankets will keep the daily heat inside pretty well, so I am not worried. Today I opened the huts up for some fresh air and full sun. 70 and sunny today, so that will pick them up nicely.. Tuesday, May 12 View Page Lastly for the day, I have watered every other day, and applied some fish emuslsion and seaweed/kelp mixture one time in the 9 days they have been outside. Everything is good so far.. Thursday, May 14 View Page What is that lurking behind the wall? What suspicious character could this be? Well, it aint mine, it is my sons 1177 Haist! I went out last night at midnight after I got home from the AAA district track and field meet in Sunbury (Shikellamny) because the covers had blown off. I thought the silhoutte was kinda neat, so I took a pic. While I was there coaching my Athens Wildcats, I ran into Mark Lengel (his wife) and their son Seth who ran 2 very impressive races. Seth and his dad brought some nice pumpkins to Altoona last year and it was awesome being able to cheer the young man on in what was his last high school races. He took a very impressive second in the 1600! Congrats Seth. Thursday, May 14 View Page Behind the wall, one very tall plant in his 1177! The light is a chicken coop lite that has a 75 watt bulb that heats the cloche all night long. Sadly, today, the warm Montrose winds that were prayed for and delivered by my arch nemesis came, tearing up the joint. Ned couldnt stand it that my corn seed maggot ploy actually worked in taking down his 1385, so he decided to rip my cloches apart today with 50 MPH plus wind gusts. As I weas repairing my sons cloche, I was stapling the plastic to the wooden stakes and accidently stapled my finger. To spell it out, I stapled my ring finger and the staple went completely into my finger, flush with the skin. That hurt so freakin much but not as much as it hurt when I had to pull it out! Now it is swollen and hurts like crazy, went and got a tetnus shot to keep it updated. All Neds fault, as I said earlier.. So this is how we are gonna play it out this year eh Ned? I got his plant propped up and buried up to the cots and supported, hoping it makes it. Thursday, May 14 View Page Here is a pic of my 919Rockwell/1325 Starr cloche. After repairing it once, I left for an hour and came back to find it completely ripped up again, this time with the beautiful 919 plant laying on its side and split length wise on the stem. I have had splits before, so I treated it with a captan dust and buried it for more support. I also changed 2 sides of ripped up and torn plastic as you cansee the closest side panel is ripped right down the middle. I wanted to use a Dyeberry Patching material, but had none in my BOX so I am hoping the repair job holds. The things a man can do with a fake hip is amazing.. On one side of things, glad to see you can get around so well Ned, on the other,, man.. u r taking this serious! All this over a little maggot? No concessions this early Ned, This game is back to even! Tuesday, May 19 View Page Plant updates. 1177 Haist - Sons squash, best of the bunch. Should be vining in a week or so if the weather cooperates like it looks like it will be doing. 1325 Starr - Done. Wind damage last week too much to overcome. 919 Rockwell - Also damaged by the wind last year, this plant looks like it has survived and continues to grow well. I have started 2 new seeds inside just in case something happens to this plant or the ones in the next cloche. 1207 Young - This one continues to try and grow right, but it is not the prettiest or most typical plant. I think this may be a double vine and has a split in the stem from ground to cots. 579 Rockwell - Double planted in with the 1207 Young, it is a nice backup, but as I stated with the 919/1325 cloche, I have started 2 more seeds tonite to give me a late backup "just in case". 2 new seeds started are the 1354 Checkon and the 977 Wallace. The 1354 I have grown in the past and the 977 is a nice reverse cross of last years 1502 I grew and got 919 pounder. Both seeds will see soil by the end of May and with warm weather they should catch up if need be. I wanted to do this because I was reading that Ned fella was starting seeds late and I want to grow up to be just like him. On a serious note, I wish Ned the best and hope those friggin maggots eradicated from his patch. Kevin Brown had this problem a few years ago and it is a terrible thing. Monday, May 25 View Page Start off the day with a nice shot of our district championship plaque for the Track team I am a coach for. We also had a state champion in the triple jump the following weekend (this weekend) as a sophomore. Jared Gambrell went 47 ft 6.5 inches to win by nearly 2 ft over second place! Way to go Jared! Now, on to pumpkin stuff. Monday, May 25 View Page Here is my 919 growing like crazy. It had me worried with a slight piece of damage from the wnd storm Ned blew into our valley a few weeks ago, but seemingly so, the 919 has survived. That damn monkey is always there though... Monday, May 25 View Page Overhead shot of the 919. From deep in the jungle you can see the monkeys! I am hoping this baby lays down and runs in the next week or so. Monday, May 25 View Page Here is the 977 I started less than a week ago. I also gave a 1354 a try but it never came out o the seed coat and was a dud. Sorry Larry. I started this 977 Wallace as a backup for the 919 once I lost the 1325 Starr plant due to wind damage. I will let it go for a few weeks and if the 919 is well, I will attempt to transplant it in a friends garden. Monday, May 25 View Page The monkey has snuggled himself between my 1207 that had (and to some degrees, still has) me