Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 93 Entries. Friday, March 2 View Page An early spring may not be all good unless it stays nice. I saw the first bloom in the orchard today, 3 weeks ahead of when I'd like it to be. If we get temps below 25° from here on out it could be real bad. Our average last frost date is Apr 15th. Although...... a killing freeze would give me more time for the patch. Friday, March 2 View Page I managed to get the patch plowed and worked down. Soil sample taken and sent off. After the results get back it will be time for final adjustment and the final working. Friday, March 2 View Page I stumbled into a company getting rid of this refrig because they couldn't keep it running properly. Not good when it's intended to hald lab samples. It was FREE. Now it's converted into a grow box with timed lights, heater and a fan. Circulating air seems to have made the young test plants stronger. I really like being able to adjust the shelves to get the plants close to the lights. Sunday, March 4 View Page The first planting of American Chestnut trees are in the ground. It took the better part of a day for 11 of us to plant 122 trees, label them and record their pedigrees. About 8 of the trees are pure American (control group)and the balance are 31/32 American. Five years from now they will be inoculated with the blight and we'll see who lives. Monday, March 12 View Page Rumor has it that there is a weigh-off or two in Alabama in August. I wonder if.... could I possibly.....I gotta try to see I if it will work. Besides there are a couple more GPC's at state fairs up north. Game on. Today I covered part of the patch with a couple of hay tarps. That should help keep the rain off that is expected tonight and later in the week. It shouldn't be too hard to take off if the sun comes out. When it gets dry enough I'll work it down the last time and put up a couple of small greenhouses. I should be able to get 4 plants going in them with room to run if needed. I wonder if getting earlier pollinations and longer days afterwards will help. The four seeds that I will start in no particular order...165(B) Cantrell 10... 282.2 Dawson 11...234 Berry 11...183 Cantrell 11. Worst case, I rip it all down and start again at the normal time. Monday, April 2 View Page Took down the mini shelters today on the four melon plants. I had an idea on how to construct a better wind break than last year. I'm utilizing some hay feeders that won't be used until next winter. A little plastic pallet wrap and presto, a wind break. When they get close to outgrowing them I have some corral panels that I can do the same thing with and move them as I please. I'm just not sure how well the plastic will hold up. The AG plants close to the grass are still in pots. These are just bait plants. I've already seen spotted cuke beetles here. Last year my plants picked up a couple of squash bugs early while setting them out just for sun. Maybe this year I can kill them before they cause problems on the real plants. No rush to start the main plants. Lots of crabgrass and pigweed already starting to germinate. Let it! I want to till and kill again so I'll wait a while. Monday, April 2 View Page I figured if it's warm enough for melons to grow why not try some sweetcorn. Yep, it's up! Should be planting spuds and cool season stuff, not corn. If it makes it, it will be early. Strange weather. Couple of nights ago neighbor across road had a yard full of hail, just a little rain on this side of the road. Tonight, 3" of rain in town & flash flooding. Not a drop here. Thursday, April 5 View Page Warning!! Viewer discretion advised. Spring turkey season has opened and next photo could be offensive to some viewers. Friday, April 6 View Page This bird was one of 7 gobblers that came to the decoys on Thursday. 3 other long beards and 3 jakes. This is my second of the year. The first was Sat, opening morning, at a neighbor's farm. That tom's vitals: 18.75 lbs, 10.5" beard, 1" spurs. This boy: 23 lbs 10.25 beard & 1" spurs. Two more left to take here in TN and I hope to do it with regular archery equipment. I may try a crossbow if I can't get one with the regular stuff. Also I started AG seeds on the 5th. What I started were my own seeds that can go green or orange. I'm hoping for green. These will be put in the genetics patch with target weigh-offs in IN & OH in Aug. Sunday, April 15 View Page Main melon season starts today!!! I decided to start several different seeds and whatever germinates will be my line-up. Using the paper towel method @ 98° in an incubator I'm starting: 1-35 Kent, 1-197 Leonard, 1-221 Carson, 1-267 Edwards, 1-285 Edwards, 1-234 Berry, 1-209 Holloway, 