Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 183 Entries. Sunday, February 2 View Page I'm ready for this long cold winter to end. I have settled on my AG lineup for 2014. 220 DeBacco (2009 Wallace X 1725 Harp[2009 clone]), 829 Young (2009 Wallace X 1725 Harp), 1478 Scherber (1655 Ford X 220 DeBacco), 1220 Johnson (1421 Stelts X 220 DeBacco), 1357 Stevens (1476 Hopkins X self), 454 LaRiviere (220 DeBacco X 2009 Wallace), 432 Wexler (220 DeBacco X self), 335 Scherber ‘11 (F: 1421.5 Stelts [1663 Zoellner] x M: 1161 Rodonis [1725 Sweet]) 7 of these will go into the competition patches and one will go into a genetics patch with my 862 McWilliams. I'm excited about my long gourd lineup: 118.5 McWilliams, 115.13 Wright, (grew my 118.25), 139.75 Ansems, 137.25 Ansems, 114.5 Stivers. My 118.25 was still growing when picked, an with a couple more days it might have equaled David Miller's state record. I'm going to cross it with Richard Stivers' 114.5 to create an "Anamosa cross"   Thursday, February 27 View Page I have to have a tune up on my shoulder in a couple weeks. If the damage isn't too bad and the doc can fix it with the scope, I will be back in shape in plenty of time for the growing season. If he finds a bad rotator cuff tear and has to do an open repair, I will be immobilized until the first of May and need another month of rehab. I'm glad that I got a lot of fall patch prep done and will have Jacob to help early on in the season.   Wednesday, March 12 View Page I'm getting ready to head to Cedar Rapids for my shoulder surgery. I hope it will fix things up so I can work in the pumpkin patch without so much pain. Even though we have had some warm days, the patch is still about knee deep in snow. But the snow provided good insulation so there shouldn't be too much frost.   Wednesday, March 12 View Page Back home after the shoulder surgery. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. I had a bunch of scar tissue from the surgery I had 9 years ago and a hole in my rotator cuff. It wasn't a complete tear and my doctor was able to sew up the hole. I can start physical therapy in 2 weeks and should be at least part way back to normal by planting time. Let spring begin!!   Sunday, March 16 View Page Some of the biological items I will be using this year. I'm using both the RTI Mycos and Holland's BioEndogrow as well as trying Azos for the first time. I'm also using both the Jobes and Espoma starter fertilizers to get a wider selection of beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae.   Sunday, March 16 View Page A mouse chewed a hole in my big storage box to build a nest in my hunting clothes. I decided that the hole works great for running a power cord through, so I converted it into a new germination box. I added Styrofoam insulation and aluminum foil for reflectors. I bolted on a power strip and installed daylight compact fluorescent bulbs on plug-in sockets. I'm now experimenting with the number and wattage of bulbs to get the correct temperature. 2 bulbs gave me 80 degrees and 3 took it up to 86. I think that upping the wattage on one bulb should get it close to 88 or 90. I have plenty of time on my hands for practice germination and tomato and pepper seed starting. I have another week and a half in the immobilizer sling before I can start physical therapy on my shoulder. The seed practice should help keep the cabin fever from getting too bad. The snow is almost gone and I'm anxious to get outside.   Tuesday, March 25 View Page Just got back from the surgeon's office and all 16 staples were removed from my left shoulder, I start physical therapy next week, just passive range of motion for 4 weeks. That means that the therapist moves the shoulder for me, and I don't get to start actually using the arm until May. Its a good thing that I'm right handed. Hopefully Jacob can come home from college for a couple weekends mid to late April to help with the final patch prep. It was cold today after an overnight snow. But a warm-up is coming in just a couple days.   