Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 125 Entries. Tuesday, January 1 View Page from my family to yours.......... HAPPY NEW YEARS! now, lets get busy on that new pb.good luck to all in patch in 2013, and remember to have fun with them. Sunday, April 28 View Page 904 stelts x 2, 1059 v/m, 603 muller, 1634 werner, 1789 wallace, 218 sandercock, and 2 of my own 450 est. which is 1634 x self all in germ chamber as of the 27th.hope all germ as several are older seeds, we'll see.let the fun begin and hope everyone grows their personal best this year, but as always have fun and good luck Monday, May 6 View Page this is tj with his just planted freak 1789 wallace.we grew this seed last year and while a very healthy plant, due to grower error, it went down right at pollenation time to yellow vine disease and was pulled. we are hoping for much better results this go round. Monday, May 6 View Page this is tj and marina hamming it up a bit Monday, May 6 View Page this is my 1634 werner.i grew this seed as well last year and lost all main vine sets, ended up with over 2000 pounds of porch sitters in six kins .so really would love another try at a main set this time. Monday, May 6 View Page some lettuce thats ready to eat Monday, May 6 View Page so we did, fresh garden salad anyone? Wednesday, May 22 View Page this is my 1634 werner plant, starting to lay down and growing nicely . Wednesday, May 22 View Page this is my son tj's 1789 freak , its a bit slower than the 1634 but looking good still. Wednesday, May 22 View Page here is the 904 stelts plant, it is about 10 days behind the 1634 and 1789, starting to green up and get going, i have always wanted to try this seed so hope i can get it going and see what happens. Wednesday, May 22 View Page this is one of my own seeds, it came out of an estimated 425 pound fruit on my 1634 werner plant from 2012, fruit was very nice shape, solid inside and snow white, it is 1634 x self.planted same day as the 1634 and 1789, it is keeping pace with those two if not just a tad ahead of them, either way, i like how it looks so far. Wednesday, May 22 View Page my daughter, marina, wanted a pretty pumpkin this year, so here is her 1059 vincent/mcgill.it is also about 10 days behind first plants, but starting to get going. Wednesday, May 22 View Page this will be my 150 su. ft. contest plant, the 218 sandercock, it is also 10 days behind first set of plants Wednesday, May 22 View Page forgot to mention that the 218 is in new dirt so not exactly setting any records for` growth here,lol Wednesday, May 22 View Page this is the second 1059 v/m i have going, only going to have about 400 sq. ft. for this one, so will likely be just a genetics plant, and maybe a porch sitter or two. Wednesday, May 22 View Page my baby girl, marina, and her 1059, being a daddy's girl, i hope she gets a fruit as pretty as she is but to me, that would be impossible Wednesday, May 22 View Page tj posing with his freak Wednesday, May 22 View Page tj has this thing where he likes to kiss his plant each day, thought i would get a pic of it, and no, he's not really touching plant with his lips, i've told him about that, but he usually does it by kissing his hand and then touching the plant, hey, maybe some of that never stop attitude will rub off on his freak. we are going to try very hard to get a good one for him this year, everybody keep your fingers crossed for him please Wednesday, May 22 View Page both kids hamming for the camera, alongside tj's sunflower he is growing as a school project Wednesday, May 22 View Page 1634 on left and 1789 on right Wednesday, May 22 View Page this is a 603 muller, it barely popped seed coat (even with assistance), and then took about 2 weeks to show first true leaf, planted it yesterday in patch, ive done all i can for it, its up to ma nature to see if it makes it, but honestly, i have my doubts Wednesday, May 22 View Page this is the special olympics poster for my county, the kid in center with green t shirt is tj., he placed second in the county in the 50 yard dash, very proud of him and many thanks to all the volunteers who made this special day a reality.its amazing what these kids can do when they put their minds to it.tj also won a blue ribbon at the special