Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 64 Entries. Saturday, April 25 View Page Early season preparation...collecting soil samples for testing. The garden awaits. Saturday, April 25 View Page Dad's helpers. Saturday, April 25 View Page Another view of the garden-to-be. It awaits another pass with the tractor once the weather breaks. Saturday, April 25 View Page Dirty boots! Today's work is done. Saturday, April 25 View Page A look at the work-station in the basement. The winter has afforded quite a collection of stuff to get this season off to a good start. Saturday, April 25 View Page A sampling of seeds. Thanks to my brother Frank, who is down in Murfreesboro Tennessee. I don't think I would be this far along without his help. This is what I brought back from my visit with him back in October 2008. Saturday, April 25 View Page ....More seeds. Thanks Frank! We should have quite a competitive growing season...I'll let you know which ones I'll pick for this year. Saturday, April 25 View Page Another view of my basement work-station. I am in the process of assemblying a seed germination chamber. Planting date in May 2nd indoors. I plan to transfer outdoors Memorial Day weekend. Saturday, April 25 View Page Rozenbaum's enjoying a warm Tennessee fall day. Saturday, April 25 View Page Farmer Joe and Farmer Frank. Saturday, April 25 View Page With any bit of luck we'll be in this weigh-off this fall! Tuesday, May 5 View Page Well, the seeds are finally planted...Monday morning May 4th. Mixed seed starter, biogro endo plus (endomycorrhizal fungi), and water. Used 5" peat pots and placed 5 pots on a heat mat in my germination center. Temperature inside the center was 81 degrees. The seed starter was mixed with about 1-1/4 cups of water and a teaspoon of mycorrhizal per pot. I planted seeds on their sides. The mix above made a nice slurry which was easy to handle and the pots were presoaked in warm water. Plan is to water SID to BID and wait for growth. Monday, May 11 View Page Update..It's been 7 days, my Kent1045 is starting to poke thru and the Rozenbaum280 has a root structure growing but not yet up. 2 other seeds have been taken by mold so I reseeded those pots yesterday. I think the problem was with my germination center being too cool..I thought it was around 81 but in reality was 68-70. I placed a heat lamp on them 24/7 4 days ago and the ambient temp is about 80-82. My cucumbers came up in 3 days with the heat. My heat mat is not that great. Lets hope these seeds sprout soon, my outdoor garden will be ready in 2 wks. Wednesday, May 13 View Page Well 2 more moldy non sprouting seeds. Replaced those last night with 3 more. Temps staying around 82-85 degrees inside germination center. Didn't realize how difficult this part would be, I thought this would be the easiest part of the season. I have one seedling up, only one leaf, and the 1st true leaf isn't looking too good. Cukes are doing great, about 23/24 sprouted. Monday, May 18 View Page So far my Kent1045 is still alive, struggling to grow and get its first primary leaf out. Gentle digging revealed the Wolfley612 and Horton900 have cot leaves coming up. This is great news..both were planted on 5/12. Everything else is quiet. I watered my cukes and Kent with Neptunes fish/seaweed mix..1 tbs/gal. Friday, May 22 View Page Here is the gang...planted 5/12. Doing well. We have had 2 days of 80 degree temps so I have had them outside enjoying the natural warmth. Can't forget the 27 degree morning on 5/18...frost is always a worry up here in Michigan, even this late in spring. Friday, May 22 View Page Just another view. The seeds came up great with minimal watering. Heat and good seed starter were the only necessities. Friday, May 22 View Page My cukes didn't fare as well. Lost 21/23 due to sunburn and windburn. Should have hardened them off alittle slower. Chalk up another step on the learning curve. Saturday, May 30 View Page Picture of 3 of my plants prior to planting in the patch later today. Wolfley 612 in 2 pots (big pot and small one to the left)and Horton 900. Saturday, May 30 View Page Another view of the same plants. Saturday, May 30 View Page The Kent 1045 and 934 plants...2 of each. Monday, June 1 View Page Here's my garden at Greenmead...silt fence surrounds my plot. Monday, June 1 View Page A glimpse inside the fence after planting all 7 plants..the best plant was the Wolfley612 as it was in a 1 gallon plastic container..it had a ton of root developement right down to the bottom. The worse were those who were in the peat pots, some seem to barely have any roots. 