worried. The vine is doing wierd things, not necesarily double vining, nor is it ribboned. It is twisting itself around and doesnt grow in a regular fashion. Hard to explain if you dont see it. I have my 579 right next to it and I have to make a decision this week on which plant to pull. Just based on the fact the 1207 rocks, I will probably give it all the leeway in the world when making this decision. Monday, May 25 View Page Here is the 1207 by itself. One interesting side note is the fact this spot had just heating cables, no overhead inernal lights like the other 2 cloches. Big difference in the plants that had overhead light and heat as compared to the 1207/579 combo with no lights but had soil heating cables. I think Ned messed with the cables. I did move the lights to this cloche tonite to see if I can do some catching up to the other plants. I took the light out of my 919 cloche and put it in this one. Monday, May 25 View Page Here is the 579 that is on the right of the 1207. It is a beautiful plant, slightly small but looks great. Probably wont make the cut though. On the holiday end of things, I want to say thanks to all fellow veterans for your service and ask you take the time to say a prayer and give thanks to those who have given thier lives so we may enjoy ours. Rocky Rockwell 82nd Airborne Division 1982-1986 Combat Veteran, Grenada Monday, June 1 View Page I put plenty of covers on my plants last night, and thank God I did. I didnt want Ned "Mr Freeze" Sandercock in my back yard by my plants. Monday, June 1 View Page The 3 cloches, opened up this morning around 10 oclockish. Sunwas out, any slight frost is gone and we are nearing the time to get these cloches off and go to wind breaks. Monday, June 1 View Page Overhead of the double planted cloche. I will be taking one out tomorrow, probably the 579. It has a sorta double vine look to it but the stem is great, where as the main plant - the 1207 has a stem that split early on and has healed into a flat stem. I think it should be good and hope so because I am choosing this plant solely on the fact it has superior and proven genetics. Monday, June 1 View Page Here is a close up of the 1207 Young, with the flat stem. It also has a double main vine, so I will have to chose which of those stays and which one goes. I think once I take the sister plant ut of the mix, and make the vine decision, this plant will take off! Monday, June 1 View Page The 579 ROckwell is kinda double vined here, as you can see. Matt Teeter is coming over tomorrow to get this one and the 977 Wallace which I started as a precautionary backup. Matt got hit a few weeks back by someserious frost/freezing and doesnt think the 985, 1041, or the 919 will make it. Monday, June 1 View Page Here is the 919 Rockwell plant stretching out and nearing the back side of the cloche. I am off tomorrow and will probably be going from cloche to wind breaks. I have the machine gun turrets in place in case of any Ned or Andy sightings. Monday, June 1 View Page A quick showing of how big my leaves are getting on the 919! Wednesday, June 3 View Page The Pennsylvania Chapter of the Woodchuck Relocation Program came through once again, trapping this medium sized chuck and taking him to Honesdale for a visit. He loved it so much there, he decided to stay. Either that or I drove away so damn fast he had no choice. I am sure Ned and Andy will shoot him and cook him with a nice wine. THats what they do in H'dale. Wednesday, June 3 View Page Picture from the backside of my wind breaks that I went to last night. I checked past diaries and see the first week in June is when I usually got out of the cloches and into a wind break setup. Weather doesnt look too back the next 10 days so it shouldnt be too bad. Pictured are the 1207 Young (front left), 919 Rockwell (front right) and the 1177 Haist* (farthest away). Wednesday, June 3 View Page Here is a front shot of the wind breaks, the most western plant being the 1177 Haist, so it got the biggest wind break. This year is sorta unique as it has had wind coming from all directions while in the past you could count on basic westerly winds if we got any. Plants are nearing vine burying time so this should help with the anchoring of the plants. Wednesday, June 3 View Page Here is the 1207 Young, smallest of the bunch. Took out the 579 ROckwell backup plant yesterday so this one is my final answer! The main is still giving me fits, but I do have a back main on this plant, so I can always go to that one if I want for a nice set. For now, it is a wait and see mode on this one. Wednesday, June 3 View Page Here is an overhead of the 919 Rockwell. The lead cluster is in the lower left of the picture and is running nicely. Matt Teeter stopped yesterday and I gave him my late start 977 Wallace, now that I have confidence in this plants chances. Matt made a comment about how my plants look "beefier, or thicker" than in years past. I don't see it, but it is amazing when you take a look at someone elses plants what you see that they dont. I see them everyday and he doesnt so he is probably right. This is a good thing though! This is also my first run at growing my own seed, so that in itself is kinda exciting! Wednesday, June 3 View Page Here is the King of the patch right now, my son Sam's 1177 Haist*. This one is ready to get some burying lessons so tomorrow night (when I do not have a band concert for Sam to go to) I will teach him how t bury his vines and start training his secondaries. He will learn to bury each vine with some mycho fungi, kelp meal, and humic acid. He is having fun with this and is already asking to stay overnight at