Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 656 Entries. Monday, February 16 View Page Well I guess it's about time I started my grower diary. Monday, February 16 View Page I was tempted to just put that entry and let it sit here for about a month, but I have too many pictures sitting around to wait another month. Hang on to your server Ken, because here comes Boom Boom's 2009 Grower Diary! Monday, February 16 View Page Let's start with the Elk Grove Growers Meeting held on Feb 7th Monday, February 16 View Page Don't ask me who all those people are.. . Monday, February 16 View Page Here's a bunch more people I don't know . . .and the seed table. Monday, February 16 View Page Bam Bam and Boom Boom Monday, February 16 View Page That was Jack Vezzollo behind us. (two l's two z's ?) Monday, February 16 View Page Okay, this is the deal. When you fly down to California for the Spring Grower's Meeting and stay with Pete and Cindi, they make you walk up this mountain with them. Monday, February 16 View Page I don't think it needs to be mentioned, nonetheless I will, that I do not frequent mountains on foot. Monday, February 16 View Page But I made it! Monday, February 16 View Page I almost forgot! We let George come too! Monday, February 16 View Page Next we loaded up and went to Leonardo Urena's Monday, February 16 View Page He does Okay. Monday, February 16 View Page We went outside and talked about "stuff" for a while. Monday, February 16 View Page Pete and Cindi decided we hadn't walked enough, so we walked to one of Leonardo's growing areas. Monday, February 16 View Page My shoes and socks were soaked all the way through and my feet were FREEZING. Monday, February 16 View Page While we were there we decided to start a singing group. The Four-Ganics. Monday, February 16 View Page (4-Ganics?) (For-Organincs?) Oh well. . . Monday, February 16 View Page It would've been 5, but George was taking the pictures. Monday, February 16 View Page I guess he's our PR guy. (Pumpkin Relations) Monday, February 16 View Page Then we walked back and Leonardo took us in his pick-up to where he REALLY grows his pumpkins. Monday, February 16 View Page "This is where the magic happens" said Leonardo. "Right here." Monday, February 16 View Page We were in awe. Monday, February 16 View Page We loaded back up in the truck. Monday, February 16 View Page For the best was yet to come! Monday, February 16 View Page Leonardo had his very own great big pile of composted turkey manure!!! Monday, February 16 View Page Hey Pete, take a wiff! This ain't Tofurkey poo! Monday, February 16 View Page This is where George thought he'd get smart with the turkey poo Monday, February 16 View Page Really smart. . . Monday, February 16 View Page Poor George, he never had a chance. Monday, February 16 View Page After all that, George and Pete still drove me to the airport. And. . . George burned all these pictures onto a CD for me. Thanks George! Tuesday, February 17 View Page Next is Kevin and Erin's Rhino Poo Adventure! Tuesday, February 17 View Page Last fall when the guys from the Game Farm hauled all my leftover pumpkins away they mentioned I could get some rhino doo from them. Tuesday, February 17 View Page After spending a soggy cold damp winter thinking about it, I decided that a nice pick-up load of Rhino Poo was just what I needed to lift my spirits and get back into the Pumpkin Growing mood. Tuesday, February 17 View Page So I stealthily waited for a National Holiday so I'd have my son available for unloading. Tuesday, February 17 View Page So we went to the game farm and followed the backhoe guy to where they pile the Rhino poo. Tuesday, February 17 View Page "Why that's quite a pile of Rhino poo" I said, while maneuvering my truck into position. Tuesday, February 17 View Page "Gives a whole new meaning to the word, 'dump truck', doesn't it Erin", said the Rhino. Tuesday, February 17 View Page So they filled my pretty black pick-up with two buckets full of red wriggler filled Rhino poo and we headed home. Tuesday, February 17 View Page The Easy Unloader is a wonderful thing when cranked out by my son. Tuesday, February 17 View Page Now I have my own mini mountain of rhino poo. Tuesday, February 17 View Page Not to be confused with this wee mountain Tuesday, February 17 View Page Stinkin Moles. . . . Saturday, February 21 View Page I've got some "special love" I'm going to show those moles this year. . . Saturday, February 21 View Page Did I hear her say "special love"? Saturday, February 21 View Page I think she's actually serious! Saturday, February 21 View Page I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. She's knows not with whom she messes with. Saturday, February 21 View Page with Saturday, February 21 View Page She will rue the day she ever crossed my tunnel. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Introductions are in order. . . Saturday, February 21 View Page I am a member of the Knights of Rodenthe, a secret underground society dedicated to the erradication of the evil earthworm. Saturday, February 21 View Page (Just ignore that reflection in my sunglasses) Saturday, February 21 View Page For the past few days I have been trying to hack into The Erin's classified computer system in order observe and infiltrate her Big Pumpkin's grower diary. Saturday, February 21 View Page While digging for her password, I discovered a bubble with this letter. Little does he know that I switched the 605* for a 45 Grimes. . . . Saturday, February 21 View Page FINALLY! Success! I was in! Saturday, February 21 View Page Your Big Pumpkin schemes to overthrow moledom have been thwarted. Saturday, February 21 View Page Again. Saturday, February 21 View Page Uh oh, The Erin approaches. . . see ya later suckahs! Saturday, February 21 View Page What the heck was that? My grower diary's all messed up! Saturday, February 21 View Page Dang! As if my own grower diary isn't long enough. Saturday, February 21 View Page Well anyway. . . a couple days ago, Gary, the tractor man came and plowed the patch. Saturday, February 21 View Page I guess that thing on the back of the tractor was a plow. Saturday, February 21 View Page Maybe it was a disc. Saturday, February 21 View Page Whatever it was, it worked great to get the deeper soil up. This way I'm thinking all that manure put on in fall will be distributed deeper and more thoroughly. Saturday, February 21 View Page Stinkin' sea gulls were loving it. Maybe they'll scare the moles away. Saturday, February 21 View Page She wishes. . . These sea gulls are mere pawns. Saturday, February 21 View Page She's watching the gulls. . . . and I'm. . . . Saturday, February 21 View Page dining on this fat little beauty. Saturday, February 21 View Page And that reminds me. . . what ever happened to that Rhino doo? It had the distinct aroma of eau de redwriggler. Saturday, February 21 View Page Ah, I doo believe that's the pile. . . Saturday, February 21 View Page Drat! Here comes The Erin to gaze upon her manure collection. Saturday, February 21 View Page Back to the underground for me. Saturday, February 21 View Page Later suckahs! Thursday, March 5 View Page Okay, so back to the REAL grower diary. . . I had some trouble maintaining a consistent temperature in my germination chamber/ice chest last year, and after losing some very fine seeds vowed to build a better system for 2009. Thursday, March 5 View Page Al Kopp published some plans in his club's newsletter that looked (dee diddly) "do-able" to me. So while you guys were bidding on seeds and chatting of the possible reflective benefits of aluminum foil on chloroplasts and advanced photosynthetic reactions . .. Thursday, March 5 View Page I put a light bulb in a plastic tub! Thursday, March 5 View Page (Al says this was really Norm's idea. . .) Thursday, March 5 View Page Dang that Norm's a genius! Thursday, March 5 View Page Well, the directions called for a wire rack to have its pointy little ends poked out some holes on either side of the tub. This proved too difficult for me. Thursday, March 5 View Page The wire racks I found were either too long or too short or too wide or too expensive, so I decided to "Dance with who brung me". Thursday, March 5 View Page I used two 24" garden stakes for support and put a cookie rack on top. I then suspended a diposable aluminum cookie sheet from the rack with some zip tie thingies. Thursday, March 5 View Page I later put some holes around the edges of the aluminum cookie sheet so that the heat from the bulb could circulate a little better. Thursday, March 5 View Page So. . . after completing two of these wonders of my electrical and baking prowess I decided to plug them in and see if they actually worked Thursday, March 5 View Page But first I made sure there was one of these. Thursday, March 5 View Page Success! They maintained at a fine 87 degrees after 3 hours. I'll try germinating some test seeds this weekend and see if filling the tub with pots of soil will make it more difficult to keep the temp up at 87. Thursday, March 5 View Page Stinkin' mole. Saturday, March 7 View Page Yesterday with 4 large pots inside, the chamber maintained at 85 degrees. This morning though it was down to 79, so I swapped out the 60 watt bulb for a 100 watt. Interestingly, the second chamber which is stacked underneath the one I'm using is maintaining at the same temperature (and it's not even plugged in). Saturday, March 7 View Page I have a feeling I will be buying some 75 watt bulbs today. Saturday, March 7 View Page Yep, 100 watt was too hot. Bought some 75 watt bulbs today. Sunday, March 8 View Page The 75 watt bulb is keeping the chamber at 91 and the soil temp at 85. That's with the external room temp at 73. It dipped down a bit at night, but not too much. Looks like the 75 watt is the winner. Monday, March 9 View Page All 4 seeds were up this morning. Yay! Wednesday, March 18 View Page So when you get these test germs to come up, what do you do with them? Wednesday, March 18 View Page Mine became one with the compost