2-209 Kent, and several of my own 165(B),144,183,207,209. If yours is here cheer for it to pop! Wednesday, April 18 View Page Potted several seeds this morning. It took a little longer than I expected to get them to pop. As of this morning potted are: 1-221 Carson, 1-197 Leonard, 2-209 Kent, 4-165(B) Cantrell, 2-183 Cantrell, 2-207 Cantrell and 1-144 Cantrell. Still waiting and watching for life from 209 Holloway, 35 Kent, 267 Edwards, 234 Berry, 285 Edwards, 209 Cantrell, and a late addition 255 Mitchell. Not too worried yet. Had similar results last year and ended up with extras. The extras produced my 2 largest. Maybe I should be starting later instead of earlier. Wednesday, April 18 View Page It's been a good day for seed planting. Overcast with a sprinkle every now and then. Only seeds that have NOT popped and been planted are 255 Mitchell and my 209 Cantrell. I have plenty of the 209's so more will be started just in case. I'd like to see one get a shot. If all the seeds come up I'll have some tough decisions......cull.....or .....expand. Never thought they all would pop. I did change things up with the incubator. Double checked the temp and it was 99°. Moved seeds to top of incubator after 48 hrs where it was 90° in a half folded bath towel. Noticed bunches and bunches of barn swallows flying just barely above the commercial patch where the plastic mulch is layed. Went to check to see what they were after and it was the second hatch of seed cor maggot flies. MILLIONS of them over the melon and corn patches. Its a wonder any corn came up. Also surprised to find out that young corn can survive a frost. Burned the leaves but it bounced right back. Research says no yield loss if its younger than 5 leaf stage and its not a killing freeze. Saturday, May 5 View Page Its been a busy couple of weeks and NO time to post updates. I hope the rest of the year doesn't keep going like this. The good news: only had one melon seed to not germinate. The bad: 255 Mitchell. Good: Punched the ticket on 2 coyotes and limited out on turkeys(4) just before going to the beach. Bad: cut the trip short because of storm damage back home. Lost part of the top of a barn to high winds. Hail beat up commercial patch and broke several plants including 2 competition melons, 234 Berry and 282 Dawson. Other two plants should live but have been set back. Saturday, May 5 View Page The frost/freeze from a couple of weeks ago is just starting to show us what it has done. 90-100% loss on blackberries, still a little early to say for sure. 60% loss on peaches, some varieties did fine others were all but wiped out. Muscadines (southern native grapes) 100% loss. We have planted more melons and corn and started the AG's for the main patch. 1789 Wallace, 1314 Sperry, 1177* Haist, 1486* Jarvis, 684* Harnica. All are up and doing fine. Hope to get these and the main batch of competition melons in the ground this week. I did lose a couple of them to ?????? while I was at the beach, got some ideas but I don't want to point fingers if I not sure (grandkids). Can't remember which ones they were but I will update at planting time. Saturday, May 5 View Page Note to self. Never hold plants in plastic containers over other plants. You can drop them or the side may split where your thumb is. 4 more melon plants bite the dust. Plants that have met their end are 2-209 Kent, 2-165B Cantrell, 209 Holloway, 221 Carson. Grrrrrrrr!!! Saturday, May 12 View Page Decided to go with something different as ground cover. I've had row covers in the barn for several years that were used to cover rows of strawberries. With a snip here and there I got it down over the plants and drip tapes. The plan is to put a thin layer of sand on it to help block the sun from getting through. I hated to put the tractor back on the patch but just prior to starting this project I saw millions of crabgrass sprouts so another tilling was ordered. The pitiful little plants were put in just a couple days ago so I wasn't to worried about bothering them. Now to finish the rest! Thursday, May 24 View Page Found a LITTLE time to make a post. AG patch here. Should be a total of 15 plants when finished. Started 3 late plants (hope to keep one going till Oct). Only 2 plants don't have squash in their immediate pedigree, all others are at least 50%. I've used livestock panels wrapped in pallet wrap as a wind break. Works so far. More posts later. Friday, June 1 View Page I think I need to plant some sort of permanent wind breaks. Strong winds and rain and more wind is tough on a corn field. About 1/3 of the fields look like this. Most of it will stand its sself back up with some sun. Some of the older corn should be ready