Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 79 Entries. Wednesday, April 24 View Page Another beautiful spring in southern Alberta. It's been a cold spring. Sunday, April 28 View Page The squash plants at home went in on the 24th. I've got the 1246 Vincent and 1153 Kline. At the farm in the greenhouse, I have two of the 1081 Crews going, and Andrew has two 1274 Crews plants. Alanna has the 1385 Jutras and the 1088 Nieuwenhoff Here's Alex and Andrew with Alex's plants. He's got my 604 Makarchuk squash from last year. It is a 848 Mackenzie x a 1634 Wener. He wants to know what happens when you cross a squash and a pumpkin. No way to find out like trying it yourself. Saturday, June 1 View Page June 1st. It's been a pretty decent start to the season. We had some wind worries at the start of May, and one night of -9 that took a little nip of the Crews plants, but all in all, things are going well. Here's Alanna with her plants. Saturday, June 1 View Page Alex is the leader so far at the farm with his 604 Makarchuk plants. He's sitting with a 38 inch main on the first plant. Saturday, June 1 View Page Here's my 1081 Crews in the greenhouse. Saturday, June 1 View Page Andrew's been a bit busy these days. He's promised me he's going to weed tomorrow. Somewhere there is his 1274 Crews plants. He's also got a 1411 Cronk in there. His 1274's were nipped by the -9 a few weeks ago. We had the Cronk as a backup just in case. Saturday, June 1 View Page 145 Crews field pumpkin. The left plant is a replacement for the frost damaged plant we lost. Saturday, June 1 View Page My 1246 Vincent at home. The 1153 Kline came out today. Sunday, June 2 View Page Andrew took time out of his golf game to get his weeds pulled today. Did he get them all, no, but it's a great deal better than yesterday. Just making sure the world knows he pulls his own weeds. Thursday, June 27 View Page June has been a pretty good month for the plants. The 1246 Vincent squash opened today 14 feet out. It was pollinated with the 604 Makarchuk. Friday, June 28 View Page Alex's 604 Makarchuk is plugging along nicely. It had a flower open up today 11 feet out and was pollinated with the 1246 Vincent. The 604 is a 848 Mackenzie squash x 1634 Werner. The 604 is looking pretty yellow. We'll see what happens when we add a squash back into this. Monday, July 1 View Page The 1081 Crews opened today 11 feet out. I wanted to use the 1385 Jutras or 1274 Crews, but neither had any males, so instead we used the 604 Makarchuk. Wednesday, July 3 View Page Alanna's 1385 Jutras opened today at 9 feet. She pollinated it with the 1081 Crews. This plant has suffered in the heat the past few days. Wednesday, July 3 View Page Andrew's 1274 Crews. It has not been growing as fast as the others. Andrew has not spent enough time burying vines and it shows in his growth. His first female will open in about 5-6 days. Friday, July 5 View Page Ugh, ugh, ugh A massive thunderstorm is going through right now. Huge hail, massive winds, driving rain. I can't even see my truck parked in front of the house. My 1274 Vincent squash is......was......growing faster than anything I've ever grown. Alex's 604 Makarchuk is close behind. It was looking to be a very promising year. It was looking good....... We'll see what shows up in the morning, but I'm not holding my breath that anything survived. UGH! Friday, July 5 View Page My squash plant in the back yard after the storm. The sad news is there's more storms coming. Friday, July 5 View Page On the other side of the path are my tomatoes and peppers. I took the cover off just a few days ago. I've never had red tomatoes this early in the season. We'll see what things look like in the morning. There's too much lightning to go and check things out any more. Saturday, July 6 View Page The morning after. It's not a lost cause, but it will be an uphill climb. The Vincent squash..... Saturday, July 6 View Page I was at the golf course sitting on the patio as the storm approached. We couldn't see it from the east side. We made it home just in time to see it hit everything. We thought the front window would be pushed in to the house. No time to prepare. I had some tarps on the hoops to provide some afternoon shade, and that provided some protection, but the clear plastic I had as a windbreak was blown off and was no help. Saturday, July 6 View Page The Long gourds at home took a beating Saturday, July 6 View Page A few blocks north of us was this house. Christmas in July? Saturday, July 6 View Page Alanna's plant. The pumpkin itself was untouched. The ends of the vines are fine. We still have some hope for these. Saturday, July 6 View Page Alex's pumpkin got some hail damage. Saturday, July 6 View Page Closeup of Alex's 20 inches on day 8 this morning, although it didn't put on as much last night as the previous few. On track for 28 inches on day 10 until this happend. Saturday, July 6 View Page My field pumpkin Saturday, July 6 View Page All is well inside the greenhouse. This is the view from Andrew's side. The soil isn't where I want it to be yet, but it's getting there. Saturday, July 6 View Page The entrance to the farm patch. We had to clear the tree off the road this morning. Saturday, July 6 View Page Good ol' Taber Corn. It will be in shorter supply this year. A number of fields around the north end of the town were hit hard. About a mile east of here the fields just got rain and are fine. Sunday, August 4 View Page We took off for two weeks to go down to the states for a little vacation. All was fine when we came back. The plants that were damaged by hail have grown back, although Alex and Alanna's plants have big holes where the old leaves used to be. Sunday, August 4 View Page The squash at home has bounced back. It only had 3 secondaries with any life left in them. Two weeks away and the patch is full again. Wednesday, August 7 View Page We had a visitor in the patch. A salamander must have wandered in from the dugout. Maybe he's good luck? Sunday, August 18 View Page The 1246 Vincent. It shows the scars from the hail, but amazes me with how much it is growing. Sunday, August 18 View Page Alex's