Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 250 Entries. Sunday, January 1 View Page So far 2012 is starting off just like 2011. A nice 72 degrees outside. Here is Nipper the patch horse. We figured we would put him in our diary since he has been a big part of our compost pile. Happy New Year!!! Saturday, January 7 View Page Onions are growing nicely. Changing the positions of the lights has helped bottom growth. And i,m down to four,,wich are tuff choises to make. Two of them will be grown to maturity,what ever that is. It hard to throw em out after caring months for them,,lol. But thats the way it is. Stronger lights are on the way and soon theyl be going to normal daylight hour schedule..so far,,so good. Saturday, January 7 View Page turned the pile today,,and its closed to being done,,wont turn it again till february... Saturday, January 7 View Page home made compost, crumbly texture,,earthy smell,,hmmmmm Saturday, January 7 View Page Nipper the patch horse is already starting on next years pile,,lol Saturday, January 7 View Page kohlrabi survived the first freeze of year under a garden blanket,,soaking up some late afternoon sun here. Saturday, January 7 View Page cabbage still alive to.. Saturday, January 7 View Page Giant onions. I,m pretty happy sofar. I,m not getting the superfast growth some of the uk growers get, but i,m working with less then half the light and no co2. Nevertheless, i havent killed them yet and i am still on course. Stay tuned,,, Wednesday, January 11 View Page Onions following daylight hours now. Sunday, January 15 View Page A very nice day today in sunny South Carolina. Hard to believe it is Jan 15 and we still are able to wear short sleeves. So here I am turning our smaller compost pile, in trade Frank is making dinner. Meatloaf, twiced baked potatoes and braised carrots...:) Sunday, January 15 View Page Dont let Tina fool you,,,,15 shovels isnt turning the pile.... Saturday, January 21 View Page Onion update, Onions have been on daylight ours for 10 days now and been in their final pots for the last 7 days. Everthing went smooth and growth has certainly not stopped. Today i switched them up so they get the same light and and air. I wil switch them up weekly. Im happy to say that the combination of walmart growlights and a cfl is working well sofar. In time i will wil exchange the cfl from 6500k to 3000k to stimulate bulbing. But first grow some more quality foliage and thicken up a bit. So far,,,so good. Fingers crossed. Saturday, January 21 View Page Today we went to a seminar sponsered by Swansea Milling Company, a local feed and seed. The guest speaker was Jeff, a gentleman from Fertrell. As Frank and I were talking to him he called us giant Pumpkin growers Fanatics. FANATIC: A PERSON MARKED or MOTIVATED BY AN EXTREME, UNREASONING ENTHUSIASM, AS FOR A CAUSE. Na that dont sound like us...LOL...Learned a couple of things but best of all local feed/seed guy seems really interested in getting a local weight off going. So who know where this might end up..Stay tuned...PS...Forgot camera so had to take pic of book and pens when we got home, plus no one else there was taking pics so we would have looked kind of strange taking pics., but isnt that what a FANATIC does.....:) Saturday, January 28 View Page Another beautifull day and time to spread the compost pile,,,65f and spring was in the air... Saturday, January 28 View Page Spread it and till in a bit... Saturday, January 28 View Page patch raised several inches. Saturday, January 28 View Page found another horse shoe,,,lucks on our side again this year,,,lol ;) Saturday, January 28 View Page Finding worms in our usually dry soil is a rarity. Today after a period of rain we found a good bit. Always glad to see these little guys working. Saturday, January 28 View Page This is a little bonsai carrot. Its actually rather large as this variety normally grows to an half inch or less most of the time. This is growing for size the other way around. Because who doesnt like miniature veggies. Saturday, January 28 View Page Giant cabbage and kohlrabi are growing away nicely. No world records here, just a first flirt with growing these veggies for us. Saturday, January 28 View Page Bonsai carrot....really? lmao,,,,thinned out carrots today! Sunday, January 29 View Page Its that time of year again...Oyster time!!! Sunday, January 29 View Page The Mrs,s to. Sunday, January 29 View Page Some get pretty big!! Sunday, January 29 View Page Not sure if the last pic came thru,,so again,,a big one! Sunday, January 29 View Page say CHEEEEEEEEESE!!!!! Sunday, January 29 View Page Typical Charleston scene (low country) Sunday, January 29 View Page a tree at Boonehall plantation.....massive!!! Wednesday, February 1 View Page Onions keep plugging along. Some of this first years challenges are watering in a big pot, dealing with long leaves without cracking them, cooling them down. But we learn as we go. fingers crossed, so far,so good. Thursday, February 2 View Page Just wanted to say thank you to all who voted. I had a great time yesterday doing the cooking segment. Here I am with Dawndy and Heather is in the background. Food Network here I come...LOL...:) Sunday, February 5 View Page I've been playing with sourdough starter. Made some rolls today. Here they are after a double rise as they went into the oven... Sunday, February 5 View Page Taaa Daaa !!!! Monday, February 6 View Page Weather was so nice yesterday that i decided to go out for some fishing,,,heres a little juvinile pike,,, Monday, February 6 View Page Cell phone pics suck,,but what the heck,,caught a bass to. Fishings the only good alternitive to growing,,lol. Saturday, February 11 View Page Onions are doing ok. I can already tell that the key is gonna be keeping them cool. When temperatures