olympics swim meet.he swam the entire length of the ymca pool by himself Sunday, June 23 View Page this is a female on my 410 est. from last year, its 1634 werner x self. i hope to pollenate about tuesday morning, first attempt of season, its about 17 feet out on main vine Sunday, June 23 View Page here is the 410 plant, really nice growing plant so far, we'll see what it can do with a fruit on it very soon. Sunday, June 23 View Page well, flat norm has made it down south to n.c. and is checking out my 150 plant.plant is a 218 sandercock, started very slow, but is really taking off recently and is becoming a nice looking plant. Sunday, June 23 View Page 218 is starting to run sides out, and main is about 7 feet now Sunday, June 23 View Page that flat norm is one sharp dude, being a veteran orange grower that he is, he quickly noticed the bright yellow/orange color of the vines on the 218, hope that means a very orange pumpkin .we will see Sunday, June 23 View Page flat norm checks patch size, yep, 8 feet wide Sunday, June 23 View Page and 18 feet long. 18 x 8 =144 sqare feet Sunday, June 23 View Page hope you can see the black water hose i used to outline the 150 patch, tj is at one corner of far end and marina is at other corner, thats not much room for an ag plant, not much at all, but hey, i like challenges Sunday, June 23 View Page flat norm, get down from there, them apples aint ready yet Sunday, June 23 View Page female on 904 stelts at 11 feet on main, be a few days till pollenation Sunday, June 23 View Page this is whats left of tj's 1789 after wind blew a piece of tin from across road and slammed it into his plant, broke main and several sides completely off. it is coming back, but only half the plant it was, but....... Sunday, June 23 View Page look what he has on new main(trained last side before break). still hoping for a good fruit for him on this plant. he was really bummed after storm , but made me proud when he said well, lets get it growing again and see what it does Sunday, June 23 View Page flat norm inspecting my new water tank, says it will do nicely as his pool on the hot summer days ahead,lol. Sunday, June 30 View Page finally, pollenated nice, long stemmed 4 lobe female out 14 feet on main on 1059 vincent/mcgill with 4 males from 904 stelts. Monday, July 1 View Page pollenated my 410 est. with 3 1789 males, set is about 15 feet out on main, nice 5 lober.72 degrees at pollenation time and raining. Tuesday, July 2 View Page pollenated 904 stelts with 3 males from 1059 v/m, 4 lober at 15 feet on main, 66 degrees and light rain at 6:35 this morning Thursday, July 4 View Page this is my 1059 v/m x 904 stelts set at 3 days old Thursday, July 4 View Page this is my 410 est. (1634 x self) set at 2 days old. Thursday, July 4 View Page and here is my 904 stelts x 1059 v/m set at 1 day old. long and skinny fruit.have another female coming on all three plants so not sure if these are keepers even if they take. although i do like the looks and location of the 410 fruit , and has a nice plant to grow it out, will see what happens Thursday, July 4 View Page another shot of 904 set, about 14 feet out on main vine Sunday, July 7 View Page pollenated 2nd set on my 410 est. this morning , used 4 males from 1789 wallace, set is at 19 feet on main . sunny and 71 degrees at 6:45 am this morning Tuesday, July 9 View Page pollenated 1634 werner with 4 males from 904 stelts, 16 feet on main.light rain and 70 degrees at 6:35am Tuesday, July 9 View Page pollenated 904 stelts with 4 males from 1059v/m, 15 feet on main, light rain and 70 degrees at 6:30 am Wednesday, July 10 View Page pollenated tj's 1789 wallace with 6 males from 1634 werner, fruit is about 19 feet out on main, 4 lobes, 69 degrees and sunny at 6:40 am, used new method of pollenating, just for my notes Wednesday, July 10 View Page pollenated marina's 1059 v/m with 5 males from a 1059 v/m plant #2, so cross is 1059 x sibb.fruit is at 17 feet on main, 5 lobes.69 degrees and sunny at 6:45 am. used new pollenating method on this one too . Thursday, July 11 View Page pollenated my 410 est. with 7 males from the 1789, 21 feet on main, 5 lobes, 69 degrees and sunny at 6:45 am, 3rd pollenation on plant, first one aborted day 8, and 2nd one is still