Friday, April 11 View Page Nice weather now with an all day soaker in the forecast for Sunday. So I got started applying fertilizer. I got some 10-10-10, 0-0-50, rock phosphate, mag sulfate and kelp applied for 6 pumpkins and my long gourds. I will finish up tomorrow. It is a lot harder when you have to do it mostly one handed. I have my left arm out of the sling but still I'm not supposed to be using it yet. I want it to heal up, as rotator cuff surgery is no picnic and I don't want to have to do it again. My new fertilizer spreader helped a lot. The rye cover crop is growing, but the deer are keeping it short. Soon it will be time to fire up the electric fence. The watermelon, field pumpkin, tomato and sweet corn patches will be fertilized later. The copper, manganese, and borax will be mixed with water and sprayed in a few days. My wife and kids got me a new hand sprayer that I can use this spring. It would be impossible to use my backpack sprayer with my shoulder in this condition. I have some bagged compost and manure and a small pile of homemade compost to spread out too. I'm thankful for my self propelled tiller that I can run one handed. I planned to start some watermelons tonight, but all the work on my winter softened body wore me out. But the good thing about retirement is that I can work at my own pace and have time to get everything done.   Sunday, April 13 View Page We were supposed to get 2 or 3 inches of rain starting last evening and running through today. We needed rain as it had gotten very dry and we need to break a 2 year drought. A nice all day soaker would be nice after 2 days of upper 70's. As of 7:30 PM this evening we are at 5" and it is still raining. 24 hours ago Jacob sent me a picture text of the hail he got at Upper Iowa University. His car has a lot of dents but no broken glass. Since the car is 19 years old we aren't concerned. Lots of others had smashed windshields. Sometime during the early morning the rain is supposed to change to snow. On this date 8 years ago we had a tornado miss us by 200 yards. Just a typical Iowa spring.   Monday, April 14 View Page Rain total for the whole storm was 5.9". Luckily it came over about 36 hours, so the creek didn't flood. But the ground is now more than totally saturated. The lower ground my patch that was planted to ladino clover to give the deer an alternative food source is partially under water. It will be several days before I can get into the patch to till and set up hoop houses. Snow flurries started around 10AM today, and forecast for tomorrow morning is 19 degrees. But in a few days we are supposed to be back in the 60's.   Monday, April 14 View Page Rye cover crop is growing but the deer keep it mowed short. The dwarf Essex rape that was planted with the rye winter killed just like is should have. This plot was sweet corn last year. I mowed down the stalks and tilled them in along with a truck load of grass clippings. It got a Ford Ranger load of composted cow manure and 2 truck loads of field pumpkins bought for a dime each added for organic matter. It is closest to the creek and gets more sand when the creek floods. Floods have become rare since a large dam was built upstream around 15 years ago.   Tuesday, April 15 View Page Some of my adversaries across the fence, eating clover in the neighbor's pasture. There was at least one more in the pasture, just a small part of the herd in the neighborhood. The electric fence works to keep them out of the pumpkins, and we try our best to lower the population in the fall.   Tuesday, April 15 View Page This is what the deer left out of one of our globe arborvitae bushes. 2 more are this bad or worse. They even came right up by the windows when I was sitting in my chair less than 3' away. They can do in a pumpkin patch in a hurry.   Tuesday, April 15 View Page I just got the baqger for my new riding mower today. It will make mulching and composting a lot easier. Mo more raking for my injured shoulders.   Tuesday, April 22 View Page first round of AG, watermelon and long gourd seed starting commenced yesterday. Hoop houses went up today. I hope they get the soil warmed up and I'm not starting too soon. Rye cover crop looking good where I was able to get it sown on fairly bare soil. Where I tried seeding in standing pumpkin vines just before the weighoff, the rye is very thin. One plot that had rape cover crop is bare except for a few early weeds.   Monday, April 28 View Page Rain, wind, and rain. We had 1.4" a few days ago. Then Saturday it blew hard all day. Sunday the wind got worse and just before 5PM the big storm hit. There was a tornado on the ground a few miles away and heading towards us, but it lifted up before it got here. But it still did some minor damage to the hoop houses. Luckily the hoops were just warming the soil and didn't have any pumpkins in them yet. So I can fix the damage and beef them up before I plant. I checked the rain gauge this morning and found 1.7". That makes a total of 9" in the past 16 days, and it is still raining. Forecast is for rain the next several days with high temps only reaching the 50's to low 60's. I need it to warm up because the pumpkins, watermelons and gourds are all sprouting.   