Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 129 Entries. Tuesday, March 25 View Page Are these guys ready for spring or what? Monday, April 7 View Page With no datestamp I'm sure this could be questioned, but this is where my patch was at yesterday. The mounds at the planting sites were 1 yard of compost placed in late fall, they are knee high. There are 6 more mounds in the direction of the woodline. Yes a slow spring meltdown this year,,,,grrrrr Monday, April 7 View Page At least I have a great cover crop of winter rye going Monday, April 7 View Page The CWPG had thier spring meeting on Saturday, my friend Al Kopp arrived wearing his target! At least 4 previous state champs and a number of skilled growers are aiming at it this season, good luck Al. Saturday, April 26 View Page Interesting weather occurance last evening around 6pm first time I have ever seen this Saturday, April 26 View Page Not exactly normal hail, these were more of the "shreader" variety (and that's exactly what they did to the 4 hoops I had up and running) I think I would take a snowstorm to this. <sigh> In any event, what's another roll of plastic at this point? Thursday, May 8 View Page Plants all set in the hoops now, I stretched this out for a week as a few selected seeds developed some problems. All plants are set in doubles, most of the doubles are my seeds. We'll let things grow for a couple weeks and make selections then based on what the seedlings are showing. A second round of backups are starting just in case of a major disaster in the near future. Thanks to all the growers for the opportunity to try these seeds. 1334 Daletas 664.5 Liggett 1041 McKee 806 McKee 1248 Ford 1039 Leonard 1100 Hestor my own: 1105.5 (1407 Wolf X 1039 Sherwood) 1186.8 (1046.6 Bowles X 897.5 Davies) 1290 (1005.9 Werner X 1407 Wolf) So far the spring weather has been colder than normal, I am hoping the trend changes and we get the heat we've had the last 2 years here in the "nort woods". Good luck to my fellow WI growers and my friends across the world,,, What a great time of the year for all of us!!! Saturday, May 10 View Page newest hardware addition this year,,,,classic "chit spreader" vintage 1930's (note the finished compost from last years work) Saturday, May 10 View Page set up to do a nice job spreading 2" deep,,,total of 20 yards will go on topping off the old and the new patch areas Saturday, May 10 View Page also added "le manure factory" soon to be part of the worm ranch endeavour New Zealand White's, 1 buck (named lucky ;-) and 5 does,,should we start a pool for total offspring by November? Monday, May 19 View Page Obligatory young plant in hoophouse pic, showing the longer hoops this year and the 55 gallon water filled barrel I'm using as solar heat sinks to help with night time temperatures. (thanks J.D.) So far the 1041 McKie appears the most aggressive plant, others are older and bigger but at this point, day for day, the 1041 leads the pack, for what it's worth at this early stage. Even with the cooler than normal temps, sunny days, and my climbing electric bill due to the inground cables and the milkhouse heaters I think the plants are ahead of last year. Monday, May 19 View Page the pic Monday, May 19 View Page For those that have asked what I use for drenchs here is the setup, a 600gph utility pump supplied from a "tote", the desired material is premixed then added to the warmed water in the tote, the gallon amount is a thing you get the feel for after running short a few times when actually applying the mix. Monday, May 19 View Page For the working end I prefer these cheap "fan nozzle" hose end sprayers. Find the one with larget holes and they don't plug as fast when using a tea. Wednesday, June 4 View Page After a few requests for some pics here we go. The 1248 Ford is the biggest plant at this point, here she is at 41 days old. Second year growing this seed and very happy I chose to do so,,thanks again Jim. Wednesday, June 4 View Page The 664.5 Ligget at the same age,,doing well after abit of a slow start. Thanks again Doc hopefully I can do her well. Wednesday, June 4 View Page ok,,here's the second "t" ,,,,,sorry Doc Wednesday, June 4 View Page My 1186.8 that made the cut yesterday, happy with the way these plants carried on the easy to train vines. Big hopes for this cross going big, orange, and heavy. 