Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 71 Entries. Saturday, January 1 View Page Happy New Year! We had our first visitor of 2011 at 1:15 in the afternoon. Friday, February 4 View Page Thanks Scottie DiMarco for the great birthday present. A bottle of his homemade Dandelion wine and a 1662 Stelts. You da man! Friday, February 4 View Page Sunrise after a fresh snow in the neighborhood. Winter 2011. Friday, February 4 View Page My wife said we had a visitor in the yard this afternoon. NO... it wasn't Scottie! Tuesday, February 8 View Page I will be growing this seed in 2011. Friday, March 11 View Page With 2 inches of rain last Saturday and Sunday, then TEN INCHES OF SNOW Sunday evening into Monday, I have started hallucinating. Wednesday, March 23 View Page The first week of spring, the morning of March 24th,... looking at the patch... SNOW covered again! Saturday, April 9 View Page I put this on my wish list. Just the right size for my place! Saturday, April 9 View Page Just another typical day in the patch here on Pine Run this year. "The water runs through it!" I've seen this picture way too often this year. The cover crop has not even popped out of its winter mode. 80's Monday and some sun should help. I need to go to Scottie's patch to see what is happening there! Saturday, April 9 View Page Scottie DiMarco's Patch. Lower elevation and warmer, and as usual, about two weeks ahead of mine. Here he is broad forking around his planting holes. I noticed his planting holes are much larger this year. He would not let me near the holes(pits), so I couldn't look for secret ingredients! It looks like there are enough amendments there for a potential world record in each hole! Just give me the top foot of soil in your garden Scottie! Tuesday, April 12 View Page Trout season starts Saturday. My " fish-in-hole". I stopped at my friend's bait business and found a source of dead minnows and crayfish. I brought a bucket home tonight and buried them my composted mushroom mulch pile. I will use the fish when things dry out. I should get another bucket tomorrow, the fish truck was delivering this afternoon and possibly so "worm dirt". I hope the raccoons or bear do not dig them up tonight. Wednesday, April 27 View Page Another 1.2 inches of rain last night. That makes 3 inches in 4 days. Wednesday, April 27 View Page Pine Run this morning... there go my amendments! Actually the only amendment I applied so far was some K20. Wednesday, April 27 View Page And rain this evening, 8.80 inches a new record monthly rainfall for April before this rain. Just sitting back and waiting for the sun! Friday, May 13 View Page Thursday night the patch is FINALLY dry enough to add amendments and plant. I tilled the planting mound areas for the first time Wednesday night,just before sundown, with the hopes of drying the soil out with sunshine and a breeze on Thursday. It worked. Amendments and planting Thursday night! Friday, May 13 View Page Seth, home from college, starting a finance internship next week, had time to help Dad with the prep and planting. Seth is seen with the 1274 Stelts 10. It could be his plant this year. Thanks Seth! Friday, May 13 View Page Dirty ,sweaty and cranky that describes me last night at 9 P.M. Five plants in the ground. 172 Lengel 09, 852 Myers 10, 1274 Stelts 10, 1165 Rea 10 and the 918 Lengel 10. Possibly one more if the patch continues to dry out. The 918 Lengel pictured. Wednesday, May 18 View Page Heavy rain again tonight! I am just west of Williamsport where the red is on the map. We're just so lucky! I am just so tired of rain and mud! Sunday, May 29 View Page May 28th, another 1.1 inches of rain last night. It is still so wet that the sea gulls that took up residency at the four acre pond in one of my customer's corn fields have to stand on the road to find a dry spot! He did get 95 acres planted out of the 135 acres originally planned for corn. 40 acres are still too wet Sunday, June 12 View Page Of course, Scottie is three weeks ahead of me. His patch on 6/08, as I did a drive by, while he was working. Everything looks super! As usual. Sunday, June 12 View Page The Lengel patch on 6/08. Finally drying out enough to get some tomatoes and peppers planted. As I said, we are three weeks behind Scottie with our pumpkin plants. Sunday, June 12 View Page The 1274 Stelts 10 tonight. Slightly behind my other plants but looking very healthy. Sunday, June 12 View Page Here she is, the 1165 Rea 10, looking very pretty. She grew about a foot in two days, while I was away. We also had a welcome inch of rain on Saturday. I never though I would be looking forward to an inch of rain after all the precipitation this spring. Sunday, June 12 View Page My 918 Lengel 10 starting to take off. Comparing a few pictures from the same time last year, I would say that we are slightly ahead of last season in plant growth. This spring was so horribly wet to get any patch work done. Sunday, June 12 View Page My second 852 Myers 10, thanks to Curt. My first plant wilted early, possibly from seed corn maggot, although I could not find any larvae. I really wanted to grow this plant and luckily Curt had a few of his brother's seeds started and let my grab one. There is a contest involving