pile. Wednesday, March 18 View Page I'm becoming heartless. Wednesday, March 18 View Page Wait until you see what I do with that mole when I find it. . . Wednesday, March 18 View Page It can't be any worse than this cat nibbling on my foot! Wednesday, March 18 View Page Mmmmmmm. . . tasty mole toes Sabre, try some! Wednesday, March 18 View Page Yyyyuummmmmy! Wednesday, March 18 View Page Finally a chance to make a break for it. . . .The mutt's asleep.. . as usual.. . Wednesday, March 18 View Page . . . but first a snack from the brat's snack jar, and then I'll head out . . . Wednesday, March 18 View Page Drat! That wicked beast has blocked my exit and looks, dare I say it? Hungry? Wednesday, March 18 View Page There is nothing more insulting than being trapped by a pug saying "neener neener neener". Wednesday, March 18 View Page Time for me to hole up. . . Later suckahs! Wednesday, March 18 View Page Just ignore that stupid mole. He's really beginning to annoy me. Wednesday, March 18 View Page Instead here's a picture of my new wind fence nearing completion. For a 100' x 6' fence the cost was pretty reasonable. We used 8' landscape timbers which were on sale for $2.99, the fabric I purchased on e-Bay for about $100. Grommets were placed in the fabric so I can take it down at the end of the season, and lath was screwed onto the timbers for reinforcement The soil was so soft that "we" set the timbers in concrete. Wednesday, March 18 View Page Yes. I hired a wind fence guy. Wednesday, March 18 View Page Hmmm. . . so I thought I posted this picture. Maybe it'll show up twice. It's a mystery. . . anyhow. . . this is the wind fence. 100' x 6' with 8' landscape timbers used as posts, which "we" set in concrete. The fencing material is supported on the backside of the posts with lath to keep it from tearing. Wednesday, March 25 View Page Rookie grower diary mistake. . . . . Wednesday, March 25 View Page Bought all this bone meal, blood meal, alfalfa meal and gypsum. Thought it was about time my tractor man got this all spread and tilled in before the next deluge of rain. Wednesday, March 25 View Page Got a little something for the worms too! Wednesday, March 25 View Page (Just in case they want to whip up a batch or two of cornbread. . .) Wednesday, March 25 View Page Oh hey, effeminate squirrel-boy, did you hear her say "worms"? Wednesday, March 25 View Page How about you piggly? She said "worms", didn't she? Wednesday, March 25 View Page Ah, I should know better than to try and start a discussion with inanimate objects. . .. I shall investigate this worm and cornbread business further. Wednesday, March 25 View Page Anyway. . . . when the tractor showed up the gulls got wind of it and lined up on my neighbor's roof. Wednesday, March 25 View Page I will try to get a picture of Dave shooing the gulls off his roof. Wednesday, March 25 View Page Bless his heart. . . . Wednesday, March 25 View Page Ah now, I do believe, this is the lifter-upper thing. Wednesday, March 25 View Page How do you steer this thing? Wednesday, March 25 View Page So once Gary got all the ammendments spread and the patch tilled, it looked pretty nice. Wednesday, March 25 View Page There was this one incident where Gary noticed something (furry maybe?) falling off the back of the tractor. Wednesday, March 25 View Page I told Gary not to worry about it. Wednesday, March 25 View Page Got a nice rain today to water all the ammendments in. Perfect! Monday, April 13 View Page Soooo. . . . back a few weeks ago I decided to fill up the gas tank, vacuum out the pug hair and head on down to Oregon for the combined PNWGPG/PGVG Spring Seminar. Monday, April 13 View Page Next time I get the oil changed I'm going to have the oil changing guy check out that squeek I hear everytime I move the seat all the way back. Monday, April 13 View Page Anyhow. . . Saw a bunch of familiar faces. Actually it appears only to be the sides of familiar faces. . . Monday, April 13 View Page Here we see Jack LaRue and Jim Sherwood discussing how many tickets to put in the raffle pot. (I'm sure that's the valuable 605* Huff they're vying for). Monday, April 13 View Page Neal Leland was the epitome of good posture during the soil guy's lecture. Monday, April 13 View Page And then there were the door prize drawings.. . . Monday, April 13 View Page . . . . still a sensitive subject. Monday, April 13 View Page I didn't win a single door! Monday, April 13 View Page But I did win this really cool tote in the raffle. Thank you Ron Barker and Jake Van Kooten for helping me load this tote (in the rain). Monday, April 13 View Page Then I headed on home. Monday, April 13 View Page Ohhhewwwww. . . she's soooo annoyingly cheerful sometimes. . . Let her ride for 6 hours strapped to a tote, we'll see how cheerful she is! Monday, April 13 View Page You should have seen the travesty of a "Pumpkin Talk" The Erin gave to those kids that came by for some education. Here she is trying to look like she's organized. Monday, April 13 View Page I call this one, "This is my pumpkin shed, isn't it cute? Does my hair look okay?" Monday, April 13 View Page Orrr. . . how about this one? "You put the plastic pole thingy through the other plastic thingy". Monday, April 13 View Page Obvioulsy the people were enthralled (when they weren't stepping all over my holes). .. Monday, April 13 View Page All this typing is making me hungry, time to exit this miserable excuse for a mole hole and head out to the compost pile for a snack. . . Monday, April 13 View Page Drat! It appears that the blunt nosed beast has beat me to it. Monday, April 13 View Page I shall save my appetite for a more convenient time. Until then. . . Monday, April 13 View Page Later suckahs! Monday, April 13 View Page I'm going to have to change my password. . . stinkin' mole. . . Monday, April 13 View Page Started my seeds today Monday, April 13 View Page Filed the sides and then placed each one in a labeled jar filled with lukewarm "kelp-water". Monday, April 13 View Page They were placed in the germ chambers to soak for 4 hours while the soil warmed too. Monday, April 13 View Page Turns out that the bathroom with no sink or toilet makes a great out of the way place to keep the germ chambers. (yeah, that's the bathroom I messed up with the overflowing washer water damage thingy. . .) Monday, April 13 View Page So tonite at about 8 or 9 I'll put the seeds in their pots and wait. . . Monday, April 13 View Page And (Norm) that's the end of my grower diary update. Monday, April 13 View Page But not really. . . Monday, April 13 View Page My "Helper Guy" came last week and we put three 40' x 14' greenhouse frames up. Monday, April 13 View Page I needed to bury the soil heating cables (which I did on the 11th) and we'll put the plastic on later this week. Monday, April 13 View Page While I was taking a break, I decided to check if there were any worms (that the mole hadn't eaten) in the Rhino doo. Monday, April 13 View Page And I found this little guy. Not sure if he came with the rhino poo or if he came to the rhino poo because it was warm. Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter. Monday, April 13 View Page Okay, now I'm done. Monday, April 13 View Page Really. . . Thursday, April 16 View Page The Prizewinner was the first up (last night). This morning the 1028* and 1255 were up. The 1027 isn't far behind. Friday, April 17 View Page 1027 and 991 are up Friday, April 17 View Page 1175 was up this morning. Poked around the 605* and there was zero action on that seed, plus there was some mold on it. Tossed it and started another 605*. The 985 is going slow, but after some careful nibbing around I found that it had germed but some mold on the seed coat as well. I wiped off the mold, gave it some help around the edges seed coat with a scalpel and pray that it will pop out tomorrow morning. Friday, April 17 View Page Obviously I should make it a point of having a cup of coffee before attempting a diary post... Friday, April 17 View Page Okay, I've got the coffee now. I'll post more pics when my new camera arrives. Hopefully today! Wouldn't need a new camera if I hadn't left mine on the lawn for two days in the RAIN. Friday, April 17 View Page See, to me, that's God's way of telling me I need a new camera. Friday, April 17 View Page That, or He's telling me I'm stoopit. Friday, April 17 View Page Since I have cut back from 10 to 6 plants (did you read that Lee? I cut back to 6 plants!) I thought I'd use the extra room for some vegetables. Leonardo sent me home with some Helda Beans, my neighbor, Karen gave me som "Green Giant Peas" (her son works for Green Giant)and I still have some of that pink corn Al gave me 3 years ago. Plus some onions and potatoes, lettuce, maters, cucumbers, some french pumpkins and zuchinni. Piece of cake. . . Here's a picture of what Helda Beans look like, just in case you're wondering (I was). Friday, April 17 View Page I figure they were named after someone's Aunt Helda. Friday, April 17 View Page 1207 is up. Whew! Just waiting on the 1086* and the (pleeze God, pleeze God) 985. . . Saturday, April 18 View Page Well the mold on the 985 had returned, which I guess was to be expected, so out of desperation I removed the seed coat and put it under lights even though it wasn't quite ready. I feel like it's a premie.. . . 1086* is still showing no signs of life. Sigh. . . Tuesday, April 21 View Page Got the new camera yesterday! Here's my first official picture. The 1255 Van Kooten's root growth. Took the 1255 the 1027, 1028* and the 991 outside for some mild sunshine. Others are still under lights. Wednesday, April 22 View Page This morning Edgar was looking for something to do, so I suggested that he file all those seeds we collected over the winter. Wednesday, April 22 View Page "That's BORING" he said. "Besides, it's time for my mid-early morning nap". Wednesday, April 22 View Page "I'd rather impress you with my good looks, charm and talent" Wednesday, April 22 View Page "Can you do this?" Wednesday, April 22 View Page . . . and so i filed the seeds myself. Wednesday, April 22 View Page the 1028*, 1207, 991, 1027, 1255, 1175, and Prizewinners (in front). 