Cooperstown this year to watch the Regatta. Sunday, June 7 View Page Photo of plant as of today.....looking great! This is an 1177 haist Sunday, June 7 View Page The back of the plant and the main plant.And again 1177 haist Sunday, June 7 View Page The last wo pics were my sons 1177, he forgot to log me off and login on his name, "Squash Growin Sambo". Today I taught him to bury the vines, with MAJOR emphasis on being careful on what you do around the main.. This picture is todays shot of the 919 Rockwell, stretching out nicely and nearing 6 ft. I buried 3 or 4 leaf junctions today with mycho, humic, and kelp meal. This plant looks gret. Sunday, June 7 View Page 1207 Young, filling in but still lots of concern on the main vine and what I am going to do with it. Sunday, June 7 View Page Close up of the main on the 1207. Looks very much like it is a double main, should make a decision soon. The plant will be grown, but the question right now is what to do. A) Let it grow as is. B) Cut it off and hope a secondary comes out normal to take over as the main. C) Let the back (second) main that I have be the main vine. Saturday, June 13 View Page 919 last night as I put her to bed. Moved the wind breaks "because I am an expert on wind breaking" to allow room for more growing area and buried main some more. So far, no cuke beetles in Sayre but I am sure that Ned will drop me some disease of beetle off soon to contend with. I hope all is going well for my friendly foe in the East. Saturday, June 13 View Page plants going good 8 1/2 feet!!!! Saturday, June 13 View Page i trenched and buried some of the secondaries Monday, June 15 View Page I see my son and I are having a crossing of diaries. He forgets to log me off when he puts info into his diary, "Squash Growin Sambo". Oh well.. Todays plants measure out as this.. Sam's 1177 Haist* - 10 ft (clipped one female off at 8 ft, shooting for 15 ft set on this squash plant to get plenty behind the fruit. 919 Rockwell - Now catching up to the squash plant at 9 ft in length. I buried plenty of vines today and have 5 ft first set of secondaries. 1207 Young - This plant was my pride and joy, and it has been nothing but a challenge. It has a double main (some call it a main with a "back main"). The back main is at 60 inches in length but runs up edge of patch as my first secondary. The main which is running out like my regular main is at 50 inches and was clipped to cure the double main problem at 35 inches. It seems to have worked and is picking up speed. This has my best spot, which really stinks so I hope the genetics in this one along with my best soil work for me. Friday, June 19 View Page First males from my sons 1177. His plant is now at 11 ft long and is already up to its 3rd female on the main. First one was at 8 ft, he took that one off. Next one is at 10 ft, we will also take it off. The third is now in the lead cluster and should be a nice 13 - 14 ft set so that will probably be the one. Friday, June 19 View Page Here is his 1177* Haist. Friday, June 19 View Page The 1207 Young is pictured closest here with its maingoing toward the wind break and the "back main coming toward the camera. The main was a double vine but was fixed a week ago and is already on the right track. Both main and back main are at 68 inches. The 919 is in the back and has stretched out to 10.5 ft. Secondaries are really starting to establish themselves. No sets before 12 ft this year! I am sure Ned is on his way back to full strength after the corn seed maggot infestation. How goes it Ned? BTW, I caught the 2 squirrels and woodchuck you sent my way.. Friday, June 19 View Page I have been teaching Sam how to do this as the season goes along, so here is pollenating 101. We took his first male flowers and I went through the entire process of showing him how to gently swab the pollen from the males to the females, how to tie up the flower with a tendril for a pure cross, etc.. Now that I have the bees part of the talk done, I only have to talk about the birds and I will have the birds and the bees talk completed! Monday, June 22 View Page Sprayed patch with Eagle 20EW and Warrior T in same sprayer tonite. With all the rain, and with my discovery of cucumber beetles today, I had to get the 2 sprays going. The 1177* of my sons, and my 919 is now at 13.5 ft in length and have some possibilities showing up. We will practice pollenate tomorrow morning one of his squash females (which will be immediately culled) to teach him how to tie oneup after the male flowers application. He buried alot of his vines tonite, first time we could get into the patch since the drenching rains on Saturday. 1207 is borderline right now on staying. The backmain got snapped off yesterday due to the vines crispy nature and the main has struggled for quite some time. It would be a setback, but something that may benefit the 919 fruit. I do want a second fruit, one for Cooperstown and one for Elmira, but will go with whatever gives me the best chance to compete with Ned. Wednesday, June 24 View Page My 919 tonite, at 15 ft out. My female is 13 ft out on the main, and I should be pollenating in the Sunday/Monday area. My sons 1177 Haist has one at 12 ft out which should be ready in the Saturday/Sunday range. Having males is always a concern. Buried tonite for about 2 hours on my 2 plants. Fell behind with the rain the past weekend and this is first chance to get out there and get into the soil. Wednesday, June 24 View Page Sons 1177 squash at 12 ft out. This is my predicament with my pumpkin also. The fruit has grown on top of the leaf and the secondary is in the way too. What do you do in this situation? Cut