Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 71 Entries. Tuesday, March 24 View Page Why, hello there! If you are reading this diary either your lost or trying to learn from others mistakes. Well let me tell you, you will learn a lot, for I make a lot of mistakes. So if you like comical errors and unhapping ending to your love stories, stick around, for I will not disappoint you. lol. Wednesday, March 25 View Page MY BENCH MARK GOALS based on previous years date day plant size plant plant sq' 25-Apr 0 plant 30-Apr 5 up 5-May 10 2 leaf 13-May 18 1' 19-May 24 2' 21-May 26 3' 30-May 35 6'6" 11-Jun 47 7'9" 12-Jun 48 8'6" 13-Jun 49 9'4" 14-Jun 50 10'6" 15-Jun 51 11'6" 16-Jun 52 12'4" 200' 17-Jun 53 13'2" 211' 18-Jun 54 13'10" 221' 19-Jun 55 14'6" 232' 20-Jun 56 15'1" 241' 21-Jun 57 16'6" 264' 22-Jun 58 18' 288' 23-Jun 59 18'5" 295' 24-Jun 60 19'3" 308' 25-Jun 61 19'8" 315' 26-Jun 62 20'2" 323' 27-Jun 63 20'10" 333' 28-Jun 64 21'6" 344' 29-Jun 65 22'2" 355' 30-Jun 66 23'4" 373' 1-Jul day pollunated at 20' date day ott 5-Jul 4 37.5" 6-Jul 5 44.5" 7-Jul 6 54.0" 8-Jul 7 64.0" 9-Jul 8 75.0" 10-Jul 9 85.0" 11-Jul 10 98.0" 12-Jul 11 112.0" 13-Jul 12 127.0" 14-Jul 13 139.0" 15-Jul 14 150.5" 16-Jul 15 160.0" 17-Jul 16 170.0" 18-Jul 17 180.5" 19-Jul 18 189.5" 20-Jul 19 197.5" date day ott 21-Jul 20 205.0" 22-Jul 21 211.0" 23-Jul 22 217.5" 24-Jul 23 222.5" 25-Jul 24 227.5" 26-Jul 25 232.5" 27-Jul 26 237.5" 28-Jul 27 242.5" 29-Jul 28 249" 30-Jul 29 256" 31-Jul 30 266" 1-Aug 31 273" 421lbs 2-Aug 32 280" 3-Aug 33 289" 4-Aug 34 294" 5-Aug 35 301" 6-Aug 36 307" 7-Aug 37 312" 8-Aug 38 317" 9-Aug 39 321" 10-Aug 40 327" 11-Aug 41 329" 12-Aug 42 332" 13-Aug 43 335" 14-Aug 44 339" 15-Aug 45 340" 16-Aug 46 342" 17-Aug 47 343" 18-Aug 48 344" 19-Aug 49 345" 20-Aug 50 345.5" 806lbs Wednesday, March 25 View Page well here is my soil test results and based on these, last years results, my garden and discussion with Jeff Reid I will be adding(Jeffs idea) 20lbs K-Mag. (non Jeff ideas) 4 bags peat moss 10lbs urea 40-0-0. And through the year. Compost tea, of worm castings, molasses and ????) Soil Tests March 1st 2009 PH 7.30 Organisc matter % 8.00 P2O5 (kg/ha) 3376.00 K2O (kg/ha) 1274.00 Ca (kg/ha) 9334.00 Mg (kg/ha) 868.00 Na (kg/ha) 100.00 Sulfur (kg/ha) 48.00 Al (ppm) 728.17 Fe (ppm) 325.00 Mn (ppm) 53.00 Cu (ppm) 4.06 Zn (ppm) 41.10 B (ppm) 1.73 Salt (mhos x 10-3) 0.25 CEC (meq/100gm) 29.90 Base Sat. K (%) 4.50 Ca (%) 78.10 Mg (%) 12.10 Na (%) 0.70 H (%) 4.60 Monday, March 30 View Page Starting line up Watermelon - 197 leonard x 3, 239 leonard x 3 Squash - 963 jarvis, 800 neily x 2 Pumpkin - 1010 frants, 1140 wallace, 1502 wallace Second line up Watermelon - 211 leonard x 3, 140 vincent Squash - 963 jarvis, 800 neily Pumpkin - 1010 wallace, 1174 wallace from this only 1 of each species will make it to final elemination. to make thing worse my boy Kodi has claimed the pumpkin as his and my girl Jordan has claimed the squash. So all I really have now is a watermelon. watermelon start dates april 17 & may 1 pumpkin/squash start dates april 24 & may 1 Monday, April 6 View Page Here is my garden layout 1500'sq. Next to the fence 640'sq for a squash. down the center 200'sq for watermelon. closes to you 660'sq pumpkin. hope this is enough room for them but better than only 250'sq which some backyard gardeners only have to work with (i feel your pain). I think there should be a city/back yard division at weigh offs due to light, area, ect.. limitations we have to work in. But what am I complaining about I have a bigger patch than a lot of growers and only lose about 1.5hrs daylight and in compensation I don't need wind breaks. Thursday, April 16 View Page finally 2 nice day's and prep work done, added 55' to patch, Fertlized, tilled