beer with local growers planting this seed, so it was important to get replacement plant in as fast as I could! Sunday, June 12 View Page The 172 Lengel 09 in my patch by the woods. I need to address the weed population in this patch. The patch was extremely wet. The 172 is doing really well! This concludes my patch update. Sunday, June 12 View Page Seth took out a potential threat to the pumpkin patch the other night in the back yard along the edge of the woods with his archery equipment at approximately 31 yards. Nice shot Seth! You are now in charge of varmint control. Wednesday, June 15 View Page I found this split on the main vine of my 918 tonight. It is only 2 feet from the stump. What is my best option for taking care of it. Sunday, June 19 View Page Yesterday,I was able get a pickup load of mushroom mulch for the patch. It is a great nutrient and organic matter builder. Sunday, June 19 View Page Two of my most used machines in the patch this year, my tiller and my son Seth. I am sure glad he is home for the summer. He really has taken an interest in this hobby. We are spreading the mushroom soil then tilling it into the areas that we are preparing for the 2012 pumpkins. Sunday, June 19 View Page Seth is raking in some sorghum sudangrass seed for a summer cover crop in next year's designated pumpkin growing areas. I am using a seeding rate of 50 lbs. per acre. That means about a 1/4 pound per area. I am basically preparing about 10-12 feet where each pumpkin will be planted and the main vine will run next year. With limited space this is my attempt at rotation. We will see how the sorghum sudangrass looks in a couple weeks. Wednesday, June 29 View Page Tomorrow morning will be my first pollination in the patch for 2011. I stopped at Scottie's patch for a nice bouquet of male flowers from his 1544 Revier to pollinate the first female on my 918 Lengel. He was chasing a varmint out of his patch when Seth and I showed up. A woodchuck or squirrel or something. Scott patch is looking great, probably a month ahead of mine. Thursday, June 30 View Page My first pollination of the season. A five lobe on my 918 Lengel at 10 ft. Crossed it with the 1544 Revier from Scottie DiMarco's patch. Thursday, June 30 View Page The cross made on the 918 Lengel. Two, maybe negative things today: 50F at 6AM this morning and the node leaf stem is underneath the pumpkin. Thursday, June 30 View Page Also the first pollination on the 1165 Rea 10 at 10 feet this morning. A five and a half lobe female? Thursday, June 30 View Page I crossed the 1165 Rea 10 with the 1274 Stelts 10 with the only available male from this plant this morning. A nice female with a descent position on the vine. Thursday, June 30 View Page This is the 852 Myers with its first female at 9 feet ready to pollinate tomorrow morning. I will pollinate it with my 172 Lengel 09. Sunday, July 17 View Page A pollen feast for all types in a 918 Lengel 10 male. Wednesday, July 20 View Page The first Day 20 measurement in the patch tonight. The 1165 Rea 10. OTT 158 Wednesday, July 20 View Page The 918 Lengel 10, Day 20 measurement 160 OTT. Very high temps in the forecast the rest of the week pushing 100 degrees. Tuesday, July 26 View Page I saw a good luck omen today while checking a customer's fields. This albino whitetail was feeding in a soybean field this morning. She was not really alarmed by my truck. I just hope this doesn't mean all my pumpkins will be white this season. Saturday, July 30 View Page My largest pumpkin of only three still growing, the 1165 Rea. Today is Day 30. It was crossed with the 1544 Revier. OTT 246. Saturday, July 30 View Page The 918 Lengel crossed with the 1544 Revier. Day 30. OTT 234. Correction on the 1165 Rea. It was pollinated with the 1274 Stelts. After reading Pa Pumpkin Pharmer's diary I can sympathize right with Kevin. I am 70 miles to the east. Way to wet early, now a drought/heatwave at my patch only three out of six plants have pumpkins on. My two "orange" plants had pumpkins on that aborted. The 852 Myers grew to 137 OTT and quit right before day 20. The 172 Lengel had two abort. I have a couple open pollinations this week on the 172 and I am going to attempt to cross the 852 Myers into a couple on some secondaries tomorrow morning. It is late but I really want this cross! I am debating whether to pull the 852 or try to pollinate one this week. It should throw a nice round orange pumpkin! Also there was a case of beer riding on growing this pumpkin! Sunday, July 31 View Page The 1274 Stelts on Day 25. It was crossed with the 1495 Stelts. Saturday, August 6 View Page Look at the rain gauge. There is actually more than a couple tenths in the gauge... its not one, but two inches! We finally got a descent rain today. Just over 3 inches for the first six days of August, which is three times more than we got in the last six weeks! Yeah! Saturday, August 6 View Page The 1165 Rea and the 918 Lengel loving the rain today. Sunday, August 14 View Page Seth and his friend Julia running the numbers on the 1165 Rea yesterday. They are both 3rd year accounting majors at Penn State, so they can calculate much faster than me! They're heading back to college next weekend already! Sunday, August 21 View Page The 1274 Stelts on Day 45. 