Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 94 Entries. Sunday, May 31 View Page It's been so long since I made a diary entry I don't know where to start! How about my off season last summer. Dates in my pictures are all wrong, so disregard! I had these 2 large maple stumps ground years ago, but not ground enough to not hit them with the tiller! � Sunday, May 31 View Page Did I say large? I meant really Large! � Sunday, May 31 View Page Needless to say, I pressure washed them down to expose more of the stump & roots, then had a local tree company stop by and grind them deeper! Thank you - Buddy's Tree Service. � Sunday, May 31 View Page Finished product. � Sunday, May 31 View Page I did cover crop last summer with the Mighty Mustard! Also did a fall soil test & amended soil. � Sunday, May 31 View Page All in a quest to catch my hero! Congrats Karl, you have really raised the bar! 1 year off, & bam-ooo, he hits it out of the Park! � Sunday, May 31 View Page I continue to mess around with landscaping around my house. � Sunday, May 31 View Page I use scarecrow motion sensing sprinklers to keep the deer away. works rather well! Just have to remember that there on! � Sunday, May 31 View Page Another ongoing landscape project. � Sunday, May 31 View Page This is a new experimental plant/ garden. The plant is cleome. The spider plant. Easy to grow, awesome flowers. � Sunday, May 31 View Page Un pruned, they can grow to 6ft in good soil! I over did it a little bit! � Sunday, May 31 View Page May 26th. Heating cables & hoop houses done. Rye seeded. � Sunday, May 31 View Page May 3rd, plants in. Line up = Near- 1512 Brownell, middle- 1725 Haist, far- 1916 Baron. � Sunday, May 31 View Page I'm a week behind where I usually am at this time, but be ok! Picture was taken May 3rd, I'll fix my camera- sorry! � Thursday, June 25 View Page Patch this morning/ pollinated 2 at 13 ft. � Thursday, June 25 View Page Try again � Thursday, June 25 View Page Again! � Thursday, June 25 View Page Near is the 1512 brownell, middle is 1725 Haist, far is 1916 baron. Pollinated 1512 & 1725 today. 1512 was a keeper, next one on 1725 will be my keeper. Few more days on that one. My 1916 is healthy, but a little behind. I'll be pollinating that one close to July. All good. � Sunday, July 12 View Page Overhead of 1512 brownell today. Biggest pumpkin so far. No tape yet! My secondary growth has halted recently. Not sure if it's pumpkin draw or weather,or low nutrients? It surely won't be low nutrients by tomorrow. 55 gallon drench last night with all types of goodies in it! � Sunday, July 12 View Page 1725 plant & pumpkin/13 ft out. Not a perfect flower on blossom.5&1/2 lobes & a few seeds- we'll see! Test the theory. Next pollination too far away not to keep this one. � Sunday, July 12 View Page Tables I made of plexiglass for the stumps. 18 x 24 with pressure treated legs and frame. � Sunday, July 12 View Page Sorry/ last pumpkin picture was of my 1512. At 13ft, but flower was a perfect 4 lober � Sunday, July 12 View Page 1916. Baron wasn't going to keep this one- 10 ft out. Plant has been slightly behind, but it's vigor I like. I'll have to work on this set. I will make it work. Thank god for a long stem! � Sunday, July 12 View Page This is the 1725 Haist plant and set. � Sunday, July 12 View Page Another overhead. The weed you see is purslane. Pita! I'm using round up just outside the plant. The ok thing about purslane is that I don't think it robs much nutrition. � Wednesday, July 15 View Page Day 20 #'s for my 1512 are c-55,e-39.5,s-39.5 for an ott of134". Not terrible, not great! � Saturday, July 18 View Page My 1916 baron this morning. Definitely looks more like the 2009 than dons 1916 ,w/ that hunchback! Got a name for this one already- hunchback! � Saturday, July 18 View Page Another shot of 1916 and plant. Going for the flat bottom plywood method this year on all sets. 3/8 holes drilled in plywood,then two mill fabric.Also, no tarps, just white sheets. Unless of coarse we get 4-5 days of rain. � Saturday, July 18 View Page Landscape picture. Colors are starting to pop! Along with the weeds! � Saturday, July 18 View Page Different theme this year in this garden. Should be bursting with color in a few more weeks. � Saturday, July 18 View Page Some potted plants I haven't found a home for yet. The pink and white tall Cleome plant I started from last years seeds. I marked the seeds and they are the same as the mother plant. � Saturday, July 18 View Page Rocks,flowers,pumpkins,weeds,ect,ect.... Crabgrass