Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 35 Entries. Wednesday, January 27 View Page Picked up a new(used) pumpkin loading tractor! My old one was rated for about 800 pounds but this one can handle 1500+! 2004 Mahindra 3510 4x4 Wednesday, January 27 View Page Rebecca is testing out the Mahindra with the old Ford tiller in the vegitable garden. Thursday, January 28 View Page Today was manure collection day. This huge pile is about 300 yards down the road. It is horse manure with rice hulls mixed in. That is a 16' trailer with 4' tall sides on it for perspective. Thursday, January 28 View Page Everything was going smooth and I moved about 3 loads. Then.... Thursday, January 28 View Page 4000+ lbs of 4x4 Mahindra stuck in a big pile o crap. Yay.. 15 min of diggin with a shovel got it out. Thursday, January 28 View Page Ended up with 4 trailor loads for the patch. Thursday, January 28 View Page Est. 40 yards of manure for the patch Thursday, April 15 View Page 566.5 Van Hook and 959 Helbock are in the patch so far. 1725 Harp and 1677.5 Hunt were started on April 12. They both have sprouted and have been put in pots. They will be in the patch soon! We had 3.5" of rain and some marble sized hail yesterday... Good thing the hoop houses held together. Thursday, April 15 View Page 959 Helbock 08 (1450 Wallace x 1446.5 Werner) Seed was started on March 18 and transplanted into the patch on March 30. Thursday, April 15 View Page 566.5 Van Hook 07 (1407 Wolf x 1450 Wallace) Seed was started on March 18 and transplanted into the patch on March 30. This seed grew my 36.6% heavy 828 Gonsoulin, Louisiana state record, last year. Friday, May 7 View Page saw 2 vine borers laying eggs today... Will spray merit and talstar this afternoon. Friday, May 7 View Page vine borer Friday, May 7 View Page 1725 Harp Seed was started on April 20 and was transplanted into the patch on April 28 Friday, May 7 View Page 1677.5 Hunt Seed was started on April 12 and transplanted into the patch on April 28. Friday, May 7 View Page 959 Helbock This plant has been having a rough time. For a while it stopped growing completly for over a week. After applying some calcium nitrate and neptunes fish/seaweed it started growing again. However it grew the wrong direction. Wind damage then broke top foot or so off. The first sidevine is now growing as the new main. I'm still trying too get it too lay over. Friday, May 7 View Page 566.5 Van Hook Performing as expected. A+ Friday, May 7 View Page Captain Patch Protector has arrived! Friday, May 7 View Page You got a bug problem? Friday, May 7 View Page Practicing ninja spray technique. Monday, May 10 View Page Going in! Monday, May 10 View Page Hard at work protecting the patch (took 5 min...) Monday, May 10 View Page Patch Protector saved the day again! Friday, June 4 View Page This is my pumpkin on the 566.5 Van Hook (x 959 Helbock) It is 16 days old with a cc of 67" and ott of 160. It gained 16.8 lbs est. since same time yesterday. Unfortunatly it has rained every day for over a week and I am fighting a losing battle against vine rot. I have already lost about 15% of the plant. I have gone back and uncovered the top of all vines and sprayed with fungicide. Hopefully it will last long enough too get some good seeds. Wednesday, June 16 View Page 90 lb Spock and 290 lb pumpkin. This is day 28 for the 566.5 Van Hook. It is still growing well but isnt going to break any records due to all the damage from vine rot. 102cc Friday, June 25 View Page I went out in the garden tonight to see if I could sneak up on whatever is eating my corn. Well I didnt find the critter but I did find another monster.. Anyone ever see a (mutant?) corn like this? Some of the kernals were normal and some were huge, white and fleshy. Friday, June 25 View Page Mutant Corn Friday, June 25 View Page closer picture of the mutant kernals Wednesday, August 25 View Page I have reached my main goal for the year! To prove that giant pumpkins can grow for 90+ days in the deep south. Despite weather 90-100+ for months and a super wet summer this pumpkin is 98 days old today. Wednesday, August 25 View Page I will wieght it this weekend since it has only grown 5 lbs in the last 9 days. 150 sq ft or less of plant has been keeping this pumpkin going for at least the last 50 days. I lost most of the plant early on due to vine rotting. Wednesday, August 25 View Page These cracks on the shoulders started appearing a few weeks ago. The stem has had no problems at all. Saturday, August 28 View Page Time to remove the 566.5 Vanhook x 959 Helbock from the patch. Today it is 101 days old. I had forgotten my knife in the house so I grabbed the nearest tool that would work! Saturday, August 28 View Page Largest possible measurements were taken on a flat surface after being removed from the patch. 131.5" cc 86.5" ss 82" sb OTT = 300 est. = 572 lbs (according to the 2008 chart) Saturday, August 28 View Page actual weight = 679 pounds! over 100 pounds heavy! Saturday, August 28 View Page 679 Gonsoulin - 2010 18.7% heavy! 566.5 Van Hook x 959 Helbock (1407 Wolf x 1450 Wallace)X(1450 Wallace x 1446.5 Werner) Friday, September 3 View Page After being off the vine for only a week the stem side was rotting out. Pumpkin had good uniform thickness and no structural defects at all. It had a good seed count as well with white seeds. About a third to half of the seeds had already sprouted. Its still in the 90s here during the day. It is my belief that the 566.5 van hook seed holds great potential for huge pumpkins under the right condidtions.