299 OTT Sunday, August 21 View Page The 1165 Rea. Day 50 measurement 335 OTT. Sunday, August 21 View Page The 918 Lengel at 307 OTT on day 50. Gaining 15 lbs per day. Sunday, August 21 View Page PGPGA Patch Tour today between the rain storms. Kevin Snyder with his 1193 Snyder looking good. Check out Kevin's orange Crocks. He is really into this obsession! Thanks to Kevin, Jim Devlin, and Larry Checkon for tours of their patches. We saw a few potential big ones out there. Sunday, August 21 View Page Larry Checkon explaining to the crowd some of this years growing challenges with his 1421 Checkon in the background. Sunday, August 21 View Page Seth taking some time to hit a few golf balls Friday night, before he moves back to Penn State Saturday morning. We will miss him! He was a tremendous help in the patch this summer. The 1165 Rea is starting to rise above its foliage in the background. Wednesday, September 7 View Page The patch Monday at the start of the rainfall from Lee. Wednesday, September 7 View Page Pine Run this morning after 5.5 inches of rain in 48 hours. Wednesday, September 7 View Page A pumpkin from a rogue tertiary vine taking the plunge into the run beside the patch. Destination: the Chesapeake Bay by way of Pine Run and the Susquehanna River about 180 miles. Thursday, September 15 View Page I flew out to Des Moines,IA Tuesday for a meeting at Pioneer Hybrids Research facility in Johnston. I had some free time Tues. evening so I looked up Don Young and got a patch tour. It was dark by the time we arrived so Don gave us the flashlight tour of his patch. I picked up some interesting info on growing the big ones. The guys that came with me were really impressed. It was their first time at a AG growers patch. I want to thank Don for his hospitality on such short notice. Sunday, September 18 View Page Deb and I at the Roba Farms weigh off with my now official 1047.5 Lengel 11. The 1165 Rea 10 (1662 Stelts x 1161 Rodonis) crossed with the 1544 Revier. The 1047.5 was a beautiful orange color, 381 OTT and 9% light. A great pumpkin for the year we had in north central PA. Sunday, September 18 View Page First place at Roba Farms John Rauch 1469.5 lbs. Grown from Kevin Snyder's 1418. Congratulations John! Sunday, September 18 View Page Sue and John Roba of Roba Farms. Unloading my entry Saturday. Great people! Great hospitality at their Fall Festival farm. Unbelievable! You must experience it yourself! A great site for a pumpkin weigh off. Next year bring the whole family and enjoy the day. Thanks to the Sue, John and their son Jeff, who was home to help from college at Bucknell University studying mechanical engineering. Sunday, September 18 View Page Sue, John and Jeff Roba with Jeff's 841.5 pumpkin grown from the 679 Sandercock. Sunday, September 18 View Page FINALLY! Scott DiMarco with a smile of victory! 1064.5. He beat me by 17 lbs! I am sure glad he did because he would have been whining and crying all winter! Congratulations to Scott on a PB with the 1064.5 grown from the 1544 Revier! Sunday, September 18 View Page Correction. My 1047.5 Lengel was from the 1165 Rea crossed with the 1274 Stelts not the 1544 Revier. Friday, September 30 View Page Williamsport Giant Pumpkin grower Joe Eck with his 918 Lengel 10 ready to load for his first weigh off, the PGPGA in Altoona. Friday, September 30 View Page My pumpkins are loaded for the PGPGA weigh off Saturday in Altoona. On the truck is the 1274 Stelts 10 and the 918 lengel 10 on the trailer. Both taping the same OTT. We will see the winner on Saturday. Friday, September 30 View Page Scott DiMarco with his patch giant 1385 Jutras. It hardly fit on the truck! This should be a personal best for Scott. Thanks Jim for giving him the 1385 seed! Oh yes it was crossed with his 1495 Stelts. Sunday, October 2 View Page Here is Seth at the PGPGA weigh off yesterday in Altoona with the 1274 Stelts. Remember back on May 12th, it was just about dark, when Seth planted this one and said, "I think this will be my plant this year". 943.5 lbs. Sunday, October 2 View Page Me at the PGPGA scales,posing with my 918 Lengel. Offical weight 913.5. And that ends our weigh off entries for 2011. I would love to go to Monster Pumpkin Madness but, I will be heading to Newfoundland in search of the elusive moose. I am also out of pumpkins! Sunday, October 2 View Page Gerry Checkon taking a break from administrative duties at the PGPGA weigh off yesterday, just long enough to weigh in her record breaking 1676 pound pumpkin and taking 1st place. What a giant! Sunday, October 2 View Page PGPGA 2011 Top 5 Pumpkins. Well look who is in this picture with the nice orange pumpkin. It is Scott DiMarco with a 4th place 1216.5 lbs. personal best. Congratulations to Scott for a job well done! Now I have a goal to reach next season: 1217 pounds. Right Scottie? Left to right:Scott, 4th; James Devlin, 2nd; Gerry Checkon,1st; Larry Checkon, 3rd and Ben Young, 5th. Sunday, October 2 View Page Rounding out the 2011 PGPGA Top 10. 9th place Seth Lengel with the now 943.5 Lengel 11. The 1274 Stelts x 1495 Stelts, 12% heavy. 10th place Mark Lengel,(the fat guy on the right), with the now 913.5 Lengel 11. The 918 Lengel x 1544 Revier, 6% heavy.