985 and 605* restart are staying under lights today. Wednesday, April 22 View Page I was trying to keep the seedlings from being too leggy so I kept the light down pretty low. If I had moved that light up just one day sooner, I may have avoided the damage to the first true leaf on about 4 of those plants. Dang it! Friday, April 24 View Page Planted the 1255, 1207, 991 and the 1028* today. Think this is the 991 and the 1028*. Friday, April 24 View Page Yeah, so I'll probably continue to take the pictures from afar like that so you can't see the messed up first true leaves.. . . Heck, I'm gonna cut 'em off later, anyway, right? Friday, April 24 View Page Now then, I have this problem. . . I only have room in the patch for two more plants, but I have 4. The 605* (green and shiney) my 1027, the 1175 and the 985. Dang this is hard! Sunday, April 26 View Page Today was another clear and cool day with temps in the low 60's and high 50's so I decided to test out our "lawn sweeper". It was either that, or hire someone to bale the stuff. Sunday, April 26 View Page Edgar couldn't watch. Sunday, April 26 View Page (He hates work) Sunday, April 26 View Page Later we relaxed on the deck and watched for hummers. Tuesday, May 5 View Page Weather has been cold and windy. Even had a little rain last night. There have been 3 days in the past week It's been so miserable I haven't even opened up the hoops. Sundaywas nice and so I used the shuffle hoe in the hoops to take out the weeds and gave all the plants a little organic N. Think I'll start a batch a tea today. Thursday, May 7 View Page Hmm. . . never got the tea started, I'll have to do that tomorrow.. . Thursday, May 7 View Page Yesterday I gave each plant a "lite" solution of Neptunes with a splash of organic 0-12-0. I also noticed someTHING had been munching on the cot leaves of the 985 (of ALL plants) so I set up a motion sensor that trigger assaut rifles around the perimeter of each plant. Thursday, May 7 View Page Hopefully if they go off, they will not hurt the plant. Thursday, May 7 View Page Dang. . . maybe I should set these up around the mole holes. . . Monday, May 18 View Page Thursday, the 14th I gave all the plants some Neptunes. Today I gave all plants a light solution of kelp and 0-12-0. Monday, May 18 View Page (The growing is good) Tuesday, May 19 View Page My sister and brother-in-law came up for a visit and to surprise my mother on Mother's Day. We had a blast and I was sad to see them go. We had a few nice weather days and on one of them we decided to load up in Mom's cadillac and go to Whitney Gardens in Brinnon (along the Hood Canal) Tuesday, May 19 View Page But FIRST we stopped at Fat Smitty's for a famous Fat Smitty Burger. Here's my brother-in-law with his. Tuesday, May 19 View Page Not to be outdone. . . here's Mom with hers Tuesday, May 19 View Page (Hers was a "senior burger". . . ) Tuesday, May 19 View Page Eric finished his. Tuesday, May 19 View Page Mom didn't. Tuesday, May 19 View Page Whitney Gardens is a show place for rhododendrons, azaleas, varieties of Japanese maples and some camelias. Here's my sister, Sue in front of a spectacular Rhody called "Heavenly Scent". Tuesday, May 19 View Page Thought the fresh new leaves and bark on this maple were beautiful. Tuesday, May 19 View Page Picture of some slacker giant pumpkin grower and her banker. Tuesday, May 19 View Page Okay.. . I guess it's time to cough up some pumpkin plant pictures. Tuesday, May 19 View Page The 1248* Johnson with the 1255 van Kooten behind it. Tuesday, May 19 View Page The 1255 (guess that's the 1248* in the back. . lol) Tuesday, May 19 View Page 991 Urena with the 1207 behind it. Tuesday, May 19 View Page Thought I took a picture of the 1207 but, guess I didn't hold the shutter down long enough (doh) and no way am I going back out in the rain and let the heat out of the hoop to take another one. Tuesday, May 19 View Page So there. Tuesday, May 19 View Page Camera fogged up from the humidity. . . but this is the 985 which I initially thought wasn't going to make it. Yay! It's snapping out of "it" and I have high hopes for a BIG ONE from this little guy. Tuesday, May 19 View Page It share's a hoop with the Green and Shiney. Tuesday, May 19 View Page Why did I write "share's"? undo undo undo Tuesday, May 19 View Page 605* Green and Shiney back-up plant. Tuesday, May 19 View Page Yes. . . there are circles of blood meal around the plants. Sunday, May 24 View Page The weather has been sunny and in the 60's for the past 3 days. If it weren't for this icy wind, it would be AWESOME. Fortunately the plants don't know it's windy and have been sitting protected toastily in the 90's. Sunday, May 24 View Page Yesterday I took some pictures of all the plants. This is the 1048* Johnson Sunday, May 24 View Page The 1207 Young. Sunday, May 24 View Page The 985 Werner Sunday, May 24 View Page and on the way to the photograph the 991, I noticed this. A stinkin' fresh mole mound in my rhino poo! Sunday, May 24 View Page Nevertheless, here's the 991 Urena. Sunday, May 24 View Page Did ya see that Dan? You may owe me a shiney new dollar in October. . . Sunday, May 24 View Page When my sister, Sue was here visiting, she was nice enough to very carefully spray round-up for me. Sunday, May 24 View Page This is the spot she missed. Sunday, May 24 View Page Just can't get good free help these days. Sunday, May 24 View Page Awww, I'm just kidding. . . Actually she and her husband were an awesome help to me. Not only did Sue spray the round-up but she pulled up a patch of Canadian Thistle (Thank you Glenn in B.C.), helped me put up a bird house, fancy hanging brackets for my fucshias, place assorted yard art and a bunch of other stuff. Eric put up my very first clothesline! Sunday, May 24 View Page Now my pumpkin sheets and blankets will have that fresh outdoorsy smell. . . Sunday, May 24 View Page Edgar on elevated alert for moles. Monday, May 25 View Page Edgar had a bath yesterday. Now he too has that fresh outdoorsy smell! Monday, May 25 View Page I don't though. . . foliar sprayed and drenched soluble seaweed with a dash of N. Saturday I broadcast around the plants some organic "Bio-fish" that I'd been meaning to do something with. Monday, May 25 View Page Meaning to do something with ----- accomplished. Monday, May 25 View Page When it warms up a bit and it's nice and sweltering in the greenhouses, I'll bury vines. Monday, May 25 View Page Not my favorite job about pumpkin growing. Monday, May 25 View Page Oh, and it's about time I admitted that I'm not growing a 1248* or a 1048* . . . it's a 1028*, but don't assume I'm going to get it right next time. I'm just going to assume you know it's THAT SQUASH and leave it at that. Friday, May 29 View Page Tuesday, the 26th I buried vines and watered all hoops really well. Friday, May 29 View Page Thursday I sprayed a concoction of organic liquid 16-0-0, liquid calcium with humic and decided to put some Messenger in there as well. Friday, May 29 View Page Today I got my first big batch of compost tea brewing. Friday, May 29 View Page I noticed earlier this week that the temp in the compost pile had really cooled down, so I called Gary, my tractor-guy and asked him to give both piles a few tosses. In under 24 hours the temperature was back up to 125! Friday, May 29 View Page Finished compost didn't warm up much. Time to screen it and use it. Friday, May 29 View Page I was happy to see that the soil temp in this greenhouse was 80 without the soil cables. Yay for me! Friday, May 29 View Page Yay Schmay, her rhino poo is fresh out of worms Friday, May 29 View Page It appears I'll have to take a peek around the 1028* Friday, May 29 View Page Feh, it appears she has errected a "Mole-X Barrier". I will have to go aerial. .. Friday, May 29 View Page Ahhhh. . . as I suspected a nice green worm with roundish bulgy tumor thingie. Friday, May 29 View Page Now, while that Dosatron patch monster is busy in his velcro belt. . . I'll have a wee green wormy snack. . . Friday, May 29 View Page Uh oh. . . I believe I hear the familiar jingle of an "Aloha" dog collar. . . Friday, May 29 View Page I hate silent alarm systems. . . Friday, May 29 View Page Aaaaarrrrgh! Friday, May 29 View Page Cesar! Victoria! Walkie-dog-lady! Help me! Friday, May 29 View Page OoooooOOOoooohhh. . . that tickles! Friday, May 29 View Page hee hee. . . stop, oh just stop. . . you're killing me! Friday, May 29 View Page Hey guys. . . you hear someone in trouble? Friday, May 29 View Page Gopher it Edgar! Friday, May 29 View Page Later suckahs! Friday, May 29 View Page Oh Flip, don't you just love a happy ending? Friday, May 29 View Page Why yes I do Sabre. . . I think he's dead. Tuesday, June 2 View Page Sprayed the compost tea early this morning and started another batch brewing. I'm using more worm castings and more molasses this year and I'm more liking the tea. Kevin and I toted the tote to the patch and I've got almost 100 gallons of water in there ready for a fert application tomorrow morning. Tuesday, June 2 View Page It was actually in the low 80's today! Wednesday, June 3 View Page Had a bit of 9-18-9 and VigorCal-Phos left from last year. Applied it foliar and drench at about half strength. Noticed this morning that two of the side vines from the 1028* hit the sidewall of the greenhouse and "self-terminated". Dang. . . Thursday, June 4 View Page Well the record high for Sequim on June 4 is 85 degrees. It's not official yet, but we may have a new record. Thursday, June 4 View Page It's been hot enough that Edgar, who normally soaks up the sun, is seeking refuge under the vast shade of one of our gigantic flowering cherry trees. Thursday, June 4 View Page Being mostly of Danish heritage and having lived in the Pacific Northwest, dealing with heat is kind of foreign to me. Thursday, June 4 View Page In the past I have just jumped into the pool and ordered a