before the 4th of July. Friday, June 1 View Page The wind only moved a couple of sides on pumpkin vine. This 743 Cantrell came through just fine. Main is at 10 ft and I'm waiting for a female for Indy or Columbus or ????. I hate to even type this but, I've had the least amount of squash bug pressure this year that I can remember. I think I've seen 6. AG's are ahead of previous years in growth. Changed the irrigation method this year. Melon vines appear to weathered the storm just fine. Too wet to get in to fix anything anyway. Not quite as happy with their growth but it could be the AG's are making them look bad. It wouldn't hurt if I spent a little more time with them. Saturday, June 2 View Page Quick update on the American Chestnut trees. Only one didn't survive so far. I'm pleased. Wednesday, June 6 View Page Better late than never. Finally got all the ground cover in place. The two rows to the right are covered with the row covers then sand. The next row has a commercial grade landscape fabric with sand and the last row is typical black landscape fabric with sand. The row covers work well for broadleaf weeds, est. 99.9% effective, crabgrass est. 95-99% effective, nutsedge 0% effective. I've been using paraquat to eliminate escapees. Grass & broadleaf weeds brown & crispy in 24 hrs or still green if I missed them. Nutsedge requires round-up. Been using a politician's sign for a shield while spraying, just have to make sure I don't spin it like they would. Monday, June 11 View Page A series of pics to follow of the seeds that weren't my own. Last year my largest melon was grown on the slowest starting plant. That could be a good sign for this one. It is tied with one of my 165(B)'s for last place in size at this time. Not too worried as it is in the same location that the 251 was grown. This is the 234 Berry. Monday, June 11 View Page 267 Edwards here. I've got a few that look similar to this. Monday, June 11 View Page 197 Leonard here. Started out the fastest but a couple of others have caught up. Monday, June 11 View Page A sister to this one went 240 last year in it's first year out. This is a 35 Kent. Can't understand why folks grow the 291 and not this one. Monday, June 11 View Page This is the last of the foreign seeds in my patch this year. 285 Edwards. Overall the plants are very close in actual total vine length and a couple have produced females but way too early to try to set any here. These photos are a couple days old and all the plants have seemed to have found another gear. Started irrigating a little extra and plenty of sun seems to have done it. Monday, June 11 View Page Why not? This 165B has 2 females that will open on 6/12 and the plant is getting close to the minimum size that I "think" might work. Besides I have my 5 and 10 day targets to help me decide if I want to keep one. And if a better one comes along, they'll get yanked. Wednesday, June 13 View Page Should have kept my mouth shut. One of those first squash bugs was carrying a bad present. This is what early signs of yellow vint decline looks like. I know it kind of resembles heat stress or flagging but this appearance doesn't change and soon the yellowing kicks in. Wednesday, June 13 View Page At this angle you can see that the area between the veins is shiny and not wilted. It almost has a leathery look. This was one of the most aggresive plants in the patch. "WAS" it's now gone. I'm trying to eliminate the disease as soon as possible just in case another bug escapes my frequent spraying. Friday, June 15 View Page First decision made as to which one is not going to a weigh-off. Didn't like the location on the plant for this one and had a beauty come out this morning closer to the edge of the patch. Got a decent one one opposite side also. Saturday, June 30 View Page Despite the intense heat the AG's are by far doing the best that they ever have for me. As we know that is subject to change without notice. So far only 2 victims of YVD. I'm seeing an occasional squash bug, even after vigorous spraying, so my hopes are tempered. The melon patch looks the best also BUTTTT the weight gains are not up to last year on the ones that are set. I needed to pollinate several this morning but mother-in-law took a tumble and I spent the wee hours and all morning in the ER. Today I had my first 4 cm female :) ---- open pollinated :( Hope it sticks anyhow, I'd like to see what she can do. Brother Bill it is on your 267. Tuesday, July 10 View Page Got a little rain today so time to give a quick update on the pumpkin patch. The follow pics were taken over the last week. This is 604 Cantrell (1020* Jutras x 1161 Rodonis-clone)crossed with green producing 512 Cantrell (plant 1) Tuesday, July 10 View Page Ment to give vitals on 604. When photo was taken - 28 days, est wt 394. This is 512 Cantrell (plant 4). 