Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 7 Entries. Wednesday, January 4 View Page To start off a new pumpkin season I did some germination tests. unfiled seeds in pots on heat mats had zero germination after 5 days. filed seeds in pots on heatmat had 80% germination in 5 days. Filed seeds in pots in chick incubator had 100% germination in 3 days. I ordered a fan kit for more even temperature control and will make a spacer to add 2 inches in height to the incubator for larger pots. Saturday, February 25 View Page This years line up is set (I think): 1677.5 Hunt, 1676 Checkon, 1674 Marsh, 1662 Stelts, 1548 Marsh, 1531 Haist. I plan to cross 1677 x 1548, 1676 x 1662, and 1674 x 1531. The Goal is to cross long fruit by high fruit, while maintaining the % heavy genetics. My back ups are 980 klinker and 906 Watkinson. Both are very interesting crosses. Sunday, March 25 View Page Frost is out of the ground. I might try to plow the patch tomorrow morning. I'll plow a foot deep and bring up more clay to ammend. lots of lime, gypsum, and wood ashes, plus manure, compost, and used potting soil. Then build planting mounds by using the dirt from digging drainage trenches. Surround each planting space with gallon jugs of water. Finally, put up pipe hoops and cover with row cover. It might be ready for plants May 1st! Monday, April 16 View Page picture of patch looking west. 45 x 100ft. needs a discing to bresk clods then ammend with lime, wood ashes, fish meal, and kelp meal before final tilling. the edges will get additional compost as they were not part of the patch last year. Monday, April 16 View Page bad picture, but 2 fair plants and some watermelons are up. I forgot to move the watermelons out of the incubator after they sprouted and they got leggy. I'll bury them deep when I pot them into gallon pots and they will be fine. competition plants go into incubator Saturday. Wednesday, May 23 View Page I got busy planting Strawberries and forgot to pot the pumpkins up to 7 gallon grow bags. I started the seeds April 21st and my 1404, 1419, 1495, 1488, 1464 and 1544 stayed in their 5 inch pots till May 21st. oops. the 2 early plants, 980 klinker and 906 Watkinson were potted up, and and are off to the races. It is always a challenge planting a 3ft long vine into the patch, but it is fun being that far ahead. I tried some pots cut in half with my watermelons, but none of the plants came out nearly as easily as plants come out of the bags. I fertilized the center 1/3rd of the patch with 70 lbs of wood ashes, 30lbs of fish meal, 30 lbs kelp meal, and 40 lbs poultry litter compost pellets (5-4-3 w/ 10% calcium). Each planting site got 5 lbs more pellets and 5lbs of a mix of bone, blood, fish, and kelp meals in a 7ft diameter circle. each planting mound got 2 cups of pellets, 1 cup ground oystershell and 1 heaping cup of the bone, blood, kelp and fish mix at planting time. all that is in addition to the 100lbs of lime and 10 yards of aged manure that went on the entire patch. I found that my pH actually dropped when I plowed this spring. I brought up the acid subsoil and dropped my pH from 6.2 to 5.6 so I added another 100 lbs of lime. I've always said getting the soil right takes 3 years. This is only year 2. Monday, July 2 View Page 100 degrees today. watering heavily every afternoon. plants are finally growing great, but I doubt any pollinations will take this week. everything will be open polinations this year. I just don't have time this year to hand polinate. I barely have time to bury vines.