in rye, measured off grow areas (pumpkin watermelon then squash in distance which will have a few side vines go behind melon area), put up green house, put in heating cables (none for melon :( ). A good man could have done all this in 1 day. Friday, April 17 View Page watermelon started. lookajook just try and keep up Tuesday, April 21 View Page Day 4. And 5 of 6 up for watermelon Friday, April 24 View Page starting line up, warming up. Tuesday, April 28 View Page day 4 and 5 out of 6 up Saturday, May 2 View Page day 8 pumpkins transplaned Saturday, May 2 View Page day 8 squash transplanted Saturday, May 2 View Page day 8 for the jarvis squash being held in for reserve. day 15 for watermelon in there 12" pots. Will likely transplant next weekend. Also planted back ups (hydrated) yesterday Friday, May 8 View Page day 21 watermelon transplanted today Friday, May 8 View Page day 14 squash. no sun has put them at a stand still Friday, May 8 View Page day 14 pumpkin. no sun and cold has these stopped in there tracks as well Friday, May 8 View Page back ups still being held in reserve. not having or keeping back ups has ruined me more than once so I'll keep these for a long while yet Thursday, May 14 View Page pumpkin day 20. I culled down to this one as starting to really pull away from it's companion. As well i'm a few days ahead of last year. But behind Donkin by the look of it Thursday, May 14 View Page squash day 20. undesided as to which to cull as they are still close. the one on the right had the better start but lefty is now ahead a little bit Monday, May 18 View Page day 24 pumpkin still growing dispite single digit & cloudy weather. all in all I'm about 6 days ahead of last year. Squash is still doing well but forgot to snap a picture. one of them double vined and was falling behind so I'm down to my one. lookajook it's still early in the game your not out yet but don't set your sights to high like keeping up with me lol Sunday, May 24 View Page squash plant day 30. nothing great but not a disater yet either. Sunday, May 24 View Page day 30 pumpkin plant. doing pretty good but since the first 6" of vine laid down the next 6" has gone straight up, which has me worried of a break. ps. thats a 2gal water can. ps2 my watermelons are not doing well as i used to big of a pot to start with and had some root damage when I transplanted them Friday, June 12 View Page day 49 pumpkin. poor greenhouse design has forced my plant out way to early and has suffered from the cold of living next to the artic ocean Friday, June 12 View Page Day 49 squash same senario as pumpkin Friday, July 3 View Page sunflower/corn planted june 20th up june 23 up. july 3 reached first leaf plato of 2.5". side note. I feel like I have 3 chances with my pumpkin and squash plants the first pitch on the pumpkin was high and on the inside not worth even swing at or I would have popped out (seeds in belly button) second pitch is looking right down the middle, I'll swing at her but I perfer low and away which will be my third pumpkin but if she's a sinker I will want to have gotten some wood on the second pitch. as for the squash she'll be crossing the plate with her first tommorow but I have no males So looks like I will miss but it was a high to the inside pitch as well. the second on this looks like a good low and away pitch. _ Saturday, July 4 View Page camera's broke & in three weeks there's only been 2 half day's of sun. Yesterday first male opened. the first few rotted off. As for my Squash plant it is 13' today with a female Not open yet at 9' and 2 in the head. As for the pumpkin it is 15'6" with an unopen female at 11.5', 13.25' and one in the head. females look healthy but I have never seen 4' of vine ahead of