went up, growth got softer and leaves bend easily,,now that its colder they are perky. At the end of the month i,m gonna change the color temp. of the lights to stimulate bulbing. For right now, i cant complain, so knock on wood and fingers crossed. Thursday, February 23 View Page Extra light for the onions. Added a 2700 k cfl to help in bulbing. The extra 15000 lumens are gonna help, but keeping them cool is gonna be an even bigger challenge now... Sunday, February 26 View Page kohlrabi is looking nice, soccerball size now. Monday, February 27 View Page and cabbage,,doing nicely to. Friday, March 2 View Page Time for some March onion pics: Friday, March 2 View Page and another one: Friday, March 2 View Page They are growing at a nice pace. Soon bulbing should get more pronounced. Fighting fungus gnats though. Soon predators wil be unleashed though, nematodes and mites. So far so good, fingers crossed. Sunday, March 4 View Page Was a nice day to do some patch work. Getting potato mound ready to plant some tators tomorrow. Norm this one is for you. :) Sunday, March 4 View Page Mater seedlings getting some afternoon sunshine. Sunday, March 4 View Page Growing several of our own seeds this year. Here is our offsping from our Ghost Pepper plant from last season... :) Monday, March 12 View Page Heres my catch of the day: a big *** bass. Wednesday, March 14 View Page The gnats have grown into a problem. I waited to long in treating them, and now i,m behind. Drenched the soil with bti ( Wednesday, March 14 View Page For the curious among you. bti stands for Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis. Its a strain that kills mosquito and fungus gnat larvea. Most of you might know the bt strain in dipeldust against caterpillars. I hope that the larvea of these little pest start eating the bti soon and i can break their lifecycle. The adults i wil kill wil sprays. fingers crossed. Friday, March 16 View Page One of my onions started doubling up. Luckily it was the smaller of the two. Although i have a back up i wil not use it with pumpkin season around the corner. One onion left that is still doing pretty good. I have drenched for the gnat larvea, used organic sprays and a light bifenthrin spray to kill some of the adults. fingers crossed Saturday, March 17 View Page NORM! This ones for you...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hplFBydYGZU&context=C436f03cADvjVQa1PpcFO4OJ8rYMbWaxZXpjnct3DO0x2lXMNctX0= Saturday, March 17 View Page A little tour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJpRCFCnKqk&feature=g-upl&context=G22b3c0eAUAAAAAAAAAA Saturday, March 17 View Page Todays harvest. Cabbages ended up at 14 and 17 lbs, just 110 lbs shy of the world record, lol. All kidding aside, a fun veggie to grow, and with the right variety next year i should be able to add a few lbs. The kohlrabis we got where both in the 6 lbs range, and although some prefer the smaller ones, these where mighty tasty. We left the biggest one in the patch to grow a bit longer. Nice start of the year! Wednesday, March 21 View Page I,ve stopped using the 6500 k light today, to see if red light in combination with full spectrum wil induce a more pronounced bulbing. Maybe a lack of patience, but a it wil a good experience to use on next years plant. Wednesday, March 21 View Page Ooops wrong link...on first post.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROk5F46ldUM Tuesday, March 27 View Page My remaining onion, wich has turned out to be a good lesson. In might fight agains the fungus gnats i let the top of soil dry out, maybe a bit to much because this one has decided to trow up extra leaves to. Its starting to split or double. What shame since bulbing is just about to start. Nevertheless, a harsh but good lessons for future attemps. A pro active insect control from the start, and if attacted fast and thourough action. B, moist soil, top to bottom, all the time. It will be intresting to see what this turns into. Live and learn, Grow and learn, lol. Monday, April 9 View Page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_0A_T2GAQw&feature=youtu.be Tuesday, April 10 View Page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTLq7GoPe_E&feature=youtu.be Wednesday, April 11 View Page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xNZRrUfUMg Saturday, April 14 View Page It was time for a pre season road trip today, so we took the care to the coast (charleston) and this is where we went. Saturday, April 14 View Page we didnt take the care, we took the car..much faster... ;) Saturday, April 14 View Page One the scenes you see most along coastel Charleston. Big trees with spanish moss. Many old plantations here with trees over 300 years that old sometimes provide either a gloomy or ferry tale like atmosphere... Saturday, April 14 View Page And this is where we fished,,,coastel inlet,,marsh lands...with plenty of canals filled with all kinds of good stuff from the sea. We fished for blue crab and had a rod or two out. One of the joys of fishing is being in beautifull areas like this.. Saturday, April 14 View Page So afer a morning well spent with ended up with a couple of witing and,,, (Tina caught the fish) Saturday, April 14 View Page Half a bucket of bucket of blue crabs. And both of them combined will make for two days of seafood on the menu. Saturday, April 14 View Page And then its time to clean the days catch. Tina took care of the crab. I cleaned the fish and then back home,,, Excellent weekend!! Saturday, April 14 View Page note to myself: work on spelling, lol. Sunday, April 15 View Page Corn... Sunday, April 15 View Page Potatoes.... Sunday, April 15 View Page Sthil time....:) Saturday, April 21 View Page After thinking and rethinking, we decided to start our pumpkin line up for this year. 9 days earlier