Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 84 Entries. Saturday, April 21 View Page It has been a very nice spring here in Western PA.Record warm March. Very little rainfall. Patch is totally ammended and tilled, hoops are all up.   Saturday, April 21 View Page I stsrted an earlier plant for a fair. I started the 1306 Mohr ( 1161 x 1288 ) and the 1274 Wolf on March 24th and they have been in a hoop since last Friday the 13th. They are looking great after the first week.   Saturday, April 21 View Page Started all my main seeds today the 22nd of April. I will be growing : 1495 Stelts (1161x904) 1663 Zoellner (1421 Stelts x sib) 772 Zappa (696 Holder x 763 Young) and my early plant which is the 1306 Mohr or the 1274 Wolf. My son Collin is growing the 319 Mohr (1288 x 1421 ).   Saturday, April 21 View Page I have some water melons started which will go in the ground sometime in May. 193 Whites and maybe a 161 Zappa.   Friday, May 25 View Page This is my fair plant, the 1306 Mohr. About 6 foot long and side vines 2-3 feet. I took all the plastic down today but will leave the hoops for a while yet,incase of bad weather.   Friday, May 25 View Page The 1663 Zoellner is on the right and a 645 Zappa 2010 on the left. I plan on culling the 645 in several days.The are both close to hitting ground.   Friday, May 25 View Page This is my sons hoop which needs weeded. On the right is the 319 Mohr and left is a 1193 Snyder (Kevin). His 319 is the nicest looking plant out of all of the plants this year.   Friday, May 25 View Page The last entry has the plants in the wrong order. 319 is on the left.   Friday, June 22 View Page Plants are all looking good. The most impressive grower is the 319 Mohr. Day 10 for 1306 Mohr x self.Pretty good vine position around 15 feet out on main.Main is around 22 feet long. Teminating some secondaries.   Friday, June 22 View Page Pollinated today (june 22nd) : 1495 Stelts x 319 Mohr 1663 Zoellner x 319 Mohr 319 Mohr x 1495 Stelts, but will have to call it an open pollination. I did not expect it to open this morning.   Friday, June 29 View Page My 772 Zappa 2010 plant. pollinated yesterday , june 28th x the 1495 Stelts.   Friday, June 29 View Page 81 Wolf field pumpkin.   Friday, June 29 View Page 193 White water melon, wich is my biggest plant ever at this date. Pollinated one yesterday the 28th of June on the main. I have another 193 which has one set as well and is a few days old.   Friday, June 29 View Page 319 Mohr plant. This is my best looking plant this year. Pollinated one on June 22nd x 1495 Stelts.   Friday, June 29 View Page 1306 Mohr plant. have a fruit 17 days old which is doing good. put on 6 inches in circ last night. Very warm 75 degrees last night.   Friday, June 29 View Page 1495 Stelts plant. set one on June 22nd x the 319 Mohr. Looks like it will produce a long orange fruit.   Friday, June 29 View Page Last is the 1663 Zoellner . I let the plant get too dry and think that I lost a lot of the root system. I was badly wilted for several days. I got the drip tape in and the wilt has stopped, and so has the growth. I am hoping the roots will grow soon. The plant has an aweful yellow color to it. Not sure if it's going to make it.   Sunday, July 1 View Page Pollinated 3 female melons this am ( July 1st ) on the 193 White. Already have a couple set, but got one set on the main today. Plant is really growing !   Wednesday, July 4 View Page Got some much needed rain yesterday with storms. Had a few 3rd stage growth vines roll over on the 1495 Stelts, but other than that plants and fruits look good.   Friday, July 13 View Page last weekend I pulled my 1663 Zoellner out.No roots on stump. I think I let the soil get too dry near that plant. Lost a melon plant today. Not sure what the cause was but it went from healthy looking to dead in less than 3 days. last weekend I noticed my 1495 Stelts pumpkin looked like it stopped growing.It must have aborted in the heat wave. It was at day 14 and was doing well before the heat. I got one set on a secondary that I will have to go with now (open pollination). All other plants have fruit set and doing good.   Friday, July 13 View Page My 772 and the 319 Mohr hit day 15 today. I will put numbers up at day 20. The 319 Mohr is a very aggressive and thick plant. I have 3rd stage growth 1 inch diameter comming back from the first set of secondaries.   Friday, July 13 View Page 1306 Mohr hit day thirty yesterday.The plant is almost terminated now and is around 750 sq feet. Also a very nice plant. The fruit is not doing as well as I thought, but it is on the increase now. Very high and round shape, and very light color as of now.   Sunday, July 15 View Page This is a pic of my melon plant that wilted very fast. Done in about 2 1/2 days.   Sunday, July 15 View Page Same plant a little closer view.   Sunday, July 15 View Page And the next day when I pulled it out.Totally gone !   Sunday, July 15 View Page And more bad news this morning. This is the 319 Mohr at day 17. This fruit had a odd looking blossem when I pollinated it. The blossem was at an upward direction, so I suspected future problems. It was growing very good , putting on over 6 inch cc per day the last 3 days. When I cut it open, I could see how the deformation caused it to split. I have one growing good on a secondary but that is the last one on this plant and it is open pollinated. The one that split was crossed with the 1495 Stelts, bummer, I don't think any of the seeds were mature enough. The one on the side vine has a much better shape.   