Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 118 Entries. Wednesday, January 23 View Page The patch a few weeks ago with freshly tilled in leaves and grass. There's still a lot of work to do on this soil for the rest of the off season. Thursday, May 9 View Page 1775 Starr 1st day in the ground. This was on 5/6/13. Thursday, May 9 View Page The 100 Brouillard in the ground for about a week. This pumpkin will be our work mascot. Tuesday, May 14 View Page Here is the make shift hot house I made for the 1775 Starr. Lows of 39 last night and a threat of frost. Looks like we are clear now. High of 88 tomorrow. Tuesday, May 14 View Page Here is the 1775 Starr after removing the plastic and giving it a bath with warm water to get things going this morning. Tuesday, May 14 View Page Here is the very leggy 1197 MacCoy '12 which is a 1634 Werner x self. It will go in the ground this evening. Tuesday, May 14 View Page The 100 Brouillard week 2 Friday, May 24 View Page Here is the first female on the 1775 a few days until pollination. Sunday, June 2 View Page 22% White Shade netting is up! Monday, June 3 View Page 100 Brouillard starting to vine out at a little over a month in. Close to 3 ft. main. Tuesday, June 4 View Page Late Sunday afternoon a heavy rainstorm came along and...whoops a daisy...we are going to need reinforcements! Good news...the 1775 Starr went unscathed. Tuesday, June 4 View Page Got the shadehouse repaired yesterday. Added some angled support members in the back and some tiebacks. Also put screws in each joint to hold everything together. Tuesday, June 4 View Page The 1775 Starr this morning. Looking good. Got sunburn on one of the leaves before I got the shade cloth up. Its starting to vine out and looks like it will lay down in the next few days. Trying to give it support on the way down. I will try to pull all the weeds for its one month in the ground anniversary on Thursday 6/6. Wednesday, June 5 View Page The 1775 got a little kink in it! After this pic I ramped up some dirt under it to support it better. Thursday, June 6 View Page The 100 Brouillard's vine has been retrained and the fencing has been expanded to keep the bunnies at bay since it outgrew its first two enclosures. Tuesday, June 11 View Page Finally got a squash seed to germinate. This is the 450 Price 12 which is the 1486.6 Jarvis selfed. Look closely at the stem. This seems a little odd. Tuesday, June 11 View Page 1775 Starr 6 ft main vine. Starting to see roots coming to the surface a few feed out now. Sprayed Myclobutanil today since its been raining for 4-5 days with a one day break in between. Thursday, June 13 View Page So here was the 450 Price yesterday. I've never seen this before. The first true leaf is on one side and the other cot is just sitting there. Thursday, June 13 View Page And here's the 450 Price est. today Friday, June 14 View Page 80 mph winds blow! The 1775 Starr went unscathed. I will report on the others tomorrow. I have already remedied this problem and added further reinforcements. Also had the top half of a 70 foot tree get snapped off. All of that got trimmed up before dark. Remember Dorito's=delicious Derecho=blows! Tuesday, June 18 View Page This picture is rough but here is the first female to show up on the 1775 Starr. Tuesday, June 18 View Page 1775 Starr main at about 10-11 ft. Tuesday, June 18 View Page 1197 MacCoy has laid down and is running. Tuesday, June 18 View Page This is the 450 Price est. which again is the 1486.6 Jarvis Squash. The split cots looks like the first died off and the one with the true leaf is still alive and kicking. Tuesday, June 18 View Page The 1048 Engel still hasn't touched down yet. It has a big fat thick main vine though, a real bear to train. Really looking forward to the orange that this one can throw. Monday, June 24 View Page Ok lets try this again...for some reason this showed up as the May 24 post. Here is the first female on the 1775 a few days until pollination. Tuesday, June 25 View Page The 1775's secondaries are starting to vine out. The first two secondaries on this side and one on the other side are still very short. Not sure what causes this to happen but I'm happy that the