6 plants were planted on the north fence with the goal to grow them to the south. One plant, Horton900, was planted on the west fence, it will grow toward the east. Monday, June 1 View Page My best plants so far. Hopefully they take. All plants were planted on May 30th in the patch. Friday, June 5 View Page Temperature was 36F at 6am today with a light frost on the lawn...hopefully my GP's are ok. Tuesday, June 9 View Page Came back to the garden the other night and found many cucumber beetles on almost all of my plants...these bugs were 1/4" long with black and yellow stripes. Last night I misted them with Liquid Seven and powdered the soil around them with Seven as well. Found out they can transmit "Wilt" which is a bacterial disease that'll kill the plant...I think I had this in my garden last year--just didn't know it. Plan is to treat at least twice weekly. Monday, June 15 View Page My Kent934, holding its own. Monday, June 15 View Page Wolfley612, these 2 are my best looking plants so far. They are the biggest as well. Monday, June 15 View Page Notice the "wounds" in the center of my W612 leaves, a close-up is to follow. Monday, June 15 View Page Here's the close-up. What could this be? Insect damage? Monday, June 15 View Page The Kent1045 plants, these are growing but one of them is growing kinda funny...maybe a second vine is growing out of this young plant. The small plant is the one in question, it came up in early May, only one cot leaf, and not much root growth was noted when transplanted to the garden. Monday, June 15 View Page Here's the W612 again...the 2 looking plants in the bunch. I was unable to take a pic of the Horton900 as the batteries in the camera died. Monday, June 15 View Page On June 13th I applied a dose of a new fertilizer that had a 4-10-3 ratio called "Root & Grow" by Bonide...4tbs/gal...divided 2 gal over all plants. I mixed into the soil about 2 lbs of "fast acting Gypsum" by Encap. It had 22% Calcium and 17% Sulfur. Calcium levels on my soil report were pretty low. I also sprayed with liquid Sevin on the evening of June 14th. Bugs appear contained but I did see 1 cucumber beetle that evening. Monday, July 13 View Page My brother Frank, tending to insect control in my garden during his visit up to Michigan. The plants are finally starting to grow and grow well inspite of the cool spring and early summer we have had. These pics were taken July 5. Monday, July 13 View Page My 2 best growers, doing much better now that the squash bugs and weeds are under control. Monday, July 13 View Page My Kent 945. Monday, July 13 View Page Another view. I have been burying the vines as they grow, fertilizing with MiracleGro 10-10-10 weekly and use liquid sevin weekly for bug control. Monday, July 13 View Page Frank hard at work. Monday, July 13 View Page My brother Joe, managing irrigation control, and doing a fine job. It was great having both of my brothers in town for several days in a row. That doesn't happen often enough. Monday, July 13 View Page Joe and Frank, still smiling after a hard days work in the garden. Monday, July 13 View Page Update: plants are growing well. Grew about 6 feet during the past week. No pollinations yet (at least that I know of), but may be getting close. Temps expected to be in the mid eighties this coming week, right now it is 45F this morning. I can't believe the weather this year. Friday, August 7 View Page Finally some pics...A general overview of the patch Friday, August 7 View Page Another angle, can you see the green beast? Friday, August 7 View Page The green beast about 2 weeks ago Friday, August 7 View Page Here it is yesterday. It's growing well, about 12 feet down the main and the only pumpkin on this plant. The green color is a surprise. It is on the Kent 934 plant. Friday, August 7 View Page Here's another view. Friday, August 7 View Page And another look. Friday, August 7 View Page Here is the orange pumpkin...on the Kent 1045 about 10 feet down the main. I think it is between 3-4 weeks old and continuing to grow well. Friday, August 7 View Page Here's the orange again. Frank wants me to start trimming the leaves around these pumpkins so they don't injure the pumpkin skin. Friday, August 7 View Page Another pumpkin, alittle smaller, growing on one of my middle two vines, this is from one of the Wolfley plants. Friday, August 7 View Page Another little one. Friday, August 7 View Page And yet another little pumpkin Friday, August 7 View Page A view from the southwest corner of the patch...note watering and fertilizing being done at the same time Friday, August 7 View Page Continued maintenance Friday, August 7 View Page Can you see the orange pumpkin? Yeah Frank, I'll cut the leaves down this weekend. Monday, August 10 View Page Here's the orange pumpkin. Note the leaves have been trimmed away. Estimated weight of 44.6#. Monday, August 10 View Page Another view of orange. We have had over 3" of rain this past weekend. Monday, August 10 View Page This one is on the east W612 plant. Measures about 39#. Monday, August 10 View Page Another view of the last pumpkin...it appears to be growing the fastest. Monday, August 10 View Page Here's the green beast. Measures 56#. We have had weather in the 90's this weekend. We'll see if she keeps growing. Monday, August 10 View Page Another view of "the Hulk". My measurements were 38" for both "over the top" distances and 54" circumference. Monday, August 10 View Page The west W612 pumpkin...only about 20# Monday, August 10 View Page The smallest one near my silt fence, may be off a secondary on the Kent1045 plant..only the size of a softball. Monday, August 10 View Page One last view of the green beast. All leaves have been cut away.