Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 37 Entries. Saturday, April 6 View Page Planted 20 Moskvich Tomato Seeds. Monday, April 8 View Page Three Goals for 2013: 1. Grow a personal best. (46 pounds) 2. Keep this trophy for another year. 3. Grow a pumpkin big enough to bring to The Big E (New England's Great State Fair). Monday, April 8 View Page The first improvement over last year, better seeds. Last year I used Organic Big Max seeds from my local garden center. This year I'm using 4 seeds from Holland's Land O' Giants. A Holland 1462# - '12, and a 3 pack of "Silver Bullet" seeds from pumpkins weighing over 1,000 pounds. Monday, April 8 View Page I'm also going to try Mycos and Nutri-Aid Blossom Booster & Fruit Finisher 0-52-34. Monday, April 8 View Page I'll still be using the manure from my chickens. Friday, April 12 View Page Moskvich Tomato Seeds are sprouting. Planted 20 Brandywine Tomato Seeds. Monday, April 29 View Page The pumpkin seeds have been planted. Monday, April 29 View Page One Holland 1462 Seed. Three Silver Bullet Seeds. Ten Big Max Seeds. Monday, May 6 View Page All 14 seeds have germinated. Monday, May 20 View Page 1462 and Silver Bullets went in the ground yesterday. Monday, May 27 View Page Placed 7 Moskvich tomato plants, 7 Brandywine tomato plants, and 4 Big Max pumpkin plants in my father's garden. Thursday, June 6 View Page Holland 1462. Thursday, June 6 View Page Tomato plants. Saturday, June 8 View Page Sprayed plants with Neptune's Harvest Fish Fertilizer. Friday, June 21 View Page Started using Neptune's Harvest Seaweed Plant Food. While spraying the plants, I saw my first Cucumber Beetle of the season. Friday, June 28 View Page Dog Vomit Slime Mold. Sunday, June 30 View Page After squishing about 10 cucumber beetles with my fingers, I decided to spray the plants with Seven. Monday, July 1 View Page First male flower of the season. Sunday, July 7 View Page Plants are still growing well, but female flowers haven't opened yet. Thursday, July 11 View Page Pumpkins are forming. Thursday, July 11 View Page It's been a battle keeping beetles off of the leaves. Monday, July 22 View Page My first two pumpkins didn't survive. Though these pumpkins are giving me some hope. Saturday, July 27 View Page Pumpkin "A" is growing well. Circumference is 28". Saturday, July 27 View Page Pumpkin "B" was also growing well but I cracked the stem trying to place a piece of styrofoam under it. It also has a circumference of 28". Saturday, July 27 View Page This is a picture of the stem crack on pumpkin "B". I'm going to keep a close eye on this one and keep my fingers crossed. Monday, August 5 View Page Pumpkin "A" Circumference 43" Monday, August 5 View Page Pumpkin "B" Circumference 39" - This is the pumpkin with the cracked stem. It is rotting from the bottom up. It needs to be culled, I just haven't done so yet. Monday, August 5 View Page Pumpkin "C" Circumference 21" Thursday, August 8 View Page Pumpkin "B" was removed. It had a circumference of 39" and weighed 36 pounds. Pumpkin "C" seems to have stopped growing with a circumference of 21". Sunday, August 11 View Page Pumpkin "A" Circumference 50" - OTT 125" Sunday, August 11 View Page Pumpkin IV - A New Hope Sunday, August 11 View Page Pumpkin "B". The walls were extremely thick. Circumference was 39". Weight was 36 pounds. Now it's food for the chickens. Monday, August 19 View Page Sunflowers are finally starting to open up. Monday, August 19 View Page Came home yesterday to find Pumpkin IV covered in ooze. Wiped it off to find expansion cracks. Monday, August 19 View Page Pumpkin "A" Circumference 57" - OTT 138" Tuesday, August 27 View Page Pumpkin "IV" - Circumference 32" Tuesday, August 27 View Page Pumpkin "A" Circumference 60" - OTT 144"