Sunday, July 15 View Page Also the 319 Mohr taped at 156 " ott. On the old chart its est would be 91 pounds ( new chart does not go down that low ), actual weight was 99 pounds at day 17.   Sunday, July 15 View Page 1306 Mohr at day 30. 245 in ott- 335 pounds, about 23 per day. Can't seem to get any bigger gains on this, maybe it is getting thick on the inside. Looks like a solid fruit, we shall soon see.   Sunday, July 15 View Page It appears that my second set on the 1495 has also aborted. One more chance on a side vine.   Sunday, July 15 View Page Entry #23 was incorrect, that is my healthy melon.   Wednesday, July 18 View Page Bought one of these. It used to take me 1.5 hours and 6 gallons to spray 4000 sq ft. Now I do it better and in 15- 20 minutes, all from the outside of the patch !!! I love it !!   Wednesday, July 18 View Page My 772 seed from 2010. This is my biggest day 20 ever at 189" ott. The plant is not all that big probably around 300 sq ft. One more day of heat to get through today. It was pollinated by the 1495 stelts and had seeds in the blossem. I hope it holds up. The front is starting to grow downward and stem is getting higher.   Saturday, July 28 View Page This is my 772 Zappa from 2010, did not measure today but definately growing, unlike the next entry :(......   Saturday, July 28 View Page This is a 203" abort ! My fruit on the main had a bes a few weeks ago, luckily I had one set on a side vine, so I thought. This is the 319 Mohr plant and what a plant it is. Very healthy and very strong looking. I did see a hole dug under the sand.I will actually feel better if a critter borrowed into it.I will cut it off and check later today. And of coarse it was another open pollination so not worth keeping seeds.   Saturday, July 28 View Page This is my last hope on the 1495 Stelts plant. If something goes wrong, it will be pulled . This plant has had yellowing leaves for at least 1 month now.   Saturday, July 28 View Page This is my last hope on the 1495 Stelts plant. If something goes wrong, it will be pulled . This plant has had yellowing leaves for at least 1 month now.   Saturday, July 28 View Page These are some of the leaves on the 1495 Stelts plant.The leaves on the main started to yellow first, then only certain side vines got yellow, not all of them.It is still growing tertiary growth vigorously and the fruit was still growing as of yesterday.   Saturday, July 28 View Page Could that last entry be yellow vine disease ???   Saturday, July 28 View Page Could that last entry be yellow vine disease ???   Saturday, July 28 View Page This is a close up on a 1495 leave. The entire patch was ammended the same so I am doubting a deficiency of any kind, and the plant has been getting 1 pound of k-mag per week for about a month now sprinkled under the canopy.   Saturday, July 28 View Page Doug, this one is for you. ...... "Have you seen this one", LOL !! This is the 1306 Mohr which will get unveiled next friday.Slow and steady, really ribbing up and starting to grow over the blossem end. 22 lbs a day for the last 3-4 weeks. 45 days old Friday (yesterday).   Saturday, July 28 View Page This is my son Derriks melon. Taping at 62 pounds, putting on around 2 lb a day. If he can keep it healthy it should hit 100 pounds in a few weeks.   Saturday, July 28 View Page Well, I noticed some brown , dead leaves near the stump of the 1306 Mohr. The main vine was totally rotted about a foot and a half out from the stump for about 12 inches. I cut the main ahead of the rot. I lost the stump and first 2 sets of secondaries. I still have a lot of plant behind the fruit and 6 days untill harvest.   Sunday, August 5 View Page This is a pic of me with the fruit from the 1306 Mohr that I grew. This picture is a little deceiving, it's really not as big as it looks in the pic. Picked on Friday evening at day 52, est was around 786 pounds. We took it to the Ohio State Fair Sat morning.   Sunday, August 5 View Page Stem shot. This was the nicest shaped pumpkin that I have grown in 3 years.Plant was the healthiest in the patch.   Sunday, August 5 View Page A few of the 9 entries.   Sunday, August 5 View Page 872 pounds, about 9% heavy. 1-3rd place were very close in size ,it could have been anyones. I ended up with 3rd place. Very happy that it went heavy. Dave Cantrell ( brotherDave)took 2nd John Maston took 1st Got to meet a lot of great growers.   Sunday, August 5 View Page A very nice event !   Saturday, August 18 View Page I picked this one last Sunday. It had what I think was yellow vine disease and the fruit stopped growing. Grown from my own 772 Zappa 2010 seed, this was going to be a pretty orange one if it could have matured a little more. It was only at day 45, had a est of 574 lbs, 295"s ott. I crossed it with the 1495 Stelts and I will have seeds available in a month .   Saturday, August 18 View Page Stem side   Saturday, August 18 View Page A field pumpkin from an 81 Wolf. This fruit grew like crazy for 20-25 days than really slowed down at 80 pounds, bummer.It is sitting close to 90 lbs now and barely any more growth. It is close to 34 days old today.   Saturday, August 18 View Page blossem view   Monday, September 3 View Page Sunflowers in background.   