fancy drink that comes in a coconut with an umbrella. Thursday, June 4 View Page Instead, the only umbrellas I'm seeing are the ones covering my vine tips. Thursday, June 4 View Page I even gave them some nice little tables to put their fancy coconut drinks on. Thursday, June 4 View Page Now it's time to get ugly. And we're not talking my wrinkly sun-damaged face. Thursday, June 4 View Page Some little stinkin' insect thingy is eating my leaves! Thursday, June 4 View Page Yesterday I noticed those leaves looked a little "battered" and I thought, well. . . maybe I messed them up a bit when I was trimming or something. Now that they're a day older, I'm thinkin' . . . probably not me. Thursday, June 4 View Page For once. Thursday, June 4 View Page So tonite, even though I really really really want to go to bed early, I will wait until it gets dark (which is after 10 p.m. this time of year) and take a look-see. I might even smite them with some insect killing thingies. Thursday, June 4 View Page I forgot to mention that this morning I sprayed another batch of compost tea and broadcast in the hoops (between and around the vines) some granular humic acid and blood meal. Saturday, June 6 View Page Well every year I manage to do something stupid. Saturday, June 6 View Page This year is no different. Saturday, June 6 View Page You've all heard the term "As slow as molasses"? Saturday, June 6 View Page Well it's true. Molasses are incredibly slow. So, being a multi-tasker, I decided to open the spigot to my molasses container and let it oooooze into the thingy I measure the molasses in. Saturday, June 6 View Page Well, guess who forgot? Saturday, June 6 View Page That's about 1.5 gallons of molasses on the pumpkin shed floor. Saturday, June 6 View Page It was at this particular moment, that I was quite glad that I took the time last summer to paint the floor of the shed. Saturday, June 6 View Page Half way through, I even had an artistic moment. Saturday, June 6 View Page Now at least one corner of the shed is clean. Saturday, June 6 View Page I need more pumpkin crap. Saturday, June 6 View Page At least that's what my husband says. . . (but I don't think he really means it). Saturday, June 6 View Page While cleaning out the shed, I ran into my Horto Lawn Breather Sandals. (Found at Fred's Fancy Farm Footwear and Tractor Supply right next to the Carhart summer-weight fire and beer retardant bib overalls. A must-have for the beer-drinking-ash-tray-impaired pumpkin grower). Saturday, June 6 View Page Remember from last year's diary how they basically have roofing nails on the bottom? Saturday, June 6 View Page Well, it doesn't matter. I REMEMBER. Saturday, June 6 View Page Bad idea. Saturday, June 6 View Page Good idea. Saturday, June 6 View Page Another good idea? I'm going to join the ranks of the NASCAR fans. Saturday, June 6 View Page Finally decided what to do with my cool pumpkin stickers. Saturday, June 6 View Page Thanks KPM and Cindi! Think I'll start collecting these and cover the whole lawn mower. Saturday, June 6 View Page Eat your heart out Jeff Gordon. Boom Boom's coming to town! Monday, June 8 View Page Spent 6 hours in the patch and vegetable garden yesterday. Weeded, replanted my sunflower fence (stupid critter ate my first batch of seeds). Removed the plastic from the 1255/1028* greenhouse, and put up 400 ft. of silt fencing for wind protection. Monday, June 8 View Page Still didn't magange to get the vines buried though. Today I'll take the plastic off the 1207/991 greenhouse and start burying. I did apply a 55 gallon barrel of compost tea with soluble humic and seaweed. Put some Actinovate in there too. Vines of the 1255 and 1028* are at 16'. 991 is not far behind and 985 is not far behind the 991. 605* is not far behind the 985. Tuesday, June 9 View Page Well the plastic is off all the hoops now. Here is a view of the 1255 (front) and the 1028* behind it. Tuesday, June 9 View Page The 991 in front with the 1207 in back. Tuesday, June 9 View Page My pitiful excuse for a vegetable garden. The helda beans are vining and the tomatoes are doing the best ever for me this year (since I've lived in Sequim). I even have a small mater on the Oregon Spring plant. I just took the huts off of them today. Tuesday, June 9 View Page That was the 985 and the 605 directly behind the vegetable garden. I post of picture of them after I get them buried tomorrow. Wednesday, June 10 View Page Applied Calcium solution today and FINALLY buried the vines on the 985 and the 605. Wind was blowing bad today and so I put up my last section of silt fencing around the two plants. (A little short on the east side) Friday, June 12 View Page Pollinated this female on the 1028* today with 4 males off the 1028*. Lobes were nicely formed and symetrical. Hpefully there will be some 605* males available for the next female in a few days. Friday, June 12 View Page This one's waiting for me on the 1255. Friday, June 12 View Page This morning I applied a foliar 10-8-8. Next week will be the last week I use anything with that much N, then I'll move on to something higher in P and K Saturday, June 13 View Page Trimmed and buried vines on the 991, 985 and the 605* today. Yesterday I trimmed and buried the 1207. Had to cut the main on the 1207 back to about 5-6' and I'm now training a secondary as the main. Bummer. Watering everything really well today. The steady wind we've had is really taking its toll on the leaves, battering the taller ones up the most. Saturday, June 13 View Page Speaking of taking tolls. . . Saturday, June 13 View Page The dentist took his "toll" on my pocketbook the other day, but I couldn't "leave". Had me practically strapped to that chair with that thingie in my mouth Saturday, June 13 View Page These leaves on the 1255 near the stump have pretty much had it. Saturday, June 13 View Page I'm sick of wind. Monday, June 15 View Page Applied compost tea yesterday and today applied Companion with a bit of Rootshield I had. Monday, June 15 View Page Polinated a mishapen (dang) 4 lobe blossom on the 1255 with 3 males from the 991 Urena. Took the faded flower petals off the 1028* polination from the other day and one of it's skinny little lobes broke off. I've never had that happen before. That first 1028* polination was open (yep. . SURPRISE!) and so, it wasn't probably going to be a keeper anyway, but just curious as to how the loss of part of a lobe 2 days after polination would affect the fruit down the road. Monday, June 15 View Page Buried vines on the 1255 and 1028* today. The new growth at the very tips seems yellower than I'm used to so I lighted broadcast some blood meal around the plants. My last soil test came back saying I was low in N, so I've been trying to keep an eye on the growth and color of the plants. Now that I'm "caught up" (at least for a day or two), I'd like to get this equisetum (horsetail weed) taken care of. Monday, June 15 View Page 605* and 985 on the right. 1207 and 991 are farthest away. Monday, June 15 View Page My "workstation". I've got 6 hoses (one for each sprinkler) quick-connected to my Orbit automatic water timer, my aerator, pump, tea brewer and tote. Whee! Tuesday, June 16 View Page It makes life interesting working around all that electricity next to all that water. Tuesday, June 16 View Page This is the first morning in a couple weeks with no wind. Tuesday, June 16 View Page Yay! Tuesday, June 16 View Page To celebrate I applied a foliar seaweed solution. Wednesday, June 17 View Page This morning I polinated a 5 lobe female on the 991 with 5 males from the 991 (dang not enough on the others!). This too was open since the wind manage to blow off the cover I had over it. I was not pleased. Wednesday, June 17 View Page This afternoon, I trimmed and buried vines on all 6 plants. My back hurts. Friday, June 19 View Page Yay! It rained last night. Not sure how much, maybe a 1/4" or so. This morning applied some fert and checked to see if my 985 female had opened. She hadn't, so I'll be ready for her tomorrow. Friday, June 19 View Page There'll be a 1028* ready tomorrow as well. Saturday, June 20 View Page Last nite I came home after dining with "the girls" and the wind had rolled a half dozen vines. I tried restaking them in the wind, did the best I could and hoped for the best in the morning. Saturday, June 20 View Page Got up way earlier than I wanted to this morning and pollinated a beautiful 6 lober on the 1028* with 2 males from the same plant. Saturday, June 20 View Page Since I was already up, I pollinated this 5 lobe female about 13' out on the 985. Used 5 males from the 1255. Saturday, June 20 View Page Okay, you're probably wondering what's with the weird cover on the blossom. I use knee-hi stockings that I cut in half. I tie the ribbon on top so I can see the blossoms inside the plant, because no matter how much I really really think I'm going to remember where these blossoms are. . . I can't never ever find them. Ever. So those dirt colored stockings got orange ribbons on top. Saturday, June 20 View Page Let me clarify that I can find the female blossoms. It's the males I have trouble finding. Saturday, June 20 View Page Especially at my age. Saturday, June 20 View Page Since the 605* had a lot of the rolled vines on it from last nite, I decided to live life on the edge and rebury the vines with the rhino poo. Saturday, June 20 View Page Only on the 605* though. I'm risky, but not an idiot. Saturday, June 20 View Page Norm this one's for you! Saturday, June 20 View Page Tumbling Tom tomatoes are growing great in the shed window box. They're planted in my compost. Thinking maybe I'll be using that next to bury vines with. Saturday, June 20 View Page Oh, and terminated about 8 "assorted" vines today at around 13-15'. Sunday, June 21 View Page Pollinated a 5 lobe female on the 605* this morning with two males from the 1028*. Sunday, June 21 View Page This afternoon I trimmed and buried vines on the 991, 1207 and the west sides of the 1028* and the 1255. Sunday, June 21 View Page I stopped