Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 185 Entries. Tuesday, January 3 View Page Meanwhile, in a world beyond the Atlantic Giant... Well, it is Jan. 3 Tuesday, January 3 View Page Greetings to all in 2006! Still too wet to complete manure operations. At least an inch of rain in the past 24 hours. Strongly considering these seeds: 603 Muller 2003 (845 Nesbitt x self) 650 Muller 2004 (603 Muller x 1458 Whittier) 291 Lawrence 2005 (603 Muller x self) 1095 Wallace 2005 (1367.5 Rose x self) 861 Fredricks 2005 (950 Boyton x 731 Stucker) 781.5 Frantz 2005 (1101 Northrup x 1125 Frantz) no seed yet One of the 1068 Wallace crosses from SNGPG 481 George in neighbor's patch (731 Stucker x self) Almost ready to start automated watering system Tuesday, January 10 View Page You know what is really a pain in the A? Trying to decide which seeds to go with. I have a lot of seeds now, many are great crosses. Each grower wants their seed in the ground but which to choose? You don't want to plant the really good ones, because maybe in the fall I might have something to trade. But you do want to plant the really good ones, so you grow a great pumpkin this year. But what if I'm wasting the good seed since I'm not ready for it and my soil sucks? Speaking of soil, I think I finally have my window of opportunity this Saturday. Only light showers in the forcast tomorrow, so the ground should be dry. I hope to get at least 4 more bed-loads of manure on the patch, either that or a dump truck load or two. Peace. Thursday, January 26 View Page Well, a lot is changing these days. Final manure additions are scheduled for Saturday Jan 29 (4 more pickup truck loads). Hopefully tilled in, too. The weather should be dry and warm between now and then (50's). I will post pics from the weekend, in addition to updated seed lineups. I never expected to be planting so many proven seeds, but I still have room for a few 05's though. Saturday, January 28 View Page Let the madness begin. Let's just say I got my Sh- together today. A little late but the weather just hasn't cooperated for the last month and a half. Saturday, January 28 View Page Finished (getting and moving) the manure today. Last year I got 1 truckload. This year I got 7. Roughly 35 cubic yards of composted horse manure, plus 50 cubic yards of maple leaves put down on approx. 2500 sq feet, for 5 AG plants. Saturday, January 28 View Page I hope I am finally locked in on this. The 1230 will be rotated 90 degrees to face east. Sunday, January 29 View Page Weird stuff going on with trying to submit with my diary. Let's hope that everything is worked out now. Here's the patch as of jan 28, with the manure spread. Wednesday, February 8 View Page Took advantage of our first 4 day period without rainfall in ages. Skipped real work to work the patch. Tilled in the patch today at the deepest setting, 8". There is so much compost and leaf litter that I couldn't hit pay dirt in some areas. Worm populations seem inconsistant, but the leaves are decomposing nicely. This till should help to speed things along. Soil samples were out for today since I couldn't produce a tool that I am sure is stainless steel. But I found a place with a 3 day turnaround via email so it won't be long. It may be a year or more till my patch is tip top since there are several unique microenvironments from years of misuse. One thing for sure is my OM will be thru the roof and my soil has never been in such good shape. In the next day or two, I'll show my cards for the season, which I am now firm on. Monday, February 13 View Page 12 inches of snow on the Mt. Airy patch over the weekend. 16 inches of snow on the Howard County patch. Thursday, February 16 View Page And here they are: Pumpkins for 2006 Thursday, February 16 View Page And here they are: Squash for 2006 Thursday, February 16 View Page And here they are: First choice backups for 2006 Thursday, February 23 View Page Here is my rudimentary testing kit that I designed at work. The colored vials are pH standards that were used to calibrate my portable digital meter. 5 soil samples were roughly homogenized into 50 ml of 18 mega Ohm, 7 ppB DI water, pH 7.00. The samples are from my Mt. Airy patch, which is a new location. The soil has not been amended and is the future site for the 663* Andrews squash. Thursday, February 23 View Page This is the first reading. Thursday, February 23 View Page Here is another reading, and the final results: Rear left: 6.40 Rear Right: 6.77 Mid Right: 6.32 Mid Left: 5.96 Front: 6.01 Average pH = 6.29 ; the result is better than expected. It should not be considered accurate but at least the precision is acceptable. At least it gives me a basic idea of where I’m at with this plot, since I don’t plan on getting a real analysis here. Hopefully I can get my samples in from the big patch this weekend. Tuesday, February 28 View Page Mixing up my soil samples to send to A+L Labs in Richmond, VA. They were recommended by the old Maryland Extention which shut down in 2003. Tuesday, February 28 View Page Here are the samples, I decided to go with 3 of them. From right to left they are rear patch, middle patch, front of patch. I don't know why the rear sample is so much darker, other than there is a little more shade there, and it was under a brush pile for a year or two until last season. Both the rear and middle patch have had burn piles on them at one time or another. I would expect each to be unique and have its own set of problems! Tuesday, February 28 View Page LOL the rear sample was on the left and the front sample was on the right. Doh! Monday, March 6 View Page I a range of samples from 3 different areas of the patch, rear, middle and front. They get progressivly worse. For the record, sampled down further than recommended due to the huge amount of manure/leaf compost on the surface. I went down 10 to 12 inches. Monday, March 6 View Page Here is the middle sample. The pH levels suggest that the old burn piles were doing some good. Monday, March 6 View Page Front sample. All samples were done by digging a series of 3 holes straight across the patch and sampling out of them. Sampling was done with a sterile plastic 1 liter scoop and tempered steel shovel for digging the original hole. I guess I will ask for help on the soil analysis board, but I'm not planning on making any major changes except for pH in the front and Ca+ in general seems to be low. Sunday, March 12 View Page The end of one season, the beginning of another. GVGO just came thru with a TON of club seeds. Sunday, March 19 View Page I got shafted on the gypsum today. It does not seem to be as easy to find around here as it is in other areas. So I requested a quote from the local nursery. This bites. So after I finished the job of shredding pine limbs I repaired the greenhouse. Good thing- it was in BAD shape. Sunday, March 19 View Page Inside the greenhouse, it did not look this clean before today lol. Looking good now. Sunday, March 19 View Page These are my electric heaters. I have 3 of these for 7'x12'. Hopefully I can maintain 80°F by mid-April. Sunday, March 19 View Page These will yeild some of my garden's best friends- the Praying Mantis. I found 3 of these around the greenhouse without