512 is 1003* Wexler x 386 Cantrell(greenie). 31 days, est 347 Tuesday, July 10 View Page 512 Cantrell (plant 3) crossed with 1486 Jarvis. 24 days, est 196 Tuesday, July 10 View Page 512 Cantrell (plant 2) Shows to be the darkest of the orange ones and all the 512's have a similar shape, very much like their mother which was a Howard Dill Award winner. Tuesday, July 10 View Page Again, in a hurry. 512 #2 vitals. 283 est, 27 days and crossed to 1177 Haist. Tuesday, July 10 View Page Last photo was 380 Cantrell (1462.5 Starr x 1020* Jutras) crossed with 512 Cantrell (plant 1) 209 est, 25 days Tuesday, July 10 View Page Here's my 743 Cantrell (1445.5 Werner x 1177* Haist) crossed with 1486* Jarvis. Stats: est 351, 28 days. Tuesday, July 10 View Page 684* Harnica here that was open pollinated - grrrrr. Was out of town when it opened. may try to set a genetic cross on side for seed. 126 ott on day 17 Tuesday, July 10 View Page Last pic for now. 1177 Haist crossed with 1486 Jarvis. 109 ott on day 14. Still plenty of time for me to kill all the above!!!! Wednesday, July 11 View Page I suspect my chances at a new PB on melons are slipping away. My plants look the best ever for this time of year but the bulk of the hand pollinations are UGLY!!!! I've decided to keep one on most every plant until they are 25-30 days old and the cut them and save the seeds from them. In the mean time I've selected an open pollinated one on most plants to try to be somewhat competitive. I figure with all the culls I pulled last year that most of these plants can do it. Doesn't mean I have to like it. Sunday, July 22 View Page One less to measure. Plant just didn't look good and gains had slowed to a crawl. This is from one of the 165B plants and is estimated at 87lbs. Sunday, July 22 View Page When I started pulling the plant, as week as it was, I noticed that it was rooting through the ground cover. This was one of the plants on row covers used as ground cover. Sunday, July 22 View Page When I got to the stump it was just as I suspected. VOLES. Trap to be set tonight. Sunday, July 22 View Page Not a bad stump for a plant that has struggled so long. Sunday, July 22 View Page I quick view of where the plant came from. The row cover material did a good job on broad leaf suppression and most grasses EXCEPT for goose grass which had several escapees. I couldn't bring to myself to try Poast or Fusilade on it. Looking back it would have been a no lose situation. Sunday, July 22 View Page For the last coulpe of years, I've been using these trays under my melons. They are typical in length and width as others but only about an inch tall. I'm guessing but ther have to be about 500 cells in each tray. A local greenhouse gets plugs in them and then they normally go into their recycle pile. Free for the asking. When turned sideways I just add another one as the melon gets longer. I'm waiting for the day when I have to add them to the sides. Sunday, July 22 View Page So much for the long one (4cm) setting a WR. Unless you hear otherwise this one will be culled in a day or two for a traditional shaped melon. Both were open pollinated so my main goal is to get a seed melon going on this plant. Sunday, July 22 View Page The big banana. Odd shaped and ugly but gains are steady. I've got a normal one set with her that's open pol'd and normal but unless it picks it up in the next day or two its toast. Sunday, July 22 View Page Hardest decision of the year was made this morning. On day 23 this one got benched and her numbers were right with the 251's from last year. It's big sister gets to stay in the game and there's still more than a half to play. Hope she doesn't foul out. Sunday, July 22 View Page Not on a vine that I was extremely excited about planting, but if I didn't plant it who would, this is the only peek you get prior to weigh-off "IF" it makes it. It's on a 207 Cantrell and there is plenty of time for me to screw it up. Sunday, July 22 View Page Here it is July 22 and who would have thought I could plow under 5' tall sorgum-sudan grass into next years patch. The ground had perfect moisture content. Still time to get another crop planted before the winter rye goes in. With any luck maybe there won't be as many weeds as you can see in the background in this years pumpkin patch where I had "organic stuff" spread. Must have been mostly lambs quarter and pigweed. I'll grow my own organic matter from now on and rotate fields. Next year fewer AG's and more space for individual plants. Wednesday, July 25 View Page Finally got a set on the 512 