Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 40 Entries. Monday, January 7 View Page the latest addition to my fsmily my third grandchild ruby-leigh born today at 11;08 am weighed in at 8 lb 1oz Tuesday, January 8 View Page first pic of my three gran kids a nice pic kaci bailey and ruby-leigh Tuesday, May 7 View Page kins went in the ground today a little later than last year but its been such a long winter i hung on a bit we have had real nice weather the last few days so in they have gone first choice was 1694 meier 2012 and a backup of 934 schieder 2011 also planted a pollenator plant 934 schieder game on i guess Tuesday, May 14 View Page marrows sown tonight 66 baggs x2 thomas 70.1 carter 94 x3 wursten 110 looks doubtful but trying it anyhow and finally bohnert 78.4 x4 all tucked up in propergator in ziplok bags Thursday, May 30 View Page things are going a little slow this season it seems like almost everyone is haveing weather issues myself included weather is forcast to improve this weekend hopefully Friday, May 31 View Page here you go sue scary or what lol Tuesday, June 11 View Page so far my year is uneventful both plants in tunnel are growing ok nothing special but ok i need to decide which stays and what goes soon but no easy to decide right now 1694 on the left is nice looking plant with no issues so far and 934 on right is also growing ok it has suffered a little sun burn but not effecting it much oh dear not going to be easy to pick one to go Wednesday, June 19 View Page time to make my choice i can only keep one left plant flaggs a bit in heat also sides are a bit all over the place as vine twisted when turning it ( my fault plant b on the right is a little sunburned on a couple of leaves but not getting it anymore not flagging in heat and leaves cup up nice when watered so i choose the right hand plant as the keeper it also grew the other plant last year so 934 schnieder it is and 1694 meier bit the dust sorry beni Wednesday, June 19 View Page turning the 934 towards the center of the tunnel hope is all i have to keep me going good luck every one Friday, June 28 View Page had a go at making my own biochar i got about 3 1/2 gallon of char from my first burn im happy with the results i still need to work on my kiln design as its not getting a complete burn right now i need to get more heat into it im just using a TLUD (TOP LIT UP DRAUGHT ) setup with about 20 gallon retort this char will now get innoculated with microbes and bacteria from forced air compost tea and then maybe co/composted in compost heap till used Saturday, June 29 View Page pollenated the 934 today @11 ft sibbed from 2 males female didnt look the best a little deformed and a seed in also we shall see two more females due to open in next week Monday, July 1 View Page 934 plant getting away nicely now did second poll today sibbed with the plant crossing from the right also 934 schieder 2011 Wednesday, July 3 View Page potatoes are doing ok this year so far no problems Wednesday, July 3 View Page giant cabbages seem to be a little behind this year Wednesday, July 3 View Page eating onions and shallots doing ok so far Wednesday, July 3 View Page spouts seem to be ok i hope i get some to eat this year Wednesday, July 3 View Page psb and cabbages are doing ok and im eating early potatoes now so not to bad i guess Friday, July 5 View Page pollenated a decent female today on my 934 third sibb poll on this plant lets hope it takes its at about 14 ft Friday, July 12 View Page 934 set i think its going to be a bit mishapen i think its about soccer ball size now with the good weather forcast im hoping it starts to gather speed i do have another set further out but its a bit behind Friday, July 12 View Page plant is doing ok its about 20 ft long and 25 ft wide i have 4 sides growing outside to tunnel now i need to train a couple of sides to fill in the gaps where i removed sides to gain entery to kin Friday, July 19 View Page been hot here last few days kin is starting to move nothing special upto now i did my first tape on it today ss37 ee38 circ50 total 125ott day 20 Sunday, July 21 View Page my 934 kin starting to slowly pick up speed Sunday, July 21 View Page my giant cabbages are starting to fill out now a little Sunday, July 21 View Page another pick of my cabbages everything has had a go at theses this year pigeons and now caterpillers Sunday, July 21 View Page my only decent marrow plant so far this year its a 70.1 thomas no fruits set on it yet as i want to wait a little yet as they only take about 40 days to mature Sunday, July 21 View Page 934 plant almost filled the small space it has so its going to grow out doors also Thursday, July 25 View Page so far so good ott 171.5 Tuesday, July 30 View Page day 30 ott 200 not quite going as good as i would like but hey it is still growing Thursday, August 22 View Page not been a good year really for me growing giants pkn is only around 500# im hoping these marrows i named the twins reach a decent weight come the show in 4 weeks Thursday, August 22 View Page i have grown this plant defferently this year i just let it do its own thing and its ended up a massive plant i have terminated most of the vines now but the main is still going its about 400sq ft this is quite big for a marrow it has three fruit on it and im forever culling little ones but the plant was so impressive i had to let it go and see what happened Friday, August 23 View Page giant cabbages coming along ok this one is over 5 ft across but not hearting up to good yet Saturday, September 21 View Page went to local agricultural fair today took three marrow and got first second and third 77 lb 86 lb and 99 lb so close to the 100# but not to worry its a new pb for me beating my old best by 5 lb also got heaviest mater only 2 lb third place plate of cherry tomatos black cherry ( thanks sue for the seed ) second place ugliest fruit or veg a small mega bloom tomato of joe mentings 5.03 seed thanks joe i knew i could count on you to get in the prize money lol oh ye i also took my mty 700# est pumpkin and won biggest pumpkin with a girth of 145.5 inches i know this is a small kin by most peoples standards but here in uk hardly anyone has seed a heavy kin and im not joking in saying this i was real proud to so so many people of all ages touching and feeling and asking me and my wife questions about it and if i had a penny for every photo taken of it i would have been a rich man i even had a 80 year old potato farmer come to me and say son in all my farming days i have never seen any thing so impressive well done and he patted me on the back and said well done made me proud to be a member of this community so thank you everyone who has helped me or donated me seeds Monday, September 23 View Page i few pics just to keep me up to date for future reference Monday, September 23 View Page 1st second third Monday, September 23 View Page 70# 77# 86# 99# from beck to front Monday, September 23 View Page 99# side on Monday, September 23 View Page 99 end on stump Monday, September 23 View Page 99 again side Monday, September 23 View Page quite a few decent seed from smaller stripey fruit 70# Tuesday, December 31 View Page well thats 2013 done nothing special growing wise all the best to every one every where and best of luck to you all in 2014 bring it on !!