even looking. Saturday, March 25 View Page I hope today isn't the day where everyone says "oh, did I tell you I put 1,000lbs of gypsum on my patch? Oops, I meant 100lbs!" Either way, here is 400lbs about to go on the patch. Saturday, March 25 View Page Last summer, my neighbor with horses asked if I wanted any manure. I said, "sure just start dumping it over the fence". Wow, look what they've been up to. I am hooked up for the fall. Saturday, March 25 View Page Gypsum: tilled in. I told pumpkin Mike that I had a Briggs and Stratton- my mistake Mike, that is my push mower, lol. This is a 5.5 HP Craftsman but it works just as good as I said it did! Saturday, March 25 View Page Here is a plot for (most likely) the 1101 Northrup. The leaves have not decomposed to my liking, but I still have a little over a month before transplant time. Soil adjustment recap for 2006 season: 35 yards of 1-2 year horse manure, 50 yards maple leaves unshredded, 400lbs gypsum, two good tills. Friday, March 31 View Page Maryland is coming on strong. There are now 4 other groups of people growing in my area besides me. Karen in Frederick, Alex and Kelly in New Windsor, Scott in Western Howard County, and the Walnut Springs nursery crew. Hopefully in exchange for the good seeds I gave them, I can get my hands on some Warrior T. Sunday, April 2 View Page New patch for giant squash genetics plant Sunday, April 2 View Page Final score- Rocky Mt. Airy Soil: 0, Tiller: 1 Sunday, April 9 View Page Been at my cabin for the weekend. The shoreline of my place is upriver on the left side, just before it disappears around the bend Thursday, April 13 View Page Test germinations underway. 3 in the cooler with heat lamp, soaked in H2O2 and then warm water. 3 in the greenhouse directly potted in sead starting mix. No filing on any. I know the procedure but I'm not comfortable with it. If this works I'll give these away to happy homes and start my top pics. We'll see what happens. Saturday, April 15 View Page Praying mantis hatching Saturday, April 15 View Page A young Mantis Friday, April 21 View Page 317 Lawrence, Same plant as the 291 was grown on. 603.5 Muller x self. Rock n Roll! Sunday, April 23 View Page Reiss skyrockets up Giant sunflowers up Germed 6 for 6 with new setup. Seeds include 861 Fredricks and 481 George. Testing on older seeds now (2001-2003). Tuesday, April 25 View Page 648 Bhaskaran and 932 Willemse have broken ground. 317 Lawrence, 481 George and 861 Fredricks poking thru now. These 3 seeds will go in the ground. Starting 1st main batch for 2006 today. Going with 1230 Delatas, 781.5 Frantz and 603.5 Muller. My efforts to germinate have been less than desirable thus far, this is my first season of giving a crap. Inconsistant. Filed edges and scuffed the body of these seeds real good this time, and soaked in warm water. Will put into paper towel/ ziplock after 45 min. 11 pm 25Apr06 will be the time when they go in the bag. My current setup is a theraputic heating pad set to low, with a small folded hand towel on top, and a shirt covering the ziplock bag. Thanks to all of my friends for the generous seed trades/ hookups. I hope I don't trash these seeds. I have backups for each except the 1230. Hopefully by the end of this season Maryland will be known for more than just running its mouth lol wish me luck! More seeds to follow. Thursday, April 27 View Page Now I can breath a sigh of relief. My first plant of 2006 is up, the 317 Lawrence. It is a selfed 603.5 Muller. Planting date: 22 Apr 06 Thursday, April 27 View Page And here is the parent(s) of the 317, the 603.5 Muller in the flesh and ready to grow a big, round, orange pumpkin. 781 Frantz has germed also, just a little behind. Nothing yet from the 1230 Delatas. All other garden plants doing fine. My rigged germination mat is now holding 86°F +/- 2°F with good precision. Sunday, April 30 View Page 1230 germinated. 1230, 781 and 603 put into 6" pots which I cut in half and duct taped for easy removal. Also transplanted 317 into 6" split pot but I have to say, roots looked weak. We'll see. I should mention that I innoculate all of my pots with Mycore, about 2 teaspoons for a 6 inch pot. Sunday, April 30 View Page Started batch 2 for 2006: 853 Wallace, 218 Andrews, 848 Mackenzie, 291 Lawrence, 1214 Connolly. Putting the 1101 Northrup on the shelf for this season, I owe it to myself to go BIG. Sunday, April 30 View Page Did a very shallow till today and then (yes I know) sprayed with Kleen-up to get a head start on weed control. Nothing has been transplanted yet so it should be all good. 317 showing some shock from the transplant to its 6 inch split pot. But a tiny (1cm) true leaf has formed so maybe it will make it. Its 291 Backup is in the rig right now in case. I changed my soil from red to brown in 1 season. It doesn't look black like some people's I've seen, but it looks a hell of a lot better than last year. We dodged the bullet here with 2 frost warnings over the weekend no problem since all of my work is still snug in the greenhouse. Tuesday, May 2 View Page As of 01 May 2006: 1214.5 Connolly, 853 Wallace, 848* MacKenzie, and 291 Lawrence all positive germination. Nothing on the 218* Andrews but I haven't looked today yet. Sorry Jimmy, none of the 861's came up for us in Maryland. The 481 George looked okay the other day I'll see tonight. Tuesday, May 2 View Page My 603.5 blasted thru today with the shell still attached to 1 cot. That cot looks a little deformed but I think it will straighten out. The 317 Seems to be pulling thru after a rough transplant. 1230 and 781.5 both poking green thru the soil today. I can relax a little now. Tuesday, May 2 View Page I was taking too much heat for not growing any edible veggies so here they are. They're going in some makeshift plots I have prepared. Planted the other seeds today in 6" split pots. I think the 218* is dead, but I planted it anyways. I guess I will start a 663* Andrews oh well. Wednesday, May 3 View Page 603.5 doing well. 781.5 is up and spreading its wings for the sun. 1230 shed its coat and ready for sun. 932 Willamse has second true leaf and ready for transplant to the nursery patch with Scott B. It will join the 458 Wolf which already has 6 leaves and has withstood the frost warnings with no shelter. This is our GVGO contest plant. Putting 663* Andrews and one or two other squash on the heat pad tonight. Thursday, May 4 View Page Today I add my first bullet to my "I've seen it all list." A bird breached my hi tech security system and entered my greenhouse. I have been severely wounded. It devoured the 848*. It devoured the 218*. It devoured my backup 291. It devoured my 1214.5 Connolly. It ate half of the 853 Wallace. It ate a cot off of the 1230 Delatas. Unbelievable. Nothing to do but start more: 663* Andrews, 851* Gardner, 861 Fredricks, 669 Bosworth. Dammit. Saturday, May 6 View Page Applied Merit yesterday. Used 12 teaspoons for 5 plots. Only sprayed about 200 sq feet in each plot since it only lasts for 90 days. This is the 781.5 Frantz. Saturday, May 6 View Page 317 Lawrence Saturday, May 6 View Page 603.5 Muller with it's crazy triple ####-d up cots. I sure hope this mess corrects itself Saturday, May 6 View Page Had to show what the bird did to my 1230 Delatas! It looks better that the 853 Wallace though. They both have a true leaf growing. My new seeds are now on the back porch. All but the 861 germinated but I planted it anyways what is the deal with these crazy seeds Jimmy ;) oh yeah it's only been 36 hours though. Planting is scheduled for this week, just keeping an eye on the weather and root status since I am not going to protect them I'm delaying as long as possible. Wednesday, May 10 View Page Planted 781.5 Frantz, 1230 Delatas, 603.5 Muller and 317 Lawrence in the patch today. 