Cantrell that I was using for a pollinator. Actually had 3 sets on a huge plant and then it hit. Even though I new better I cut off the side where the tip was showing YVD, 3 days later it was evident the plant was doomed so out she came. Also pulled the 684 Harnica, same problem. She was going to be a dark green. Looks like no greenie for Indy this year. Wednesday, July 25 View Page I've had plenty of sound seeds from AG's at the age of 40 days. The 165B that I culled was 40 days old. Thought it would be interesting to open her up and check out the viability of the seeds. The vast majority of them looked sound. After drying we'll find out if they will germinate. I also had a 30 day and an est. 25 day melon that I harvested seeds from when they were picked. They also look sound. Only time will tell. Monday, July 30 View Page If you see a hole in the ground net to the stump of your melon vine and the gains are starting to slow down, set a trap. I just knew it was voles but it was mice. Two of my faster gainers were victims of such. Four mice later and the gains are starting to return. Traps still set and our barn cat seems to stay in the patch. I also punched the ticket on 2 coyotes this weekend. I know, they catch a lot of mice. But if they catch that cat, I'll be in the dog house. Thursday, August 2 View Page I couldn't stand it any longer. I'll never know how much this took away from its sister on my 207 but it was the one with a controled pollination. Specks: OTT 150, wt 98 and it was pollinated by the fastest gaining of my 165B's. Not the greatest numbers on this one for its age but with a nose like she has there's not much of a chance for great gains. Her sister is the hottie. And for you women in the crowd, her dad is a hunk! Actually made another pollination on this plant this morning. I used the 197 Leonard. Any guesses why I chose that plant? Sunday, August 5 View Page Thank you Ohio! Had a great time at their weigh-off and met some more good growers and really great people. I know the big stuff was left at home so look out if you run into some of these guys later. For me, once again it was "take the one that quit growing." On the good side it didn't stop until it was about 50 days old and it stayed solid. This was on the 743 Cantrell (1445.5 Werner x 1177* Haist) and crossed with 1486 Jarvis. OTT 325, Est wt 759, Actual weight was 891. No record setter but a new personal best. Hope some of the other halfbloods still in the patch go that heavy, if so the TN state record could finally fall if they too don't quit, split, go down, etc. Sunday, August 5 View Page Pulled the last plant in the top row of the patch today. Measured this one again this morning an it just wasn't going to get it done so out she came. Final OTT 165, est wt 130, actual wt 127. 9 plants left with 8 weigh-offs on my radar. Learned something about using the row covers as ground cover. The escaped weeds that grow through it make it difficul to pull out. Also I didn't leave any seams so the sand has nowhere to go when you try to lift it. I'll have to figure out a plan "B" for getting it out. Tuesday, August 7 View Page Harvested another pear shaped melon for seeds. This one weighed 95 and is 165B Cantrell (plant #3) x 267 Edwards. I have some concerns that the 267 pollinator will not be able to show me its potential. She was doing really well, gains slowed, then I found a bad looking stem on her. Started treatment on her and checked the others. So far the rest of the patch looks OK. I hope the sister melon to this one continues on her journey. Tuesday, August 7 View Page Decided to give a peek into the patch, but before I get started let me warn you. YOU WILL SEE WEEDS IN MY PATCH. No measurements just ages. Got a jar out of the truck for you to reference. 267 Edwards, open, 36 days Tuesday, August 7 View Page This plant was one that got as a seedling. Never quite got going like I'd like. 165B Cantrell (plant 2), open, 32 days Tuesday, August 7 View Page Last entry should have said "got broke". This is 197 Leonard. Sure wish she had gotten a better pollination/shape. X with 165B (plant 3), 41 days Tuesday, August 7 View Page 165B Cantrell (plant 3). No complaints here. Open, 39 days Tuesday, August 7 View Page Could be a double post here. I hit something and computer crashed. Not up to previous sibs that I've grown. 35 Kent, pol with 197 Leonard, 39 days Tuesday, August 7 View Page Don't tell anyone I'm growing this one. Not many other folks would dare try it. Hint: so far she's in the top 3. 