Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 115 Entries. Tuesday, January 1 View Page First, there was an old house. Tuesday, January 1 View Page old house Tuesday, January 1 View Page Then there was no house Tuesday, January 1 View Page Now there is(a new house)... Tuesday, January 1 View Page new house Tuesday, January 1 View Page one-third of my patch was covered with hardpan. link to Google map: file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Owner.OWNER-61B5849AF/Desktop/maps.htm Hardpan area is to right of balloon. Tuesday, January 1 View Page Dug up rocks, some as large as soccer balls, planted sorghum-sudan grass. Tuesday, January 1 View Page Tilled in sorghum-sudan grass, planted tillage radish, waiting for spring to test soil, till, and add amendments, following Ron Wallace's methods to grow his 2009 world record. Tuesday, January 1 View Page My own 912 Minor 2011 will see dirt this year. Other seeds have yet to be chosen. Tuesday, March 19 View Page 8-12 inches of heavy snow forecast for today and tomorrow. This does not bode well for my mental health. Less than one month to planned germination time. Tuesday, March 19 View Page My first selection for the 2013 patch is my 2010 1028 Gienger x 1432 Northrup cross. Tuesday, March 19 View Page My second choice is my 2011 1250 Kline x 1059 Vincent-McGill cross, UOW 562.5 lbs Tuesday, March 19 View Page My third choice is my 1059 Vincent-McGill x 1250 Kline cross, 912 official. Tuesday, March 19 View Page And the famous 1662 Stelts. My thanks to Dan Boyce for the shots of me and my 562 and 912. I plan on getting my patch back up to speed this year after the damage done during construction for my new home, so nothing really serious in the way of seeds. I also want to see what my own seeds can produce. Wednesday, March 20 View Page This makes my day. First day of spring, record-breaking snowfall in Northwestern Vermont. Good riddance Phil! Sunday, March 24 View Page I will NOT let the weather get me down. Plants go in the ground by May 5th. Sunday, March 24 View Page I didn't mean to diss Dave Stelts' 1662 fruit in my March 19 post. I meant to say no serious CROSSES. The 1662 seed is proven to be a winner--mine haven't. Wednesday, March 27 View Page I sent in my soil samples to Western Laboratories in Parma, Idaho today. Results should be done within a week. The journey to my first half-ton pumpkin begins. Friday, March 29 View Page Plastic is on patch. Come on sun. Saturday, April 13 View Page When is it going to be spring? Sunday, April 14 View Page I've had my plastic down for 3 weeks, but it keeps snowing/raining/sleeting. Where is the sun? Sunday, April 14 View Page It's still raining, and I'm out of beer! If this keeps up, I'm gonna grow psychedelic mushrooms this year instead of AGs. Sunday, April 21 View Page Patch before clean up. You can't see cinder blocks, logs, etc. covered by plastic and against fence. Sunday, April 21 View Page Patch after cleanup. Sunday, April 21 View Page Some holes in patch left by forage radish. Bill for size comparison--did not grow over winter(lol). Sunday, April 21 View Page My lineup for this year. 3 of my own, plus Stelts' 1662. Pondering what backups will be. Sunday, April 21 View Page Ten bins of compost to be turned when I don't have anything else to do. Hahahahahahaha. Sunday, April 21 View Page Patch to be tilled by tractor 10 inches deep. The guy who does this is a pro, and well worth the $55 he charges. Winter rye and mykos will be spread on patch and sifted in with fork, then watered. Hoop houses(4 x 8 feet) will be set up after heating cables are in ground. Sunday, April 21 View Page Pre-soaked seeds(i hour) in Wallace potting mixture inside pre-soaked pots. Everything in cooler at 85-90 degrees with thermostat probe 1 inch above heating mat. Sunday, April 21 View Page I forgot to mention EVERYTHING and When I do it is going to be recorded this year. I scratched my head so much trying to remember what I did 2 years ago, I ended up with as much hair as Flat Norm. Tuesday, April 23 View Page Spent hour and a half making furrows dragging broadfork behind me, spread 12 pounds winter rye and 10 pounds mycorrhizae, then used back of leaf rake perpendicular to furrows to cover up rye and myko. It was 8:30 pm when I got done and pretty dark. Thursday, April 25 View Page I am watering myko/winter rye mixture daily after work. 487, 562, and 1662 seeds have germinated, but have not broken soil. I