other secondaries have finally kicked into gear. I took a soil and tissue sample yesterday and mailed them in so we will see if I am deficient in anything. Tuesday, June 25 View Page There was some talk yesterday about ridges on the leaf stalks, maybe too much Nitrogen. Tuesday, June 25 View Page Started looking for a stump cover yesterday and found this. Don't know if I will stick with it. Might look for something better. Tuesday, June 25 View Page Here is the 1775 Starr one day before pollination. Tuesday, June 25 View Page Got out to the patch before 6 this morning to cut these guys as a back ups for tomorrow's 1775 x self pollination. They are in the freezer now, but will probably have 2 or 3 I will pick tonight. Wednesday, June 26 View Page Here is a timelaps of this mornings pollination. First I cut off 4 males last night and stored them inside in a cup of water. Then put them in warm water this morning followed by several minutes under a warm blow dryer to encourage them to fluff up the pollen and open a bit. Then I went out to the patch and took off the females overnight protection. The next series of images are of the female opening over about 35-45 minutes. I then pollinated with all 4 males and you can see the amount of pollen deposited in the last picture before the zip tie. Finally I cut openings in an old styrofoam cooler and placed it over the vine, leaf, and female with a few small frozen water bottles in it. High is 85 here today so this should be in good shape. I present the 1775 Starr 1st pollination 0 DAP about 11-12 feet on the main. Thursday, June 27 View Page Here is the 100 Brouillard x 1775 Starr 0 DAP technically an open pollination but I did zip tie it shut so no other bees could get into it. Thursday, June 27 View Page 1775 Starr x self 1 DAP Friday, June 28 View Page 1197 MacCoy (1634 Werner x self) Friday, June 28 View Page The 1048 Engel is vining out nicely. There is a female at the tip about 8' out but the positioning isn't great so I will probably set one further out. Friday, July 5 View Page First pollination on the 1775 Starr didn't take. Second one doesn't look like its going to open. Third one is really pretty and looks like it might open in a few days. Its been raining way to much here. Tuesday, July 9 View Page This is the 1775 Starr 0 DAP soon to be selfed at 22-23'. Tuesday, July 9 View Page Pretty 5 lober on the 1775. Nice long stem. Tuesday, July 9 View Page Is 8 males too many? Nah! Tuesday, July 9 View Page 1048 Engel 0 DAP. Position is really good on this one. This plant has really strong, fat, aggressive vines. Tuesday, July 9 View Page Here is the 1048 Engel x self blossom. Can't really tell if its a 4 or 5 lober. Tuesday, July 9 View Page The 4 males used for the 1048's selfing. All pollinations are zipped up tight and covered. Decided against ice this morning since it was 73 and a high of 86. The white styrofoam cooler and being under 22% shade cloth should keep the temp below 85. Thursday, July 11 View Page 1048 x self 2 DAP Thursday, July 11 View Page 1775 Starr 2 DAP Got the mill fabric under her and made a nice sandy base. Monday, July 15 View Page 1775 Starr x self backup pollinated on 7-13-13 Monday, July 15 View Page 1048 Engel x self 6 DAP Monday, July 15 View Page 1775 Starr x self 6 DAP. Looking a bit like a football...good shape to go heavy. Got a lot of vine burying to do tonight. Wednesday, July 17 View Page 1775 Starr x self 8 DAP. Got all the vine burying done. Drenched myco in. Finally saw a stink bug last night. Immediately went and sprayed Warrior T on all plants. Wednesday, July 17 View Page Here are the first few leaves on the 1775. I'm guessing that this is just them starting to show their age and that this isn't a problem as I haven't seen it anywhere else on the plant. Wednesday, July 17 View Page You always wonder how far the root system runs on these plants. This is a picture of roots coming out the bottom of my retaining wall in the patch that I built up. There is 3-4' of soil vertically and this is 10' out to the side from the stump. The other interesting thing is that the first two secondaries didn't form on this side so the roots aren't even coming from secondaries. Just