a secondary? Cut the leaf off? We have trained a good turn on the vine as you can see, so this will help down the road with vine stress. Wednesday, June 24 View Page Here is the lead cluster on the main for the 1207 Young. Secondaries are growing straight up in the air, the main is curlingup and growing straight up now. This plant has given me fits the entire time but I am being patient with this genetic monster. Friday, June 26 View Page Here is the sons female on the 1177. It opened a bit more today, but the opening was slight yesterday so I figured it had another day to go (wasnt bright yellow on edges). The rain came today and filled it up like a cup. I punched holes in the flower and let it drain. When it fully opens tomorrow, will it be okay to pollenate? Did the water adversely affect the female? Friday, June 26 View Page Minor hail damage from todays storm. I think Ned prayed for this storm to come my way so he could catch up. Many holes, but nothing that should end my season. Sorry Ned! Friday, June 26 View Page My female which is out at 13 ft on main. It should be opening on Sunday, so I am ready for the festivities.. Bottle of champagne, soft music (she like Barry White), and a gang of males.. Sunday, June 28 View Page Here is my 13 ft'r on my 919 I pollenated this morning with 2 1207 Young flowers. I think it is a six lober, not a perfect one by any means. I hope she takes, I like the massive amounts of lobes! Very pretty site the first one of the year though! Sunday, June 28 View Page My sons 1177 Haist flower that was pollenated on 6/27 (yesterday). 5 lober and was selfed. Sunday, June 28 View Page Morning shot of the patch today. Filling in nicely and should be completely filled in (prepared soil) by July 7th or 8th. Still not sure what to do with the 1207, but it is showing signs of becoming normal plant. Forecast has rain showers for the next 8 days. Wow is this getting to be depressing! Warm and sunny right now so I will take it! Friday, July 3 View Page pollenated sons second squash yesterday, July 2nd at 15 ft out. 1177 Haist X self. Nice big 6 lober! Friday, July 3 View Page Storms have been doing some havoc on the patch, alot of rollover vines that needed fixing, hail damage to main vines that are iffy, etc. I applied Talstar one for the bugs tonite along with Eagle 20EW for the wet conditions. I sprayed the stumps a bit today also to stop any problems - hopefully. Glad to hear my Pennsy nemesis is on the mend and catching up somewhat. Those darn Honesdalians are as resiliant as the AG plants! Saturday, July 4 View Page Here is a pic of my sons 15 ft set on his 1177*Haist. It was pollenated on July2nd and was a selfed fruit. Hope this one takes because the first one has a hail mark on it from a storm that blew through about a week ago. Not sure if it will make it. Saturday, July 4 View Page My 919 female is coming along nicely. Here is a pic of it on July 2nd, showing definite signs of a good pollenation. TOmorrow (the 5th) I should have one on each of the 1207 and the second on my 919 ready to go. Saturday, July 4 View Page Droppe dby Kevin Browns patch during a visit to East SMithfield for the 4th of July parade. He is ready to pollenate one very soon but is set back due to the cold weather like most of us in the North East of the good ol USA. Sunday, July 5 View Page Here is the 5 lober on the 1207 Young that opened this morning. Selfed it because for some reason my 919 has not produced any useable male flowers. This 1207 female is 10 ft out and the plant itself is now at 14 ft in length. I have had some rough times with this plant, correcting the double main and having some very brittle conditions with its vines. SMall plant, just hoping to get something to take to Elmira which is a late show. Sunday, July 5 View Page Here is the second main vine fruit set on the 919. Crossed it with the 1207 Young, and it is a 5 lober that is 16 ft out. Secondaries on this plant are now at 13 ft and will be terminated. The 1177 Haist also has 13 ft secondaries and is growing nicely for my son. His first set will probably not make it due to a hail strike on it a week ago. The second set which is 15 ft out looks better, so time will tell. Plant looks great for my son. Sunday, July 5 View Page Here is my 919 fruit today. 7 days old, starting to show good signs of growing, despite the chilly cold and rainy conditions. THis weather is so friggin horrible for AG's. Today it is supposed to get to 75, but we have only seen 80 2 times this year so far. The 919 main is now at 19 ft and have 2 fruit set on it. This one pictured at 13 ft and a second at 16 ft which was pollenated today. Sunday, July 5 View Page Here is the patch today. Filling up nicely, just slightly behind last years pace. The 1177 *Haist is on the left, 919 is middle/back and the 1207 is on the right. How are things in Honesdale Ned? Wednesday, July 8 View Page Sons first set on the main went down today, and his 3rd female was pollenated this morning. it was a 5 lober and selfed. This Seattle type weather is killing us. My 919 fruit hit ten days today and is at a mere 19 inches. I do not see anything happening at all in patch. The day time weather is barely hitting 70 (on average) and rains nearly every day. UUUUGGGH! Buried vines today on all 3 plants, time will tell... Thursday, July 9 View Page Pollenated 919 3rd main vine fruit 19 ft out. Perfect 5 lober, crossed with the 1207. Going to let the main grow another 3 ft to get to 25 ft, then terminate it and fill out the patch with the secondaries. 