1046.6 Bowles X 897.5 Davies Wednesday, June 4 View Page My 1105.5 has done well so far keeping close company to the best plant so far, all 4 of these plants are the same age. Wednesday, June 4 View Page OK,,for those of you that are thinking I have alot of WEEDS in those hoops,,you are sooooo wrong. That is organically grown wabbit food!! the cycle of life here,,,the manure factory has provided enough material to side dress all the plants so far ;-) Wednesday, June 4 View Page No surprise really but the 1041 McKie is rolling along well, the plant laid down pretty much on it's own and is very impressive for being 9 days younger than the other plants pictured. Thanks Dan. Wednesday, June 4 View Page A better pic of using sticks on the main for training purposes, a few have asked and this makes it pretty easy to see what I do. All plants are a bit different,,just remember over and under to get her down while still supporting it for the wind and any upward movement. Wednesday, June 4 View Page Speaking of wind,,half of the new windfrence is up. 78-82% shade fabric, I'm hoping this helps solve my "swirling" problems in the field. Wednesday, June 4 View Page "Why did you only put up half the fence?" you might be asking,,,well this is the weave of this particular fabric, I also have the more standard material available, so I am testing this before finishing the job. (like I really needed to explain that,,lol) Saturday, June 14 View Page hmmm,,, strange tracks in the patch Saturday, June 14 View Page Due to my dislike of the "walking board" syndrome I decided to try some small hi-tech snowshoes (via Claude Colbert's idea in last summers newsletter,,thanks Claude) They work great, I tilled the outside of the 4 large plants this morning and got caughtup with the vines. I wanted to see what type of compression I had when wearing the shoes on the softest soil. (Shoes on my shoes Norm!) Saturday, June 14 View Page All vines were buried and trimmed when required, when finished they got a drench of tea and bio-additives helping to restore what might have been lost to the rain last week, the 1248 Ford is still the largest plant. Saturday, June 14 View Page but not by alot,,the 1187.6 moves on Saturday, June 14 View Page oops,,that is the (ahhhem) 1186.8 ,,,,,,,,sry long day folks Saturday, June 14 View Page and my 1105.5,,secondary growth is slower but the main has had 2 females that I have culled Saturday, June 14 View Page Now for some fun stuff,,these are roots of the wabbit treats that I let grow in the hoops. In comparing them with any and all pictures I have found regarding enoculated roots using mycor I feel these have got it. Saturday, June 14 View Page a little better closeup of those roots,,,make note of the soil sticking to the roots and the fine hairs that are covering the main roots,,it's my belief that the "glomalin" produced in these roots shows quite clearly what it does even in dry soils. For a read on this and the research that led to it's discovery in '99 check this link: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/sep02/soil0902.htm as a side note,,this mycor if indeed these are inoculated came from one of 2 sources,,carry over in the winter rye or a bio-product I use that has a small amount or "seed treat" applied to it, in either case it makes one wonder about our overdosing the plants when burying vines. Thursday, June 19 View Page Manure factory update,,,we now have 27 little poopers working full time Friday, June 27 View Page First pollination: 1186.8 X 1248 @12' Friday, June 27 View Page 1290 X 1248 @10' perfect 5 lobe, good setup, nice stem length Friday, June 27 View Page Patch overview, weather the first 3 weeks of June was terrible, but in typical northwoods fashion the last week has been near perfect growing weather. The 4 plants set out on May 7th definately suffered in growth and are now struggling to catchup, I will try some different vine techniques on them. All plants have females in place for the next 3-10 days in the "zone" it will make for an interesting season to say the least ;-) Friday, June 27 View Page Including another pic, different angle of the 1290's first pollination for those that have asked how to "setup" the fruit, this long stem makes it easy, secondary to the left, leaf stalk center (to be removed later), and main vine runs off to the right, I'm trying the Don Young "swoop" this year and work at getting the vine positioned early on b4 pollinations. There will be more adjustment needed but this is an excellent start IMO. Saturday, June 28 View Page 1041 X 1248, 5 lobe @ 10' Sunday, June 29 View Page 1186.8 X 664.5 Liggett @15', 5 lobe Monday, June 30 View Page 1105.5 X 1248 5 lobe @13'some secondarys termed, could be