Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 33 Entries. Thursday, May 17 View Page I'm going to "try" keeping a grower diary this year. I'm already a little late but here goes. This is a shot of my uncle John tilling in my winter rye and all my ammendments....which consists of a little cow manure and some gypsum! :-) Thursday, May 17 View Page The plants went in the ground on April 30th. Which is a full 2 weeks earlier than I have ever gotten them in before! Here is a shot of my 1421.5 Stelts. Thursday, May 17 View Page I'm only growing two plants this year....the 1421.5 Stelts and my own 1320 Faskell(1421.5 Stelts X 1610 Lieber). Here they are tucked away in the hoop houses on April 30th. Thursday, May 17 View Page Fast forward to....May 17, 2012. On a "normal" year my plants would have just been put in the ground today and would have been at that four leaf stage. However, with the very early spring, I have about five foot vines on both plants!! Have I mentioned how much I love global warming? ;-) Thursday, May 17 View Page Another shot of my 1421.5 Stelts.....this is the most aggressive Atlantic Giant plant that I have ever grown! Thursday, May 31 View Page This is the first female on the 1421.5 Stelts at about 12 ft out.....if she pollinates I will grow her right there! Thursday, May 31 View Page This is a picture of the 1421.5 Stelts. I will post a picture of my 1320 Faskell next time but she is moving right along also. I still can't believe its only May! Saturday, June 9 View Page I "self" pollinated the 1421.5 Stelts today. I'm not a big fan of self-pollinating but it was the only pollen I had available. This plant is so aggressive and problem free that it actually may not be a bad idea to "contain" it. I know its probably way too early to be pollinating, but I got a plan......... ;) Saturday, June 9 View Page 1421.5 Stelts Saturday, June 9 View Page Here is the 1320 Faskell plant. Saturday, June 9 View Page Here is the first female on the 1320 Faskell at about 12 feet out. I am planning on making the 2 hour drive south, sometime next week to get pollen from Gary Gantner's 904 Stelts. It is the cross that I have been planning for two years now.....sure hope it all works out! Thank you Gary! Tuesday, June 12 View Page Ok......I think have officially lost my mind! LoL! This is what the trip meter read after I got home today from Garry Gantner's patch..... Tuesday, June 12 View Page However.....I came home with Atlantic Giant gold.....pollen from a 904 Stelts! Tuesday, June 12 View Page Here is the "lucky" recipient on my 1320 Faskell. She ain't perfect but she is what she is! I've seen a lot worse and I personally think she will be just fine!I sure hope the pollination takes or I will have more in gas money this year than fertilizer. ;-) Tuesday, June 12 View Page Overall picture of the patch....yes we could use some rain here in central Wisconsin! Wednesday, June 13 View Page Here is a picture of my "old school" overhead watering system. Wednesday, June 13 View Page Here is the latest shot of the 1421.5 Stelts. There are advantages to only growing two plants. More time to weed and till and ......oh yeah.....have a grower diary! Monday, June 18 View Page Here is the first set on the 1421 Stelts....moving right along now. Monday, June 18 View Page Check out this "Sweet" bouquet of flowers Joe Menting brought me tonight from his 1605 Sweet plant. I self pollinated the first set on the 1421 because I had no other pollen. I am going to pollinate the second one with Joe's 1605 tomorrow morning. Hopefully I won't need to go with it....I'm just playing it safe for now. Monday, June 18 View Page We finally got a much needed 2 inches of rain today and the plants just love it! It hasn't rained here in almost a month! This is the 1421 Stelts plant. Monday, June 18 View Page This is the 1320 Faskell and you can see that the first pollination has took and starting to move now. The little white step stool to the right has the second pollination with the 904 Stelts underneath it. Yep.....another early morning run to Garry Gantners patch for pollen. Thanks again Garry for helping me out with this cross! Wednesday, June 27 View Page Here is the 1421.5 Stelts today.....really starting to move now! Wednesday, June 27 View Page Here is the 1320 Faskell. Both fruit are doing good so far! Friday, June 29 View Page The 1421.5 Stelts on day 20....170 inches or an estimated 114 pounds. I don't ever worry about certain day numbers but I am "normally" pollinating on June 29th so I thought it would be interesting to find out where it was at. Friday, July 6 View Page A sea of healthy leaves....it's always hard to believe that two plants can fill a 30X60 area in just two months. Friday, July 13 View Page I have been on vacation for a few days and when I got back.... I rememered why I CAN'T go on vacation for a few days! LOL! Anyway....This is a picture of the 1421.5 Stelts day 30 which was July 9th. 267 ott or 407 pounds. This is the first year I have grown on sand....and it's pretty cool to watch it buckle up in front of a fast growing pumpkin! :) Friday, July 13 View Page Here is the 1320 Faskell day 30. I didnt measure but I am guessing 300-350lbs. Looks like she's going to be pretty. Friday, July 13 View Page I was making a "slight" fruit adjustment yesterday and I heard that dreaded sound of a vine or something snapping! Upon further inspection I found this horizontal crack in the stem of my 1320. It was late afternoon...it was warm....and I have moved way bigger pumpkins than this hundreds of times before and have never had this happen. I used to lose alot of sleep over stuff like this.....and YEP I still do! ;) Monday, August 6 View Page Ok.....its been awhile since I've posted...so here goes. This tells the story on the most aggressive AG I have ever grown! After 2 weeks of 30-35 pounds a day the 1421.5 Stelts stopped dead in her tracks. I am going to blame it on the extreme heat. I really don't have any other answers. :( Monday, August 6 View Page On a much better note my own 1320 Faskell is doing well. I now officially have "all of my seeds in one basket". Monday, August 6 View Page Last Saturday was the WGPG patch tour. We were rewarded to see one of the most beautiful area's in the state and it was hosted by two of Wisconsin's premier growers. In this picture Caleb Jacobus is showing us his garden and giving growing tips. Check out the gorgeous bluffs in the background. Monday, August 6 View Page This is Caleb and one of his sons. These kids know more about gardening than I do! Again..Caleb's garden and the scenery were stunning! Thanks again for letting us see it! Tuesday, August 7 View Page Next stop was John Barlow's patch. Once again a beautiful garden set up against the gorgeous bluffs of southwestern Wisconsin. It was a great day with a great group of people. Thanks again to our hosts!