1207 has 2 more fruits to be pollenated tomorrow, one on main at 14 ft out and another on the second secondary I decided to let grow due to the plants small size. The 1177 Haist of my son's is doing great, the second main set has laid down after being straight up in the air! Good sized stem on this one. Finally a decent day that reached 78 degrees with plenty of sunshine. The weatherman said we had 27 of 30 days worth of rain in June and we had already gotten 6 days of rain in the first 8 in July. Friday, July 17 View Page Here is the patch as of yesterday. If you saw plants this large you would say there is gonna be some pumpkins out of there! This year is not going my way! Friday, July 17 View Page Here is a few males from my 919. All the 919 males (that came up) ended up like these. No pollen at all! Friday, July 17 View Page Here is the 919 fruit. This one was 18 days old and only at 32 inches. Very ugly fruit, but it is all I have! I believe this to be a sterile plant. Friday, July 17 View Page Here is the best 1207 fruit, 11 days old and 20 inches. This plant is small due to the correction of a double main. The cold nights here (records in 3 days in July for cold already) have stunted everything. Now, as for my sons squash! He is flyin! Friday, July 17 View Page His 1177 Haist fruit is doing the best of them all. 14 days and 36 inches so far. We are headin to boyscout camp next week for summer canp, so hoping mom give the plants some good watering! Sunday, July 19 View Page 919 fruit - 20 days, 34 inches and wrinkled and ugly. 1207 fruit 1, 15 days, 28 inches and showing promise as of late. 1207 fruit 2, 8 days, still small. 1177 fruit 1, 16 days, picking up major league speed at 46 inches. Great looking squash, lite green and getting 5 inches a day now. 1177 fruit 2, 10 days, 21 inches. We have had 3 decent nights of near 60 degree weather so the pumpkins have responded a little. I do not believe the 919 will do anything, the 1207 will give me a decent front yard pumpkin, and the 1177 has all sorts of upside! Heading to Summer camp in the morning, wanted to get the last post in before I go. The tell tale signs will be where I am in a week when I return. Always neat to see the changes. Plants are nearly shut down before the fruit and after the fruit just about finished. I should be shutting the plant down in about 10 days or so. All mains are already shut down. Good luck this week to all, and God Bless my friend in Honesdale. Hope all is well out your way. Sunday, July 26 View Page D day has come to the Rockwell patch today. I decided I am not going to waste any more nutrient content on the 919 plant. This pictured fruit was what every set would look like, and this one is 25 days old. I ripped the plant out today but made a few interesting "digs" to show how these monsters get to the size they get to. Sunday, July 26 View Page Here is the downed 919 plant, very sad in between the 1177 Haist squash of my son and my 1207 Young plant. Kind of wierd tearing out a completely healthy looking plant, but it was all salad and no fruit. The 1177 is looking great and the 1207 is doing a nice job of correcting itself. Sunday, July 26 View Page This is a tap root and how much mycho fungi helps the root structure of a plant. If you arent using it, you are way behind the big growers! Sunday, July 26 View Page This is my "dig" of the root system from the 919. I carefully treated it as if I was digging up a dinosaur and trying to preserve the full roots. Interesting that each root reached up to 6 ft or more in length and went in every direction away from the stump. This is one lesson I learned that the roots definitely do not go straight down, but out in every direction about 6-8 inches under the surface. It has helped me understand that you do not have to hit the roots when watering but everywhere under the ground is a major root seeking water. Very impressive spectrum of roots I have to say. The 919 was a sterile plant as the males didnt have any piston or pollen in them and the females all aborted after a week or two. Sunday, July 26 View Page Here they are all together after the dig. Some say that losing your stump to rot does not ruin your season, but I would beg to differ after seeing the amount of roots that would be taken out of the picture if you had lost the stump to disease. Wednesday, August 5 View Page No pics on file for ya as of yet, but things are so so here. My son's 1177 Haist squash is doing the best in the patch. he heard that there was a young un in Honesdale growing a squash for a challenge, and he stepped it up a bit. The fruit is now nearing 300 pounds, and is 102-69-70=241" or 270ish. Wednesday, August 5 View Page When it comes to a challenge with my good friend Ned, the "grow your own seed" challenge is down the drain for me. I pulled the 919 last week, as it was truely a sterile plant. I felt it was just draining nutrients that I could use next year for my big one. Sorry Ned, but this years contest will more than likely be who can show up with a fruit! Wednesday, August 5 View Page Lastly, the 1207 Young. I have had fun with this plant. Slow start, double main, fixed, slow cold nights for growing and finally got some good news. While the pumpkin is nearing the 30 day mark, atleast with the warmer weather I am seeing some gains. Measured tonite and hit 93-62-67=222" or about 215 lbs approx. I culled the last remaining "other" fruit on the 1207 main, getting down to one fruit and that one measured 75 pounds and weighed 88. I liked that. I am very thankful for Don sending me this seed, I just wish I had a better season to prove it. That monkey is definitely here for another year, but I am learning more and more each day! Pics to come soon.. Tuesday, August 11 View Page