first pumpkin. It did not recover as easily as my squash from the hail. It has slowed to about 3-4 pounds a day. Sunday, August 18 View Page The bees pollinated another pumpkin on Alex's plant while we are gone. With his first one grinding to a halt, he's hoping this one will do better. His vines were not buried as well as mine before the hail, which might explain things. Sunday, August 18 View Page Alanna's 1385 opened up on the 20th and was pollinated with the 1081 Crews. A little behind but it's growing fast. Sunday, August 18 View Page Andrew's 1274 Crews. He's gaining weight fast. Sunday, August 18 View Page My 1081 Crews. The weather has been really nice the past few weeks. The overnight lows have not been as cool as they usually are. Good growing weather, almost perfect for this neck of the woods and it shows in the weight being put on. Friday, August 30 View Page My 1081 Crews. Just about to start the long weekend. It's put on 58 pounds in the last 3 days..... Friday, August 30 View Page The other end..... Friday, August 30 View Page After measuring, I found something I didn't want to see. Estimated weight, 706 lbs and growing steadily. Friday, August 30 View Page Rats, this thing showed no sign of stopping. Monday, September 2 View Page Back from camping, and it was still putting on the pounds. It finished out at an estimated 736 lbs before we cut it up today. It's been just hot and dry and a struggle to keep the soil moist. I'll have to live through my kids' pumpkins at Smoky this year. Andrew is choosing pumpkins over hockey tryouts and plans to make the trip. Alanna is excited as well to take hers now that mine went down. Wednesday, October 2 View Page My 1246 Vincent. It had a small stem split and hasn't put on any measureable weight in a while. After the year we've had, I'm just happy to have this. Wednesday, October 2 View Page Thanks again Pete for helping to move the squash. Thursday, October 3 View Page Alex's second pumpkin on the 604 Makarchuk. This one is going to the front of the farm as a decoration. Thursday, October 3 View Page Alex's first pumpkin on the 604. It never really recovered from the hail and had minimal growth. Taping at est 297. Alex wanted to stay home and avoid the 14 hour return trip to Smoky. We'll try and get it weighed this week. It's thumping like a rock. The scaring from the hail is quite striking. Thursday, October 3 View Page Alanna's 1385 Jutras Taping 283 inches and est 504 lbs. Thursday, October 3 View Page Andrew's 1274 Crews. Tapind 311 inches est 668 lbs Saturday, October 5 View Page Another view of Andrew's pumpkin up in Smoky. It's a blob. Saturday, October 5 View Page After a stop in Calgary to pick up my Dad, we made it to Smoky. Here's our lineup. Saturday, October 5 View Page After winning the watermelon category, Don Crews gets interviewed by the media. Saturday, October 5 View Page The squash comes in light, 477lbs It measured 298 inches for estimated 591 lbs. Still good enough for first place. Here's Danny Hooper interviewing myself and Eddy Zaychkowsky. It was a good crowd again for the festival. Saturday, October 5 View Page Speaking of Eddy, here's his pumpkin entry. What a looker! Saturday, October 5 View Page A close up of Eddy's pumpkin. Saturday, October 5 View Page Alanna's comes in at 448.6 Good enough for 8th place. Saturday, October 5 View Page Andrew's comes in at 594.2 pounds. A new personal best. Alanna's 448 is also a new personal best. Saturday, October 5 View Page The winner is Don Crews 1213.8 lbs Saturday, October 5 View Page The top 10 growers. Good job Andrew and Alanna. Saturday, October 5 View Page Andrew was torn. Do I take the pumpkin back home and carve it up for Halloween? He loves doing this, but he also loves to see useless destruction. With mixed emotions he offered his pumpkin up for the drop. My dad helped him retrieve his seeds. Saturday, October 5 View Page Oops, forgot the picture Saturday, October 5 View Page After the weigh off, it was time for some recreation at the fair. The kids shot well, but didn't win a prize. Saturday, October 5 View Page Andrew enjoyed being in front of the crowd as they introduced his pumpkin before the drop. Saturday, October 5 View Page Eddy always has a fun time here. There was a good crowd again. Saturday, October 5 View Page We lost sight of the blossom way back in August. Saturday, October 5 View Page Jennifer gave Andrew some last minute instructions. Saturday, October 5 View Page Is this high enough? Saturday, October 5 View Page The last view of Andrew's pumpkin. Looks like they'll hit the target Saturday, October 5 View Page Splat Saturday, October 5 View Page The pieces from the first squash they dropped went flying into the crowd. I guess filling it with water before hand adds a bit of kick to the drop. Saturday, October 5 View Page Andrew was filled with mixed emotions about the drop. He really wanted to carve it for Halloween and see the reaction from all of the little kids. That's the best part of pumpkin growing in our house. This, I think for him, was a close second. Saturday, October 5 View Page One last stop before heading home. Had to stop by Andrew's namesake town and see the duck. Saturday, October 5 View Page Back in Calgary. Only 3 hours of driving left. Saturday, October 5 View Page And you can't leave the grandparents house without playing in the leaves. Alanna and Alex are excited that they have their pumpkins to carve for the 31st. Friday, October 25 View Page Time to get the patch prepped for next year. Andrew's big enough to help till the garden. One less job for me to do.....and I'm sad. I like tilling the garden. He likes it too. Thursday, October 31 View Page We only have two big ones to carve this year, Alex's and Alanna's. We had a nice afternoon to carve them up today. Thursday, October 31 View Page Andrew and Alex also did some smaller pumpkins. Thursday, October 31 View Page The result of all the carving. Thursday, October 31 View Page We had about 100 or so kids show up at the house this year. It was a pretty nice night once the wind stopped blowing before supper. Thursday, October 31 View Page All lit up.