the keeper Tuesday, July 1 View Page 1248 X 1041 @15' 5 lobe, 4 secondary vines terminated, if she takes it should be the keeper ;-) Wednesday, July 2 View Page 1041 X 1248 @13' 5 lobe Thursday, July 3 View Page bunny count 35 Friday, July 4 View Page 1186.8 X 664.5 @ 17' 4 lobe Friday, July 4 View Page 664.5 X 1100 Hestor @ 13' 5 lobe with seeds, another in a couple of days Sunday, July 6 View Page 1100 Hestor X 1248 Ford 5 lobe @ 12' Monday, July 7 View Page 1248 X 1041 5 lobe @ 18' 1100 X 1248 5 lobe @ 13' 1105.5 X 1100 5 lobe @ 18' some culls are starting to pile up and some fabric/sand is being set, things are shaping up pretty well Friday, July 11 View Page a few pics for some growers that have been asking questions,,,this is a female "with seeds" what a mess in this one Friday, July 11 View Page setup complete on the 1290 fruit(shaped like her mom), just shy of the mark at 10 days but in my experience I don't put alot of faith in this mark due to plants still filling in and my cool night temps Friday, July 11 View Page and then so far I have twice hit the marks,,,lol this is the 1186.8 growing well on the second set, I'll do the sand and fabric tomorrow on this fruit Friday, July 11 View Page the plant on that 1186.8, mostly filled in, sides termed that are going to be for now,,,the rest will be grown forward past the fruit, parallel to the main Friday, July 11 View Page fruit on the 1105.5, could be a wheel or tall block at this point,, nice stem length,,getting the setup right before adding the sand and fabric Friday, July 11 View Page once again, plant filled in now and a few secondary vines will be run forward Friday, July 11 View Page long fruit on the 1248(the 897.5 genetics evident), grew slow to this point but once again the plant is almost termed to the stump and things will pickup the pace in the next few days Friday, July 11 View Page fruit selected on the 1041.5 nice shape and working on finishing the vine setup, the younger plants really kicked in over the last 10 days with great weather for growing, hopefully it sticks around for a couple months ;-) Sunday, July 13 View Page 1334 X 1186.8 5 lobe @ 13',,,very late start on this plant but with that stretch of good weather it really took off Thursday, July 17 View Page Day 20 on the 1290 fruit a tad under the big marks for this point but something I see alot here with cool nights. Note the secondary vines trained to go toward the end of the patch,,,smaller plant with the set at 10' trying to get some maximum plant size for the long haul. Thursday, July 17 View Page it appears the 1186.8 will take on the shape of her momma Thursday, July 17 View Page 1248 still looking like it will be an oblong fruit Thursday, July 17 View Page 1100 Hestor, 25" @10 days Thursday, July 17 View Page day 15 on the 1041, hard to see in this pic but this is now the best looking fruit for color (didn' grow it for that though) Thursday, July 17 View Page very round fruit on the 664.5, it was 29" on day 11 a couple days ago Thursday, July 17 View Page 1105.5 starting to flex a little,,,I have a good feeling about this fruit Thursday, July 17 View Page picture of the 1290 fruit showing the forward trained vines (I'm old remember sometimes I forget things,,,LIKE this picture ;-) Sunday, July 20 View Page wabbits=42,,,more on the way Monday, July 21 View Page I'm doing what I can but Mother Nature isn't my best friend here...oh well cool night temps coupled with partly cloudy days this year are making it tough on fruit growth Friday, July 25 View Page Day 11 on the 1334.5 Daletas fruit, my very late set on my very late plant, this will be interesting. My best measurement at 36" for that day :-) and this follows 2 nights in the 40's. Friday, July 25 View Page 664.5 Liggett day 20,,,the shine shows but not the true color, right now the orangest (is that a word?) fruit in the patch this year. Friday, July 25 View Page This appears to be my wheel this year, the fruit did 15.5 lbs a day over days 17-20, not bad growth with the low temps and little sun. Friday, July 25 View Page on another note I finally have something of concern with the 1041.5 fruit, if pumpkins have "outties" then this is one of them. dang it sure looks like a problem waiting to happen,,,,grrrrrr Saturday, August 2 View Page yesterday was day 20 on the 1334.5 Daletas fruit,,best ever 20 day measurement for me at 76" cc and an OTT of 177". Now the questions arise will this rate continue and will the weather hold long enough to see the potential in this seed?,,,time will