then last year, but we will take our time in planting them out. We started: - 6 1140 Finders 11 991 urena x 1161 rodonis - 2 1164 Finders 09 1041 Mckie x 1255 van kooten - 1 1605 Sweet 10 1303 sweet x 1161 rodonis Of our own 1140s the most vigorous ones wil hit the patch. The 1164s are back to the 1605 sweet. The 1605 sweet wil be planted, unless it doesnt come up, or is a mutant. Its game on.... Monday, April 23 View Page All seeds germed in 24 hours. Best start we ever had, makes me nervous..... ;) Saturday, April 28 View Page Pulled out some Radishes today....:)Dang they grow fast...Need to plant some more.. Monday, April 30 View Page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q57kWFcW9ck\ 8 minutes out of the life of an amoeba in our compost tea. Our first tea of the year brewed out of home made leaf compost gave us this amazing video of a huge amoeba feeding away. At times the video wil blur a bit as i have to refocus or move to follow the amoeba. Inside it, you can see its meal, bacteria,,,around it dozens of stationairy and moving bacteria,,from rod shaped to archea. Monday, April 30 View Page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxdAp3VsJE8&feature=relmfu melons and mega mater Monday, April 30 View Page The next couple of entries are for the ones who brew compost tea or are interested in brewing it. Previous year we put up pictures, this year we will add little clips of the critters we are after in tea or are along for the ride. This first clip is a good look at a beautifull fungal system. Starting out a lower magnification, and then a closer look at some very healthy hyphea, some very thick. A highway of fungi within our tea. Enjoy! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tek07AOTodQ&feature=relmfu Monday, April 30 View Page The next several entries are for those who brew compost tea or are intrested in doing so. Previous year we just put up pictures but this year we will add clips. This first one is a look at a impressive fungal system. A highway of thick hyphea branching out. Starting out at a lower magnification we then go in for a closer look. enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tek07AOTodQ&feature=relmfu Monday, April 30 View Page This next clip is a ciliate feeding in our tea. If you look closely you will see the little hairs around it body wich it uses to move around. You can also see it suck in the surounding tea to filter it for food. A soil dweller we extracted from our compost. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MqpTOXNw3A&feature=relmfu Monday, April 30 View Page The next one is a good example of the ammount of life in compost tea. Several things going on. A vorticella ciliate in the middle, creating a vortex to suck in its prey. Its attached to a piece of organic matter. I,m not sure wich species it is though. There are flagellets, baceria and other ciliates zooming around, and on the left suck in organic matter and fungal hyphea a nematode. A perfect example of all the life you extract from compost tea to replenish your soil. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOxxmMRXQLM&feature=relmfu Monday, April 30 View Page And last but not least a nematode, a bacteria feeding nematode, that has been grabbed by a predatory fungus. The nematode keeps on feeding as the fungi have latched on to its tail. Its unusual to see nematodes 36 hours into brewing, because they wil die off normaly. But again a beatifull look into the world of a soildweller, and part of the rizosphere. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxLYmnIDmeQ&feature=relmfu Monday, April 30 View Page Now for those interested; this tea was made with the following recipe: Two cups of leaf compost 1/8 cup of unn sulphured mollases 1/4 cup of alfa/alfa pellets tea spoon of soluble humic acid 86 5 gallons of water. 1 aquarium pump and bubbler (airstone, strip) 1 soil soup airator 1 paintstrainer bag to suspend compost in water. we airated (bubbled) our water for several hours with the humid acid in it, to get rid of excess chlorine in the tapwater we used. After that we put in the tea bag with compost. The clips where made after 36 hours off brewing. Theres many recipes for tea and this is just one off the them. Brew time depends on the strength of your airpump, the ammount of tea and the quality of your compost. We use either vermicompost (wormcastings) or in this case our own leaf compost. As you can see theres plenty of life in our tea and the benefits outweigh the cost and effort by far. You can replace the soil soup airator we used by another aquarium bubbler. For probaby a $25 investment, you have one of the best things can your pour on your plant. We hope this will help some of you out there. Good luck!! Saturday, May 5 View Page Harvested the garlic,onions and potatoes,,heres some of the spread. Very tasty!!! Time to focus on the pumpkins and melons,,so no more time for other veggies. Monday, May 7 View Page Alright,,so we been doing the compost tea under the microscope, we might aswell do the myccorhizea. This first one, a spore,, glomus interaracides (i think, lol) Monday, May 7 View Page Two spores and subtending hypha. species : Either etunicatum or interaracides. Both the first and this picture are both of an onion root. Monday, May 7 View Page Another spore with subtending hypha. Again in onion root. Monday, May 7 View Page And this one finaly is a single spore in a pumpkin root, and again subtendig hypha showing. Of a seedling in the pot, two weeks after innoculating. Monday, May 7 View Page More to come later. And let me say that, our pictures oviously are not going to be as clear as the pictures you might find on the net. Our microscope is not as powerfull and our myccorhizea in not grown in a clean substrate in a lab. Nevertheless, the litte