burying and trimming after I broke off the perfect 6 lobe female on the 1028*. Sunday, June 21 View Page I just wanted to adjust it's position, a wee tiny bit. Sunday, June 21 View Page Does anybody have an extra bamboo stake I can drive through my heart? Monday, June 22 View Page Applied compost tea with last of the Messenger and some seaweed this morning. Did some weeding and since there was no wind I sprayed a citric acid based brush killer to knock the equisetum down along the fenceline. No worries, didn't even get close to the plants. I've done enough damage for a while to risk that. This afternoon, when the vines are warmer I'll bury the rest of the 1255 and 1028*. Tuesday, June 23 View Page Yesterday afternoon, got some more weeding done after the vine burying. Had a bunch of granular HA left over that didn't get tilled in earlier so broadcast about 75 lbs of it in and around the rooting areas of the plants. Tuesday, June 23 View Page Had no idea it would be so dusty. I had black stuff in my ears, nose and nose-hairs. Looked like the coal miner's daughter. If after that I live to do that again, I will use a mask. Wednesday, June 24 View Page Applied Calcium today. Thursday, June 25 View Page Pollinated this 5 lobe 991 with the 985 this morning. Thursday, June 25 View Page Nice long stem too! Thursday, June 25 View Page Gnarly female on the 985 was pollinated with the 1255 this morning as well. Is that 5 lobes or 6? I'm saying 5 for now. Thursday, June 25 View Page The is the 1255 4 lobe female I pollinated on the 23rd with the 985. Thursday, June 25 View Page Today's 991 pollination under her protective "cabana". Thursday, June 25 View Page I stole that idea from Mike Frantz. Last year I could've sworn he was using mega-sized granny-pantys, but he convinced me it was an XL men's sleeveless undershirt. Thursday, June 25 View Page I'll bet the granny-pants would've worked though. Thursday, June 25 View Page Next weeding stop: The Vegie Patch. Helda beans on the left with a row of green "very late spring" onions, Tomatoes, eggplants potatos, crookneck, french pumpkin (that didn't die) sunflowers, and it was unmarked, but I actually think that's a 605* that I stuck in a seed cup. We'll know soon enough. Thursday, June 25 View Page The eggplant blossoms are kinda pretty. I've never grown eggplant before. See if I can actually get a purple & shiney one. Thursday, June 25 View Page I actually have tomatoes on a tomato plant! Unheard of for me in June. This variety is called "Oregon Spring". Thursday, June 25 View Page Put out some thistle seed for the goldfinches this year and they're loving it. Thursday, June 25 View Page Loved this picture of the honey bee hovering over the poppy blossom. Thursday, June 25 View Page I wonder if the honey bee would like it so much if he knew it was hiding the lids to the septic system. . .? Thursday, June 25 View Page The honey bees have a hive way up in a crack in this old cedar. Over the years they've moved it up further and further. On a warm day, you really don't want to hang around that old cedar because there'll be hundred of bees buzzing in and out of there. Thursday, June 25 View Page If my name was Boo Boo I might just go up there and get me some honey. Thursday, June 25 View Page Nah, I'll just tell Brooks there's a 1068 Wallace up there. Friday, June 26 View Page Applied fert this morning, focusing more on the P and K now. Buried vines on the 1255, 1028*, 605* and 985. Tomorrow I'll trim and bury the vines on the 1207 and the 991 so that MAYBE I can kick back a bit on Sunday. Friday, June 26 View Page I've applied almost 30 lbs of mycorh already. LOL, Think I'm overdoing it? Saturday, June 27 View Page So the rest of the vines are buried and the patch is pretty much all weeded. Saturday, June 27 View Page Dang, I'm tired. Monday, June 29 View Page Pollinated this funky 5 lobe 1028* blossom with 4 males from the 605* at 21' out. Monday, June 29 View Page Perfect 5 lober 20'out on the 1255 was pollinated with 3 males from the 985. Monday, June 29 View Page Also pollinated a nice 4 lobe female 15' out on the 605* with 2 males from the 1028*. Monday, June 29 View Page With three different blossoms to pollinate this morning, I got a little (very) concerned that I would gap out and forget which blossoms were which, so I put them each in an envelope to keep them straight. Monday, June 29 View Page Our tabby had a weasel cornered on the front porch this morning. Kind of cute little critters. It stood up and just screeched at me, sooo. . . we hauled the cat indoors and let him screech back across the barbed wire. Monday, June 29 View Page And all this time I thought they went "pop". Monday, June 29 View Page Applied seaweed this morning and hoping for a windless day. Wednesday, July 1 View Page Dang! The tea I started last Friday wasn't brewing like it should so I thought maybe the worm castings were too old and dry (bottom of the barrell stuff) so I added more castings and more molasses. . . still not brewing. Think I'll drain the barrell and start over. Bummerskis Wednesday, July 1 View Page Applied Calcium and Actinovate today. 10 day measurement on 605* pollination was a whopping 13.5" and 11 day on the 985 was 18". Wednesday, July 1 View Page Oh ye of little faith.. . we just grow 'em differnt out here. Thursday, July 2 View Page A pic of that scary 13.5" circ 605* Thursday, July 2 View Page And the equally scary 18" circ 985. Thursday, July 2 View Page With hopes of BIGGER things to come, I pollinated this perfect 5 lobe female on the 991 with 3 males from the 1207 Thursday, July 2 View Page The pollen was ready to jump off these guys. Just looking at the picture makes me sneeze. Thursday, July 2 View Page Weather guy last nite predicted "The warmest 4th of July in 30 years" for the Seattle area. Well now, wouldn't THAT be nice. Saturday, July 4 View Page Applied ferts early this morning and later pollinated a 4 lover female on the 1255 about 21' out with 4 males from the 991. I spent the day shovelling, terminating, trimming, burying, shovelling, raking, wheelbarrowing and Saturday, July 4 View Page shovelling. Saturday, July 4 View Page The compost turned out pretty nice, except for one obvious problem. Saturday, July 4 View Page Nothing a little screening won't fix. Saturday, July 4 View Page And if that won't fix it, maybe this will. Saturday, July 4 View Page Funny, how the name of the product is the same as what the thing it claims to get rid of does to my product. Saturday, July 4 View Page So anyway. . . . . Saturday, July 4 View Page Every year I usually get a picture of my friend, Kathy. Today she stopped by the patch after a bike ride. Saturday, July 4 View Page She asked if she could help and I said, "Sure Kath, why don't you add some molasses to the compost tea". Saturday, July 4 View Page And she did. Saturday, July 4 View Page So later today after I'd I'd been out in the patch for 7 hours with no shower and no make-up, my husband thought he'd take a picture of me. . ."oh okay, go ahead" I said. Saturday, July 4 View Page Of course, I suggested that he let me know that he was ACTUALLY GOING TO TAKE THE PICTURE next time. Saturday, July 4 View Page Therefore, he was instructed to take another picture. Saturday, July 4 View Page Men. Saturday, July 4 View Page On my most normalist of normal plants this weird tentril secondary vine flower thingie showed up. Saturday, July 4 View Page It's gone now. Saturday, July 4 View Page Happy 4th everyone! Saturday, July 4 View Page Hahahaha! Just saw my post with "4 lover female". Saturday, July 4 View Page I wonder if that was Freudian or just keyboard error thingie? Monday, July 6 View Page Yesterday I pollinated a misshapen 4 lobe female on the 991 x self. Obviously I'm getting a bit desperate. Monday, July 6 View Page Finally! Today I pollinated a lovely 5 lober 16'out on the 605* with five (count'em FIVE) males from the 1028*. The other two fruit on this plant have taken, but I wanted something a bit further out. We'll see how it does. Monday, July 6 View Page Also pollinated two females on the 1207 this morning. Since I had to cut the main it appears that two side vines were competing to be the new main. Kinda unintentially got that pitchfork pattern going on. . .. Pollinated the East fork (5 lobe) with 3 males from the 1255. Pollinated the West fork (4 lobe) with 3 males from the 991. 10 day measurements will be interesting on this one. Monday, July 6 View Page The batch of tea that I started after that last failed batch isn't doing so well either. I'm thinking it's not getting enough aeration so looks like for fun today I'll take the whole thing apart and drag it down to the fire station so they can blast it with their firehose or something. Monday, July 6 View Page It's either that or ask the dental hygenist to use that evil water pik thingie she has. Monday, July 6 View Page Okay. . . let's talk about compost tea barrels. . . I just finished cleaning out that soaker hose that I use for aeration. Monday, July 6 View Page There was some serious nasty stuff going on under that thing. Stuff I can't even tell you what is was. Monday, July 6 View Page Stuff that just makes me want to just go buy a new soaker hose. Super nasty yucky stuff. Monday, July 6 View Page And me without my camera. Monday, July 6 View Page Okay, so what I learned today was. . . . I need to totally disassemble and clean out the barrel, not just hose it till it runs clear between brews. Monday, July 6 View Page Dang. . . more work. Tuesday, July 7 View Page Applied Companion with a bit of soluble humic this morning. Tuesday, July 7 View Page But, the important thing about today is. . . It's Edgar's Birthday. Tuesday, July 7 View Page To celebrate, he got a special Happy Birthday dog cookie. Tuesday, July 7 View Page And you know what? No matter how hard or how long he stared at it. . . it didn't jump into his mouth. Tuesday, July 7 View Page But we figured. . . ah, what the heck, it's his birthday. Let him have it. Tuesday, July 7 View Page