incredible. Friday, July 19 View Page 1775 Starr x self 10 DAP 24.5 c 17.5 bs 16 ss for a 58 ott not a bad start. Not my fastest out of the gate but I've never gotten one to a weigh-off so I'll take what I can get. The 1048 Engel x self 10 DAP 14.5.c 10. bs 9. ss 33.5 ott Growing this one on a smaller plot. Also pollinated another 1048 Engel x self for a third backup. Sunday, July 21 View Page 4 lober that opened on the 1197 MacCoy '12 (1634 Werner '10 x self)this morning. Sunday, July 21 View Page 1197 MacCoy x 1775 Starr 0 DAP. I used 8 males for the pollination. Monday, July 22 View Page 1197 x 1775 1 DAP Monday, July 22 View Page Here is the 1048 plant. Main is pushing 30'. Tuesday, July 23 View Page Wish I could say I culled the two slow growers. But they were well on their way to an abort. Neither had grown an inch in 4 days, skin got a little dull and a little give to the touch. The 1048 is on the left and the 1775 on the right. Good news is that I have three backups on the 1048, one of which is growing nicely. The 1775 backup was larger on day 9 than the other at day 10....11,12,13 or 14. Did a lot of work last night trying to move vines a bit as the current number 1 set on the 1775 is not in the best position to get big. I might run out of real estate, so I dug out and flattened the area around the pumpkin and got some mill fabric and sand under it as well. Tuesday, July 23 View Page 1775 3rd back up 10 DAP numbers 28.5 c 20 bs 20.5 ss for an OTT of 69 Wednesday, July 24 View Page 1775 backup 11 DAP 33" circ 23.5" bs 23.5" ss for an 80" ott almost 5" in circ overnight and 11" in ott This seems like a good pace for the ramp up. Thursday, July 25 View Page Here is the 1197 4 DAP. Looks like the pollination took. Thursday, July 25 View Page 1775 12 DAP 38" c 27" bs 28" ss 93" ott Thats another 5" in circumference since yesterday. Friday, July 26 View Page 1197 5 dap Friday, July 26 View Page Here is my third 1048 Engel x self backup at 11 DAP. Good thing too because the first two aborted. This one is growing well though. 30.5 C 24.5 bs 25.5 ss for an 80.5 ott Friday, July 26 View Page Here is a top shot from the 1775 Starr x self 13 DAP. Friday, July 26 View Page 1775 13 DAP with a 5 gal bucket for reference. 43 c 30.5 bs 31.5 ss 105 ott This will be my last pic post of pumpkins for about 10 days. I am going on vacation and I'm really nervous reading other peoples diaries about what happened when they went on vacation with pumpkins on the vine. We live in the south...I just know some vine rot or something is gonna creep up while I'm gone. I sprayed myclobutanil yesterday for PM protection and hit them with imadocloprid this morning to kill off any biters. Still have to go pinch off as many males as possible to reduce bee damage. Here's to hoping for ridiculously big pumpkins when I get back home. Monday, August 5 View Page Back from vacation! 1048 Engel x self 21 DAP OTT 169" Est. wt. 113 Lbs. Monday, August 5 View Page Got home to find some vine stress on the 1048. I had anticipated this being a problem but couldn't move vines enough before leaving. Looks like I'm going to cut the secondary out tonight and try to start moving the pumpkin. Monday, August 5 View Page 1775 Starr x self 23 DAP top view. She's shaped a bit like a bell right now. Monday, August 5 View Page When I got home I saw this hole. Looks like something ate a little bit and moved back out. I haven't seen any SVB's ever in my patch so I'm hoping it was not that. I didn't see anything inside. I went ahead and packed it with sulfur. Its still very shiny and putting on weight so I dont think the hole is through to the cavity and I'm not terribly worried about it. Monday, August 5 View Page The 1775 Starr x self 23 DAP. I was pleasantly surprised after coming back from vacation to find pumpkins still intact on the vine without aborting. 