fungi found it in to the root. Monday, May 7 View Page Corn getting big...:) Saturday, May 12 View Page How to lay down your pumpkin plant as the main vine starts to grow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY7xyQe9T9A&feature=g-upl Thursday, May 17 View Page Thunder storm hitting the patch,, After i was able to check,,some big broken tree limbs,,part of the wind fence down,,shade cloth down, and melons plants blown on their side. The pumpkins seemed ok,,although i gotta check for sure tommorow. WARNING: PG 13.....Some light cussing might occur. enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmi92247etA Saturday, May 19 View Page Greenbeans from our own garden. :) Thursday, May 24 View Page Time for an update of the patch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9mLdGE9_Og Friday, May 25 View Page How to not snap your main vine. Guiding your plant. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9psF99nebY Disclaimer: There are oviously more then one way to train your vines how you want them. This is ours. Saturday, May 26 View Page After three and a half weeks in the patch i took a random root sample home from our 1164. The sample was taken approx 4 feet from the actual spot i innoculated and i was able to take this picture of a recently germed spore. The dark brown spore is still intact, and to the left from it a sporo carp (looks like pie with a piece missing) and a bove a germed spore. Taking super clear pictures is hard without the proper equipment and chemicals to prepp the roots for the microscope. Nevertheless, we have lift off confirmed. The myccorhizea is now active. ( despite inhibitory fungicides) Saturday, May 26 View Page Heres the onions after a month or two on the balcony. The big one on the right actually has doubled. I left em outside and neglected them,,but it kept growing and putting out leaves. It dried out and that killed the gnats that where harrasing me. After i started watering again it started up growth, and now its on diet of N and K. The one on the left is interesting. Without any supplemental lighting this plant was put out at the very start of the year and it has started bulbing. It dried out to, but has failed to double wich is nice. Right now, despite the picture it is not far behind on the other. It is a bit smaller though, but thats because of the smaller pot, wich makes a big diffrence. The current heat they dont like, but i,l let em go till there done. Thursday, May 31 View Page How to bury vine..part two. A video about burying vine, third growth and innoculating. If your a new grower, this could be helpfull. If you been growing for several years then you know what to do, but it could just be fun watching us do what we do. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imgy2oWVUM0 Saturday, June 2 View Page Clouds as a storm rolls into the patch area. ..... Saturday, June 2 View Page Teamwork in our patch means Frank taking care of the vines... Saturday, June 2 View Page Then I do the hoeing.... Saturday, June 2 View Page Then I do the hoeing.... Saturday, June 2 View Page 165(B) Contrell..... Saturday, June 2 View Page We really need spellcheck or to be able to fix our own misspellings...I ment the 165(B) CANTRELL NOT CONTRELL.. Saturday, June 2 View Page 255 Mitchell... Saturday, June 2 View Page 1605 Sweet... Saturday, June 2 View Page This little guy was hanging around me as we took care of the 1605 Sweet. At one point I stopped and watched him for a second and he flew infront of me as if we were at a standoff. I stuck out my skewers and he landed on them. He did this a couple of times. He would land on the skewerss everytime I put them out. The little moments that when you are in the patch that makes you really enjoy being outside in the garden. :) "Woman who catches flying bug with skewers can accomplish anything" Saturday, June 2 View Page Ok the last post was to see if you all were paying attention..LOL..I need sleep... Tuesday, June 5 View Page tripple top roots,,anyone else?...lol Tuesday, June 5 View Page Field pumpkin plant slowly taking over the patch,,looking good sofar. Tuesday, June 5 View Page Here are the marigolds taking over the hot peppers. These particular marigolds are over 3 feet tall now and already have intens smell to them, even without flowers. I think probably the best variety to use as companion plant as they seem to keep a lot of bugs away. The variety is called " cracker jack " and kudos to Tina for choosing them. Thursday, June 7 View Page Patch update, enjoy! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8PrLBDekwo&feature=youtu.be Friday, June 8 View Page Before Pic..... Friday, June 8 View Page After .....I donated my hair today to Locks Of Love.. Link http://locksoflove.org/ Friday, June 8 View Page Donated hair goes to children who need it. I hope other will think about donating too,guys or gals. Makes you feel good to do something like this...:0 Friday, June 8 View Page A video about getting a good position for your female before pollenating, hope it helps some of you new growers.