Monday, April 28 View Page After 1 week, pumpkin germination is 6 for 7. Only the Snowball hasn't popped yet, but I have patience. It will take a few days for the weather to straighten out so it still has plenty of time. Gourds are 3 for 5 so far. I started a few more seeds this evening.   Wednesday, April 30 View Page I dumped another half inch or rain out of the rain gauge today, making 9.5" since April 12. Still no sign of life from the Snowball seed. I have temp right around 88 to 90 degrees. Yesterday I gently pulled it out of the Jiffy mix and scraped off more of the edge of the seed. I also scraped off all of the brown seed coat to see if that would help. I guess I just have to wait some more.   Wednesday, April 30 View Page I got a chance between rain showers to finish the hoop house repairs. 2 of the conduit hoops wee broken off at ground level. I have to keep a 100 Watt bulb going in the mini greenhouse to keep the plants warm. Daytime temp in the greenhouse is 70, outside 49. The plants will definitely be hardened off when planted   Saturday, May 3 View Page Put 6 pumpkin plants in the ground today. The roots were coming out of the moist peat pots. Some were coming out the extra holes I punched in the pots and some were coming through on their own. This one had a little mold starting to show near the top of the pot, and that got torn off. All pots had the top parts torn away. I hope I'm not too early. The top 3 to 4 inches of soil is warm, but it is cooler below. Forecast is for one more cool day then a big warm-up.   Saturday, May 3 View Page I almost squished this little bug eater when setting the first pumpkin. He really blends in with the soil. The last 2 years I have had a lot of toads and leopard frogs in the patch, and the bug pressure has not been too bad.   Saturday, May 3 View Page My secret weapon for bug control early in the season. My hoop houses smell like Italian restaurants, and the cucumber beetles don't like it. In a couple seasons I had plants wrecked the first day in the ground by the cukes. I don't like using harsh insecticides until the plants get bigger and stronger.   Saturday, May 3 View Page I set guy lines on the hoop houses to help keep them stable in the wind. Even in my protected valley the winds can get quite strong here in eastern Iowa. Where I am growing back to back, the lines run from the top of one hoop to the other. I added extra binder clips to help hold the plastic on.   Saturday, May 3 View Page I got a composter on clearance at Menard's for $30. Simple operation: just add your material and roll it around every day to turn the material and keep the grass from being shaded out.   Sunday, May 4 View Page My 220 DeBacco seed is done for, but I have a 454 LaRiviere (220 X 2009) and a 432 Wexler (220 X self) that both sprouted. Also a 535 McWilliams so I will have a plant for each of the 7 hoop houses and 2 spares. 2 of my Ansems world record gourd seeds sprouted, but when I brushed the Jiffy Mix away from the cots on one of them, I found that they had rotted off. I was also concerned that 2 of my 118.25 long gourd had not germinated. I took 3 of those seeds, cracked them open and found them to be empty. I cracked 2 seeds from a 102" that grew on the same plant, and one was empty and one had just a single, shriveled cot. But I found that the seeds from Jacob's 100" were Ok so I started one.   Saturday, May 10 View Page I planted the rest of the AG's this evening. The 454 La Riviere went into the competition patch. The 432 Wexler (selfed 220 Snowball) and 553 McWilliams went into the genetics patch. I plan to pollinate the 432 with the 553 to try to get big and orange seed stock. I want to get several orange pumpkins on the 553 and try to cross one with a Cinderalla pumpkin to get medium sized bright orange. The 139.25 Ansems, 116 Stivers and 115.13 Wright long gourds went into the ground also. I'm having trouble getting any more gourds germinated. After dark I realized that I forgot to apply the garlic powder. I will have to get up early and get that on before any cucumber beetles get any ideas.   Friday, May 16 View Page Frost warnings are out for tonight, so I have to make sure that everything is covered. The pumpkins and gourds will be no problem, but the 24 tomato plants will be more of a challenge. I have a few more tomato plants and a bunch of pepper plants waiting for some warm weather. I was able to get 3 of the 232.5 Barber "Weeine" watermelon seeds germinated, so I will be giving them a try. I have 2 more long gourds sprouted so we should have 5 plants like we planned. I will be starting field pumpkin seeds tonight. The rye cover crop got mowed down a couple days ago. As soon as it dries out I will be tilling it under. 