Okay, here is my first update in a while with pics. Nothing too exciting here, but for the northeastern part of the U.S., not much is from what I have been hearing. My 1207 fruit is picking up pace a bit, checking in at 106-78-70=254" or 336 pounds. Probably not going to compete with Ned this year, but then again, I really have never been able to, he is the man! Now for the squash update, a bit rosier! Tuesday, August 11 View Page My son's 1177 Haist squash is doing fine, measuring in at 114-79-75=268" or 392 pounds by chart. This fruit, like my 1207 had some serious sweat marks on it yesterday from massive amounts of rain followed by extreme heat today. Those two elements together usually spells blow outs from the blossom end, so I will not be watering for a few days, so I can dry out a bit. Karl, you would be proud of this baby! Stem pic coming up! Tuesday, August 11 View Page The stem on the 1177 is monstrous, which is a definite plus in my book! I had to dust it down with some captan, but she is in fine shape other than a little dampness. Tuesday, August 11 View Page One more shot of the color. Very light green with spots of darker green. Looking like some 900 Lyons in her somewhere! Tuesday, August 11 View Page A quick shot of my hungarian wax pepper plants before I picked tonite. Unreal how crowded my plants were this year! Tuesday, August 11 View Page Shot of my belss and hungarians after a pick of just 12 of each plants. Canning the hungarians this week and making stuffed peppers later in the week! Friday, August 14 View Page 1177 Haist squash of my sons, as of tonite. 120-83-78=281" or 450 pounds. My 1207 Young is making a comeback, the numbers: 111-81-74=266" or 384 pounds. While the season has been a dissapointment, I started doing some comparisons with my 919 from last year. Both fruits (1177 and 1207) agewise are only 8 days behind the numbers of my 1502 fruit which ended up at 919 pounds. Small thing to get excited about, but I am really looking for positives in a year filled with negatives. I want numbers Ned! Where are you! Wednesday, August 19 View Page Quick pic of my habiscus this year. Man are these things loving the late hot weather we are getting. Wednesday, August 19 View Page Here is my 1207 fruit, now over 500 pounds. Not that big for this time of year, I am just glad to have something still going. Last measured on the 17th, It should be right at 500 or so. Wednesday, August 19 View Page Sam displaying his 1177 Haist squash. Nearing 560ish range now, Just hoping everything holds together for 5 more weeks. Sam is learning a lot this year. Wednesday, August 19 View Page Another shot of the stem on the 1177. Thursday, August 27 View Page Went to the Little League World Series week on Tuesday night. What a hidden gem of a good time. My son Sam and I have gone down 2 years now and it is a fabulous time. Thursday, August 27 View Page We watched a few games during the day, Mexico beat Chinese Tapei 3-0, This game which was Peabody Mass over the Kentucky team, and the evening game which was Chula Vista California getting beaten by San Antonio Tx. Thursday, August 27 View Page Here is the sign that shows how far each team has traveled to play in this event. Lamade Stadium is in the back. Ned, I tried to put a direction arrow to Honesdale on there, but security tackled me when I got my hammer out. Thursday, August 27 View Page My 1207 is still putting on 15-20 pounds a day. Very wide and squatty pumpkin but am very impressed with the strides this fruit has made for a troubled plant. Don, the genetics in this plant are amazing due to the fact it has overcome slow early start with double vine, a plant which I nearly pulled. Thank you very much for this wonderful seed. I wish I had better weather year and a regular vine to give it the chance I think I could have given it. Got another for me? Thursday, August 27 View Page What monster is that in front of Sam as he waters? That is Sam's 1177 Haist fruit, which now measures 313.5 total inches. His fruit is charting at 620 pounds, not bad for his first year. A little dissapointing that Cooperstown took squash out as a category, since he got inspired to grow from Karl Haist's United States and New York State record from there last year at 1177 pounds. I know we could go somewhere else, but we love Cooperstown. Great weigh off, great people. Just wish green still got the love. Squash as a category gave people who do not grow 1200 pounders a chance to get a plaque.. I wish they would rethink it. Thursday, August 27 View Page A shot with Sam and his first year squash. Oh, by the way, I am coming back nicely with the 1207 sizewise, now at 308 inches OTT or roughly 588 pounds. Wednesday, September 16 View Page Not much to talk about this season, powdery mildew taking over and pretty much devastating my patch by this time. We never had a dry morning grass all summer, which to me was very strange. Wednesday, September 16 View Page Here is how bad the onset of late season disease has hurt my sons 1177. Most early leaves are gone as you can see (stump is on front middle of pic). Wednesday, September 16 View Page Here is the blosson side of my 1207 fruit. An innie bellybutton but a very wide fruit. Side to side is at 100 inches right now. Wednesday, September 16 View Page Stem side of 1207, showing a lot fo canteloping and greening. Solid fruit, measuring 331 total inches right now. Hoping it is enough to get past Ned. Wednesday, September 16 View Page Sons 1177 Haist fruit, measuring exactly the same as mine, although he has bigger circumference. Hoping both go chart or over, and hit the 700 pound mark. His thumps like a solid piece