603.5 is looking extremely not cool but I have decided against starting another. If it flat vines, I will yank it and give the 1230 and 317 another 250 sq. feet of growing space each. It was 78°F today and sunny so the soil was nice and warm... but cooler temps and rain/thunderstorms are coming soon. I hope they make it thru this next week since they are not protected. That's how we roll in MD. Well, that's how this fool rolls. Friday, May 12 View Page 781.5 Frantz day 12 since potting. All my plants survived the severe thunderstorms yesterday and are showing no signs of transplant shock. Friday, May 12 View Page 317 Lawrence day 19 since potting. A slow grower after a rough re-potting but feeling good in the MD soil now. No shot of the 1230 today so I don't go overboard on the postings but I'll just say it recovered from the bird attack and true leaves 1 and 2 are doing fine. Friday, May 12 View Page 603.5 Muller day 12- is it all over for this plant? Email me please. This was the main plant I wanted to grow and no replacements are ready for soil yet so it is staying for now. What a let down! Friday, May 12 View Page 699 Bosworth, 663* Andrews and 851* Gardner are above ground and green. Of course, the 861 is still sleeping. Only 1 left!! I already have yellow squash coming are you jealous lol. Saturday, May 13 View Page @ 24 hours germinated 650 Muller and 669.5 Muller ultra backups. Sunday, May 14 View Page Here is a close-up of the mess on my 603.5 Muller. The other leaf looks like it might be okay. I'm starting to think that the mass of garbage was really the first true leaf and I may have planted it backwards. I planted my super-long range backups into HUGE pots today incase I have a disaster in June. They are 650 Muller and 669.5 Muller. I guess I am done germinating for this year. It was a learning experience but now thankfully I have a process that I know will work for me forever. Tuesday, May 16 View Page Plants turning the slightest bit yellow.. so I added a few pinches of 10-10-10. Weather is cool and wet. I'm behind even where I was last year. But hopefully knowledge will make up for it in the long run. 603 Muller is still looking crazy. If this next leaf is square shaped... oh man! Thursday, May 18 View Page Here is the 1230 Delatas that was damaged at time of emergence by the bird. The dead grass was blown in from a mower. No, I didn't do it and no, I wasn't happy about it lol. Thursday, May 18 View Page 317 Lawrence Thursday, May 18 View Page 603 Muller looking better.. I guess.. Thursday, May 18 View Page 781.5 Frantz still chuggin along, all are growing slow in this crazy weather. I think the extra kick of fert is working a little. Thursday, May 18 View Page 663* Andrews squash. Best looking seedling I have in a pot right now. the 669 and 650 Mullers are emerging/ green is peeking thru. The T-storms haven't taken any patch plants out yet so I gotta be happy about something. Tuesday, May 23 View Page I have some giant sunflowers planted in my Mt. Airy patch. If they are in trouble, the pumpkins are in trouble. It was very cold last night and this morning they were drooping badly. It is usually 5 degrees Warmer at the other patch so we'll see after work. I still have 2 plants to put in this year plus backups. They will get planted Thursday when it is supposed to hit 80° and stay that way. Tuesday, May 23 View Page Here is a pic of the longer leg of my L-shaped main patch. We are looking West. The patch is well situated on a gradual slope and you can see it has great wind protection on both the North and West sides. It is fun to imagine these 4 plants covering this whole area. From front to back I have the 781.5, 1230, 603.5, and 317. Everyone asks what else am I planting in there and when I tell them nothing, its all for these four plants they just shake their heads. If you look to the upper right in the back you can see where I stuck some of the edible veggies. Tuesday, May 23 View Page Left to right are the 663* Andrews, 853 Wallace, and 699 Bosworth. I wanted to post this pic because my 853 looks so similar to Mr. Bos Worth's hehe 1068 that he is growing this year. These plants have been in a greenhouse in full sun from day 1 and this is the only leggy seedling I've had. I think I am still leaning towards going with the 853 and the 663*. Friday, May 26 View Page Got the day off work. The mystery of the 603.5 Muller mutant is over. It is normal and growing fast but unfortunatly as I suspected it is heading the wrong direction. I began training it today. All the plants got braced with bamboo stakes to protect them from the strong storms expected and to begin to get them into proper position. 853 Wallace got the final spot in the main patch. 663* Andrews went in the new patch. Each main patch plant got ~1 to 1.5 cups of 12-0-0 blood meal per 20 sq. feet. The temps are in the 80's lows around 65° and all the plants are really responding fast. 781.5 is still my best plant. 1230 Delatas is turning on the juice and it is hard to believe it almost died a couple weeks ago. Finally things are happening. I'm going away to the lake for the weekend and will post pics when I return. Hopefully the pics won't include any snapped vines! Monday, May 29 View Page Hot weather has arrived, 90° today and tomorrow. Slight leaf burn on the 781.5 Frantz. No other problems. The only bugs I have seen so far this year have been dead bugs. Plants have grown more in 3 days than they did in the last 3 weeks. No rain lately and watering is the biggest issue right now. Pics to follow. Monday, May 29 View Page 317 Lawrence Monday, May 29 View Page 603 Muller. Not sure about the spots but they have been there for a while. Not on any of the new growth. Monday, May 29 View Page 1230 Delatas Monday, May 29 View Page 781 Frantz. Blood meal seems to have worked like a charm. I ran out of batteries just before snapping the pic of my 853 Wallace. It better pick up the pace because the 669 Muller I have on standby is looking really really good. I think I'll plant it next to the 853 and see what happens. Tuesday, May 30 View Page I had to make the call to the bullpen today and bring out the 669 Muller. The 669 is in the front and the 853 Wallace is in the back. The 853 is at least two if not three weeks older than the 669 I have to check my notes. So it is easy to see why I had to make this decision. Everything else looks good just watering today. Saturday, June 3 View Page 317 Lawrence. Main vine approx 1.4 feet long. Leaves are about 12" across. I pinched off many tendrils on all the plants today, to keep them from grabbing onto my stakes. Saturday, June 3 View Page 603 Muller. Main vine is