one not opened befor. blame it on the rain yah yah. Sunday, July 5 View Page 11.5' pumpkin is removed. I noticed a split in the petals near the pumpkin and upon close inspection I could see seeds. so I removed and open and of 6 lobes only 2 were reconizable as such as the other for were nothing but seeds. when i cross sectioned i found a hole from belly button right to the center of the pumpkin already. Sunday, July 5 View Page 9' squash opened. At 5:30pm??? had to go to the dill farm were danny gave me a 1003 MacKenzie male to pollunate with as i had no males open or close to it Wednesday, July 8 View Page female @ 13+' opened on 1502 wallace, a nice clean 4 lober, crossed with 800 neily . Frost warning here tonight Thursday, July 9 View Page snapped main vine today right after 3 pumpkin luckly. not sure if second took yet @ 13'. 3rd pumpkin is going to fall at 17' Friday, July 10 View Page 90% sure I missed my 13' pumpkin pollunation but looking like 4 days for 17' female. This pumpkin is easy to handle in the garden but very prone to desiese and pest. As for my Squash it is very difficult to grow as vines are very thick and brittle main is 1/2 split in several areas but pest and deise don't touch her. Wednesday, July 15 View Page pollunated female @ 17' dead head. About the size of a golf ball but it had the largest belly button I've ever seen. Each lobe looked like the end of a man's thumb and there were 5 cramed together bigger than a silver dallor. I had to cut the flower away to pollunate as the flower was all crammed against it even open. I used 3, day old fridge flowers and 4 fresh. I covered with a styrafoam cup and braced with styrafoam step down as it's still about a foot in the air. I will pollunate again tomorrow just incase the size of the belly button forced open the flower a day early. wish my camera was working Thursday, July 16 View Page 4 lobe 13' squash pollunated Friday, July 17 View Page last pollunation of the season 5 lobe squash 14' Monday, July 20 View Page day 5 13"c for pumpkin. a little slow but as long as it's pollunated I'm ok. For my 900lbs was the same on day 5 and would have reach 1100+ if not for me. Wednesday, July 22 View Page Well I finally pruned down to one squash. the choice was made somewhat for me, as my second squash which was a day younger developed several blossum end splits only one of which was of any size As well this one had a small stem split and there was a white stripe on the fruit which started to go brown. after removing I disected and the white stripe it seemed to be full of a clear jelly which I beleive would have become a weak spot. Especially as lookajook lost his big one to a split last year on a white stripe that was present from birth like mine. to bad I beleive it would have been bigger than the one i kept but a live dog is better than a dead lion. Saturday, July 25 View Page day 10 pumpkin nothing special but cosidering the weather oooh well. 24.5"cc 17"ss 18"ee = 59.5"ott day 9 squash even less impresive 19.5"cc 12"ss 14.5"ee = 46"ott Saturday, July 25 View Page well I'm in trouble already. upon close inspection I noticed my stem is split pretty badly. about 1/4" wide 1/2" deep and 4" long. fortunately the split stops just shy of the pumpkin and vine. as well it is on the bottom so less chance of festering. But unless we start seeing some sun here it has no chance of drying out. Thursday, July 30 View Page day 15 pumpkin 44"cc 34"ss 32.5"ee = 110.5"ott = 37lbs = 10lbs gain last 24hrs. nothing special Friday, July 31 View Page squash day 15 with 40"cc 25"ss 30"ee = 95"ott = 25lbs. Not so good but considering there is only about 7 that show up at my weigh off I may take 3rd lol Saturday, August 1 View Page day 16 31lbs. not so good and