And . . he was happy. Wednesday, July 8 View Page Applied Calcium today after which it immediately began to rain. Actually more of the classic "Sequim Drizzle", not enough to thoroughly water anything, but enough to make the fine coating of pollen on a black truck turn it into a spotted black truck as well as enough to wash off whatever application you just did. Wednesday, July 8 View Page Also pollinated a 5 lobe female on the 1028* (x self). This will be the last one on the 1028* as the one before that is pretty decent sized. Culled a couple aborts on the 991 and the 1255. I really need to make some decisions here pretty quick as to who's invited to my pumpkin party. Wednesday, July 8 View Page This is my secret weapon for this year. My sister-in-law works for the company that makes this bubble insulation and I thought it might work well at night to conserve the heat in the pumpkin. Wednesday, July 8 View Page . . . along with a pillow and a blanky. Saturday, July 18 View Page Well. . . last weekend I decided to go see my daughter in Pullman for the weekend. Saturday, July 18 View Page Flew in a 10 seater single prop over to Boeing field, shared a cab to Sea-Tac, two trams and 3 escalators to the gate, Slightly bigger plane to Pullman, then Val's friend's Subaru to her apartment where I waited for her to get out of class... . . This is a picture out the window of the 10 seater of my little town. Saturday, July 18 View Page The flight home wasn't as smooth. . . (It's a long story involving cancelled flights and shuttle vans), but at least I didn't have to drive. Saturday, July 18 View Page So anyway. . . I'm pretty bummed about the progress in the patch. Saturday, July 18 View Page I'm reading all these grower diaries with 20 day old pumpkins estimated at 400 lbs,(okay I'm exaggerating) and after all my hard work, time, energy and $$,I'm only doing slightly better than last year. Saturday, July 18 View Page I don't know what else I can do. When the sun is shining it seems like the wind is blowing 50 mph. When the wind's not blowing it's cold and overcast. I have vines that have been rolled so many times they don't know which end is up. Saturday, July 18 View Page So welcome to my pity party, glad you could make it. Let's start off with a picture of my 1028* Johnson x 605* pollinated on June 29th. 19 days old and 32" circ. Saturday, July 18 View Page I used a brick for size comparison because it's the only thing I had handy that wouldn't blow away. Saturday, July 18 View Page The 605* about 14'to 15' out, also pollinated on June 29th, 46" circ. 122 OTT. Please note that it's GREEN AND SHINEY. Saturday, July 18 View Page After repeated aborts on the 985 I decided to just go with this open pollination at about 12-13' out. At 28 days old, this fruit has a circ of 63" and 148" OTT measurement. Saturday, July 18 View Page This is the best I have going on the 991. At 13 days it's circ is 21". I'm concerned also that it might still abort. Saturday, July 18 View Page This fruit on the 1255 was also pollinated on the 29th. Circ. is 45" with 104.5 OTT. Saturday, July 18 View Page See why I'm depressed? Saturday, July 18 View Page Here's a fine example. The wind blew so hard today that it bent the flag pole bracket. Saturday, July 18 View Page Fortunately I have this picture of my daughter to remind me to laugh. Saturday, July 18 View Page .. .. and remind me there's always the sangria. . .. Sunday, July 19 View Page Just for my own benefit, so I know what NOT to do in the future. . .sigh. . . On Monday I applied compost tea with Actinovate, Wednesday the Calcium and on Friday, P-K fert. Today I trimmed, terminated, buried vines and reburied the vines that rolled (again. . .). Also moved and repounded the silt fencing, (and boy are my arms tired). I'm really tired of this wind. Monday, July 20 View Page This morning I got up at 5:45, saw that it was going to be a gorgeous day, so I threw my patch clothes on, grabbed a cup of joe (not Jutras) and with a smile on my face and a swing in my step headed out to the patch to apply my compost tea with a splash of Companion. Monday, July 20 View Page Thought I'd give the fruit a looking over too. Monday, July 20 View Page As I previously mentioned I had decided to go with the open pollination on the 985, and yesterday I trimmed up and buried the vines "really good". No wasted energy on this plant. It was going all to the pumpkin now! Monday, July 20 View Page Alas, though when I said it was a gorgeous day, I didn't really mean GORGE- ous. This rib split goes into the cavity. Cavity's remind me of the dentist. Monday, July 20 View Page Dentists depress me. Monday, July 20 View Page Well, there's always this! Tuesday, July 21 View Page I've noticed "that yellowing thing" going on with some of my leaves which usually happens about now. Applied Epsom salts. (Podiatrist's best friend). We're experiencing some unusually warm weather in the 80's and the fruit are loving it. Beginning to see some growth. (Yay!) 57" circ on the 605* today. Tuesday, July 21 View Page Also sent in two leaves off each plant to lab for tissue testing Tuesday, July 21 View Page Also sent a wedding gift and my sunglasses in to Maui Jim's for repair. . . . Nothing like making that trip to the Post Office worth while. Wednesday, July 22 View Page 650* taped at 60" circ. today. Leaving for a visit with the in-laws tomorrow where Mark Martin will be the victim of my enthusiasm at the Brickyard 400. From the Indianapolis Speedway I'll be heading to Louisville where I plan on making a permanent impression in my brother-in-law's floating pool chair. Oh, and yes, I've got a fine patch sitter lined up. Signed, Soon-to-be-a-redneck Wednesday, July 22 View Page oh, and by the way, Brigitte told me wearing a halter top to the race was acceptable but red stillettos were probably not practical race-wear. Wednesday, July 22 View Page Obviously Brig has never seen me in a halter top. . . . Monday, July 27 View Page Well, I'm in Moorseville, Indiana right now with the promise that we'll be heading to Louisville tomorrow. Suppposedly, they are going to introduce California in-law Erin to moonshine and dandelion wine in them parts. I am afraid. Wednesday, August 5 View Page Okay so before we get to the moonshine. Let me tell you about how we got to the moonshine. Wednesday, August 5 View Page Seems American Airlines cancelled our fight out of St. Louis. They thought we'd enjoy spending the night in the airport then flying to Minneapolis and THEN to Indianapolis. Needless to say, they were . . . Wednesday, August 5 View Page WRONG. After waiting over 2 hours for someone to find my bag, we rented a car and drove to Mooresville. At least I got to see the Big Arch Thingie. Wednesday, August 5 View Page And drive over the Mississippi River. Two things I can now check off my list of "Things To Do When The Stupid Airline Cancels Your Flight". Wednesday, August 5 View Page Another thing to check of my list of "Things To Do In Indiana" is "NASCAR RACE". Here's my boy, Mark "the old fart" Martin, in the pits. Wednesday, August 5 View Page They do drive fast there, don't they? Wednesday, August 5 View Page For you tractor lovers, here are some of my nephew's old tractors. Wednesday, August 5 View Page One more. Wednesday, August 5 View Page Later we headed down to Louisville where I finally got to enjoy Cardinals and lightening bugs. Wednesday, August 5 View Page But I guess the most significant thing about going to Kentucky was this. Wednesday, August 5 View Page Firewater, White Lightening. . . . both good names because, IT BURNS! Wednesday, August 5 View Page To settle my stomach we went to Lynne's Paradise Cafe where I had fried green tomatoes and biscuits and gravy. Wednesday, August 5 View Page How's that for embracing the culture? Wednesday, August 5 View Page Drove back across this other river. . . the Ohio? Wednesday, August 5 View Page Flew back home where on the way I took this spy photo of Iowa. I pretty sure that waaaaay over in the corner is Don Young's patch. And. . . oh yeah, another really big river. . . the Missouri? Wednesday, August 5 View Page Ya seen one big river, ya seen 'em all. . . The just start running into each other after a while. . . Wednesday, August 5 View Page So I got home and none of the remaining squash or pumpkins had croaked while I was gone. Here's the 1255 on August 2nd taping at 218 OTT. Wednesday, August 5 View Page The 1028* on the 2nd taping at 183 OTT. Wednesday, August 5 View Page The Green and Shiney* on the 2nd taping at 208 OTT Wednesday, August 5 View Page And this odd ball 991 on the 2nd. Didn't even tape it, it's sooo teeny. I may end up cutting this one off and go with an open pollination that occurred while I was gone. It's already a third as big as this one. . . . sheesh. Wednesday, August 5 View Page Okay, that's enough for now. It's mole killing time. . . Saturday, August 8 View Page Yesterday I was out working in the patch and out of the corner of my eye (which is hard because eyes are round) I saw the ground move. It was the stinkin' mole. . . . Saturday, August 8 View Page Of course there was no implement of death or destruction nearby so I ran for the shovel, came back and dug his hole up. But the stinkin' mole had left. So I waited. Saturday, August 8 View Page But he never came back. This morning he had continued his journey and finished the mole hill he had started yesterday. I guess I should have waited longer. Saturday, August 8 View Page I hate moles. Friday, August 14 View Page Bad news for the Green and Shiney this morning. Soft spot on the blossom end. Friday, August 14 View Page Stinkin' elfin magic. Friday, August 14 View Page Oh well, how about some pictures of Ron Barker? Friday, August 14 View Page Ron and his family came all the way over from Sumner to measly Sequim to check out my source of rhino-doo. Friday, August 14 View Page Here he is trying to stuff what's left in his pockets. Friday, August 14 View Page Ron Barker listening to my matched pair of giant marrow