Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 16 Entries. Monday, May 21 View Page 2012 .... Our SPring Started in March and I actually stayed on track and didn't plant right away !! Earliest for a non tended patch for the Safehouse .. 4 pumpkins in the ground May 10th .. Thursday, July 19 View Page Fast forward to July 18th for a quick intro and update.. Planted 4 pumpkins in my patch.. 2 in neighbors patch and my Buddy Terry and his new stepson planted 2 in a closer to home patch in Chaska. The SafeHouse patch is located In Hutchinson, MN 47.2 miles from our house in Chaska, MN Thursday, July 19 View Page Our Cabin is an old Farmhouse built in 1920, A barn built in 1911 and a grainery. We have 3 acres and 200 feet of lakeshore on a 350ish acre farm lake named Lake Hook. Great sunsets and Excellent sunsets.. Thursday, July 19 View Page Our Cabin is an old Farmhouse built in 1920, A barn built in 1911 and a grainery. We have 3 acres and 200 feet of lakeshore on a 350ish acre farm lake named Lake Hook. Great sunsets and Excellent sunsets.. Thursday, July 19 View Page I have a very loving and tolerant wife named Theresa and 2 dogs, Wally (Golden Retriever) and Kirby (English Setter) They are excellent hunting dogs and like to oversee the operations in the garden .. The golf cart was an early addition the the property and has made even the boys lazy ! Thursday, July 19 View Page This year marks my 6th year growing Giants.. Lots has been learned in the meantime.. This season started aout extremely mild and has become extremely hot with 23 days over 90 degrees already and it's only the 19th of July .. I must have peaked in 2009 with my PB of 1183.5 which I entered into my First Big Boy contest in Stillwater MN .. 6th place .. Have only one other 1,000 pounder since.. Thursday, July 19 View Page So, As this is supposed to be a Diary I will continue with current events and catch up , Nice to look back years from now for benchmarks and reminders .. My 4 pumpkins in the main patch are named Betty,B,C and D.. Betty was pollinated on June 28th .. The others will be named as their personalities start to show. Betty is at Day 20 and 190" OTT, Best start ever ? B has 2 at 7/8 days C has 2,8/9 days and D pollinated today after long absence of Females Betty here at day 17 Thursday, July 19 View Page So, As we have had 21 days over 90 degrees I decided to set the sprinkler overhead to go off every 6 hours for 15 minutes.. Reminder to NOT set the timer if it is going to go haywire and douse the garden unattended for who know's how long ... This main vine is caked with mud, We'll see how it does , All 4 plants seem to not be needing water.. Thursday, July 19 View Page A 2 day lull and a forcast of 7 more days in the 90's with opressive humidity... Here is Betty at day 20..54x57x79 Hoping that my man made monsoon doesn't create an explosion.. I will load my backpack sprayer with Daconil and hose down the patch as this humidity is begging for all kinds of bad things to develop.. Thursday, July 19 View Page A few other notes to self.. The vegetable crop is in full swing and early.. Beans are raging, Broccoli, Zuchini are plentiful.. Peas were done last week , Canned Beets last weekend and Cucumbers are growing faster than I can pick them... Lake temp is approaching 90 degrees, Barely even refreshing! With temps like this year it is always good to have a cooler in the garden .. Thursday, July 19 View Page Neighbors patch has 2 Jensen 500's.. These are moving right along.. The Terry patch has 2 Jutras seeds and is slow but then again so is Terry ..LOL He's having fun with his own patch , New wife 2 kids and a puppy .. Thursday, July 19 View Page Having a patch 1 hour a way has it's challenges so I have concocted a foliar feeding program as well as a drench program that incorporates 1x a week applications. I use my Stihl backpack sprayer for all of it.. Huge timesaver ! Also use the sprayer to fog the yard for Mosquitos, Blow out the garage and barn and stoke the bonfire when necessary, A great all around tool! Friday, July 20 View Page Note. That was not Betty day 20 but indeed a cull off of B due to it's terrible location sitting on top of the main vine.. Made me think of this sign ... Friday, July 20 View Page Today is 7/20, Off to the Lake to check things out and soon to report my garden findings ... Monday, July 23 View Page Not sure that this summer won't go down as one of the Hottest, Humid summers ever.... Betty is looking good, Pushed past 250 on Sat. COuld I have measured wrong or is 40# in a day a reality? Will have to double check on a 4 day average.. The names have been given.. Archie, Jughead along with Betty are all set and off to the races. Now to not burn out and stay on track with my top secret program. Monday, July 23 View Page Note: Pulled Onions, Have a few Tomatoes coming in, Sweet Corn is looking and tasting good, Green Beans and Cukes are raging.. Already sick of Zucchini and Yellow Squash ! Broccoli round 1 was delicious.. THe Lillies this year were spectacular.. Bought these a few years ago for $1