approx 20 inches long. Leaves are about 16 inches across. Very close to laying down and pointing only about 60° in the wrong direction now. I missed it in the photo, but on the other side of this plant there are tons of mushroom caps popping up. The OM is really breaking down now, I can imagine all the Nitrogen dumping into the soil. I hope I won't need to fertilize much more at all. Saturday, June 3 View Page 1230 Delatas. Mainvine is approx 12 inches in length. Very compact plant with leaves about 10 inches wide. Saturday, June 3 View Page 781 Frantz. Mainvine is approx 24" long. Very close to laying down. Leaves are about 16 inches. This plant is still stomping the others, maybe due to it's prime location. I lowered the support stakes and moved on to other business, and when I returned 45 min later, it had moved down on top of them again. So I lowered them another 2 inches or so. Keeping my fingers crossed! Saturday, June 3 View Page The first striped cucumber beetle of the season, found today on the 781 Frantz. He was still alive but hey, I have to give some MERIT to the SEVIN because he wasn't capable of flying off when I picked him up turned him into beetle stew! If I see more tomorrow, and not accompanied by several dead ones on the ground and plant, out comes more Sevin. In other news, the 669 Muller is embarassing the 853 Wallace. 669 so far has been a perfect plant and seems to want to lay down by itself with only 4 leaves on it. 853 has one more week sorry fellow SNGPG Sunday, June 4 View Page TOUCHDOWN for the 781.5 Frantz. I had to sacrafice one of the leaves, as it was holding the main up. The main appears to have grown possible 6 or more inches in 24 hours, it is about 2 feet long now. The other plants are not far behind. Very scary last few days for me and more to follow. Sunday, June 4 View Page Here is the 669 Muller, crushing the much older 853 Wallace behind it. Because the 853 has such great size potential, this is the biggest plot in the patch, maybe close to 600 sq. feet. So, I hope to set and keep multiple orange pumpkins on the 669 Muller. Sunday, June 4 View Page Well, my plants lood great, my soil looks great, I look great... An overview of my entire operation looking East/ Northeast. Front to back on the right side are 317 Lawrence and 1230 Delatas. Front to back Left side are 603.5 Muller and 781.5 Frantz. Far, far left is the 669 Muller/ and 853 Wallace. I did not see any cucumber beetles today. Wednesday, June 7 View Page My plants are crushing it. I've never seen anything grow like this. The temps have been in the high 70's to low 80's for a week now. 781 Frantz is over 3 feet long now with at least 5 secondaries formed between 1.5 and 6 inches long. All others will lay down with the next couple days. 317 Lawrence has a very yellow vine, leaves are dark green. First warning sign is the 603 Muller which has a 1.5 inch split at the stump. It's no matter. I blew my load lol of Merit on the plants today, to curb the damage on the 669 and all possible injury to the others. If I don't get a storm tonight, then I (maybe) will be good until September. The plants got a serious foliar soaking and soil drench of Merit. I severed the chewed leaf on my 669 Muller just in-case. If the bugs, and the plants for that matter, live thru the drench of Merit that I provided today, then they deserve to live. If one of these popcorn thunderstorms hits the patch tonight, I will be truely pissed. Saturday, June 10 View Page Something continues to eat my plants. Sprayed Sevin. Something ate the entire tip off of the 317 mainvine. I have secondaries hopefully not the end for this plant and hopefully not too much of a set back. I'm too angry to write anything more. I'm going back out to look for tracks. Sunday, June 11 View Page Here are some of my Gipe sunflowers. Sunday, June 11 View Page My 663* Andrews squash. I am posting this pic finally because today I decided that it is not a mutant and it is starting to vine. Sunday, June 11 View Page Now, on to the bad pics. What is eating this leaf? Email me if you know. I never see any bugs on my plants and I use Merit AND Sevin right now. This is the 669 Muller. One more point for the 853 Wallace. Sunday, June 11 View Page Vine split on my 603 Muller. I have performed the following adjustments: Cut one large leaf from stump area to allow sunlight on the split area, cut one big tendril arm to allow plant to lay down better, built up dirt around and under the main to reduce stem stress. Sunday, June 11 View Page Destroyed main on 317 Lawrence. Secondary should work fine. I'm not 100% on what caused this, if it was an animal they did a poor job of eating it. Peices of it were scattered around the area. But I don't know how the wind would mince up little chunks of it and scatter them around. And if it was bugs why wouldn't they finish the job? Sunday, June 11 View Page 317 Lawrence. This vine is so yellow you need sunglasses to look at it. If yellow vines = orange pumpkin then get ready for the ultimate orange seed stock. This is a selfed 603 Muller. Sunday, June 11 View Page 781 Frantz yesterday June 10. No BS here this plant is over 4 feet long and that leaf is close to two feet wide, amazing growth in less than one week. A female is forming at the tip. In other patch news, all plants have layed down. Mushrooms continue to appear everywhere. I rate this horse manure much higher than the cow I used last year. It is supposed to have more weeds but I'll tell ya what there's no thistle weed in this stuff so I'll take it! Whatever weed seed came along with this stuff- clover or whatever- is easy to pull up and doesn't have regenerating roots. That thistle is the worst I'm telling you. 669 Muller vs 853 Wallace... I don't know. 669 is getting eaten like crazy but they stay off the 853 I don't know why. 853 is basically laying down but has small leaves. It is not mutant. Lesson to new growers, if they start out weird just let them grow all mine fixed themselves. Sunday, June 11 View Page 1230 Delatas. I applied another dose of 12-0-0 granular blood meal today and watered in. The secondaries on 781 Frantz are 1.5 feet long today. Sunday, June 11 View Page 603 Muller it has been 30 days since transplaning my 4 main plants. I had to trim a bunch of leaves from the stump to try and get sun on the split area. They're all finally turned the right way. Sunday, June 18 View Page Attention: SVB has arrived in pumpkin county, Maryland. Well, what an exciting week of pumpkin growing it has been. Plenty of good news and bad news. Some weather news to begin: it has been very hot, 90°+ for several days and it will be in the upper 80°'s for at least the next 5 days. The plants are loving it and I am giving them lots of water, by hand and under the vine. Trying to keep the stumps dry though. I spotted a SVB on (on the 317 Lawrence of course). Everything bad happens to that plant first. Cucumber beetles are out in full force and they are dying at a rapid pace. I am applying Seven bi-weekly with a compression sprayer right now at the peak of the outbreak, both on top and under the leaves. I have some strange black bugs that look like a spider with a red abdomen but they only have six legs. I don't know if they're good or bad but they don't seem to get killed by the insecticides. I have switched to balanced 10-10-10 granular fertilizer this week in hopes of getting more male and female flowers going. 