2 AG plots still need to have a bag of Chickety Doo Doo spread on each one before I till. That should take care of all of the pre-plant fertilization for the year.   Saturday, May 17 View Page Not too much damage from the frost, One tomato leaf was frozen, and the smallest long gourd looks sick this evening. It is supposed to be warmer tonight, but everything is covered just to be sure. Time to start another backup long gourd. Next year I may cut back on the pumpkins and put a long hoop house over the gourds.   Friday, May 23 View Page 2.5" of rain in just a couple hours Tuesday evening really beat down the soil, but all plants are doing well. It is just getting dry enough to work in the patch again. I got all of the hoops weeded and vented for the warm weather. They are mainly up now for wind protection. I set out the field pumpkins today. 4 long gourd plants are growing well, and 2 more have germinated. I have room in the patch for just one, but I have a spot where I can let one grow up a tree. Foxtail is coming in like crazy where I didn't have rye cover crop, but cover crop areas that were tilled up are fairly weed free.   Monday, June 9 View Page Flooded out the end of June. Then no rain for 7 weeks. Then 2 weeks of showers to get the ground saturated. It rained all last night and the creek was very high this morning. It has been raining for over an hour with a huge storm coming it. It runs clear across Iowa and into Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. This following 2 years of drought. Somehow I get the idea Mother Nature has it in for me.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page 335 Scherber plant, growing aggressively.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page 1478 Scherber is the fastest growing plant in the patch. The main vine got a very minor crank as it laid down, and tried to roll over when I took down the hoop, but it still looks good.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page The 1220 Johnson is growing well.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page The 1357 Stevens is growing a double main vine. Hopefully I can get it cut down to a single main. It is looking a little yellow, either lack of sun or nitrogen. All plants got a small side dressing of blood meal and a root drench of Azos. It might need a small shot of 15-30-15.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page 863 McWilliams is doing OK.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page 829 Young tried to grow the wrong direction, but I got it turned.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page 454 LaRiviere was a late start and is still in the hoop house. It is trying to grow 90 degrees off from the intended direction. Once the main is on the ground and can be buried for wind protection the hoop will come down.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page 653 McWilliams growing outside the main patch is doing well. We hope to get several medium size orange pumpkins from this one.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page 432 Wexler is growing slowly, has a double main and appears to have some kind of disease. It will be pulled to protect the rest of the patch.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page A row of 4 giant field pumpkins   Tuesday, June 10 View Page 114.5 Stivers long gourd in foreground and 139.25 Ansems in the background. I'm trying something different on these plants. I started them back from the trellis to try to get some extra rooting on the main. I will also try to get a couple of secondaries rooted as well. I plan to make cuts on the secondaries and use some rooting hormone powder to try for a super root system. The rest of the gourds will just go straight up the trellis. I use tall tomato cages to get the gourds up to the cattle panels that are bent into a U shape between 7' steel fence posts.   Monday, June 16 View Page 139.25 Ansems long gourd with the main going up the tomato cage to the trellis. One secondary is growing away from the main and a couple off to the sides on the ground. The start of an experiment.   Monday, June 16 View Page The trailing secondary was terminated and treated with rooting hormone powder. The leaf nodes were treated with the hormone and a Jobes-Espoma-Mykos-Biogrow Endo mix and buried/ The other secondaries were similarly treated, aimed to the cage and buried, I saw some root buds starting at the stump so they got some rooting hormone and soil. Weeds were pulled and dry grass clippings applied as mulch. The 114.5 Stivers was treated similarly. I will see this fall if it gives a better root system.   