tell. Saturday, August 2 View Page 664.5 day 30 pic the fruit has averaged 28.4 lbs over the last 8 days keeping my interest peaked in this wheel Saturday, August 2 View Page side view of the 664.5 (think it was easy getting that ball to stay on top if this?) Saturday, August 2 View Page My 1186.8 fruit at day 33, also did just under 30#'s a day the last 8 days, in person the shape is filling better than the mother at this age. There is a subtle hint of the color on the stem end and it has that "waxey" feel of the 879.5 that was the father in this cross. Saturday, August 2 View Page the 1248 on day 33, slowly building the numbers here and filling in nicely, also a nice medium yellow at this stage. Saturday, August 2 View Page ok,,,if having lumps isn't bad enough,,,last night the 1290 got bit by a critter,,,the evidence leads one to think it was of the coon or skunk variety. This is a first in my patch, the "coonbegone" and the live traps are set and I hope to have forthcoming pics of the culprits. Saturday, August 2 View Page the bites were drenched with alcohol, left to dry then treated with Captan. I will tarp this fruit tomorrow,,,grrrr. Saturday, August 2 View Page The 1105.5 fruit looking remarkably like her half sister fruit the 1186.8. Did 27#'s/day over the last 8 days and is 34 days old. Saturday, August 2 View Page 1100 Hestor at 26 days picking up steam and increasing gains dailey. Saturday, August 2 View Page 1041.5 McKie day 32 still waiting for this fruit to pick up the pace,,,it has changed shape in the last week and the color is great. Saturday, August 2 View Page side view of the 1041.5 Saturday, August 2 View Page east side of the patch as the "sea of green" fills in Saturday, August 2 View Page west side Sunday, August 17 View Page 1334 Daletas,,,"the great white hope" this late set has hit the big marks on day 10,20,and 30 with 2 weeks of good weather in the forecast we'll see what she's got,,,hopefully finish with some good Sept growth Sunday, August 17 View Page 1186.8 Bowles the oldest fruit, averaged 24#s/day 43-48days with night temps in the 40's,,,starting to colorup a bit Sunday, August 17 View Page 1248 Ford,,,filling in and still very young looking fruit,,we'll see ;-) Sunday, August 17 View Page 1100 Hestor, almost the "oops" fruit Sunday, August 17 View Page if you look through the leaves you can see why,,,I almost missed the fact this thing had gone wheel FAST,,,propped with a couple of buckets of sand she is now stable and doing well. Sunday, August 17 View Page 1105.5 Bowles, I have hopes for this fruit, she thumps solid at this point and she's still doing good in the dailey #'s despite cold nights. Sunday, August 17 View Page 664.5 Liggett, best dailey #s so far and taking over at heaviest est fruit,,,,, Sunday, August 17 View Page my "wide" wheel Sunday, August 24 View Page well I wanted to express a big "thank you" to all my friends in Canada that made this unusual weather pattern possible,,,I'll report tomorrow on the results Monday, August 25 View Page got past that one,,,burned a few bales of hay in the field and hit the overheads @ 4am low temp in the yard was 31° but the "heavy cloud" in the patch kept things warmer, I'm sure a few early morning commuters were surprised when they hit the smoke on the road :-) current predicted low for tonight is 39°,,,I'll need a nap today Tuesday, August 26 View Page Updated pics, Leslie volunteered for size comparision since a few fruit are getting larger The 664.5 still doing well here. Tuesday, August 26 View Page side view Tuesday, August 26 View Page I haven't mentioned the big stem on the fruit ;-) Tuesday, August 26 View Page 1186.8 starting to take on some color, a very wide fruit that seems to have some solid in it. Tuesday, August 26 View Page 1105.5 also a wide fruit and this one "thumps" very solid Tuesday, August 26 View Page 1100 Hestor really hard to measure this fruit but now on solid footing for the duration,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I hope LOL Tuesday, September 16 View Page after many requests time to update pics of the remaining fruit this is the 1334 that seemed to stall out after day 40, still growing and adding inches. est 750ish the plant lost a few leaves to frost but remains healthy for the most part Tuesday, September 16 View Page 1100 Hestor. my shiney fruit for this year. Very hard to measure but my attempts show est 850ish at this point. Healthy plant and still adding inches. Tuesday, September 16 View Page My 1186.8 very slow growth now but still adding some inches, thumps sound ;-). Tapes an est 1k, plant has a touch of pm but good shape for the most part. Tuesday, September 16 View Page My 1105.5 still growing and largest cc in the patch, very wide fruit with a large "shoulder gut" below the stem, hurts your hand to thump this one. 1100ish Tuesday, September 16 View Page 664.5 Liggett, measured a new pb a few days ago achieving that goal for the year. Now for that "target" and possibly a new item for the wardrobe ;-) Saturday, September 27 View Page My 5th place fruit at Stillwater,MN weigh off, hosted by the St Croix Growers Assn. a site with a future if they sieze the opportunity presented them today. 