pending. Thursday, July 11 View Page here is flat norm inspecting an unusual side vine tip, has 2 leaves, 2 tertiary buds and 4 tendrils at same node, opposite side vine at same length has same type tip on vine, flat norm says its ok though Thursday, July 11 View Page here is my 150 plant(218 sandercock) really maxing out the spot quickly now, first 2 females dried up before polling(likely due to the heavy rains we have had), have one that should be ready in a few days, needs to take because plant is almost out of space, may need to get creative with vine to fit it in now Thursday, July 11 View Page here is a tip i received from a respected grower that deals with high humidity at pollenating time like i do.take a styrofoam cup, cut bottom out and tape a piece of panty hoes(i used screen to cover mine)over the bottom of cup, turn it upside down over female flower , this allows air to get to blossum and helps keep it drier as well.the hose(screen)allows air in while keeping bees out.not sure this will help, but makes a lot of sense to me in my climate.just wanted to show it in case anyone is having issues with lots of rain as a lot of us are this year, hope it helps.and to the kind gentleman that gave me the tip, thank you sir the set shown in pic is my son, tj's, first female to get pollenated on his 1789 wallace plant, crossed with 1634 werner. Thursday, July 11 View Page here is picture of one of the cups/screens.i would have used white tape, but did not have any on hand at time. Thursday, July 11 View Page set #2 on 904 stelts plant, i like the shape of this one. Thursday, July 11 View Page this is tj's sunflower, when he brought it home from school, it was about 6 inches tall in a dixie cup.no idea what strain of sunflower seed was used as it was a school project. Tuesday, July 16 View Page pollenated 218 sandercock(150 plant)by self this morning, 16 feet on main, 5 lobes.72 degrees and sunny at 6:45 am.hope it takes , main vine was terminated yesterday and only one more female on very end if this one does not take Tuesday, July 16 View Page pollenated tj's 1789 with 4 males from 904 stelts, 24 feet on main , 5 lobes.72 and sunny at 6:35 am.3rd set on main, first 2 still looking good Friday, July 19 View Page pollenated 150 plant this morning, 218 sandercock x 1059 v/m, 18 feet out on main, 5 lobes.73 and sunny at 6:45 am Friday, July 19 View Page pollenated 1059 v/m with 5 males from 904 stelts.21 feet out on main, 4 lobes.73 and sunny at 6:40 am Sunday, July 21 View Page here is the oldest fruit in my patch, on the 904 stelts plant.its cross is 904 x 1059 v/m, and was polled on july 4th Sunday, July 21 View Page here is a nice looking set on the 1634 werner plant, only a couple days old so no gaurantees.i like the long stem on this one. Saturday, August 3 View Page tj finally has a set that looks like it took on his 1789 wallace plant, plant has had a hard time this year with wind damage and losing about 1/4 of the plant to vine rot, but maybe we can muster a decent one for him, everyone keep your fingers crossed for him please. Saturday, August 3 View Page 1059 vincent/mcgill fruit about 20 feet out on main, shape is okay , nothing special, but is growing well for day 10 .crossed it with her sister, so 1059 x sibb cross Saturday, August 3 View Page 1059 v/m #2 fruit, 22 feet on main, 11 days old, shape should be good if shoulders fill out some, cross is 1059 v/m x 904 stelts. Saturday, August 3 View Page this is my 150 sq. ft. contest plant, the 218 sandercock, and it finally got a set to day 10, after aborting like 15 attempts. i really like the shape of this one . Saturday, August 3 View Page here is my 904 stelts fruit, day 30.ott of 233 inches, and growing very steadily, was hoping it would be orange, but sure looking like a white one.may be only chance i have this year at new pb. Tuesday, August 20 View Page this is my 904 fruit, has slowed to a crawl now, only about 270 ott, was hoping to get at least 300 inches but not looking like it now, plant is about done. Tuesday, August 20 View Page here is my lovely daughter, marina, with her 1059 v/m fruit, this one is 1059 x 904 stelts.only 24 dap today, day 20 numbers were 196 ott.color is coming in nicely, shape is a bit off on the stem end Tuesday, August 20 