am waiting for my 912 to grow a root. I have another 562 and 912 between moist paper towel inside baggie in germinating box. Also two 912 seeds stripped of seed coat in paper towel inside baggie. I am waiting for rye to sprout and pumpkin seeds to sprout also. Had a beer for medicinal purposes. :-) Friday, April 26 View Page My 912 I started on Sunday nite(4/21) did not germinate. I started 3 more last nite, 2 of them with seed covering peeled off--all 3 germinated overnite. Also started another 562, which has germinated. I guess I'll switch over to the paper towel/baggie method. Sunday, April 28 View Page Assembled frames for hoop houses. Dug hole for heating cables, put cables in, filled with organic compost from cow manure and hay. Also spent a few hours driving around getting growing supplies. Tuesday, April 30 View Page Here are some rocks I dug out of 1 of the 2 pits I put heat cables in and covered with compost today. My broadfork came in handy. Glad I have it. Tuesday, April 30 View Page Had to include a shot of some of my worms helping me get ready for NEXT year. Eat, wormies, eat! Thursday, May 9 View Page My lineup: front row--562 Minor, 562 Minor, 487 Minor. Back row--912 Minor, 912 Minor, 1662 Stelts Sunday, May 12 View Page It looks as if my 487 plant is going to remain stunted. Therefore, it will go into the worm bin and help fertilize next years plants. I have a beautiful 562 plant which may replace the worst laggard of the 4 plants in the hoops. Also added Biotamax and diluted lactobacillus/molasses mixture to all 4 plants in hoops. Next step will be triazicide. Bifenthrin and imacloprid will be added next week after plants take off(if they do take off). Tuesday, May 14 View Page I seem to have a SPLENDID job of doing everything wrong so far in my haste to get the plants out the door and into the hoop houses. Not enough hardening off, too much unprotected sun exposure, and too much water have just stifled chances of growing a 2000 pound pumpkin this year. May have only 2 plants this year if things don't change for the better. Plants have been in the hoops for 5 days now. Friday, May 24 View Page OK. I am WAY behind, due to my haste and waste 2 weeks ago. Plants that got sun scorched and weren't hardened off sufficiently are stalled/retarded in their growth. A 562 Minor that I substituted is doing quite well, and a back up 912 Minor I potted 7 days ago is going gangbusters, so I plan on replacing the slowest/smallest plant with the 912. Pray for me. Sunday, May 26 View Page I'm growing buckwheat in my compost to provide green material as an experiment. Stay tuned. Sunday, May 26 View Page Wood chips and grass clippings breaking down nicely, now that temps are over 55 degrees. Sunday, May 26 View Page OOps. I'm not trying to grow a salad, here. Sunday, May 26 View Page Looking better. Just need a broom and dust pan now. Sunday, May 26 View Page My 1662 Stelts plant. Hopefully, it will lead me to glory at the weigh off. Sunday, May 26 View Page My 562 Minor plant from a fruit harvested 6 weeks early for a Vermont fair. Healthy looking sucker,eh?. :-) Sunday, May 26 View Page My 912 Minor, slowly recovering from a harsh basic training, including sun scorching. Sunday, May 26 View Page The runt of the lot another 562 Minor, a possible cull to be replaced by a 912 Minor which broke soil 7 days ago and is looking good. Sunday, May 26 View Page I forgot to mention all plants have been in ground for 18 days. They will get a booster shot tomorrow or the next day. Tuesday, June 11 View Page Okay. I'm about 2 weeks behind everyone else. My plants have tripled in size in a week, and are starting to vine. My thanks to Tom Privitera for recommending a cocktail of Essential, Starter, and Companion to kick my plants in the butt. This is my own 562 Minor. Tuesday, June 11 View Page This is my 1662 Stelts, heading off in the wrong direction(you sob, you). Tuesday, June 11 View Page And this is my 912 Minor, also heading off in the wrong direction, but not as severe a case as my 1662 Stelts. Tuesday, June 11 View Page THIS is my 912 Minor. Tuesday, June 11 View Page My second 562 is doomed to be a runt because of a lack of enough sunlight, thanks to my neighbor's trees. No pic of this baby. Wednesday, June 12 View Page 3 out of 4 plants are running. Go plants, go! At this rate, the hoops come off this weekend. Yee-haw! Sunday, June 16 View Page All Righty! Cover crop was plowed under yesterday, 3 out of 4 plants