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NirosIF4Xoo&feature=youtu.be Saturday, June 9 View Page Frank and I did our yearly picking of the blueberries. We-well mostly Frank-picked 28 pounds of bluberries today. Sunday, June 10 View Page Female all tied up and ready to go on our own 1,164 Finders. We are a week ahead of last years pollination. Also temps are down 12-15 degrees this same time last year...She is at 11 ft....:) Monday, June 11 View Page First pollination of the year,,,enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1-U15kj1tg&feature=youtu.be Monday, June 11 View Page Female on the Mitchell, pollinated with the 165 b Cantrell. To early, but a test run cant hurt. Wednesday, June 13 View Page After another 4 days of rain we discovered melon leaves infected with downey. Although we sprayed before the rains (even during) we were unable to prevent infection. We removed some infected leaves and sprayed again. It shouldent be called growing melons. Its preventing and fighting disease and if you got time left grow melons! Now i hope its gonna be bone dry till september,,lol Wednesday, June 13 View Page June the 13th and we had over 5 inches of rain sofar this month. An above average wet year since 5 is the average for june. May we had 6 inches,,3 inches above average. And that results in this: A young melon leaf with the tell tale yellow patches of downey mildew. We got wiped out melon wise last year in no time,,we had a tuff time diagnosing it. This year we came prepared and cought it in its very early stages. Copper, dithane and daconil are gonna be used to fight this specific fungi. And hopefully the weather gods will play along to. If anyone wishes to donated some ridomil gold bravo, then that would be great, lol. It doesnt fit in the budget here for now. So we will fight with our broad spectrum weapons. fingers crossed. Thursday, June 14 View Page And there we go again... Sunday, June 17 View Page Patch update Mid June ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqn0fYRQEE0 Tuesday, June 19 View Page And here is where my giant onion attempt stops for this year. At 3.47 lbs its hardly a contender, but considerering that i have gotten a long day variety to bulb in the wrong climate for it, i,m pretty happy. A steep learning curve this first try and i will be much better prepared for next season. I will have to time growth diffrently then northern growers and start much earlier. Also learned much about light, feeding, watering and pests. All in all a fun attempt at a addicting veggie to grow. A store bought onion next to it shows you that although no contender and small to the serious growers standard, it is somewhat of giant,,,lets just call it a little giant, lol. Tuesday, June 19 View Page Pollinated today 17 ft out on our 1164 Finders. 5 lober.... :) Friday, June 22 View Page 1605 Sweet before pollination.... Friday, June 22 View Page 1605 Sweet x Self...Pollinated this morning with 8 males...Left one in just for kicks...:) Saturday, June 23 View Page Sunflower starting to bloom.... Sunday, June 24 View Page patch update: enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so-4VDNQo1I Sunday, June 24 View Page Day 5....1164 Finders x 1605 Sweet Sunday, June 24 View Page Looks like we have a keeper on the main... 165 B Cantrell... Thursday, June 28 View Page Melon update, enjoy! ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oisSUEJThz8&feature=plcp Thursday, June 28 View Page It seems to be blistering hot all over the country, we on the other hand have a regular year when it comes to temperature. Thursday, June 28 View Page If they could only stay like this till september,,, Friday, June 29 View Page 1164 finders x 1605 sweet day 10: 32" Monday, July 2 View Page Well, its that time of the season again. We had to do surgery on the 1164 fruit for the second time today. The soft rot on the stem had not stopped and was progressing, so another cleaning, bleaching, drying and sulphur was in order. It took tissue from the stem that i,d rather not loose. A little de-motivating when you have a massive plant ready to feed a fruit. But the plant has issues to. Two spots near the stump have been operated on just like the stem of the fruit. This rot thing is yearly for us now, and its about time we start scouting for new patch location. For now, we will hang in there and see what we can do, what ever happens, happens. :) Wednesday, July 4 View Page Day 12 on the 165b Cantrell...est. 33.2 lb...gained 5.5 pounds yesterday..wow.. :) Sunday, July 8 View Page Time for a patch update, enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5IIkQzqWh8&feature=plcp Sunday, July 8 View Page 1605 Sweet Day 15... Monday, July 9 View Page Medical emergeny in the patch. Tina (birthday girl today) got stung by a yellow jacket in her middle finger, and now gets to flip every one off. awwwwwwww. Like a true hero i rushed towards her and in a blaze of glory i removed the stinger, after wich i applied a redneck bandaid featuring tabbaco and spit. Then i got on my white horse and rode towards the sunset..... Happy birthday baby!! Monday, July 9 View Page Day 20 for our 1164 and about 200 lbs. The weather however is throwing another curve ball and we go from crazy hot to rain every day this week. Disease issues can escalate if we can not spray inbetween rains and today we already couldent spray because of the rains. So with weather conditions favoring everything bad for pumpkins we hold our breath and hope for the best. Wednesday, July 11 View Page Rain,rain, rain,, the factor of growing you cant control. With after a heatwave now a rainwave that means problems are get worse. The minor signs of disease that were present are now worsening in these perfect conditions. Uncanny how its dry all day but when we arrive at the patch the storms and rain comes. That means no spraying possible and so in this picture various stages of one of our problems. Its spreading and if it doesnt get dry soon it might be to late. Three more days of rain in the forcast though. On the left,,first stage,,watersoaked appearance,and progressively toward the right yellowing, necrosis, death. Thursday, July 12 View Page Day 20 for the 1605 Sweet x 1164 Finders Thursday, July 12 View Page 165B Cantrell Day 20 Wednesday, July 18 View Page In the front the 255 Mitchell fruit and in the back the 165 b Cantrell. The Cantrell is in the lead and has a bigger and better plant to support it. Still a long way to go though. Wednesday, July 18 View Page 1605 sweet is sofar one