grow. Friday, August 14 View Page The 1028* fruit. . . and Ron Barker on August 9th. Friday, August 14 View Page The 1028* today. Don't know if it's going to qualify as squash. I'm keeping it covered, but it really wants to be golden where it isn't green. Anybody elses 1028* doing that? Friday, August 14 View Page The 1255 and Ron Barker. Friday, August 14 View Page The 1255 today at 403 lbs. Friday, August 14 View Page The 605* and Ron Barker. (I'm pretty sure this is when he injected it with the softening agent). Friday, August 14 View Page The 605* today. Friday, August 14 View Page On the bright side, the Tumbling Tom tomatoes and the Jack-B-Littles are doing well. Friday, August 14 View Page The Patch. Saturday, August 15 View Page That pile of yellow in the front were culls and giant zuchini that grew while I was on vacation. The big one is the East Fork cull off the 1207. Saturday, August 15 View Page Well today I gathered my spray bottle of bleach, a sharp pointy thing, and my biggest fan. Saturday, August 15 View Page And one very evil assistant. Saturday, August 15 View Page "Ahhh yess. . . . those three trailer loads of Rhino-doo I traded Ron for the dirty deed were more than worth it. . . This is spectacular example of future fruit collapse." "Oooooh, I can't wait!" Saturday, August 15 View Page And so, with those encouraging words, I sprayed the area with alcohol and placed the fan on it to dry it out. Saturday, August 15 View Page And so, with those encouraging words, I sprayed the area with alcohol and placed the fan on it to dry it out. Saturday, August 15 View Page I pressed around on the fruit in places, and I may just becoming parnoid, but it felt as if the basic turgor of the fruit had lost something. Y'know when you have a cucumber in the fridge for too long and it starts to get a little give in it? Ah well, there is good news too. . . Saturday, August 15 View Page I found some Hershey's Kisses in the pantry I didn't know I had. Saturday, August 22 View Page Well hmmmmm. . . . now that the chocolate is all gone I suppose I could let you in on what my lesser known pumpkins are doing. . . Saturday, August 22 View Page As you may recall, I had to sever (what a harsh word) the main vine and train a side to be the main. The fruit on the plant was estimated at 279 lbs so I decided to cut it and haul it to the Clallam County Fair. Saturday, August 22 View Page My son, Kevin along with my friend, Grace and her son, Jon all helped me wrassle the pumpkin into the truck. Saturday, August 22 View Page They'd never had a "real BIG pumpkin" at the fair before, said the AG barn manager. Saturday, August 22 View Page Little do they know. . . they still haven't had a "real BIG pumpkin".. . . But that will be my little secret until next year.. . . Saturday, August 22 View Page Well, today I drug my husband back to the fairgrounds to see how I "faired". Saturday, August 22 View Page Oh, forgot to mention I decided to enter some other vegies just for the heck of it. I'd never entered anything in the fair before and thought, why not? Saturday, August 22 View Page My marrow got a blue! Saturday, August 22 View Page Taters got a blue! Saturday, August 22 View Page Surprisingly my maters got a blue! Saturday, August 22 View Page Sugar pumpkin got a blue! Saturday, August 22 View Page Looking a litte worse for wear after sitting on the shelf for 3 days, the Helda Beans got a blue! Saturday, August 22 View Page What I couldn't figure out is why my jack-b-littles got a red. Way to wreck my perfect record, lol. Saturday, August 22 View Page But wait, there's more! Saturday, August 22 View Page Seems the 279 Huff est. won Superindent's Award. Saturday, August 22 View Page (A Superindent is very similar to a Superintendent only it's spelled different). Saturday, August 22 View Page And that's the end of "Erin's First County Fair Entries" story. Saturday, August 22 View Page Whoaaaa! Forgot to mention my "giant" marrow. . another blue. Saturday, August 22 View Page Someone else had the nerve to enter a marrow too. Can you imagine? Saturday, August 22 View Page Dang,. . . I did mention the marrow. . . Wednesday, August 26 View Page The 1255 measured 288 OTT today. It's beginning the fine cantelouping, so the already slow growth is going to slow down even more. Wednesday, August 26 View Page The 605* finally cracked all the way into the cavity where I scooped out the soft spot. Oh well. . . I'm still getting a T-shirt. Saturday, September 5 View Page 1255 taped 303 today 588 est. Hmmm. . . . with the plant half dead from PM it's not looking good for a PB this year, lol! Saturday, September 5 View Page I noticed today that even the dandelions have PM. Sheesh. Saturday, September 5 View Page The 1028* Johnson fruit 278 OTT est. at 458#'s. Saturday, September 5 View Page The Boeing 991 fuselage. Haven't measured this one since July 18. I'm guessing it's maybe 300 lbs. I've got to figure out some way to make some wings and a tail for this fruit. Have a little fun at the weigh-off that way. :D Saturday, September 5 View Page Gave the Boeing logo a whirl too, lol. Saturday, September 5 View Page Besides the PM, the stinkin' moles have been twarting my attempts to curb their devastation to my earthworm population. Saturday, September 5 View Page They even dare to dig around my growing mats! Saturday, September 5 View Page Being fresh out of Talpirid I've come up with a new device. . . Saturday, September 5 View Page Hot sexy (poison) mole decoy. . . Saturday, September 5 View Page Yoo hoo! Boys, I'm over here in the corn. . . Saturday, September 5 View Page "Poison? Moi? I feel just vine." Saturday, September 5 View Page Obviously Sluggy, this is a desperate attempt by Boom Boom to have her diary entries equal the weight of her biggest pumpkin. Saturday, September 5 View Page "I hope she goes light. . ." Saturday, September 5 View Page Slugmeister, meet me down at Sparky's Doghouse Tavern. I need a beer. . . Saturday, September 5 View Page Okay, okay. . . so it's "thwarted" not "twarted". . . Tuesday, October 6 View Page The harvest for one day in the veggie patch! Tuesday, October 6 View Page Some of my tomatoes from this year. Tuesday, October 6 View Page Me and my marrows. . . Tuesday, October 6 View Page Edgar and the marrows. Tuesday, October 6 View Page Fits right in, doesn't he? Tuesday, October 6 View Page The marrow that was more orange was by far the heaviest and weighed 69 lbs at The Farm weigh-off. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Okay, so how about some pictures of the Shoreline Central Market weigh-off??? Tuesday, October 13 View Page Well, I just happen to have a few. . . Tuesday, October 13 View Page But first a word from my nemesis. Tuesday, October 13 View Page . . . and I thought The Erin wouldn't see me here. . . Tuesday, October 13 View Page Well then, let me update you as to my scheming. . . First of all, after some travel and special effects I was able to infiltrate several enemy patches. Tuesday, October 13 View Page My first disguise was used throughout Iowa and Northern Carolina. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Squash successfully eradicated at Young and Lovelace patches. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Pumpkins not so sucessful. . . most especially in Iowa. Tuesday, October 13 View Page I was however able to keep R.I. and Oregon in the 1500's. I will take my victories when I can. Next stop Ohio. . . . Tuesday, October 13 View Page C'mon kids. . . stop goofing around. I'll show you how it's done.. . Tuesday, October 13 View Page Next year, I will brave the frozen tundra to wreak havoc in. . . Tuesday, October 13 View Page Wisconsin. Tuesday, October 13 View Page But I see the lifting of the Sequim Sequash is at hand and I've got to vamoose. . . Tuesday, October 13 View Page . . . .Later suckahs! Tuesday, October 13 View Page Well yeah. . . (stinkin' mole). . .this is the fruit from the 1028* Johnson. It had been taping at 298 OTT consistently for the past couple of weeks. Tuesday, October 13 View Page It had a small crack down at the base on the blossom end which I was worried about, but it was dry and appeared to have healed, so I stopped worrying about it. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Then it rained. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Here is the crack the night before it was loaded. The crack was only about 1/4 " deep at the worst spot, but still. . . you don't want a crack on your pretty squash. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Well. . . . maybe Bart and Judy do. . .. Tuesday, October 13 View Page ANYHOW. . . . I did sever most of the secondaries and the end of the main before the rain came. I also stopped all voluntary watering. Tuesday, October 13 View Page So the Ford 750 (I had no idea they went all the way to 750, lol) boom boom truck lifted the 1028* squash safely onto the pallet. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Hmm. . . . I'm getting ahead of myself. You see there was that "other" pumpkin. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Dang, I wish this was the part where I show you a picture of this enormous pumpking resting replete upon the mole-ridden soil of the patch, but alas that ain't the case. Tuesday, October 13 View Page It's the 991. . . y'know the one I put the cockpit windows and Boeing logo on? Well, as if I didn't have enough to do, I decided there was a wee bit of room left in the back of the truck and, ah heck. . . Breanna Barker needs a pumpkin for the regatta. . . . Tuesday, October 13 View Page But first I had to finish my "project" Tuesday, October 13 View Page Just what does one do with wire, duct tape, four pieces of foam board and an odd-shaped pumpkin? Tuesday, October 13 View Page Wait for it. . . wait for it. . . Tuesday, October 13 View Page You make an airplane, silly. Tuesday, October 13 View Page So, project completed, squash and pumpkin loaded, sunset refecting off a shiney black pick-up, I pondered the outcome of the next day's weigh-off and whether or not all that driving around of vehicles in the patch had possibly wiped out a thriving mole population. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Uhhh. . . doubtful dearie, but I do appear to have broken a nail. .. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Fast forward next morning, 80 miles and one ferry ride later. . . Tuesday, October 13 View Page If you believe your squash will go heavy clap your hands! Tuesday, October 13 View Page I do! I do believe my squash will go heavy! Yay! 731 lbs. 30.5% heavy :) Tuesday, October 13 View Page That was a pleasant surprise. Tuesday, October 13 View Page So was this! Tuesday, October 13 View Page I love this! Chris Michalec says he always puts a OTT chart under the scale when he weighs a fruit. Tuesday, October 13 View Page See? That way they always go "over the chart". Tuesday, October 13 View Page Russ Leno getting a carving started. Tuesday, October 13 View Page The Boeing 514.5. . . first one out of production. Tuesday, October 13 View Page Mike Popp's second place 1303. A new PB for him! Tuesday, October 13 View Page The winner at 1355 was 2nd year grower, Dave Kilburn. I thought I took a picture, but alas. . . I was wrong. Tuesday, October 13 View Page again. Tuesday, October 13 View Page The next day I was invited to another weigh-off. Tuesday, October 13 View Page The group that I gave seeds to and came to my house in spring to learn a bit about growing. That group. A great bunch of fun loving people! Tuesday, October 13 View Page We're going to have to work on the whole official weighing thingie though. . . lol Tuesday, October 13 View Page Wayne, a retired nursery owner, won with these two. We ended up putting two digital bathroom scales on the tailgate of the truck, rolling the pumpkin onto the scales and adding up the two totals. It came to about 315 lbs, which was pretty close. We didn't have a tape to measure. Next year, I'm gifting them a tape. Tuesday, October 13 View Page So that's it for this bunch. Next time, (Norm, Glenn) pictures of Edgar and I'll post The Farm weigh-off at the end of the month after the guess the weight contest (if I can find any pictures!). Friday, October 16 View Page OOps! Correction, it was Dick Kilburn, not Dave Kilburn who won the Central Market with his 1355. Sorry! Friday, October 16 View Page Good News! I just received my Fall 2009 Worm's Way catalog! Friday, October 16 View Page Oh goody! Now she can finally order that International House of Guano Kit I've always wanted. . . Friday, October 16 View Page Finally bought some groceries today and asked the clerk to take my picture by my deceptively heavy pumpkin. Friday, October 16 View Page Oh, and Monster Grower? Don't EVEN think you can beat me in diary postings. I'm a professional. Friday, October 16 View Page Outwit. Friday, October 16 View Page Outlast Friday, October 16 View Page Outpost. Tuesday, November 3 View Page Well today's my birthday so I thought I'd cheer myself up by finally posting the weight of my Safeway "Guess the Weight" pumpkin. OTT meas. was 319.75 which estimates out to be 684-691. We'll call it 690. Offcial weight of pumpkin was 850.5! Yay for me! Tuesday, November 3 View Page According to the club's records it was 24.3% heavy. That makes me happy. Tuesday, November 3 View Page Told you it was deceptively heavy. Tuesday, November 3 View Page Here's a picture thatI hijacked off Ron Barker's diary of my 731*Huff that went 31.8% heavy at Central Market. Brad and Ron were nice enough to cut her open and get the seeds out for me. There were seeds, weren't there? Tuesday, November 3 View Page Thanks guys! Tuesday, November 3 View Page Well the season's over, and time to gear up for next year, kinda sad really. But even though I'm a bit down and I'm a whole nother year older and the sag lines in my neck compete with those of my pumpkins. . . I have to remember... Tuesday, November 3 View Page There's always sangria! Wednesday, December 2 View Page I guess it's time to begin to wrap things up for 2009. Wednesday, December 2 View Page I meant to post this picture on Halloween. A spider had made a web on one of our porch posts and with the flash from the camera at night, it turned out pretty cool. Wednesday, December 2 View Page Even older news? 30 years of "weeded bliss" was celebrated in October. Wednesday, December 2 View Page Retrieved the seeds from my 850.5 "Guess the Weight" pumpkin. Wednesday, December 2 View Page Very low seed counts in all three fruit that were harvested. Seed size was small too. Wednesday, December 2 View Page It must have been something I said. Wednesday, December 2 View Page But amongst all the ups and downs, weeds, wonders, anxieties and anniversaries, there are rainbows. Wednesday, December 2 View Page Good grief. . . This is getting waaaaay tooo sappy. Snap it up a bit Boom! Wednesday, December 2 View Page Welll. . . there was that trip we took over the Cascades and through the Palouse hills to Pullman to visit Val. Wednesday, December 2 View Page It snowed on those Palouse hills. Wednesday, December 2 View Page My husband and I had a nice visit with our daughter and on the way home we had the honor to stop of the first official rest stop in the beautiful state of Washington. Wednesday, December 2 View Page Dang, if I'd have known, I'd have brought a wreath or something to hang. Wednesday, December 2 View Page No Glenn, there wasn't a gift shop. Wednesday, December 2 View Page If there was, I'd have bought a t-shirt. Wednesday, December 2 View Page We drove back over the Cascade Mountains during a snow storm then made it to the Hood Canal where. . . . Wednesday, December 2 View Page There was a rainbow! Wednesday, December 2 View Page If yousaid Wormbow, you might have had me. . . Wednesday, December 2 View Page Returning home we rolled in the driveway to see that the Stinkin' Mole had infiltrated the western border of the freshly rye-grass-seeded patch. Wednesday, December 2 View Page Another view. . . Wednesday, December 2 View Page Mwahahahahah Wednesday, December 2 View Page Funny, what you can get when you Google, "laughing moles" Wednesday, December 2 View Page All that to say, that the remaining marrow and prizewinner have hit the compost pile. .. Wednesday, December 2 View Page And despite the mole, the rye grass cover is millimetering it's way up. Wednesday, December 2 View Page So there! Wednesday, December 2 View Page Nyeah! Wednesday, December 2 View Page Stupid Stinkin' Mole. . . . Thursday, December 31 View Page So, Okay it's December 31st 7:32 East Coast time, 4:33 West Coast (Monster Grower)time (The clock changed while I was typing) and 2:34 Maui time. (I'm a slow typer I guess. . .) Thursday, December 31 View Page Maybe Monster Grower will have more entries than me and maybe he won't. What he won't have is. . . . Thursday, December 31 View Page This Thursday, December 31 View Page That is the trunk of a palm tree my cookie-eating friend. . . Thursday, December 31 View Page Those aren't my feet by the way. Those are my daughter's size 10's. Thursday, December 31 View Page These are mine. Thursday, December 31 View Page Are you seriously going to show us pictures of your feet until midnight? Thursday, December 31 View Page It's going to be a looooooong night. . . . . Thursday, December 31 View Page Why yes it is. . . . Thursday, December 31 View Page Thought I'd moon you all. . . Thursday, December 31 View Page Took that picture because I thought it looked like the Cheshire Cat. . .):D Thursday, December 31 View Page Don't really have a lot more to say for 2009. . . Thursday, December 31 View Page Will definitely cut back on plants next year. Probably a Harp/Young cross and a squash or two. Thursday, December 31 View Page Especially since, ONCE AGAIN, the husband has scheduled our summer vacation during pollination time. Thursday, December 31 View Page Such infractions do not please me, so as a retaliatory strike I have ordered a hottub. Thursday, December 31 View Page Maybe NEXT TIME he will remember. Thursday, December 31 View Page So. . . I'm thinking I will plant the first of May rather than mid April this year. Pollinate later, harvest later. I dunno. Suggestions? Thursday, December 31 View Page Obviously not feeling very inspired for the end of the year. The end of the stinking DECADE!!! Thursday, December 31 View Page I shall leave you with this. . .. Thursday, December 31 View Page Though the year may not have been what you expected, and you may not have achieved what you had planned, and things maybe not have turned out the way you had hoped..... Thursday, December 31 View Page Just remember. . . Thursday, December 31 View Page There's always Sangria! Thursday, December 31 View Page But maybe Thursday, December 31 View Page There is more Thursday, December 31 View Page Monster Grower Thursday, December 31 View Page Maybe there are pumpkins Thursday, December 31 View Page and Squash Thursday, December 31 View Page I told you Monster Grower. . . . Thursday, December 31 View Page Ooooooh, but you forget me, oh Erin One. . . Thursday, December 31 View Page As you sit on the beach and work on your skin cancers. . . Thursday, December 31 View Page I continue to create subteranian plots of pumpkin pandemonium Thursday, December 31 View Page Not only that, but I am simultaneously posting in both 2009 and 2010. Thursday, December 31 View Page Must be caught in a time warp, or. . . . even better. . . . Thursday, December 31 View Page A WORM HOLE!!!!! Thursday, December 31 View Page Which reminds me of a story. . . Thursday, December 31 View Page It was a hot August day, and I was stealthily shadowing The Erin while she was perusing her pumpkins. . . . Thursday, December 31 View Page When suddenly. . . .! Thursday, December 31 View Page Wait for it, waaaait for ittt. . . . . . Thursday, December 31 View Page The biggest worm I ever saw flew out of the ground and landed on my back! Thursday, December 31 View Page Then I ate it. Thursday, December 31 View Page The End