Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 28 Entries. Tuesday, April 7 View Page It's still downhill ski season where I am, so I haven't done one ounce of work on the garden yet this year, other than send in a soil sample to be analyzed. Once the mountain closes, it's full steam ahead on the pumpkin patch. Sunday, April 19 View Page Managed to get some planning done for the garden during Spring Break despite still away skiing. Still waiting for soil analysis but am putting in kelp meal and molasses anyway. With the aid of my technically advanced baby wipe warmer an homemade grow op, am practicing seed germination again. Several colleagues are interested in trying to grow this season, so at least any that germinate won't just end up in the compost. Spent 4 hours spreading sand over the giant ruts in the backyard from last year's pumpkin harvesting. Have to figure out a better way to get the pumpkin out without having to bring in husband's boom truck. Wednesday, April 22 View Page Got my soil sample analysis back. Looking pretty good - apparently it's just like my dad's (Jake vK) so I think that's kind of like a compliment! Just need to up the iron and sulphate-sulphur and lay off on the magnesium. Won't be putting manure on the patch this year as the organic matter is already at 24 per cent. My first round experiment with germinating didn't work so I'm on to round 2 - at least I have another 480 seeds to experiment with if I want to. Still haven't dealt with the actual garden prep - between lawn fixin', work, dog classes, kids sports and hockey pools, no time. Oh, by the way, GO CANUCKS GO! Thursday, April 23 View Page Finally got the soil tilled - dirt is looking good. I'm on the second batch of seeds for germinating - they're looking better than the first bunch. I'm hoping to get the hoop house all set up this weekend and warm up the soil a bit for planting the following weekend. Wednesday, April 29 View Page It's been tough keeping a constant temperature for the seed germination. Finally put the warmer downstairs - was lower temps originally but after just a couple days there is some germination happening. Monday, May 4 View Page Everything is close to being ready to plant this week - it's just the weather not cooperating - windy and cold. Spent more time wrecking the back yard again so we can extend our patio, plus ridding the hot tub of some nasty residents - didn't know rats loved burrowing into the insulation so much. Ick! Monday, May 4 View Page Forgot to mention I've decided to grow the 1142 van Kooten this year. It was a toss up between that and the 1255 van Kooten - I hate trying to make those decisions! I really have to expand my patch so I can grow more than one. My germination practice yeilded 8/10 plants - they are being adopted out to several people interested in growing. Saturday, May 9 View Page Got the 1142 in the garden today - just one of the many things happening in the backyard... building a new patio, trimming the badly overgrown tree hedge, pruning an ever-encroaching lilac tree (roots getting too close to the patch for my comfort), cleaning out the fish barrel, and realizing my efforts at fixing the ruts in the lawn were for naught due to more backhoes and trucks in the backyard. Saturday, May 16 View Page Nothing really to update other than there's growth in the plant. A bit worried about the colour of the 2nd true leaf - very yellow in the veins. All the other leaves are totally green. Friday, May 22 View Page The weather's supposed to take a turn for the better so hope to see more growth. The yellow in my leaves continues to concern me - thought it was going to stop with one leaf but the next one is starting to yellow. Put some diluted fertilizer on it. Hoping that helps. Monday, May 25 View Page The plant doctor was visiting today (thanks Dad) and he eased my concerns. Looks like the plant is doing okay and will probably lay down it's vine soon. Friday, May 29 View Page The vine is now laying nicely on the ground. With the warmer weather, it's been growing much better. Sunday, June 7 View Page Wow - 4 days away camping and the 1142 van Kooten has taken off (thanks to the awesome weather on the west coast). The vine is about 8 feet long with some nice secondaries - long enough to stake down and bury. It looks like the main vine had split earlier (didn't even notice that) so I've made it into another secondary. It doesn't seem to have affected the main vine at all. The first pumpkin has shown up about 6 feet down - it obviously won't be used but still nice to see. Another week and I'll have to take off the tent. Sunday, June 7 View Page Wow - 4 days away camping and the 1142 van Kooten has taken off (thanks to the awesome weather on the west coast). The vine is about 8 feet