too. I didn't use a pr-emergent this year...wish I had! � Saturday, July 18 View Page Trying something new this year. Giant sunflowers! Store bought seeds though....... Here we go with another hobby! Over 6 ft tall now! At least 4 of them. Pretty cool. They get my pumpkin leftover scraps! � Saturday, July 18 View Page Back to pumpkins! This is my 1725 Haist. Coming along nice. Medium long pumpkin, not a wheel, all good. Plant good. � Saturday, July 18 View Page Side view of 1725.all good � Saturday, July 18 View Page 1512 Brownell, looks a lot like Karl's 1725 shape. We'll see? All looks good, plant is coming around. � Saturday, July 18 View Page Side view of 1512. All good. � Saturday, July 18 View Page Patch overview this morning. � Monday, July 27 View Page My 1512 tonight. Looks similar to Karl's 1725. I'm a little behind do to my foolishness. I hope I can make it up, it will be a tough road. I have to push em harder than I ever had! � Monday, July 27 View Page My 1725 Haist tonight. My best plant & look at the shape of that baby! This is my GO pumpkin! I almost culled this one in favor of a better shaped flower. It was a 5&1/2 lobe flower w/ a weird seed like flower in it. You know, we've all seen em! I could not wait for another pollination so I went for it! Phew!! � Monday, July 27 View Page This is my 1916 Baron, sorry about the dark picture, worked in patch till dark! (Been there?!!) ha ha! Anyways, pulled all three of my pumpkins away from stump to straighten vines out. My pumpkins are just starting to take off - thinking my water timer system is not just a set it & forget it system! programmed it & let it go without periodic soil moisture checks. Humid days ,nights,rain,ect. Long story short, tissue test indicated nutrients where either not there,or not being absorbed? Talked with another grower and we think my soil was locked up from being too wet. Makes sense. I'm currently backing off on my watering, hand watering when I do, and foliar feeding to get the nutrients into the plant. My plants and gains are already on the rebound. � Monday, August 10 View Page 1725 Haist today. � Monday, August 10 View Page 1512 brownell today. � Monday, August 10 View Page 1916 baron today. Started to turn a shade orange. � Monday, August 10 View Page Patch shot - 1725 in middle,1512 in background. � Monday, August 10 View Page Overhead of my 1512 plant. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't struggling this year! No rain, all rain, no rain again! Man , Mother Nature is kicking my but. It's been 3 weeks since I've seen a rain drop! I can't water enough. Maintaining, but not as aggressive as I'd like! � Monday, August 10 View Page 1725 in the middle is my best plant. 2 " of rain headed our way! Hang on! I need to maintain this soil moisture if we get it. � Sunday, August 16 View Page Last natural rain we got was 1.5 inches. My gains all picked up significantly! Back to drought and a week in the lower 90's. Time to break out the big guns! I've had this trailer and tank stored out back. Couple of Todd mods and we are in business! � Sunday, August 16 View Page I filled the tank right from the lake I live on. Literally I drive down the hill to the lake. Filled tank completely in 10 minutes! � Sunday, August 16 View Page I borrowed a bigger gas powered echo water pump. I have an inline filter, quick disconnects, and three overhead sprinklers. � Sunday, August 16 View Page Close up of my new set up. It's has plenty of flow compared to my old pump, bigger pump! � Sunday, August 16 View Page Action shot! � Sunday, August 16 View Page Another shot. I'm using three overhead sprinklers here with no problem. � Sunday, August 16 View Page 1725 Haist chugging along! � Sunday, August 16 View Page 1916 baron, getting wide! � Sunday, August 16 View Page This is Rocky! My 1512 Brownell- doing good � Sunday, August 16 View Page Another picture. � Sunday, August 16 View Page Water,water,water! � Sunday, August 16 View Page A little corner landscaping project. I saw one in someone's yard, so I made one for myself! � Sunday, August 16 View Page Agriculture! � Sunday, August 16 View Page Another yard project! Made the post removable so we can put into a shady location if needed. 