603 has a female at 6 feet or so and 781 at 7.5 feet. Now, here comes the pics. Sunday, June 18 View Page The 669 Muller defeated the 853 Wallace on June 17 and is now the rightful heir to about 875 square feet of growing space WOW! Sunday, June 18 View Page 603 Muller displaying a female flower, destroyed main, and new replacement main Sunday, June 18 View Page 781 Frantz is 8 feet long and 8 feet wide across the back and continues to be trouble-free. Sunday, June 18 View Page 317 Lawrence I'm sorry but damn this plant. It constantly gets it's vine tips chewed on, it has had two secondaries snap in half, it looks like crap... there are 3 secondaries competing to be the main and I'm letting them all go since I'm sure at least 2 of them will get eaten or break. The 317, 603 and 669 have all lost their original main vines so far. Genetic or coincidence? Who knows. Sunday, June 18 View Page Front: 1230 Delatas, Right: 603 Muller, Rear: 317 Lawrence Sunday, June 18 View Page 861 Fredricks ready to roll Sunday, June 18 View Page 663* Andrews growing fast and enjoying it's diet of chemical fertilizers Monday, June 19 View Page The bugs that I have are Wheel Bugs, otherwise known as Assassin bugs. They are beneficial bugs that eat aphids and other nasty stuff. The bug I thought was a squash bug I beleive was a mature wheel bug, it is grey and has a distictive wheel that looks like a gear on it's back. The nymphs are black head with bright red back, with the wheel shape on the back and six legs. They have sharp pincers for impaling other nasty insects. So, my arsenal of good bugs includes praying mantises, wheel bugs, lady bugs and dragon flies. Go team! Thursday, June 22 View Page Sorry if there's 2 entries. As of today all of my plants have gotten the by-hand weed treatment. This weekend I'll fertilize with 10-10-10 again. All the plants seem to like the heat. This is strange to me since I've been told the 603 doesn't like it above 90° and I have one, plus two selfed going. Cucumber beetles and other bugs are dying at a fast pace. I havn't seen a groundhog or any damage to the plants since I put up the fake owl with rotating head. I hope this works cause the fam doesn't want me to kill it! The plants are growing exponentially; roots at every node, male flowers blooming, female on the 603 will open either tomorrow or Saturday but only about 7 feet out. I can't wait to pollinate; hopefully in late June or during the week of July 4th, which I took off for just to do what I love- grow big and drink cheap beer LOL!~! Saturday, June 24 View Page Leaf from a giant sunflower. they are about 6 feet tall right now. Saturday, June 24 View Page 663* Andrews today. Sorry for the dark pic. I tried mulching with grass in this garden and it's worked great- very little weeding required. Next year I'll use it on the whole big patch provided I can get a grass catcher. My neighbor has been giving me his clippings. This plant is maybe 7 feet long and has thick secondaries. Overall it is more compact than the plants in the other patch. I don't know if that's desirable or not. It is in unammended soil and eats only chemicals. We've got some great rain here with more to come, just too bad it was for the weekend. All plants are doing well, even the 317 now and the owl seems to have worked for now. Photo shoot for the other patch is tomorrow. Sunday, June 25 View Page Female on tip of 317 Lawrence Sunday, June 25 View Page Pumpkin pollinated on 603 Mulle June 23. It is considered open pollinated because it opened a day earlier than I expected. The only male flowers in the patch were two 603 (self) and one 781 Frantz. It is too early to keep (7 feet) but I'll leave it just in case. Sunday, June 25 View Page 781 Frantz, 15 foot main/ 8-10 foot secondaries. Starting to worry about a pumpkin to set on the main now. The first never formed completely and the second remains tiny at around 11/12 feet out. I'm going to stop fertilizing this plant for now. There are many females appearing on secondaries at least. In the back is my 669 Muller slowly picking up the pace. Sunday, June 25 View Page 1230 Delatas around 12 feet long. Slow secondaries. This plant now has males blooming, that makes all of them except the 669 which is 2 weeks behind or so I have to check my past entries to see. Behind is the 317 Lawrence. The rain we've gotten has been really good, but it's making the weeds grow faster than I like. I might need to shallow till again after it dries out. Monday, June 26 View Page All I have to say is good thing my patch is on the side of a hill. Wednesday, June 28 View Page A record 12.11 inches of rain in 4 days was recorded at Reagan National Airport. I think we got more here but I have nothing official. Only 11.07 inches of rain total had fallen since Jan 1 before this weekend. I fear the worst for my plants. Wednesday, June 28 View Page my patch is ruined. the plants are okay but all the topsoil is washed out and now all I see is rocks everywhere. 8 inch ruts are everywhere. there are no females anywhere that look like they're gonna bloom. several have rotted before blooming. I am getting very worried. I'm not in this to grow leaves and stems. 781 is at approx 18 feet with no females on the main vine. Thursday, June 29 View Page The rain stripped all my beautiful topsoil and left the rocks Thursday, June 29 View Page It went down here, to the neighbor's swimming pool lol Thursday, June 29 View Page Well Brooks Bosworth told me to quit my crying and do something so I did. Here is the restored 781 Frantz plant. I was in the patch before it was completely dry but the soil woulda turned into concrete being flattened like it was and baked in the sun. Thursday, June 29 View Page Restored patch. Next phase will be to pick rocks. I'm off next week so I guess that's my plan. I'll be away Fri-Monday Monday, July 3 View Page I came home from the lake to find this pumpkin to be pollinated tomorrow on the 317 Lawrence. About 9 feet out. I have the 781 Frantz in mind but I isolated at least one male flower on each of my plants. Monday, July 3 View Page Pic of the main patch today. I found a scary amount of squash bugs around and on the plants and some leaf damage, especially on the 669 and 1230. I don't know if it was the scorching 90°+ temps for 3 days or bug damage. I sprayed with a slightly higher concentration of sevin this afternoon. Tuesday, July 4 View Page I was overestimating how far out this is it is 8 feet out. 4 lobes, 317 lawrence x 781 frantz. I used 2 males. Next up for tomorrow is a 603 at 12 feet and 1230 delatas secondary at 9 feet. I can see that the 603 and 317 will both have no problem putting out females now. The timing is good and I'm glad I took this week off. Tuesday, July 4 View Page The 663* Andrews squash plant today. I like this plant. It's really thick and naturally has good shape. The grass mulch works great; it keeps the weeds pretty much non-existant but the secondary roots arn't bothered by it.. they go right thru. Those are Reiss skyrockets in the