83.5 c 58 bs 63 ss for an ott for 204.5" and an est. wt. of 195 lbs. It averaged 15 lbs. per day while I was gone, and did 17 lbs. last night. Wednesday, August 7 View Page 1775 x self 25 DAP 88.5 61 69 218.5" OTT It did 25 Lbs. last night. This is the first day in the twenties, hopefully this means we are kicking into second gear. Thursday, August 8 View Page 1048 Engel x self 24 DAP doing about 14 lbs. per day Friday, August 9 View Page Here is the 1048 last night. Monday, August 12 View Page 1775 x self 30 DAP 250 ott for an est. wt. of 350 Lbs. This equals a PB for me so everything forward is a plus. Average daily gains over the last 10 days were 20.4 Lbs/day. I saw one day hit 30 Lbs. Now I just have to figure out what I need to do to get those daily gains safely in the 35-40 Lb range without splitting. Tuesday, August 13 View Page Work pumpkin. 100 Brouillard x 1048 Engel ~20 dap. Haven't measured. Unfortunately we couldn't get a set until the plant outgrew its enclosure and a rabbit or deer came along and snacked on the top early on. Looks like it will turn over to a really nice orange. Wednesday, August 14 View Page 1048 Engel x self 30 dap 216 ott Thursday, August 15 View Page If Highs aren't going to hit 85 for the next 10 days...Who needs shade cloth? Might take it the rest of the way down tomorrow. We'll see how much trouble it is. Thursday, August 15 View Page UH OH! Caught some button rot on the 1048 this morning. Went ahead and dug this out further until I got to non rotted material. I hit it with peroxide...it bubbled...repeated...then packed it with sulfur and put a fan on it. Hopefully this doesn't spread...long time left to keep this one alive. Thursday, August 22 View Page 1775 x self 40 DAP sits at 287 OTT or 522 Lbs. for an average 10 day gain of 17.2 Lbs per day. From this day forward this 'kin shall be known as "The Fridge". 37 days till weighoff. Friday, August 23 View Page I would like to introduce the 1197 MacCoy x open at roughly 25 DAP. None of my controlled polls kept. This one was taken care of by the bees while we were away on vacation. 146 OTT...not exactly setting the world on fire. Saturday, August 24 View Page The low light of early morning doesn't do her justice. She's really pretty. The 1048 40 DAP at 240 OTT. 10 day average is 8.2 Lbs per day but the plants not incredibly large either. Saturday, August 24 View Page I cleaned the sulfur out of the SVB cavity on The Fridge. Hit it with some peroxide and packed it back with sulfur. Really happy this thing is staying together but its still a long way to the weigh off. Thursday, August 29 View Page The Fridge at 47 DAP 300 OTT! Nice milestone to hit to further my PB's but I wish I could have hit it sooner. 30 days till weigh off averaging about 10 Lbs. per day right now. See the fan? Yeah, I'm nursing this 'kin a bit. Almost daily washes with peroxide and then sulfur powder and a fan, the sheet is off trying to get it to dry up nicely, some wrinkles on the skin are a lot better than a 600 Lb pile of mush. Next goal is 700 Lb, entirely doable, and figure out how to pack 400 more Lbs in 30 days, that a lot to ask. Currently not on the arc for 4 digits. I should just be happy if I can get it to the scales. Friday, August 30 View Page the 1197 x open 31 dap 173.5 ott Friday, August 30 View Page 1048 Engel x self 46 DAP 247.5 ott good for 340 Lbs. Sure is pretty. Hope she makes it to the finish line. Friday, August 30 View Page The Fridge 48 DAP 303 OTT 611 Lbs. I've cleared personal bests and charted new territory for myself. 89 lbs. to the next goal. I'm off to see my Tigers play. Here's to hoping these pumpkins put in some hard work over this labor day weekend while the rest of us relax, catch some fish, and watch some football. Wednesday, September 4 View Page Here is an update on the hole in the fridge. Believe it or not its dry in there and around the edges. I can get a pinky down in the hole probably an inch and a half. Nice to know the walls aren't paper thin. This pic was taken after cleaning the sulfur out and spraying with peroxide then a bleach solution. Then, I packed it back with sulfur and put a fan on it. I do this every few days. Its gonna be a long 24 days. Wednesday, September 4 View Page 53 DAP for The Fridge, 306 ott. Only averaging 3-5 Lbs. per day right now but I was away for 4 days. Maybe a little TLC will bump those numbers back up. Wednesday, September 4 View Page 1048 Engel x self 52 dap 252 ott. 358 lbs. Color is really coming on now, starting to look a lot like mom.