View Page but kins backside is pretty good Tuesday, August 20 View Page here is my 150 sq. ft. contest fruit on the 218 sandercock.its still fairly young but only has about 100-110 sq. ft. of plant after losing stump and firstfew feet of main, just hoping to get it to scale just to say i did finish contest.i have really enjoyed the unusual challenges of this contest . Tuesday, August 20 View Page my other 1059 v/m fruit, this one is 1059 x sibb.as you can see, its almost rolled over the blossum end, but not much i can do now for it. fruit is super shiny and coloring up nicely.day 20 numbers were 190 ott, day 26 today. Tuesday, August 20 View Page may be last pic of blossum end, ya think? Tuesday, August 20 View Page stem end of 1059 x sibb pumpkin, i like the color Tuesday, August 20 View Page very proud of this one, this is tj's 1789 freak kin, after wind all but destroyed the plant, and then the rains caused me to lose about a quarter of the plant including stump, its very satisfying to finally get one going on his plant, and it was the fastest to 200 ott i have ever had here, was over 200 ott on day 20.tj says he likes his freak now Tuesday, August 20 View Page another shot of tj's kin Tuesday, August 20 View Page here is tj and a sidevine set on the 1634 werner, big plant with no sets on main, very aggressive plant but just could not get a set on main, kins on plant will likely be just carvers or porch sitters Tuesday, August 20 View Page one last shot of the 1059 v/m x 904 stelts fruit, pics dont show real color very well, really grabs your attention when you look at patch Saturday, August 24 View Page this is my daughter, marina, with her snow white dress on for her birthday party today, i had to get a shot of her with her kin, the 1059 fruit. Saturday, August 31 View Page this is tj's 1789 wallace pumpkin, it is around 265 ott at day 30.healthy looking solid fruit thats growing steady, may enter this in the n.c. state fair and see if what happens.would be a nice entry in the junior division at the very least. Saturday, August 31 View Page and i'd say he's proud of his freak. Saturday, August 31 View Page cool colors on the stem end of tj's fruit, greens, yellows, oranges,blues, grays.very cool looking Saturday, August 31 View Page here is my 150 contest fruit off the 218 sandercock, affectionately known as mr. peanut by the kids and i.its 192 ott today, and still chugging along , plant is going down fast now, so not sure how long it will grow. Saturday, August 31 View Page this is a 5 day old set on my daughters 1059 plant. its a selfed fruit on a side vine, just for genetics.i will have both a 1059 x self and a 1059 x sibb in patch if this takes. Saturday, August 31 View Page this is 33 day old fruit on my 1059 v/m #2 plant, it is sibbed with the other 1059 v/m plant.awesome color but unfortunately its rolling over on its blossum(only about an inch from blossum end being on ground).its only about 230 ott but is still gaining slowly. Saturday, August 31 View Page heres a side shot showing how severely the blossum end slopes down and is now developing a "snout". Saturday, August 31 View Page ??????????????? Saturday, August 31 View Page these last 2 pics are one i found hiding in the weeds ,lol. hard to hide looking like that Saturday, August 31 View Page and possibly last shot of my 904 stelts fruit. its done growing, stopped at about 450 pounds, not a very pretty kin, but was my dream seed, and i got to grow it thanks to some very nice folks.cross is 904 x 1059 v/m. Saturday, September 7 View Page tj taking a break with his 1789 wallace fruit Saturday, September 7 View Page my kids with 1059 v/m #2 plant, fruit has grown over the blossum as you can see. Saturday, September 7 View Page 2 pretty girls Saturday, September 7 View Page the kids with a 10 day old fruit on 1059 v/m #1 plant, if it grows well enough, my daughter might enter it in the n.c. state fair weigh off in junior division Saturday, September 7 View Page my 150 contest pumpkin, all 201 ott of her,lol.plant has really been put through the ringer this year, and after all the issues looks as though i may get one to scale here in a few weeks. Saturday, September 7 View Page another pic of tj's freak, very thick, heavy looking fruit with