long with some nice secondaries - long enough to stake down and bury. It looks like the main vine had split earlier (didn't even notice that) so I've made it into another secondary. It doesn't seem to have affected the main vine at all. The first pumpkin has shown up about 6 feet down - it obviously won't be used but still nice to see. Another week and I'll have to take off the tent. Thursday, June 11 View Page Lovin' the hot weather. Had to take the tent off earlier than expected. I'll start posting pics when my other computer gets fixed. Monday, June 22 View Page Pollinated the first pumpkin Saturday - not really expecting to keep this one though as it's only about 10 feet down the vine. I was just so excited having one so early - the next one should be ready in about a week at the most - it'll be the one that's best suited. Nice to see the warm weather back. Sunday, June 28 View Page Had two open up this morning - total surprise as I didn't get to take a look at the patch the day before. There's been a distinct lack of males for these first pumpkins, but it looks like my next female on the main will have a few suitors. That's the one I'm really hoping will turn out. The first one pollinated on the main vine is growing, but really is too close to the base to consider. Tuesday, June 30 View Page It looks like the one that I've been waiting for will open tomorrow - when I'm away visiting, ironically, my dad and his pumpkins. If I were a suspicious person, I would think he is trying to prevent me from growing a bigger one that him this year. Oh well, guess it's up to the husband to try his hand (no pun intended) at pollination. Monday, July 6 View Page Our area had a huge storm last night - in the 15 years I've lived here, we've never had lightening and thunder so close and hail so hard. I had nightmares (literally) of what the hail and hard rain was doing to the patch - thought it would be totally destroyed. But it survived with little damage. Thankfully the covers were over the two pumpkins I'm looking at. Wednesday, July 8 View Page Spoke too soon....upon closer inspection, several of the leaves have been ravished by the hail and heavy rain. Looks like an animal went in and had a hearty snack. Not much can be done, though. Saturday, July 11 View Page Pollinated the last pumpkin today - it's the third one on the main that has been pollinated. The first one is bigger than a basketball but smaller than a beach ball, the second didn't take so it's been culled, and we'll wait and see how this one today turns out. Ended up culling everything else except for one back up on the secondary. There's a bit of a horozontal crack near the vine and stem of the big pumpkin which is worrisom, plus it's quite close to the base, but we'll see how it goes. It seems to be growing well, but I haven't been taking any measurements... probably will tonight. Tuesday, July 14 View Page Seems like my pumpkin on the secondary is growing as well if not better than the one on the main. Decisions, decisions. Monday, July 20 View Page Did some clean up today.... had some tertiaries that I had overlooked and they had begun to take over in our hot weather. Buried vines, sprayed for mildew and aphids, measured. Down to one on the main and one on the secondary - the main is sitting around 100 and the secondary at 50. But the secondary is 20 lbs ahead of the main based on the day of growth, but each is putting on about the same amount of inches per day. The position on the vine of the secondary is better, but it has a bit of a split already at the top of the pumpkin. I'll have to make the decision at the end of this week. Saturday, July 25 View Page Today's the day - one will be culled - either the 92 lb secondary or the 163 lb main. Of course, I won't leave this momentous task to myself... Daddy is coming to help choose. Thursday, July 30 View Page The deed is done - kept the one on the main. It's growing okay - sitting at roughly 248 pounds. The heat on the coast is intense and is forecasted to stay all through next week - hopefully I'll see some higher daily growth. Right now it's only approx. 18 per day. Friday, August 7 View Page Wish I could say the pumpkin is doing great - but it's just not putting on the weight it should - still only about 15 pounds a day. Oh well, there's always next year. Saturday, September 19 View Page It's been a long time.... just a quick update. The pumpkin pooped out awhile ago and just never packed on the pounds. It's being kept on life support just for Halloween now. Sunday, October 4 View Page Put the patch to rest today - just left the main vine to the pumpkin to keep it on life support until it's picked for Halloween carving. Looks like it will be lucky to get to 600 - bad year but there's always the next time.