looking like a bad shape Saturday, August 1 View Page it's shaped like a shoe box but the middle looks weak already. not good Saturday, August 1 View Page day 17 62.5lbs not doing to bad Saturday, August 1 View Page but there could be a problem here and it's to young for showing this bad shape already. Anyone knows some trick to lessen this problem I would appriciate the advise Tuesday, August 4 View Page day 20 cc69" ott imposible now that I had to tilt my pumpkin back to stop the face plant that it wanted to do. Wednesday, August 5 View Page day 20 65.5lbs very sad Wednesday, August 5 View Page day 10 26"cc if the stock would stop splitting and was set a month ago it may have been something Sunday, August 9 View Page day 25 with a 89"cc they say slow and steady wins the race but I don't think this old nag is going to win anything. I just hope she clears a thousand but I'm starting to dought that now. Friday, August 14 View Page day 30 now 102.5"cc = 282.5lbs. As you can see I think my pumpkin has developed a problem. but hopefully it will develop into a big heavey beer gut. Wednesday, August 19 View Page day 35 cc 114.5" = 372lbs as you can see this pumpkins problem is esculating. not only does he refuse to grow at any speed but he keeps me up all night parting no good SOB doesn't even share Saturday, August 22 View Page thought I would take a prebill picture Saturday, August 29 View Page day 45 ott = 292.5" = 530lbs not a good year for me but I've never had a good year out of this patch yet Saturday, August 29 View Page day 43 ott = 252.5" = 347lbs I think I'm growing a watermelon here lol Sunday, August 30 View Page wow this tropical storm was way worse than hurricain bill. I lost 20% of my leaves and my sun flower. but the pumpkin liked it 1.5" cc gain now sitting 295"ott or 544lbs Friday, September 11 View Page pumpkin day 58 with 138"cc 88"ee 90"ss = 316"ott = 666lbs but I found a dark spot on her stock next to the fruit and it's getting a little soft. I'll operate tonight. Squash day 56 with 119"cc 82.5"ee 73.5"ss = 275"ott = 444lbs Saturday, September 19 View Page well a month after 2 hurricains my sunflower finally succumed to it's injuries. The second hurricain blew her down and put a foot long split in her stock. I proped her up against her neighbor corn and she bounced back a little but the weight of the flowers did her in. she died 9' with 27 flowers RIP. Wednesday, September 23 View Page 10m more day's to go ott will be 750lbs but will go light Wednesday, September 23 View Page 10 more day's to go ott will be 500lbs but will go light Thursday, October 8 View Page her i am with my pumpkin at the Windsor weigh off and it looks like it should take 15th of 20. ott 144" x 94" x 93" = 331" = 763lbs Thursday, October 8 View Page well look at that she went 10% heavey and took 7th woho with a weight of 841lbs Thursday, October 8 View Page and her she goes to her new owner on her way on becoming a boat for the regatta Thursday, October 8 View Page her are the top 3 pumpkins this year here Thursday, October 8 View Page thought I'd show one of 2 splits that were in my main vine befor my squash Thursday, October 8 View Page here i am with my squash looks like i'll take 2nd ott 127.5" x 75.5" x 84.5" = 287.5" = 504lbs Thursday, October 8 View Page look at that went 17% heavey for a weight of 592lbs and took 1st woho Thursday, October 8 View Page here I'm getting a few awards Thursday, October 8 View Page here they are Thursday, October 8 View Page squash center cut away (8"knife blade) Thursday, October 8 View Page squash front cut away (8"knife blade) Thursday, October 8 View Page squash back cut away (8"knife blade) Thursday, October 8 View Page last pick of a little squash that could lol ;)