back left. A female should be ready in the next few days about 14 feet out. Tuesday, July 4 View Page 781,1230,603,317. The heat index will be over 100° today. The 603 plant is showing some heat stress. This is the last of several hot days. Tomorrow we'll be back into the low 80's. Friday, July 7 View Page Here is another of my special forces Friday, July 7 View Page here is the 317 lawrence x 781 frantz as of yesterday, 7.5 feet out. Look at that vine- YELLOW. Wed. I pollinated 603 x self at 11 feet (5 lobes), Thurs. the 1230 x 603 at 10 feet secondary (5 lobes), today the 317 Lawrence x 781 (5 lobes) again this time at about 12 feet. Friday, July 7 View Page My buddy and neighbor Dave with my 663* Andrews, Reiss skyrockets and giant sunflowers. Never grow without grass mulch. Never. Saturday, July 8 View Page Yesterday was significant because I decided to cut the main vine of the 781 Frantz off. It had a rotting split in it and the vine was growing exceedingly long with very sparse leaves and no females. I cut it at maybe 17 feet out and trained the end secondaries in a horseshoe as new mains. Both have multiple females on them. I pollinated two on the 603 Muller this morning at 14ft main and 8ft secondary, both were self pollinated and had 5 lobes. I used 3 protected males for each female. The 663* Andrews was selfed near 14ft out on the main this morning. It had 5 lobes which seemed slightly deformed/ more spread out than I'm used to. The 669 Muller didn't open this morning and will have to be open pollinated cause I ain't getting up early tomorrow! Sunday, July 9 View Page 663* Andrews today Sunday, July 9 View Page Are these SVB eggs? Or squash bugs? I haven't seen any SVB in the patch except for one I thought over a month ago. Squash bugs though, I've seen plenty of them for this time of year. Caring for the patch is starting to take its toll on me. I wish all the plants were mulched like my squash is. The work is endless. Plus I've been up at the butt crack of dawn every day this week on my week off. I'll be glad when pollination is done! Tomorrow's linup for pollination: 1230 delatas secondary, 2 x 781 Frantz one on each of the new mains. 669 Muller at aprox 15 feet. All will be crossed with the 603 Muller which fortunately has no shortage of male flowers. Each gets two males each. The 603 is starting to show some concerning yellow coloration in the leaves. I'm thinking of fertilizing again- I don't know what to do. None of the plants have had any ferts in 2 weeks or more for pollination reasons. But I feel like I need to pick up the pace again, now that I'm more comfortable with the number of females that have been showing. Any help would be great. Tuesday, July 11 View Page Yesterday’s crosses: 781 x 603 main vine#1; 781 x 603 main vine#2 (both five lobes) Today’s crosses: 781 x 603 about 18 inches further than yesterday on main vine#2 (4 lobes), 1230 x 603 main vine (4 lobes), 603 x self on secondary (5 lobes) 669 x 603 main vine (4 lobes). I hope these take. The animal ate the main off the 317 again and the 1230 main broke at about 20 feet so that is it! I have managed to lose all my mains at least once except on my squash. I am going to hold off fertilizing the 781 and 1230 since they’re big plants but I have got to get the vines going again on the others. I’m getting some yellowing on the leaves on the 603 and 317 and the vines are stalling out. I’m sure I need much more leaves to push a big fruit on either of these plants. I got Triazicide yesterday, and will spray today or tomorrow under the leaves and direct to the leaf nodes. Saturday, July 15 View Page 317 lawrence 10 days Saturday, July 15 View Page 1230 Delatas and some of my friends checking out the patch. I've chosen not to bury the vines. Sunday, July 16 View Page 1230 and 781 Sunday, July 16 View Page oops the last pic was my 663* here's the 1230 and 781 Monday, July 17 View Page Forecast is 100° for today, Tuesday and Wednesday. This heat wave will likely be all she wrote for my 603 Muller. All the plants showed signs of flagging yesterday but most notably the 603. That combined with fried secondary tips and some strange yellow and brown disease should be enough to kill the plant. Oh well down to 5 plants soon I guess. The 781 is my most heat resistant plant. I pumped approx. 350 gallons of water on the main patch yesterday and I’m sure it wasn’t enough. Next year I’ve resolved to only grow 3 or 4 plants. I guess it’s all part of the learning experience. The 317 plant is coming back in size with secondaries finally extending off of the newer main vine. Here are some numbers on my biggest so far, the only one over 10 days old. 317 Lawrence July 4 pollination, CC July 11 = 16”, July 12 = 19”, July 14 = 26”, July 15 = 29.5”, July 16 = 31.5”. I think the heat is causing the plant to use all its water to sustain itself with little left over for fruit growth. 663* squash day 8 CC = 22”. Round and green, looks nice. Tuesday, July 18 View Page My 317 Lawrence has perfect shape. I hope this one goes the distance since the second main vine pollination failed. I have a few open pol secondaries in case of disaster. 35" day 14. The plant has gotten much larger maybe 200 sq feet now lol. Tuesday, July 18 View Page 1230 Delatas main vine fruit day 7, 19" CC Tuesday, July 18 View Page My 663* day 10, 30" CC Tuesday, July 18 View Page 781 Frantz day 7, 22" very happy with the 2 fruit on this one. It looks a little dull in the pic but it's not. I don't like the looks of that dark green around the blossom end though! My 603 is definately done- I would have pulled it today but a storm came in and I had to get some aux cover for the fruit quick. No hail damage. All of the other plants survived the heat wave and are full steam ahead. Wednesday, July 19 View Page 663* looking perfect after the 100° heat the plant likes it hot. Grown on grass mulch! It will work. David Ellison is assuming contol of the plant as of today. Get ready for Crazy Dave. 34" day 10! Thursday, July 20 View Page OOPS I meant 34" day 11 Friday, July 21 View Page I will get to my other patch for measurments tomorrow- today is day 10 for the 781 and 1230. For now lets just observe our 663* which has put on 11" in circ in two days! 45" CC total 112" OTT for est. 38.5 lbs. on day 13! Sunday, July 23 View Page I made another stupid rookie mistake and forgot to cut the tap roots on both the 781 pumpkins until yesterday; they were pinned down and look what happened. I don't have enough experience to tell whether they'll make it. Yesterday's CC's 781 day 12 = 33" and the other 781 day 11 = 35". I also observed a mass hatching of the squash bug nymphs so I sprayed with Triazicide again today @ 4 tsp per gallon. I hope it dried since it rained last evening. Sunday, July 23 View Page 1230 x 603 on a secondary yesterday, day 12= 38" CC day 13= 43" CC. same cross on the main @ day 12 = 33" CC. The 317 has stalled at 36"CC and is turning orange but not rotting. The plant is doomed to go to the compost pile I think. I believe there is a soil problem with the upper patch. I hope it's not a fungus that spreads to my other plants. I'm letting the 669 grow whatever it gets on it. Right now there is one 669x603 and 3 more open. I