are ready to come out of hoop houses. WHERE IS THE SUN???!!! I need to finish smoothing out soil, put together Starr watering system, and start applying myko, etc. under leaf nodes. Also need to erect wind fence. I'm 2 weeks behind, and there will no personal best this year. Wednesday, June 19 View Page Took hoops off 562, 1662, and 912. Left hoop on the runt 562. All 3 measure 6 feet and are starting secondaries. The 912 is growing male flowers in all directions. I removed the first female flower as well as all male flowers. Wednesday, June 19 View Page The 562 Wednesday, June 19 View Page DUH!!! THIS is the 562.lol Wednesday, June 19 View Page Stelts 1662. Wednesday, June 19 View Page The 912. Sunday, July 14 View Page I have been very busy trying to keep up with the tremendous surge in plant growth and related vine burying, etc. This is a shot of my runt 562 Minor x 1662, Day 3 ap. Sunday, July 14 View Page This is my 912 Minor x 1662 Stelts. 10 days ap. I am hoping something great will come of this in 3 months. Sunday, July 14 View Page 1662 Stelts JUST got pollinated yesterday, very late first flower. Dad is 912 Minor. Sunday, July 14 View Page Last shot is of 562 Minor x sib. 562 Minor x 1662 Stelts is nearly same size, 2 days younger. May be a fair pumpkin in 6 weeks with lots of everything pumped into it. Monday, July 15 View Page 11 day cc on 912 Minor is 41 and a half inches. Sunday, July 21 View Page Spent most of the day serving the pumpkin gods. Pruning tertiaries, erecting temples to honor them, spreading sand, and weeding. They were sprayed with insecticides and fungicides last night to protect them from the ravages of disease and buggies. As the Mothers of Invention used to say, "Call any vegetable, and the chances are good...that the vegetable will respond to you." Tuesday, July 23 View Page All my blossom ends are sticking out @ 1 inch. This is on my best 'kin, the 912 Minor Tuesday, July 23 View Page 912 Minor chugs along at 182 ott for 20 day total. Tuesday, July 23 View Page This may be my fair pumpkin, 562 Minor x sib, 144 ott for 14 day numbers Saturday, July 27 View Page Mr Foamy got me GOOD on the stump of my 1662 Stelts x 912 Minor cross. I paid attention to my 3 best pumpkins, neglected the laggard, and paid the price. Cut the main vine 16 inches from the stump, which was totally rotten, cut off the first secondary, and packed the interior of the main vine with sulfur as well as rubbing sulfur around the outside. I sure could use some medical marijuana for the pain right now. Sunday, July 28 View Page 20 day and 30 day AP weights coming up this week. Do I have my first potential 1000 pound plus fruit? Tune in to see what the magic 8 ball says. All vines terminated, weeding, pruning done daily. Monday, July 29 View Page 20 day ott on 562 Minor x Sib = 187. 1662 Stelts x 912 Minor is having a growth spurt since I amputated the rotten stump. 20 day ott for 562 Minor x 1662 Stelts will be measured on Wednesday. 30 day ott for 912 Minor x 1662 Stelts and 20 day ott for 1662 Stelts x 912 Minor to be measured on Friday. Wednesday, July 31 View Page 20 DAP on 562 Minor x 1662 Stelts: OTT=171; CC=71. This is the runt I almost tore up and threw away because of slow growth. Friday, August 2 View Page 30 DAP OTT for 912 Minor x 1662 Stelts= 227, or about 265, according to chart. This is 13 pounds more than my 912 at 30 days 2 years ago. 1662 Stelts x 912 Minor OTT at 20 DAP is...156? Not even on the chart yet... Pics to be posted tomorrow. Saturday, August 3 View Page 1662 Stelts x 912 Minor, Day 21. Saturday, August 3 View Page My 912 x 1662 Stelts, Day 31. Sunday, August 4 View Page I gave my first, unofficial patch tour to 2 families cycling past my house who saw my pumpkins and stopped. Everyone was thrilled and happy to see my "huge" pumpkins up close and take pictures. I made sure they stayed on the boards. Also found out I have to play the busy bee if I want cantaloupes this fall. Friday, August 9 View Page 3o dap OTT for the runt 562 is 238 or @ 304 lbs. 31 dap OTT for 562 is 252 or @ 358 lbs. Pics to follow this weekend. Sunday, August 11 View Page I did a BAD and posted an erroneous chart weight based on a mismeasurement. Runt 562 is around 255 lbs--and yes, I'm sure about that today, I measured twice. Sunday, August 11 View Page 562 32 day chart weight is 413, chugging along at 25 lbs/day. Sunday, August 11 View Page I can never get over how people who see my pumpkins think they're BIG. HA! Well, maybe compared to a field pumpkin... Saturday, August 17 View Page Small 562 tapes 311 on day 37 Saturday, August 17 View Page 912 tapes 428 day 44 Saturday, August 17 View Page Big 562 tapes 486 day 38 Saturday, August 17 View Page It looks like I will NOT have a personal best this year. I'm already planning for next year's seeds and improvements. Monday, September 2 View Page Time to hit the ground running. 