of the prettiest fruit we have grown. Next to that, it looks like its gonna be an orange one,,lol. We usally deal in ugly and multi colored, so this is a fun change. Friday, July 20 View Page yearly " feet and melon " picture. Saturday, July 21 View Page I took a sample for the orange tissue on the stump of the 1164 plant we pulled. After preparing a sample this is what is saw. The little " worms" your see are a-sexual spores of fusarium oxysporum. The weather this year has mad it flourish. Saturday, July 21 View Page This is a closer look at these spores from hell. A nasty disease that we are not gonna get rid off. Brownish/orange spots on stump, stem, vines and leaf base can occure,,it will slowly eat away and turn it in to orange mush,,like a flesh eating bacteria almost. If these symptoms sound familiar,,have it tested,,you might need new fungicides,,or a new patch. Nevertheless,,we are still growing,,, ;) (and forgive the spelling errors...) Sunday, July 22 View Page A piece of myceleum of rizoctnia solani. This amazing fungus does not produce spores but breaks up in segments or overwinters in sclerotia,,a hardened mass. Found on our disease 1164 stump to. Sunday, July 22 View Page Three things to identyfy rhizoctonia. Slight constriction at the base of branching,,90 degree angles of branching, and a clear, to light tan, to brown color. Here some tell tale branching. the black ring across the bottom branching is called the septum. Sunday, July 22 View Page Again,,with right angle branching ,,right in the middle of the picture. Sunday, July 22 View Page Day 30 on our 1605 Sweet... :) Monday, July 23 View Page Rhizoctonia solani,,i cant help but to be fascinated by this nasty pathogen. Its not as prevalent as the fusarium, but you cant help but to respect the talents of this fungus. I wish it show em in a diffrent patch of land though... this is tissue of an end piece of main vine,,,,rotting away.. Monday, July 23 View Page Another close up.. you can see the slight contriction at the base of branching very clearly,,the angles and the septum. These are the things that make this myceleum easy to identify.. Monday, July 23 View Page Here is where the fungus is actually attached to the plant tissue..hopefully the fungicides we use will slow it down and i wont find to much of these. For now still we are still alive,, Thursday, July 26 View Page Our daughter Heather and her 165b Cantrell. Est. 66 lb.. Sunday, July 29 View Page Patch update... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_QSpaFas30 Wednesday, August 1 View Page 1605 sweet day 40...by now passed the 300 ott mark and its pretty amazing that this plant that showed issues the first week in the patch is still growing this fruit... Friday, August 3 View Page 255 Mitchell........ Friday, August 3 View Page 255 Mitchell.... Friday, August 3 View Page 165B Cantrell... Friday, August 10 View Page Our first Orange pumpkin...:) 1605 Sweet.... Friday, August 10 View Page Starting to fill out...1605 Sweet... Friday, August 10 View Page :) Day 50.... Friday, August 10 View Page Day 50 and she gained 20 pounds today. Amazing on such a small plant. We have 42 days till weigh off. Lets hope she holds and keeps gaining...:) Friday, August 10 View Page New type of shadenetting...LOL..Melon Plant...:) Friday, August 10 View Page First PB of the year....:) Thursday, August 16 View Page Heather's melon went over 100 lb ...106 est...Keep her going baby girl...:) Thursday, August 16 View Page 165-B Cantrell...She is still gaining..:) Sunday, August 19 View Page Well here we still are. Day 59... In the back the 165B Cantrell, it stopped growing for two days so we thought we were done but measured today and she grew. The one in the front is the 255 Mitchell,she is closing in on our PB also...Gonna be a looonnnngggg month till the weigh off...:) Monday, August 20 View Page Patch update. A month away from our weigh off crossing fingers and praying we make it till the end. Rained again allllllll night last night. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0gRbr3OvSg Tuesday, August 21 View Page 7.30 inches of rain so far this month. That is almost 1/4 of the rain total we have had this year so far just in one month....Surprised we are still living(growing) Wednesday, August 22 View Page Heather found this one on her plant today. Lesson for next season, find the babies before they get too big.. Wednesday, August 22 View Page Day 62 on our 1605 Sweet...Still growing... Friday, August 24 View Page She gained another 4 pounds today...WOW...I wear a size 10 in ladies... Friday, August 24 View Page Took this pic tonight at the patch. Someone must be watching over us for us to still be alive(growing)...:) Saturday, August 25 View Page This is freaking crazy. 9.38 inches of rain for us in just three weeks and we still have a week to go till the end of this month. Now there is Isaac out there which will bring us prob another couple of inches next week....If something major dosent happen next week then someone has to really be looking out for us...Gonna do alot of praying... Monday, August 27 View Page Last year we got suprised by rodents.......lesson learned! Wednesday, August 29 View Page Day 69 on the 1605 Sweet. Still growing. 23 days till harvest....Got 2.5 inches of rain today at the patch...Been a wet Aug. so that is a total of 11.5 inches of rain this month alone and still two days left in the month... Sunday, September 2 View Page Our best plant! Cant wait for the weigh off!! ;) Sunday, September 2 View Page 1605 sweet x self side view Sunday, September 2 View Page 1605 x self top view Sunday, September 2 View Page 1605 sweet x self front view Saturday, September 8 View Page MMMMMMMMMMMM...Blueberry Pie... Wednesday, September 12 View Page 10 ............... Thursday, September 13 View Page 9 ......... Friday, September 14 View Page 8 ........ Saturday, September 15 View Page 7....... Sunday, September 16 View Page 6........ Sunday, September 16 View Page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8rz2OjZFTQ last update before the weigh off,,,,enjoy. Monday, September 17 View Page 5....... Tuesday, September 18 View Page 4....... Wednesday, September 19 View Page 3........ Thursday, September 20 View Page 2........ Friday, September 21 View Page 1....... Friday, September 21 View Page Gonna need a bigger pallet.... :) Friday, September 21 View Page Husband and wife teamwork at its best! Friday, September 21 View Page The fruits of our labor ;) ( plus a backseat stow away) Sunday, September 23 View Page Alright,,time for some weigh off pictures... Here is Tina helping Sam unload the fruit.. Sunday, September 23 View Page The competetion...with several fruit looking to be very close, we were all but sure to win,,,,exiting! Sunday, September 23 View Page And then we helped out some by measuring,,here we are measuring fruit that would later be the Howard dill winner. A beautifull fruit with nice smooth skin,,unfortunately it went a little light. Sunday, September 23 View Page And ofcourse we had to measure some melons to. With about 16 entries and a lot of big entries,,this was an impressive melon line up. Sunday, September 23 View Page There was plenty of good looking and big fruit...and with beautifull weather this was about to become a great day! Sunday, September 23 View Page When Brad Holder is sandbagging,,,he really is sandbagging!! Sunday, September 23 View Page Ok, time for the competetiont to start,,Heather and Tina up with our 255 mitchell... Sunday, September 23 View Page dont mind the spelling,,,lol Sunday, September 23 View Page 7% light on our first fruit,,,,ouch! Sunday, September 23 View Page Then Brad Holder opens with a 207.6,,,his first go at melons, so needless to say this is an awsome growing achievement!! Sunday, September 23 View Page Right melon, wrong picture in the last entry,,,lol. Susie did a great job in helping out at the weigh off, in getting the weights and signage right!! Sunday, September 23 View Page Then it was time for our biggest measuring melon..it wasnt the biggest in measurements at the weight off,,so after our turn we had to wait for jake and daves fruit to be weighed... here goes .... Sunday, September 23 View Page Very Happy!! Sunday, September 23 View Page then Jake came up,,smashing his personal best with a whopping 238.5 lbs,,,Congrats Jake!! Sunday, September 23 View Page Then Daves fruit..this one looked to be bigger and heavier then ours..but we lucked out big time and to our suprise with about 1 lbs more we took the win in the melon categorie. Nevertheless a big congrats to Dave for yet another big melon..with 2 over 250 and now this one, Dave has turned in to a melon heavy hitter ,,this guys the man to beat in years to come...And a big thank you to Dave again,,for providing us with his 165 b...wat a seed!! Sunday, September 23 View Page Then it was time to weigh this puppy.. Sunday, September 23 View Page Safely on the scale. And a big thanks to Nathan Okorn (batcave on bp) for the great help..he helped lift just about everything,,great job! Our closest competitor visually had just weighed in light with 798 lbs. So all we needed was to not go light,,with a measurent of 909 lbs. And although it sounds safe,,the scale can set you straight pretty fast,,nerve racking... Sunday, September 23 View Page Unbelievable..972.1 lbs!! 7% heavy (11.8% old chart) Not our biggest fruit..but a very satisfying one. We had disease pressure on all plants from week one on out, and with a crazy hot summer,,(hottest days ever here,,109f) and one of our wettest summers (12 plus inches in august alone)we managed to get three fruit to the finish line. And win with them at that. What a year..hard work,,and some good luck and all the sweaty, hot hours in the patch spitting out gnats and mosquitos are all worth it and forgotten..LOL. Plans for next year are already brewing... Sunday, September 23 View Page Now to its resting place for the afternoon..(under police protection,,lol) Sunday, September 23 View Page And here the top three yadkin valley weigh off 2012. on the right: Jill Smith 680.4 lbs #3 on the left:Burchette, Newsome 798.3 lbs #2 (Howard dill) yours truly: Tina & Frank 972.1 lbs #1 Congrats to all entries!! Sunday, September 23 View Page And after a very long, exhausting, but wonderfull day we are back in South Carolina. The ride home is always fun,,with people slowing down next to you and taking pictures,,its priceless to see there jaws drop in amazement, lol. All thats left for this season is harvesting seeds and then prepp the patch for the winter. After that its a much deserved rest period in wich the plans are made for next season, and with a season like this,,motivation is high to do it better and bigger next year. And let me end with a big thank you to the yadkin valley weigh off crew. Thanks for great job! Sam lovelace for the great fork lift driving ;) and to all volunteers for their assistance in making this a wonderfull weigh off. It was great meeting all growers again,,,and we hope to see you all next year again. South Carolina,,over and out! Sunday, September 23 View Page What do you do with a pumpkin after you have weighed it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOH2sMUIbmg Monday, September 24 View Page Ok time for a couple more pics... Melon had a fairly large cavity but walls were thick... Monday, September 24 View Page Pumpkin had some nice thick walls too... Monday, September 24 View Page We just thought this was a cool pic... Monday, September 24 View Page We will have to pull this one out in a couple of years to show