terminated the mains on all my plants. Sunday, July 23 View Page here's the stem split on the 781 sorry. Looking closely I can also see a baby squash bug. It's already going orange as you can see. Monday, July 24 View Page Well I see Crazy Dave finally got his login fixed up so here's where I tell everyone that I have to move this weekend, to Allentown PA for my job. Right in the middle of the season too. Dave has agreed to look after the squash and the other patch will be cared for by.. hmmm... I don't know. Damn. So See "Crazy Dave's" BP diary to continue the saga of our 663* Andrews 05 squash (it is a good one). Tuesday, July 25 View Page Day 15 for this side vine fruit on the 1230 Delatas: CC 53, FB 40, SS 38 = 131 OTT est 57 pounds. The other fruit on the main is day 14: CC 42, FB 30, SS 29 = 101 est 29 pounds. Both x 603.5 Muller. Tuesday, July 25 View Page Day 14 for this 781 Frantz on secondary main: CC 40, FB 31, SS 30 = 101 OTT, est 29 pounds. The other 781 day 15: CC 38, FB 30, SS 30 = 98 OTT, est 28 pounds. Stem splits on both seem dry and mostly okay right now. Tuesday, July 25 View Page A big thanks goes to Dave for helping me with the shade tarps today. I sprayed Daconil today, the second application of the season. I am down to 2 fruit each on the 1230 Delatas and 781 Frantz, all are crossed with 603.5 Muller. You can see some decent sized culls I've made in the back. I'm letting the 669 Muller grow whatever, it has 3 on it now, one x 603.5 and the others open. Next year I'll try to keep my plants more compact instead of training the secondaries so wide. I pulled the 317 Lawrence so I'm down to 3 plants plus the squash that Dave is taking over. Maryland is tough; maybe it's a good thing I'm moving to PA. Wednesday, July 26 View Page After reading TomV's post I checked the stump of my 781 today and found a SVB embedded in frothy mush. I had to cut about 1/3 of the stump out and in this humidity I don't expect it to heal. It smelled so bad. I don't have any fungicide paste and no extra time to tend to the problem with the upcoming move this weekend. There's just too much for me to handle right now- moving, new job, plus a death in the family today. On the brighter side the 1230 fruit measured 141 OTT today, est 69.3 lbs, a 12 lb gain day 16. Friday, July 28 View Page My pumpkin on the 1230 is 68 CC, 49 FB, 46 SS = 163 OTT for estimated 102 lbs on day 18. I may cut the one on the main off tomorrow but I don't want a split on this one. 33lb gain in two days at this stage seems a bit much, 50% of it's weight from day 16. It looks like a 1230 to me! Friday, July 28 View Page This is the stump of the 781 that I mangled cutting the svb and rot out of it. It seems dry now and I can't find any more signs of svb on the plant. The fruit didn't like it one bit though- one seem to be aborting, getting a white coloration around the blossom and the other isn't growing very fast at all, it is 43-31-33 = 107 OTT or 34 lbs day 17. Not really all-star figures. Sunday, July 30 View Page Today I move to Allentown PA. I had to pull the 781 Frantz due to this disease. What is this??? I saw it last year a little. I hope it doesn't spread to my other plants. Last season for this patch anyways. Sunday, July 30 View Page Today is also day 20 for the 1230 Delatas crossed with 603 Muller. 76-54-52 = 182 OTT, est 138lbs! Looks like I won't be able to bring myself to cull the mainvine 1230 fruit since I pulled another plant today. I need to finish with something! Day 19 for the 669 Muller crossed with 603 Muller, 60-39-43 = 142 OTT, 70 lbs. Who knows what this week or two will hold for my plants... they're on their own for a while with just a little daily water from overhead spriklers. Well I gave it my best and couldn't have seen this move coming at the begining of the year. I guess I won't be posting for a while now. If the fruit holds, the next pic I post should be tremendous. Wednesday, August 2 View Page Here is the update from home, thanks Dave! Left to right: 1230 #1 day 23-206 OTT = 194lbs est. 1230 #2 day 22- 163 OTT = 102 lbs est. 669 #1 day 22- 169 OTT = 113lbs est. 669 #1 open pollination, maybe day 18 or so- 133 OTT = 59.5 lbs est. Half way to the state record now. Wednesday, August 2 View Page OOPS here's the pics Monday, August 7 View Page Day 27, 1230 Delatas 1st fruit, 103" cc, 69" fb, 69" ss = 241" ott, @ 303 lb. 2nd Fruit day 26 is 80" cc, 54" fb, 54" ss = 188" ott, @ 151 lb Monday, August 7 View Page Day 26, 669 Muller 1st fruit, 85" cc, 62" fb, 55" ss = 202" ott, @ 184 lb. 2nd fruit open pol is 64" cc, 43" fb, 43" ss = 150" ott, @ 81.68 lb. The bigger one has a lot of stem stress. Monday, August 7 View Page Day 27 est. at 303lbs, the 1230 Delatas fruit has put on 109lbs in 5 days, for an average 22lb gain/day. Still making the 1000lb marks with day 30 coming up on Thursday. 103cc today. Friday, August 11 View Page Yesterday was day 30 for the 1230 fruit, 369lbs and 110"cc. 669 Muller fruit was up to 230lbs, 93"cc day 29. There was a significant change in the weather starting tuesday. Temps are now high 82° and low around 60°. The biggest fruit has put on an average 22lbs/day for 8 straight days. Saturday, August 12 View Page THE PUMPKINS ARE HUGE NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS AROUND HERE BEFORE. INSANE. TOMORROW I CLEAN UP THE PATCH REAL GOOD. THESE THINGS ARE SMOKIN SERIOUSLY. Saturday, August 12 View Page Is there any doubt now? Day 32. Sunday, August 13 View Page Day 33 I measured 115-75-76, 266 OTT for 403 pounds. Based on the tape that is 14 lbs over the current state record. I don't know how Dave had measured last week so my numbers may be a little inconsistant with his but that's what I got. Since I don't get to be in the patch much these days I took the shade tarp off for a while to get some good shots of the 1230. What a beautiful day today. I got the plant cleaned up pretty good, it took me 6 hours to weed yesterday. The older leaves have taken a serious beating and I don't know how long the plant can hold up, so I'm letting all new leaves and vines grow, tertiaries included. I cut about 6 new pumpkins off the plant. After the leaves dry off I'll spray daconil as I am seeing some PM. Sunday, August 13 View Page Here is the pumpkin on the 669 Muller somewhere around +250lbs day 32. It has serious stem stress problems, I did the best I could with it but it's too big to move on my own now. Also I want to note that I cut the vine right after the big pumpkin on the 1230. I hope I can get another 200lbs out of each fruit and hit my short goal of 600lbs but without me being here each day to care for the plants I'm not so sure. Sunday, August 13 View Page I did measure the 669 Muller and it is 93-70-61, 224 OTT = 245lbs est. day 32. Unfortunately it lost about 20% of its vines today when I cut them due to vine stress. Tuesday, August 22 View Page If the pumpkin is growing, then it is growing very slowly. At least I'm getting some good color now. My decision is basically to leave both fruit on the plant, and to go ahead and grow out the 8 or so new pumpkins that are open pollinated way out on this huge plant. The bad leaves are not spreading. So now the MD record isn't such a definate but I'll be close at least. I think the growth is done for my biggest but I want to keep it on the vine for the color and seeds, so the best way to do that is with a healthy plant I hope. No more cutting. Tuesday, August 22 View Page Here is the 1230 plant, with the bad leaves in the center- the oldest ones. Maybe they're just old and sunburned, who knows. But I've sprayed and the problem isn't spreading out; there's a lot more of this plant than you can see. I hope the 669 is pushing 300lb by now but who knows? Saturday, August 26 View Page PM has taken a serious toll on my plants. Here is the 669 Muller est. at 353 pounds. 