Monday, June 16 View Page The Stivers and Ansems gourds after the morning treatment, A walking board added to prevent compaction on what I hope will be a huge root system. In the background you can see how the pigweed and foxtail are doing well in the pumpkin patch. If the wind would calm down I could spray some glyphosate. Those are the Scherber pumpkins and both have females 8 to 10' out on the mains.   Monday, June 16 View Page I have some damage on a couple leaves on the 829 Young. I think it was from a little too much Eight dust a couple weeks ago. Not much I can do but hope for the best.   Monday, June 16 View Page 454 LaRiviere grew 90 degrees off, going out the side of the hoop. We have storms forecast for tonight so the hoop will stay up a while longer. We need the rain, the patch is getting dry.   Monday, June 16 View Page The 1354 Stevens ribbon vine developed a crack as I feared. I turned the vine so the crack at least isn't pointing up to collect rain. I did surgery and might have it trimmed down to a single main. Time will tell if it is successful.   Monday, June 16 View Page A big storm rolled through from south to north at about 5PM this afternoon. It had crazy hard rain, wind and quarter to half dollar size hail. It didn't last too long and by the time it was 15 miles past us it fizzled out. Damage to the patch wasn't too bad and just one dent in my daughter's 3 year old car. Now we have severe storms coming out of the northwest with severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Looks like it might be a wils night.   Monday, June 23 View Page Checked my rain gage this morning; it hadn't been checked for a week. It was overflowing at 6". Weeds are going nuts. I was able to get out and spray glyphosate at safe distance this morning and not have it washed off by rain. I didn't sink in at all as the rain has the soil beaten down hard. I will have to rip trenches ahead of the vines to give them loose soil. I guess after 2 real dry years we had to go to the extreme opposite weather this year. I can't remember a normal growing season.   Wednesday, June 25 View Page Monday's glyphosate spray is working fast to knock out the weeds. No pollinations yet. I had 2 get close and then rot. Still it is early for our valley, as we usually run a week or two later than the rest of the area. The plants all got a shot of systemic fungicide as the heat and rain are just the thing to get the root rot started on the pumpkins and the brown rust fungus on the long gourds. I got the 1357 Stevens down to a single main. I buried a lot of the ribbon vine deep as it turned 90 degrees and I had roots trying to grow up in the air. I need more dry weather but forecast is for heavy rain for the weekend.   Friday, June 27 View Page Pollination has started and as usual I have had to make some changes in plans. Yesterday I pollinated a 1220 Johnson 5 lobe with the 335 Scherber (had planned to use the 1357 Stevens but it had ribbon vine as well as no males. This morning I pollinated a 4 lobe on my 862 McWilliams with the 1478 Scherber (had planned to use the 829 Young but it only had 1 male and I like to sue more to assure good pollination. I pollinated a 1478 Scherber on the main and a backup on a secondary with the 335 Scherber. That one went according to plans.   Monday, June 30 View Page Had a big storm last night. I went to the patch this morning as the 335 Scherber was due for a pollination. When I got there it was gone. The whole patch. The 335 was in a little ball. All the other plants were ripped out by the roots. The electric fence was down and most of the posts were gone. The creek flooded. The 1478 Scherber made the ultimate sacrifice; it was wrapped up around the 139.25 Ansems long gourd and saved the long gourds from destruction. There were on a slightly higher raised bed but it still looked like they had been under water. The forecast for today is for extremely heavy rains. My daughter will have to take a detour to get to work in Iowa City: Iowa Highway 1 is washed out in a couple places. Cedar Rapids had cars washed of streets and into yards. Several towns in Jones county have significant flood damage. Photos will follow.   Monday, June 30 View Page 335 Scherber was supposed to have a female ready for pollination this morning. I guess it won't happen today.   Monday, June 30 View Page That is the 1448 Scherber that protected the long gourds from disaster. The only bright spot in a big muddy mess.   Monday, June 30 View Page There used to be a pumpkin patch here with an electric fence around it. You can see how I have it raised above the creek bottom, but it wasn't high enough.   