(from this side anyway) Monday, September 9 View Page First harvesting this season. Got in to work this morning to find squash bugs and cucumber beetles feasting on this 'kin. Decided to go ahead and cut it loose before it turned into a slop pile. I present the 100 Brouillard x 1048 Engel now known as the 121(EST) Craps '12... I will see if we can put it on the scale here in a few days to get at least get an UOW. Tuesday, September 10 View Page My son sitting on The Fridge at 647 Lbs. Unfortunately, The Fridge has been sitting at 647 for two days. Trying to kick it back into gear but all that rain caused a fair amount of root rot. Tuesday, September 10 View Page That's better. Tuesday, September 10 View Page Got the button rot stopped on the 1048. However, leaves and vines are getting harder and harder to come by before the fruit (still have a main). We'll see if there is anything to this backfeeding. Wednesday, September 11 View Page One of my sons blue pumpkins...maybe a Blue Jarrahdale if memory serves. Wednesday, September 11 View Page The Fridge 60 DAP 309.5 OTT for 650 Lbs. Thats a whopping 3.3 lbs per day for the last 10 days. 17 days to get 50 lbs. If I can keep up the 3.3 Lbs/day average I will get there but we all know that that is gonna slow down more so I'm gonna need to go heavy to the chart to meet my 700 Lb. goal. Friday, September 13 View Page Yesterday was 60 DAP for the 1048 Engel sitting at 258.5 ott. Doing 3 Lb. per day. Tuesday, September 17 View Page The Fridge at 311.5 OTT 65 DAP..verrry slow growth but the ribs are getting some shape to them. Wednesday, September 18 View Page 1048 Engel 65 DAP 261 OTT....look at that color! Thursday, September 19 View Page The 1197 is a goner. Thursday, September 19 View Page Put it on a bathroom scale before it went soft on bottom. It measured 121 Lbs and weighed 143 Lbs. I got quite a few seeds out of it and they have been washed, rinsed with peroxide, and are drying at 95 F under vacuum. Thursday, September 19 View Page I am now referring to that pumpkin as the 143 Craps '13 UOW It is the 100 Brouillard x 1048 Engel. Saturday, September 21 View Page A new side view of The Fridge. Brought to you by the removal of a few short secondaries. Saturday, September 21 View Page The Fridge is showin' some GREEN. I was concerned about the little brown spots that kept creeping up but they have been scaring over and canteloping, so I hope this is fairly normal. I've never taken one this far before. At any rate, canteloping and color changes are nice to let you know there is something going on when 0.25" on the tape would be welcome. Saturday, September 21 View Page Maybe you've heard of 2Chainz. I call this 2'kinz. 7 days till the Yadkin Valley Pumpkin Festival in Elkin, NC. Monday, September 23 View Page 70 DAP for the Fridge 313.25 OTT Thats right, I'm measuring to the 1/4". I might be getting creative looking for the largest circumference too. We'll see if my measurements are ridiculous on Saturday when it gets weighed. Tuesday, September 24 View Page 1048 Engel 70 DAP over 400 Lbs. now Friday, September 27 View Page All loaded up. Big thanks to Brad and the fellas for all the help. Friday, September 27 View Page Time to relax Tuesday, October 8 View Page The 598 Craps '13 (1775 Starr x self) Tuesday, October 8 View Page The 407 Craps '13 (1048 Engel x self) Monday, October 28 View Page The giant pumpkin display at the NC State Fair. Monday, October 28 View Page The 407.3 Craps 13 (1048 Engel x self) in the display at the NC State Fair. Monday, October 28 View Page My son's blue ribbon pumpkin! First place for best pumpkin in the 8 and under category! Monday, October 28 View Page My happy boy with his blue ribbon! Monday, October 28 View Page lets turn that one upright Monday, October 28 View Page and that one too Wednesday, October 30 View Page Pulled vines today from the 598. Here are the main tap roots from the stump. Wednesday, November 27 View Page Went and got some really well broken down leaf compost that has been steamed. Asked the guy for two scoops of goodness and he poured in 3 packed it down and added part of a 4th. Grand total of just a little over a ton in a half ton truck.