Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 4 Entries. Sunday, January 1 View Page Getting the itch for gardening. I've been getting a lot of seed catalogs in the mail for the past month, to set the mood. Monday, July 9 View Page 716 Dill (selfed) as of July 9, 2012. Tuesday, July 17 View Page My pumpkin was making some really nice gains until about day 15 or so. During this time, the main and side vines appeared to slow in growth. I expected this, since the energy was being put into pumpkin growth. During the past 5 days or so of no pumpkin growth, I have noticed a lot of new plant growth. The vine in general is very healthy looking. I have been scratching my head wondering why the shift in growth? I was suspecting the pumpkin was going to abort, so energy was diverted back into vine growth. The pumpkin has remained healthy looking, just not growing. Last night, while laying in bed, it dawned on me what may have happened. I had a bag of Miracle Grow Garden Soil left in the garage, from potting flowers back in the Spring, and I had decided to scatter it around the stump, to use it up. This timing coincided with the shift in growth. That "garden soil" must have given the vine a shot of nitrogen, shifting the growth habit of the vine. This morninging, I went out and scrapped off all of the "garden soil" and replaced the straw I had covering the ground in that area. I then gave it a thorough watering with a mix of Cal Mag. Hopefully a shot of that, will get the focus back on pumpkin growth. Only time will tell if the pumpkin will keep growing or not. Friday, July 27 View Page Unfortunately, another season has ended here. Time to plan for the future. There will be Potatos to pick soon, tomato sauce to be made, composting and covering cropping too. Second planting of zucchini will take us into the Fall. Fall beans are in... Lots of things to keep busy with.