144 Cantrell, open, 44 days Tuesday, August 7 View Page 165B (plant 4) X 267 Edwards, 55 days Tuesday, August 7 View Page 285 Edwards, open, 40 days Tuesday, August 7 View Page For some reason the last picture won't load. 207 Cantrell, open, 44 days. Time for a nap! Sunday, August 12 View Page Watch out for Frank Mudd. He had a couple of beauties at the Indiana State Fair with more in the patch. Best I could do was 188. Final stats: 165B Cantrell (plant 4) X 267 Edwards, 59 days, OTT 189.5, Est 191, actual 188 Sunday, August 12 View Page Got home from Indy and decided to pull the plants that grew the fruit that I took. I've been pleased with the growth of my melons overall this year and THOUGHT I had been doing a much better job of sucker removal this year. Guess I was wrong. All this came out from under the plant that grew the Indy melon. Maybe one of these days I'll learn. Needless to say I spent the next hour or so huntin' suckers. Tuesday, August 14 View Page Did a little test with seeds that were harvested from melons of different ages. I harvested the seeds the same day that the melon was pulled. Dried them for 10 days in the garage where temps stayed 80-95°. Only kept seeds that appeared sound and mature. Started 15 of each. There was no significant difference in numbers that germinated. 26 had 13, 31-15, 40-14 and they were last checked on day 8 after starting. The 26 day seeds had a shorter root as a group. I feel comfortable harvesting seeds from the 2 seed melons on my back porch. Wednesday, August 15 View Page While preping the fields that will be next years strawberry patch it occured to me that I had not checked the 2 lope plants yesterday. This was on the 8.0. Good thickness but not as large as I had hoped for. An even 40 pounds with an OTT of 116.5. No seeds saved, open pollinated. Wednesday, August 15 View Page A bit of a disappointment but not much. On the bathroom scale it weighed just over 52 pounds. A personal best but no state record so no need to be too particular about the scales. It was damaged and sloshed when I shook it. OTT 126 Open pollinated, no seeds saved, on a 55 James. Monday, August 20 View Page Next years patch is looking just fine. Did a soil test, had to ad a few minor things and then planted buckwheat. Hard to tell here but it's about 3" tall. Jut getting to the point where it will take off. Monday, August 20 View Page Got another field ready over the weekend. Due to popular demand we decided to put in strawberries for the 2013 season. 12,000 plants ordered and expected in Sept. Hope they don't arrive on a Friday before a weigh-off. A major problem here is coyotes. For some reason they like to walk on the plastic. When they do the drip tape must make some sort of noise that sounds like a mouse. They will make a hole, pull out the drip tape or chew it up. Monday, August 20 View Page Moved the girls to to calving field next to our house. This is part of the herd that will start calving in early Sept. No bull(s) on our place. We do 100% artificial inseminations or embryo transfer. Another reason to dislike coyotes is calving season and they also transmit neosporosis to cattle. Two confirmed cases in my herd last year. It primarily causes abortions. No cure! Monday, August 20 View Page The only real hope I've got at breaking 1000 lb and possibly a state record is this girl, 380 Cantrell. She's taping about 930. I've been extremely satisfied with just using sheets to cover everything this year. Been able to keep the powdery mildew at bay near the stem area which has been a problem in the past. Monday, August 20 View Page Thought I'd give sheets a try on the melons also. So far so good. It sure makes measuring a lot easier and the sun doesn't sneak in under the sides. Down side, I can see where hail could cause a problem. Monday, August 20 View Page This will be the last pic of the american chestnut trees for this year. I've been thrilled with ther progress. The big shots at UT are very pleased. Most trees are 4-5' tall and only in there second year. Tuesday, August 21 View Page If you build it they will come. Caught 3 coming out of the sweet corn patch, which they've destroyed, and heading to the strawberry field. First one down at 63 yds, second at 282 and the third, well ... next time! Monday, September 3 View Page I went to the patch to harvest my 285 Edwards on Fri morning. I had it taping at 199 pounds. It was badly sunburned, stopped growing, and the vine looked poor. It was open pollinated so it wasn't too big of a deal whether or not I got an official weight or not. I took it to the farm store to get an unofficial weight and they had it at just over 220. What to do, what to do? I really have wanted to meet Mr. Bright so I cleared it with the Mrs. and off I went to Arkansas. Had a great time and place 2nd. Official weight was 223.5. Thursday, September 6 View Page