998 Bowles '08 1186.8 Bowles X 664.5 Liggett according to my measurements even to the charts in weight Saturday, September 27 View Page latest rumor from WI,,,,we now have a 998 available! Saturday, September 27 View Page Norm it's catching on! (these were being sported by a fine lady my friend, I am waiting to see your's mr Norm) Friday, October 3 View Page and we're off to the rodeo!!! Loaded for Nekoosa, 1100 Hestor, 664.5 Liggett, 1334 Daletas ready for the early morning drive to the "big show" Thursday, October 9 View Page 1105.5 loaded for Eugster's Farm weigh off in Stoughton on Sat Thursday, October 9 View Page My last shot at the "target" for '08 Thursday, October 9 View Page Leslie named this one "fat bottom girl" a few weeks ago, now we'll see if that bottom has any weight behind it ;-) Thursday, October 9 View Page I kinda like the "concrete" color on her Saturday, October 18 View Page ok,,time to catchup a bit on entries here, we'll start with the fruit we weighed at Nekoosa Saturday, October 18 View Page Leslie was a major part of patch work this year and I convinced her to finally "take one to the scales". Her entry on the 1100 Hestor. Now know as the 993 Bowles '08, went 5% heavy, pollinated with the 1099.5 Bowles (1248 Ford) that was 17% heavy, possibly a great cross for orange and heavy. Saturday, October 18 View Page My best surprise of the day was my 1334 Daletas fruit going almost 25% heavy. Now the 1085 Bowles '08 pollinated with my 998 Bowles '08. In hindsite I would have trusted the stats and used this plant as a pollinator. Next time around I will ;-) Saturday, October 18 View Page notice how happy Wade is as he gets close to the "big stem" on my 664.5 Ligget fruit as it moves to the scales? Saturday, October 18 View Page toss this other t in there,,,sorry Doc ;-) Saturday, October 18 View Page Did I mention these 2 folks? Margaret and Glenn Martin, our new team of rookie growers from WI that made us all proud over the season. That's Gray "crazey" Keyser in the background still growing and a great asset to the CWPG, always on hand at the weigh off making new friends and encouraging the new members. Saturday, October 18 View Page Glenn and Margaret had just weighed their entry, the fruit taped a bit smaller than mine so now the nerves kicked in for these 2 rookies. Saturday, October 18 View Page We waited while Wade oggled my stem............on the 664.5 Saturday, October 18 View Page As the scales settled and I realized it was a new PB I was pretty happy (I've been accused of rarely smiling in pics) Brig looked dapper in her BP garb at the Fest. Saturday, October 18 View Page Known as the 1313 Bowles'08 pollinated with the 993 Bowles'08, taking 2nd place and encouraging me to work harder next year. Saturday, October 18 View Page Over 20 tons of fruit weighed, 11 fruit over 1k, a new state record true green squash. All in all a great day for the CWPG, the "growers helping growers" is working here in Wisconsin. Our weather held us back this season,,watch out in '09 ! Saturday, October 18 View Page speaking of that record greenie Saturday, October 18 View Page This is Caleb Jacobus, a 3rd year grower I believe, grown off his own 716.5 seed, well done young man. Saturday, October 18 View Page I need a break,,be back in awhile to catch you up on Eugster's Farm Market weigh off in Stoughton, WI Saturday, October 18 View Page as an afterthought, Randy Glisczinski's 812# fruit won the Howard Dill Award, a great looking fruit 1290 Porrier X 1186.8 Bowles. Friday, November 14 View Page Randy is an orange freak, one of these year's he will hit on a huge one. I think he was excited in winning the first year of the Howard Dill plaque from the GPC. Well deserved Randy, congrats again on another great looking fruit. I hope you grow this cross next year to see what it brings. Friday, November 14 View Page yup,,he's smiling