40 days to the Vermont weigh off. There is no chance for a 1000 pounder, but a good chance for a 750 pounder. Weed, prune, lightly fert, and keep the moisture constant. Amen, amen. Tuesday, September 3 View Page Here's my biggest fruit, taping 800. May the Great Pumpkin bless and keep me. Tuesday, September 3 View Page My second Minor 562, taping 462 Tuesday, September 3 View Page And lastly, the Elephant Pumpkin, also known as the Freakazoid. After a series of mishaps, it has taken a licking, but keeps on ticking. Tuesday, September 3 View Page The Freakazoid Tuesday, September 3 View Page The Freakazoid's best side. lmao. Tuesday, September 3 View Page Taped weight of small 562 is 462. Taped weight of the Freakazoid is 386(maybe). Wednesday, September 4 View Page A local television producer wants to do a 10-15 minute program on me growing giant pumpkins next year from germination to bringing an entry to the Champlain Valley Fair here in Vermont. This could be interesting. "Steve Minor, Lord of the Gourd."(?) lol Wednesday, September 4 View Page Cooler nights ahead. Scattered frost in the coldest spots. This bodes ill for pumpkin weight gains in the next 5 weeks. Comforters for the fruits, the plants will have to fend for themselves. :-( Thursday, September 12 View Page I am dealing with a shallow blossom end split on my 562 Minor by applying sulfur. Just 4 weeks until the weigh off. Come on baby, hang in there! 800 pounds is ok. Just don't go down on me! Saturday, September 14 View Page You can call me Chicken Little, folks. My pumpkin was afflicted with some surface rot instead of a BES. The sulfur and fan 24/7 cleared the problem up. Now I'm feeling guilty about NOT having my pumpkin go down while many other growers are done for the season. Praise be to the Great Pumpkin. Sunday, September 15 View Page The runt that almost got pulled. Minor 562 taping around 536. Sunday, September 15 View Page My 2nd Minor 562. This has essentially stopped growing and tapes around 800. Tuesday, September 17 View Page Remember the 800 pound pumpkin I said didn't have rot? I LIED!!! My chance at being in the top 10 at the Vermont weigh offs is GONE!!! Soooo... My compost pile will be about 800 pounds richer. Pics to follow on Thursday. I'm busy getting numb right now. I REALLY hate cutting up rotten pumpkins. . That leaves my Howard Dill Award contender for the Vermont weigh off. It's time to put the paper bag over my head. Tuesday, September 17 View Page Do pot growers have to worry about blossom end splits? Thursday, September 19 View Page My 562 Minor x sib is no more. A dissection revealed a top thickness of 10 inches and a bottom thickness of 1/8 inch. Ouch! No wonder the blossom end developed a split and rotted. Lots of seeds, though. Wednesday, October 2 View Page Local boy makes good with small pumpkin in small local newspaper in small state. lol Monday, October 7 View Page The Thing that won't die. Maybe I should call it the Zombie Pumpkin. Monday, October 7 View Page Side shot of the Zombie. Monday, October 7 View Page Now the front looks pretty normal, eh? Saturday, October 12 View Page Placed 12 out of 16 entries. Received 1st Howard Dill Award. This is a shot taken before the show got on the road. More pics to follow. Saturday, October 12 View Page Forgot to mention official weight of 636 pounds, 5% heavy to new chart. 562(uow) x 1662 Stelts is now 636 Minor Thursday, October 17 View Page My Howard Dill winner. Thursday, October 17 View Page And here's my award for the pumpkin. Tuesday, October 29 View Page Fame hasn't gone to my head yet. Maybe if I'm on the cover of Rolling Stone. LOL Tuesday, October 29 View Page Right now, I'm feeling the pressure to break the 1000 pound barrier in 2014. Sunday, November 3 View Page This cartoon is appropriate for me in my position of seed auction coordinator for the Vermont Growers this winter. Tuesday, November 5 View Page What am I going to do until April? I'm bored already. Sunday, November 24 View Page Having a great off season. How are YOU doin' ?