of concrete. One of those rare fruits you just know will go heavy. My 1207, not as much, but still sounds heavy. Wednesday, September 16 View Page This kinda sums up my season... "Get em next year!" Thursday, September 24 View Page Hey G, here is the color from the 1177 Haist! Not a heck of a lot of green, but enough to call her a squash! Sam is hoping to take down my 717 pound patch record for officially weighed squash and I think that is a cinch. His numbers put him in the 750-800 pound range, but this baby thumps like concrete. Thursday, September 24 View Page Here is the 1207 fruit, ready to go for the lift today. Cleared the 1207 patch out yesterday and gave the trimmings to this wide body. Thursday, September 24 View Page Pic of the front of the 1207 and all of its green canteloping. Not sure if this one will go heavy, I am hoping the genes from the 1207alows that to happen. Final taping was 139-94-101=334" OTT or 783 lbs by the chart. I hope it goes a bit heavy because I am gonna need it for my yearly competition with Ned. He probably has a monster in the patch and has been low balling me this season. Thursday, September 24 View Page Here I wanted to show you the little oh by the way pumpkin I grew from the 1207 also, when I didnt think the 1207 would get that big due to its slow start with a double main. It got to about 220 pounds, but wanted to show how green this one got. I told Sam I had the greenest fruit in the patch this year, not that light colored fruit he called a squash! Thursday, September 24 View Page Tripod up and ready to go. Just need Matt Teeter to show up with the trailer and be ready for Cooperstown. Rumor mill has some monsters coming up there, maybe 6 or 7 thousand pounders. Last year I snuck into the top ten with my 820 pounder, something I am shooting for this year. Last years final numbers were 334 inches, so I am hoping the 1207 will get there also. Sunday, September 27 View Page Wonderful day in Cooperstown, here Tom Privitera shows off his monster 1401.5 from his own 893 seed. The event went very well and besides a little bit of chilly weather, the sunshine kept it decent. Food vendors and craft tables made for a nice addition to the Doubleday field location. Sunday, September 27 View Page Quick pic of my 808 from the 1207 Young. That damn Randy Sundstrom, kissed the good lookin fellas all day long. The really scary part is he wore knee pads all day adding to the mystic of the kissing pumpkin guy. I was very happy with the weight of the 808, going 5 percent heavy. Sunday, September 27 View Page Better shot of me (without those damn Sundstrom lips - haahaa) with the 808 on the scale. Sunday, September 27 View Page Final shot of me and the 808 before parting ways. She was sold to a group in Endicott NewYork who do a huge festival 3 days before Halloween. I live 35 miles from there, so I am happy to see what it will look like carved professionally. We finished 13th with this fruit, and I want to heartfully thank Don Young for the 1207 seed (I hope I made you proud with the seed despite the double main vine!). I also want to thank Matt Teeter, who has been there whenever I need him. If you do not know Matt, it is your loss. He loves this hobby so much and would do anything for anyone. Next pic will show his amazing fruit (his little one to boot). Sunday, September 27 View Page Here is my buddy Matt Teeter with his heavy 1064 pumpkin. He groew this off from the 985 Werner which had no stump for the last 6 to 8 weeks of the season. Matt said he is going to take a year off but I will be amazed to see him pull that off. He loves this crap too much! Matt just finished his 5th straight year with a fruit over 1000 pounds, something very few people (can you say heavy hitter?) have accomplished. By the way, that was my 985 Werner!! haahaa. Sunday, September 27 View Page Here is my son Sam with his plaque for Cooperstowns squash award! While there was no squash due to the fact they dropped it, it went to the greenest fruit, his 272 pounder I let him enter so he could go through the weighoff with some experience for ELmira in a few weeks. Besides, he got a tshirt! He had the best time and the people up there make him feel so loved. Wheter it was Randy and Deb, the big names like the Hilstolskys, Priviteras, Andy Wolf, Bill Bobier, Joe Pukos, and on down, they all are class acts. Sunday, September 27 View Page Here it is, the newest Pennsylvania record pumpkin and 2009 Cooperstown champion, Dave Hilstolsky with his 1557 pounder. This fruit had more canteloping than I have ever seen. Mean, solid, heavy thumpin, whatever you want to say about it, this one is THE best fruit I have ever laid eyes on. The one thing that struck me as amazing was the blossom actually had canteloping on it! The bottom, top, sides, etc.. almost like it was on steroids! Congrats Dave, this was some fruit! Sunday, September 27 View Page The Hilstolksy 1557 blossom end and the serious canteloping. Sunday, September 27 View Page The bottom of the monster. Stories have bigger fruits out there hovering, just wanted to show a pic of this one (1557) hovering. Sunday, September 27 View Page Here is Bill Bobier and Dave checking out the bottom of the cham\pion at first lift. Bill scares the hell out of me jumping under these fruits to do a complete check. Safety first is my motto! Sunday, September 27 View Page Here is Owney the postal dog at Double day field looking for Ned Sandercock and Andy Box. The Honesdale duo didnt show up due to a wedding, so look for them in Altoona next week. I have set the bar about where I did last year (last year I had 820) with an 808, so best of luck to you Ned! My "juice" drinking partner in the lot behind the batting cages wasnt there, so I had to settle for a few extra chats with the likes of Eric Gerry, Brian Staring, and Laurel Keys! Good times, but I love my rivalry! As usual Ned, "THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT YEAR!" Friday, October 2 View Page Here is Sam with his 1177 squash. Gonna sit for another week waiting for the Elmira weigh off on October 11th. It isnt the greenest squash in the world, but it is definitely a squash! Wish it had more color for ya G! Friday, October 2 View Page It has been raining quite a bit lately, so I decided to cut every other secondary off so we wouldnt blow that squash up. Well, getting into a deep dark corner that was a tangled mess, I found this 150 poundish squash! Amazing.... Friday, October 2 View Page Here is the blossom side with Sam. She has stopped growing, and measures in the 333 OTT range. My 808 measured 333 inches at Cooperstown, so I am excited for Sam as his fruit thumps much harder than my 808 did. Best of luck to all tomorrow at the various weigh offs. Good luck to my buddy Ned and Andy in Altoona. May you have the finest 807 pound fruit you ever saw! Sunday, October 4 View Page I had a spy taking photos of Ned and Andy in Altoona Saturday and also got this conversation out of it all. Sunday, October 4 View Page Karl Haist weighed his squash from his 1177 at Clarence yesterday, and both went heavy at 935.5 and 820. The 935.5 was 19.5 % heavy and the 820 was 17 % heavy. Keeping this in mind, here are the numbers Sam needs and the weights he would get if he can get as lucky, or luckier than Karl next weekend in Elmira. His 1177 thumps like concrete! Weights/percentages, Heavy to chart at Sams OTT of 333.5 (est 780): 10% - 867 11% - 877 12% - 887 13% - 897 14% - 907 15% - 918 16% - 929 17% - 940 18% - 952 19% - 963 20% - 975 21% - 987.5 22% - 1000 LBS! Monday, October 19 View Page A few pics of Bradley Farms that I didnt get into the diary. Here we are loaded with Matts winning 1302.5 in the truck and Sams squash (915) in the trailer. Big day for Matt and Sam, awesome year! Monday, October 19 View Page Joe Pukos in the background getting interviewed by local TV station with Matt Teeter and Andy Wolf discussing strategies right behind Joe. Monday, October 19 View Page A shot of the fruits at Bradley Farms in 09. We had some pretty big pumpkins in Elmira for such a small weigh off. We also had some big names and what brings them I think is the small town feeling. No stress, just the final weigh off (for most) and time to unwind. Poor Dan Hurley, the owner of Bradley Farms. Nothing was going right this day, His DJ/Emcee didnt make it, the trophy guy wasnt home, so he didnt get those, among many other factors. Despite all the hussling, it went off pretty well. Monday, October 19 View Page Back home with the 915, This tripod that Bart designed is a must have. Easy up, easy down, and can be done with one person. The 915 landing in the front yard with some non thousand pound grower on top. NEXT YEAR NED, NEXT YEAR. Monday, October 19 View Page Sam taking a stand behind the 915. Monday, October 19 View Page The final shot of the front display this year. FOrgot to cover last night so we got some frost on the fruits. UGGH.. Monday, October 19 View Page Here is a little 150 pounder that we found off the 1177 Haist. The reason I put this in the diary is the frost that hit the front display last night actually took this skin and made it dark green, instead of the light lime color that the fruit has been. Monday, October 19 View Page I saw this huge slug crawling across the parking lot, it reminded me of Ned and my pace to hit the thousand pounds. Just remember Ned, eventually the slug will get there, so we have a small glimmer of hope my friend! Monday, October 19 View Page Matt on the scales with his winning 1302.5. This guy works hard at this sport and was deserving of the title this year. Matt set the Bradley Farms records with the 1302.5 breaking Matt Verschneider's record of 1106. Congrats. Monday, October 19 View Page Sam with the 915 on the scales, all smiles. I filled in as events Emcee, so I got to get into the photo! Randy Sundstrom on stage helping with the weighing and judging. Many thanks to Randy, Andy Wolf, Matt Verschneider, Matt Teeter, Joe PUkos and everyone else who made this a great weigh off. And lets not forget the time, money and effort of DanHurley. You are the best. Monday, October 19 View Page And of course, Randy with the big smooch. Randy also got Sam in Cooperstown. Sunday, November 1 View Page We cut up the 915 today and it headed tothe compost pile. The walls were 13 inches thick in most of the squash body. Sunday, November 1 View Page Sam is learning to make compost, and here he is pictured mixing molasses with some water for the bath to the compost pile. Sunday, November 1 View Page Sam with bags fo leaves, 2 already assembled compost piles, and molasses buckets. We moved 20 more bags of leaves into the mix, while I added another days worth of grass clippings to the pot. I took Sam to the Sayre composting facility and showed him how they have the piles of compost and the reasoning behind the rotating and turning of the piles. We will be adding some truckloads of their already made compost. Sunday, November 1 View Page Sam taking on the task of moving and layering the new piles from the old piles, and new leaves. We gotta be ready for 2010. Not shown today, the monkey on my back. I sent him to Honesdale for the weekend. Sunday, November 1 View Page I tried carving a picture of Ned into one of the Jack o Lanterns and this is the best I could do.