6 inch tubes in the holes, caps for when the posts are removed. Made the posts from a dead pine out back! � Sunday, August 16 View Page Overhead shot of patch. Pumpkins are normally covered with white sheets. Removed during watering. � Sunday, August 16 View Page Another overhead shot. Yah ,that's a maze of hose on the ground! I'm still using my old sprinklers for under the canopy. I'm installing the remaining runners this week. I plan on keeping up with my watering regardless of what Mother Nature has in store for me! � Saturday, August 29 View Page Landscape flowers are at there best right about now! � Saturday, August 29 View Page Getting there, planted late! Few more weeks. � Saturday, August 29 View Page Getting there! A month left! Heat wave coming, I'm pouring the coals to em! � Saturday, August 29 View Page Back to landscape! Popping! � Saturday, August 29 View Page Blooming � Saturday, August 29 View Page Another angle. � Saturday, August 29 View Page Another Garden!Hard to keep up with all the watering, still no rain. � Saturday, August 29 View Page My sunflowers. Flopped over with big flowers. One of them is still a 10 footer! � Saturday, August 29 View Page 1725- chugging along! � Saturday, August 29 View Page My 1512, I like it! � Saturday, August 29 View Page 1916 Baron. � Saturday, August 29 View Page Another shot of the orange Baron! Recent visit to the sngpg patch tour revealed many orange 1916's. Many really orange 1916's! � Saturday, August 29 View Page Another patch shot. � Saturday, August 29 View Page The famous overhead shot! Still room to grow, but going to have to stop making salad soon! � Sunday, September 13 View Page This post is for anyone out there with little critters chewing on their pumpkins! I recently noticed some chew marks. I suspected voles. Bought some decon and some mouse traps.toddmodded the traps trigger for light trips. I baited the voles with a small piece of apple tied to the trigger with fishing line, so they can't steal the bait. � Sunday, September 13 View Page More pictures. � Sunday, September 13 View Page Works like a charm. 1st night caught 3! And two trays of decon eaten! Hope there's not many left! � Sunday, September 13 View Page Yum,yum!........hope it works, could get expensive ! � Monday, September 21 View Page Never a good sign whenever you have to break out all these items! Late catch on a stem split has me really digging deep to save this one. When I first found out the severity I would have given it a 10% chance of making it. � Monday, September 21 View Page I've used it all. I cut the stem open from the pumpkin out to the vine first. Then I pumped hydrogen peroxide into the cavity. Next was sulfur powder and a fan. That fan moves some air! Then it was day by day. The cavity was so deep I had to vacuum the residual hydrogen peroxide out of the bottom because it wouldn't drain. I bought one of those vacuum attachment reducer kits that is used for computer boards. I ended up with a long suction straw! I used peroxide 2-3 times over a week period. Now things are stabilized and I'll give it a 80% chance to making it to weigh off. Oh yah, the fruit flies were my tip something was wrong! � Monday, September 21 View Page My mending pumpkin. I'm cutting it Friday for an early weigh off. Fingers are crossed that it holds on! � Monday, September 21 View Page 1725 Haist is still going! Couple more weeks before weigh off. Turning a shade of green now, was turning a shade of orange a few weeks ago? Green is heavier! I'll take green! � Monday, September 21 View Page I wish I didn't get behind with this plant. It didn't take off early on for me. It's the 1916 Baron and I know it's going heavy. Still growing and healing well. I will give this seed another run some day. � Monday, September 21 View Page Another view of 1916 � Monday, September 21 View Page Patch shot � Monday, September 21 View Page Overhead shot. Early leaves around stump are shot. 3rd stage growth is everywhere, late growth is young green. � Monday, September 21 View Page Getting ready for my pumpkin patch tour I do for the public. This Sunday from 10-5. � Monday, September 21 View Page This weekends flyer I put out at the local spots. If you up for the travel, stop bye, it's lots of fun. � Monday, September 21 View Page Flyer has two errors, no zip code for gps travelers! It's 12134, and it should read three pumpkins over 1000 lbs! We weren't sure about my mending pumpkin when we made flyer up. � Thursday, September 24 View Page My 1512 has officially bought the farm! Stem split. Damn, you can never be pro active enough! I could have saved it if I had been paying closer attention. Got too bad before I realized the severity. My 1st impression was - this is bad! It was. Yet another lesson learned. � Saturday, October 3 View Page Two solid fruits! Headed to weigh offs! �