Monday, September 3 View Page My son Derrik with his melon. Taped it today at 143 pounds. He may very well pass my pb of 162 pounds. It averaged 2.5 pounds a day for the past 7 days. Warm weather for the next several days. Plant is small around 100 sq feet.   Tuesday, September 18 View Page My son Derrik with his smaller melon. Weight was 99.2 pounds on bathroom scale, 2 pounds lighter than chart. Seed was from my 162 2011. Nic job Derrik !   Tuesday, September 18 View Page This is his melon that is still growing. Saturday it taped at 159 pounds, averaging around 1.5 pounds a day for the last week. With nearly 4 weeks until the weigh off, He is going to surpass my pb, which I would love to see ! The amazing thing is that the plant is only around 90 sq ft. He has had to hand water his melons all season, which he has done a great job at !   Tuesday, September 18 View Page Stem view   Thursday, September 20 View Page This was my tallest sunflower, and the head was decent size also. Laying it flat on the ground it measured 23.25 at the biggest point. I was never able to get high enough to get the base of the head tied to the stake. The winds and rain did it in. The head and 3 feet of the stalk snapped clean off.   Thursday, September 20 View Page When they are this concave, you can gain a few inches in diameter. It is around 6 inches high. The stalk was around 15.5 feet high. An 8 foot step ladder in the back of my trailer was still not high enough to reach the head.   Thursday, September 20 View Page Got my soil test back. I am disturbed at why my ph has dropped from 7.0 ( in the spring) to 6.6 now. Acid rain, my well water, ferts ???? I am going to have to call western labs to see what is going on.   Tuesday, October 2 View Page We went on a weekend trip to see some Pennsylvania elk. I can't believe I have never gone there before considering it is only a 2.5 hour drive ! We saw some nice bulls and even heard them bugle a few times.   Tuesday, October 2 View Page One more. This bull had some serious mass. He looked smaller bodied but was incharge of the ladies he was with. He chased off two other nice sized bulls.   Tuesday, October 2 View Page Here he is chasing another bull away from his harem.   Tuesday, October 2 View Page Parker Dam, very nice park.   Tuesday, October 2 View Page Sunday my kids did a little fishing in Cook forest.They have a special area for kids under 12, and handicapped people.My kids usually hammer the trout here. My daughter caught her first of two golden rainbows !   Tuesday, October 2 View Page My son Collin caught a golden also.   Tuesday, October 2 View Page My other son Derrik was VERY dissapointed that he did not land a golden. He had one on and lost it right at his feet. He made up though with this beautiful brook trout, one of the prettiest that I have seen !   Sunday, October 14 View Page One for "smallmouth Luke".   Sunday, October 14 View Page A pic of Derrik before we cut his melon for the weigh off.   Sunday, October 14 View Page That bugger just fit in the wagon.   Sunday, October 14 View Page That bugger just fit in the wagon.   Sunday, October 14 View Page Derriks field pumpkin, 80 pounds if I remember correctly.   Sunday, October 14 View Page This was quite a surprise. 1st place in the giant sunflower head catagory at the ovgpg weigh off. 27 inches, and good for a new Pennsylvania state record. And my son Derrik took 2nd. Can't remember exactly how big his was, 23 or 25 inches.   Sunday, October 14 View Page Although the entries for giant pumpkins were down this year, there were a lot of melons, sunflowers, and field pumpkins. The top 10 was very impressive ! Thanks for a great time at the weigh off ovgpg team !   Sunday, October 14 View Page Here is a closer view of the sunflower head. It is going to take a trip to New York City with some other big melons and pumpkins and be on display.   Sunday, October 14 View Page Here is a closer view of the sunflower head. It is going to take a trip to New York City with some other big melons and pumpkins and be on display.   Sunday, October 14 View Page Had to show the stalks from the sunflowers. These are about 4 inches in diameter, but they are sort of oval in shape. Hey Peace Wayne, If your out there, thanks again for the seeds you gave me 2 years ago.   Sunday, October 14 View Page I think this is my favorite picture in my diary this year ! lol !! This is Derriks 2nd place sun flower.   Monday, October 15 View Page Quinn's monster field pumpkin.   Sunday, October 21 View Page Our fall display is not the same with out a giant or two in it, but looks good with all the field pumpkins that did grow good.   Saturday, November 10 View Page Took a day off and did some stealhead fishing with my Dad this past Monday. This is an above average fish, 7-8 pounds.   Saturday, November 10 View Page Not the best picture, but this is what we took home with us.Going to make some smoked stealhead soon. A rather slow but steady day of fishing. Nice to get out.   Saturday, November 10 View Page The patch is done for the season. I got my lime tilled in just before the big storm ( Sandy ) hit. And I got my garlic in too.   Saturday, November 10 View Page Things to improve on for next year : 1. Spray insecticides more frequent and buy better products. 2. Start spraying melons with fungicide in the 1st week of June. 3.Start field pumpkins 2 weeks later than in 2012. Start sunflowers 1-2 weeks later. 4. Keep the weeds down a little better.