nice shape, still gaining steadily about 10 pounds a day now Tuesday, September 17 View Page some of tj's classmates came to visit our pumpkin patch today, these kids deserve a chance to smile a little, so lets see what we can do about that Tuesday, September 17 View Page i see smiles on kids faces, who needs trophies to get satisfaction in this hobby. Tuesday, September 17 View Page the lady in this photo is tj's teacher and has moved mountains with him, she is one of those that would be teaching even if she did not get paid, a truly great lady.i always give her a kin to carve for her class every year. Tuesday, September 17 View Page we kept tj's kin hidden till the end, let tj unwrap his "monster" for them as a surprise Tuesday, September 17 View Page here is tj holding court sitting on his pumpkin, the kids and my wife and i really enjoyed the kids visit and urge all growers to take a little time and contact the schools to let the special needs children see the kins and in return you get to put a smile on a challenged kids face.trust me when i tell you its absolutely worth every second of it and you will not be sorry you did this. Thursday, September 19 View Page stem end of tj's 1789 fruit, starting to have some serious cracks on ribs Monday, September 30 View Page we headed up to elkin , n.c. this past weekend to enter the yadkin valley pumpkin festival weigh off. we met some great folks up there. Monday, September 30 View Page seeing as how we will be trying some melons next year, tj decided to try and get some top secret tricks from this pretty decent grower. Monday, September 30 View Page that pretty decent grower sure had a big ol' melon. congrats to chris kent on the new tenn. and u.s. melon. nice job Monday, September 30 View Page my poor little 194 lovitt. this was my 150 sq. ft. contest kin, actually kinda proud to get anything to scale after the weather year we had. but i had fun with this plant and even learned a thing or two along the way. Monday, September 30 View Page tj took top junior honors with his 411 pound "freak" fruit. thanks pap and ron for the seed. took 3 years , but we finally got a fruit for him on his plant. he says he thinks he can go bigger next year. Monday, September 30 View Page heres matt(sparcmat) with his ribbon, congrats matt, you had 2 nice looking kins. Monday, September 30 View Page here is mr. jack bachelor accepting his 3rd place award with a very heavy 799.5 pound "rock". very nice jack, congrats. Monday, September 30 View Page here is tj accepting his junior division trophy, Monday, September 30 View Page marina getting her howard dill award, we wanted this one bad, and she got it!!! Monday, September 30 View Page tj posing Monday, September 30 View Page two very pretty girls!!! Monday, September 30 View Page congrats jason on your 1010 pound winning fruit. awesome job Monday, September 30 View Page stopped by the n.c. zoo in asheboro on the way home , here are a few pics Monday, September 30 View Page some nice artwork Monday, September 30 View Page saw this bee and wanted him for pollenating the "big ones", but look who beat me too it, gotta get up early in the morning to beat ol' flat norm Monday, September 30 View Page geyser Monday, September 30 View Page critter control anyone, trust me, these things will stop anything, razor sharp Monday, September 30 View Page or maybe these cats can help with critters, or anything else they want Monday, September 30 View Page couple of longnecks anyone? Monday, September 30 View Page instant compost pile, just add hay Monday, September 30 View Page flat norm took a little ride with us Sunday, October 6 View Page happy fall everyone Thursday, October 24 View Page here are tj and marina getting their pictures taken by state fair photographers and getting to talk to the crowds about their pumpkins, gotta say i kinda like this pic myself.now both my kids are state fair ribbon winners. Thursday, October 24 View Page heres tj milking a cow at the fair, pretty cool. Thursday, October 24 View Page and marina took her turn as well. Thursday, October 24 View Page this is the view tj and i had from top of ferris wheel at state fair, if ya look close on the street , you will see a rather large shopping cart, equipped with chevy v8