Can't believe I forgot my camera!!! Took a melon and a pumpkin to the Tennessee State Fair. The numbers of pumpkins this year was down, 3 entries, but the melon competition was very good with 10 entries. My pumpkin placed second and I set a new PB at 894. OTT 328, est wt 779, 15% heavy. It was off my 604 Cantrell which is half squash and pollinated by a squash producing 512 Cantrell. Hopefully I'll get greenies next year. The melon placed 3rd and was off of a 165(B) Cantrell. Open pollinated, OTT 191, est wt 196, actual wt 209 and 67 days old. I'll be glad if I can ever get them to grow 85-90 days. I need to do a better job of pest control!! Friday, September 7 View Page This is from a 517 Welty and it's the only squash I got set this year. Currently on display at the Tennessee Valley Fair. Open pollinated and actual wt of 295. No seeds to save here. Friday, September 7 View Page Also on display and weighing in at 783 is this offspring of a 512 Cantrell and she was sibbed to a greenie. Friday, September 7 View Page The last entry at the fair is this 197 Leonard. Almost pulled this one a couple of times because of it's poor shape (bent pickle). Pollination in the heat was the problem. It just kept trying to grow and it filled out the skinny stem end pretty good compared to the rest of gourd shaped melons that I got at the same time. Est wt 193, act wt 199, 71 days and pollinated with the 165(B) Cantrell that weighed 209. This is a seed that will see dirt next year along with both parents. Friday, September 7 View Page Next years patch is just about in full bloom. This buckwheat will be worked in very soon with winter rye to follow. Saturday, September 8 View Page While tilling in the buckwheat I decided to show why I like it. Looking down from the tractor you can't see dirt. Weed seeds can germinate early on but they have a hard time competing for a space to grow. That's more of the weed seed bank used up. This field was 5 weeks old and about 24" tall. It's been tilled, twice over, with winter rye sown this morning. Got a nice shower going on right now. Friday, September 14 View Page Loaded for Bear Wallow. Nothing to brag about here but it's the best I've got. Pumpkin didn't make the truck squat as much as I had hoped. Affraid she's going to be light and short of a PB. Sunday, September 16 View Page Went to Bear Wallow with the hopes of having a Howard Dill Award wining pumpkin. You never know what a blind hog might find. Sure didn't expect to have the largest pumpkin at the weigh-off, but it was. This pumpkin is from my 380 Cantrell 11 (1462.5 Starr 09 x 1020* Jutras 09) and crossed with a green producing 512 Cantrell 11 (1003* Wexler 10 x 386 Cantrell 10, greenie). The goal is to get newer genetics into the squash. Everyone may not agree on how or "IF" it should be done but I'm still going to try. Sunday, September 16 View Page The way I figure it the off-spring of this one have a 50/50 chance of being green. Could be another orange one like it's mother, or it's aunt that went to Indy which was a different 512 Cantrell. I never did hear which pumpkin won the HDA there, or if they even gave one out.......Still can't believe I broke a thousand pounds. Sunday, September 16 View Page I'm pleased with second place in the melon class at 250.5. This was the one I thought was going to be really special. Missed my personal best by 1/2 pound. Learned a bunch about spider mites this year. It's evident that I've been battling them for years in the commercial & competition patch and had no idea what the problem was. Can't wait for next year to see if I can keep the weight gains going that this one started with. My 207 will see dirt again! A special thanks to all my Kentucky brothers and sisters for making my visit so memorable. I'm thrilled to have met so many new people, the support was incredible!!! Saturday, December 22 View Page I started out with a handful of seeds that I intended to plant next year. A couple of surprises showed up in my mailbox that would be on nearly anyone's dream list including these 242 Carson 86 seeds. As most already know they came from Mr Lloyd Bright and I want to thank him very much. I've received some other very special melon seeds in the last month or so but I won't say who sent them so as not to have their e-mail/mailboxes packed full of request. Many came from someone other than the original growers but all from people I trust and admire greatly. To you folks I also want to say thanks so very much! Meeting and getting to know people like you is why I love to load the truck and hit the road. Needless to say my planned patch size has increased. Merry Christmas to all Monday, December 31 View Page Happy New Year!