Monday, June 30 View Page I'm glad that the wet weather let the weeds grow up and made me spray them instead of cultivating with the tiller. If I had tilled I would have lost a few inches of soil. I will plant rape cover crop when things dry out some. I was wondering when I should rent a machine to dig out floodways around the garden and use the soil to raise it up. I guess I can do it later this summer. The garden will end up a lot smaller so I'm not risking as much in the next flood. At least I won't have to take down too much electric fence. I just wonder where all the posts went.   Monday, June 30 View Page I wasn't really looking forward to canning tomatoes in a few weeks anyway. And I won't have to pick and carry heavy field pumpkins. At least I will have more time for fishing, if the flood waters ever go down.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page A miracle plant that just won't give up, the 335 Scherber. It is barely clinging to life after the flood and windstorm. I normally don't name plants, but this one will be known as Survivor.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page Survivor's pollination seems to be growing, so I will do what I can to save it.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page Survivor's secondaries spread out for growing room.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page 139.25 Ansems long gourd after the 1478 Scherber pumpkin was pulled off. A little muddy but alive and still growing.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page Jacob's 653 somehow survived too. It was in a low spot, probably over 2' deep. I'm going to call this one Submarine if it pulls through.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page A lot of growers have been posting pictures of their Weenie watermelons. I had 2 and somehow they survived. They were in the deepest, fastest water in the old creek channel. This one was nearly squished by my wheelbarrow. I am calling it Wonder Weenie.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page The Wheelbarrow floated over this Weenie without knocking it out. I call it Miracle Weenie.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page I may not get a pumpkin or watermelon this year, but crying about it won't help. I have already decided where I an going to dig out wider and deeper floodways around the patch and where I will get soil to raise the patch higher. The creek gave me several piles of sand that I can use for a watermelon bed. I will come back with a smaller but better patch next year. And I'm not giving up on the long gourds this year either.   Saturday, July 5 View Page We are getting a light rain. Hopefully it will wash the flood dirt off Survivor and the others. I found a lone field pumpkin growing out from under uprooted AG vines. I left them alone because I didn't want to risk breaking off the live vine. That one earned the name Noah. I did find one problem while trying to salvage electric fence wire and posts. A few days before the flood my neighbor mowed his horse pasture which had a large patch of Canada thistles. All the debris on the wires is filled with thistle spines, and I found them by grabbing a handful. I did get a lot of the now empty pumpkin spots seeded to rye, dwarf Essex rape, and groundhog radishes. I hope I can rent a skid steer loader in August to do some needed renovations.   Sunday, July 6 View Page Survivor wont give up, so I won't either. The light rain rinsed a lot of off without mudding up the patch too much. I made trenches for vine burying and mixed in the Mykos and Jobes. Instead of a Christmas tree pattern, this plant will have a weeping willow vine pattern. Probably appropriate, crying for its lost companions. Submarine may have a flower open tomorrow. I got my garden hose pulled off, but part of the hose is still tangled up in the electric fence and tomato pile. I still have to get some electric fence around the remaining plants. I just hope the groundhogs were in the burrow by the creek. When the fast moving water got in the borrow it blew out the bank and took out some walnut trees.   Wednesday, July 9 View Page The female that I pollinated on the 335 Scherber (Survivor)2 days before the flood is now 11 days old and smaller than a softball. But the plant wont' quit and I won't either. I have another one going to open tomorrow on the main and one more a few days later. We have cool weather coming so I will give Survivir a chance. We pollinated one on Jacob's 553 (Submarine) this morning. Since the vined got all tangled up in the flood it is hard to tell if it is on the main or a secondary. I spent most of the day salvaging electric fence posts and wires and getting temporary electric fence around the remaining giants. Maybe in a few days I can include the Weenies and Noah the field pumpkin in the fence. The Cinderella pumpkins that were planted from seed in the garden have started blooming. Those plants were smaller than the giants and probably didn't catch the current as bad.   