her friends...lol Monday, September 24 View Page Me and Melon... Monday, September 24 View Page Frank and Melon... Monday, September 24 View Page A couple of pics of us and our baby before we cut her open... Monday, September 24 View Page Proud mommy and daddy... Monday, September 24 View Page Do the best you can, and don't take growing too serious..:) Thursday, September 27 View Page Congrats to Steve Geddes on his new world record of 1843.5 lbs. (grown off our 1140 finders 2011...icing on this seasons cake, lol) Thursday, September 27 View Page Another pic of the 1843.5 Thursday, September 27 View Page and another... Great Job Steve! Sunday, September 30 View Page Happy Happy this morning....Just opened up my email and found out that I will be competing in a hot dog cooking conest at our State Fair...wahoooo...What a year.. :) Tina The Carolina Dirty Dog.. This Carolina Dirty Dog is an all-beef hotdog that has been flame kissed by the grill then topped with chili con carne, diced sweet onions, grated sharp cheddar cheese, and homemade Carolina Coleslaw. The dirty dog part in the name comes from the fact that the hot dog is so loaded down with toppings that you just might need a fork to eat this one or you will get a bit dirty if you don’t. Saturday, October 6 View Page As the weigh offs are still in full progress, we have already almost finnished fall prepp. With fall and winter coming its time to start the projects and tests. And with the grafting revolution in melon growing we can not stay behind. Started with three grafts two weeks ago: Our 172 Finders watermelon on our own 72.25 long gourd. Patience is not one off my virtues, so i managed to kill two due to removing them from the humidity dome to early. Number 3 survived and has now started growing again. Time to start fine tuning the proces.... Sunday, October 14 View Page We got first place out our local fair...:) Sunday, October 14 View Page Also today I competed in a Hot Dog Cooking contest.... Sunday, October 14 View Page Here was my hotdog. Sorry not a better pic. There were 6 contestants anddddddddd..... Sunday, October 14 View Page I WON...:) Sunday, October 14 View Page Recipe ....THE CAROLINA DIRTY DOG This Carolina Dirty Dog is an all-beef hotdog that has been flame kissed by the grill then topped with chili con carne, diced sweet onions, grated sharp cheddar cheese, and homemade Carolina Coleslaw. The dirty dog part in the name comes from the fact that the hot dog is so loaded down with toppings that you just might need a fork to eat this one or you will get a bit dirty if you don’t. Hot Dog Buns All Beef Hot Dogs All Beef Hot Dog Chili Diced Sweet Onions Grated Sharpe Cheddar Cheese Carolina Coleslaw Chili Ingredients: Carolina Coleslaw Ingredients: 1 lb. Ground Beef-73% lean 27% Fat 2-cups Thinly Sliced Green Cabbage 1-Small Sweet Onion, diced 1-cup South Carolina Made Pimento Cheese 1-14 oz can Stewed Tomatoes-crushed 1/2 tsp. Celery Seeds 1-16 oz. can Tomato Sauce 2-tsp Hot Mexican Chili Powder Mix all three ingredients in a medium bowl just 2-tsp Chili Powder before serving. 1-tsp Ground Cayenne Pepper 2-tsp Ground Cumin 1-tsp Onion Powder 1-tsp Salt 1-tsp White Sugar 1-tsp Honey Place ground beef and onions into a large saucepan. Cook and stir till ground beef is no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 1 hour. Monday, October 15 View Page Lotta bubbles early this year... :-) Tuesday, October 16 View Page I would like to thank my hubby and our daughter for going with me to volunteer handing out stickers at our fair tonight. The night was filled with most supporting by taking the stickers and wearing them, some stopping also to vote, some not supporting but that was ok because there were the ones that would say after you handed them the stickers "I am a breast cancer survivor", or "my mother is a 5 year survivor" and that made me realize that is why I singed up to volunteer in the first place, to get as many votes as we can so we can help them all try and be a "Survivor." Please if you have facebook go to www.pinkglovedance.com and find Lexington Medical Center's video and if you like it please vote, it only takes a couple of min. to watch. Saturday, October 20 View Page Spent the day helping out again for a good cause. Here is Heather stuffing bags with information about Breast Cancer and how important it is to get early screaning. We had another great day at the fair. Everyone should Volunteer atleast once a year doing something. :) Saturday, October 20 View Page Breakfast at the fair...mmmmmm Wednesday, October 24 View Page The next season always starts with the end of the old one. Heres the start of our 2013 diary,,,starting with the patch after pulling the 2012 fruit,enjoy... Wednesday, October 24 View Page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-7g36aifJ4&feature=g-upl the link for the previous post,, Wednesday, October 24 View Page Phase 2 of fall prepp..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv8FFDm3tJY&feature=g-upl Wednesday, October 24 View Page phase 3 of fall prepp...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA1J5_ZBCJ8&feature=g-upl Wednesday, October 24 View Page phase 4....getting ready for the covercrop...meet the redneck plow... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIBEJPn-ZT8&feature=g-upl Monday, October 29 View Page This one started talking back to us as we were carving it... Creepy! Monday, October 29 View Page Ready for Halloween...!!!! Friday, November 16 View Page Today in our area they collected coats for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Heather and I dropped off some of her coats and some new gloves. The ambulance there was full, which was nice to see...:) Saturday, November 24 View Page What do you do with leftover Turkey? You make soup. MMMMM