1230 fruit 1 est at 434lbs. 1230 fruit 2 est at 226 pounds. The 669 thumps like a rock. Monday, September 4 View Page First the big news. A lot has been happening with the Orangeneck these days. My offer was accepted on this house! Along with this house is a fat acre of pumpkin growing goodness. I'm very enthusiastic about getting my new patches ready for next year. There's something to be said about growing on your own soil for the first time.. it is symbolic of everything I hold important in life. Needless to say, I am very excited (and a little scared too). Monday, September 4 View Page Back to the pumpkins. I guess it goes without saying that it is hard to grow these things without making daily observations and adjustments. This is the blossom end shell of my 434 est Gerhardt 2006. the flesh was mostly uniform about 6" all the way around. I had hoped that when I cut it open I would see some reason why this pumpkin went down (along with the other one on the plant) but there were no holes into the cavity. The plant just basically quit. PM was a major factor for sure. Tbere's something very surreal about tromping into a patch and carelessly mashing vines to hack open a fruit with a tree saw that only weeks ago I was tip-toeing around. Monday, September 4 View Page Here is the pumpkin project manager inspecting the seeds from the 434. He gave 2 paws up- I salvaged 401 seeds from this fruit. they look very sound and took on the phenotype of the 603 Muller seeds. The 1230 seed the plant was grown from was pure white. I didn't bother with the seeds from the 216 Gerhardt 06 because it was the same plant and the same cross. Monday, September 4 View Page Here is my last chance to set the MD record with an official weight, this fruit is on the 669 Muller and is crossed with 603 Muller. I cannot get a good circ measurement due to the size but let's just say that it is quite large and looks very heavy. The walls thump like steel. Although the plant is growing in a sea of weeds, the pumpkin continues to grow and is getting nice color. I took the shade tarp away so that it will show really good in 2 weeks at the Frederick fair. I can only promise that the fruit will be over 300 pounds but I won't be surprised if it approaches 500. It is a great looking pumpkin, thanks Mark. We hear it over and over, but I should note that this plant was a backup, and I went with it as a last resort. 603 all the way. Saturday, September 9 View Page The pumpkin on the 669 Muller is 83-74-110 est at 407lbs. It is really orange and really thick. It sucks to pull this fruit as it is still gaining weight but I don't want it to go down and I want that state record dammit. Next year I'll have to compete against the likes of the Checkons and the PA growers so you know how that's gonna turn out. BTW I have 2 new pumpkins on the 1230 plant around 50lbs each; maybe they will make it to Halloween but given the plant's history thus far I doubt it. One week to go for the 669 before I harvest it for the Great Frederick Fair. They are very excited to have my pumpkin on display there. The cross is 669 Muller x 603 Muller. Sunday, September 10 View Page I know, the pumpkin looks great but the patch looks like hell. If only I could concentrate really hard maybe I could weed the patch from PA with my mind. Most of the plant is out in front of the pumpkin; the main is about 50 feet long now. Sunday, September 17 View Page This picture is a little misleading but you get the idea. I didn't measure this week but I am sure it is still growing. Will it last 3 weeks? Doubtful. Losing it's shape a little as the lobes become more pronounced but it is still a pretty one for sure. I'm going to email this pic to the Fair so they know what they missed out on. The two on the 1230 plant are ~100lbs each now. I'm sticking to my gameplan to the end of the year- no ferts, no water except rain, full sun and no shade structure. I never thought getting it weighed would be harder than growing it but that's the case right now. I am once again hoping to hit my 600lb mark. I think if I was to flip this fruit onto its blossom end and take an ott the tape would be much different. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed I guess. Dave built an awesome lifting tarp, 8 ply and ropes with handles for 8 people. It's very impressive. I hope we get to use it. Tuesday, September 26 View Page A picture from the backyard of my new house. This yard is going to grow some big freakin pumpkins. Hopefully I'll be at Altoona in 2 weeks with a pumpkin to weigh. Friday, October 6 View Page Loading up. A big thanks to Dave, Mike and Sarge for making it all happen. Five of us lifted this thing to our knees with the tarp and it felt really heavy. 389lbs? I think so. Friday, October 6 View Page The scary part over, with the pumpkin safely on a pallet. Friday, October 6 View Page Here's Dave finishing up the straps. We're set to go to Altoona tomorrow. Hopefully to crush the state record, with this seriously orange pumpkin off the 669 Muller. Sunday, October 22 View Page Okay so I've been slacking with the diary posts since the weighoff but here is the official weight from Altoona on my pumpkin. Not what I wanted but still good to beat the old state record by 34lbs, and orange too. Seeds are ready, just send me an email and I'll be ready for bubble packs the first week of November. The cross is 669 Muller x 603 Muller. I got 425 seeds from this pumpkin. Sunday, October 22 View Page This pic shows about 3/4 of the pumpkins that made it to Altoona. Mine wasn't the biggest but hey, most of these are so ugly only a mother could love them. If you're wondering why my seeds are ready so soon, well it's because I dropped the damn thing in the front yard unloading after the weighoff. After the weighoff. Tuesday, November 7 View Page It's been very busy around here. I've moved into my new house and I'm looking forward to preparing a brand new patch area. A conversation with my new neighbors will be in order before I begin to ammend the soil- wish me luck. I hope to have soil samples analyzed before the end of the month. Monday, December 11 View Page You can't imagine a happier grower when I finally dug my shovel into the new yard for the first time and found this loam soil. 9 inches down and not a single rock. That's what generations of Mennanite farming will do for you I guess. I live smack in the middle of PA Dutch land and 10 minutes from the Rodale Institute. I've been up and down about the 2007 season in this new plot but I'm optomistic now baby! Now, if I could just quit spending money on seeds I don't need :)