Thursday, July 10 View Page I self pollinated a 4 lobe female on Survivor this morning. The plant seems to be rebounding nicely. The long gourd plants are growing vines and male flowers but no females. A few leaves that looked like they might be getting brown rust fungus were cut off. All the plants were sprayed with fung-o-nil and Agri-Fos for disease. No bugs have been seen, but I sprayed bifenthrin to keep them out. Local TV is forecasting 2" to 4" of rain for the next 2 days. I'm hoping for less. 4" could cause more flooding with the saturated soil if it comes too fast. A little would help to soften the crusted soil and wash the rest of the dirt off.   Friday, July 11 View Page Survivor is looking a whole lot better than the morning after the flood. Since all the vines ended up parallel to the mail, I'm having to loop them back towards the stump. I pollinated a 4 lobe female on a secondary this morning, and one should open on the main tomorrow. The plants were running a week or two ahead of normal, but now the remaining ones are behind. At least they aren't all gone.   Friday, July 11 View Page Submarine recovering from the flood. It was at least waist deep and flowing fast in this spot. Some people think that seedlings don't root out well through peat pots, but mine all did. I found that instead of being uprooted, the plants I lost were just broken off at the stump.   Friday, July 11 View Page Long gourds are looking great. The early germinated gourds are on the right and ahead of the others. Still no female flowers yet.   Friday, July 11 View Page After the creek leaves my place it goes through the corner of one hobby farm and into Wapsipinicon State Park. In the park it piled up trees against the foot bridge and buried the road at the "upside-down" bridge and lots of grass areas with sand and mud. I guess I'm lucky my garden wasn't covered with 2' of sand.   Friday, July 11 View Page When the big windstorm hit I was afraid it would wipe out the long gourd trellises. In town, they didn't fare as well. The Anamosa football stadium used to have a nice press box at the top of the stands. And there used to be a lot more trees behind the stadium and they were all standing up straight.   Friday, July 11 View Page Tree salvage operations on the school grounds behind the football field. Scenes like this were all over Anamosa. I really don't want to see wind like that again.   Wednesday, July 16 View Page Saw a groundhog near the garden today. I made sure all grass and weeds are off the electric fence and sprayed fox urine. The little fiend will learn that Iowa has a continuous open season on his kind. I mowed around his den and mowed down the flood-flattened Indian corn so I can get a clear shot. Field pumpkin and long gourds are pollinating. Moths have to do the job on the gourds. I have a ditch under the trellis and it still is a little too soft for a ladder. Survivor has a good one going on the main, but the stem wants to run right on top of the main. I may have to end the main at the pumpkin. I wanted to let the main grow because of all of the flood damage. I can wait a few days to see if another fruit looks better.   Thursday, July 17 View Page Earliest post-flood pollination on Survivor. I put as much curve on the main as I could because it is so close to the drainage ditch. The stem just wanted to follow the main, then a secondary decided to follow it. If I keep this one I will cut off the main here and remove the secondary. I have 2 more on the main beyond this one, but it is getting late. Overall plant health is great, especially considering the flood. I found some Chickety Doo Doo in the garage and spread it around the plant. No incorporation, just waiting for rain to work some nutrients into the soil. I hope the stink keeps critters away; it makes me want to keep my distance. I found that mowing weeds on the vacant pumpkin patches is a little depressing.   Thursday, July 17 View Page I finally got all of the downed electric fence wires cleaned up, I hope. If not I will probably find them bound up on tiller tines or mower blades. I have to get Submarine weeded a little better. It seems to have at least one pollination taking off. The cool weather has helped. My wife was reminded that floods drive snakes up the hill yesterday. She moved a bag of wood chips and found several garter snakes "making happy" under it. At least that is her explanation for the scream. I learned that deer fly season is here the hard way. I have ping pong ball size welts on my shoulder, elbow, and leg. I have to remember the insect repellant for the next few weeks when working outside.   Saturday, July 19 View Page Survivor 19 days post flood. The recovery is amazing to me. I can't get in to weed where all the vines were tangled up, but I'm keeping the rest fairly clean.   Saturday, July 19 View Page Decision time is coming soon. If I keep this one, I lose the end of the main. But the ones beyond are still real small and real close to the drainage ditch which would make loading difficult. I think I can re=route the secondary to save more vine.   Saturday, July 19 View Page Flagging on the Cinderella pumpkins. I can't believe it, but if it doesn't rain soon I will have to start watering. Another cruel joke from Mother Nature?   Saturday, July 19 View Page Submarine looking better, but just a little yellow. Once I'm sure that a pollination has taken off I can fertilize again. The mud around this one let the weeds get ahead of me. Maybe the flood did me some good by lessening my hoeing chores. 4 months after rotator cuff surgery my shoulder is better but still a little sore and not nearly back to full strength. Next year I will have a smaller patch so I can give what I have more attention.   Saturday, July 19 View Page Submarine's first pollination is now close to volleyball size. Nice shape, and I hope it has its mother's great color.   Saturday, July 19 View Page I like the looks of the gourd on the left. Long, skinny and at the top of the trellis. This is on the 129.13 Young. The 114.5 Stivers has some gourds started, and the 139.25 Ansems will have the first female bloom in a day or two. Still waiting for females on the 137.5 Ansems and 115.13 Wright to get females. Will be time to start foliar feeding soon. I'm real optimistic for the gourds this year. I got much better soil prep this year, and the plants are about a month ahead of last year. They can grow while the days are longer instead of the shorter days in September like last year.   Monday, July 21 View Page I moved the temporary electric fence around Survivor down into the drainage ditch to give me extra room to bend the main vine away from the pumpkin. With a couple more adjustments over the next few days I just might be able to save the end of the main. I checked my 2008 diary, another very wet year. Survivor is pollinated 3 days earlier with a much bigger, though flood damaged plant. I managed to get 841# in 2008, so I still might have a shot at 1000#. I even had to water this morning. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be scorchers.   Wednesday, July 23 View Page Ever wonder what the bottom of your main vine looks like half way through the season? I hope you don't find out like this. That area is weedy because it is a tangle of secondaries and I don't want to hurt them any more. I can make up for what the weeds take with water and fertilizer.   Wednesday, July 23 View Page Overall health of Survivor is amazing. The long gourds in the background are just going crazy, bigger plants than any I have ever grown. I guess they liked my soil prep and Mother Nature's flood irrigation. The garbage can is used to warm up water with extreme blend for soil drenches. It has gotten dry enough to start watering. I guess we could use some rain, just a little more reasonable amount.   Wednesday, July 23 View Page Fruit on Survivor main sitting on bed of sand. Nice shape and in a few days it will outgrow the leaf shade and need a white sheet.   Wednesday, July 23 View Page Biggest fruit on Noah the field pumpkin. I like the size of the stem already. I don't remember what seed it was grown from and the flood washed away the stake that had the seed name on it.   Wednesday, July 23 View Page 2 gourds on the 129.13 Young. The WR Ansems plant is bigger but no gourd yet.   Wednesday, July 23 View Page 2 pumpkins on Submarine. The plant is smaller than Survivor, but the parent 553's plant was smaller with small leaves. I buried more vines with my "trench mix" and watered in some blood meal. I also sprinkled garlic powder and root drenched Merit yesterday. Tomorrow after spraying glyphosate on deer plots I will clean the sprayer and apply some bifenthrin. Gourds will get foliar feed.   Wednesday, July 23 View Page Pre-flood the creek bank was up to 10 beyond these trees. Now it is about 2'. If I let the creek keep eroding it will take the trees and cut off my access around the garden. So this fall the trees will be cut up for firewood. It will open up sunlight to grow grass on the bank and get morning sun on the garden. It won't hurt to keep walnut roots back too. I can anchor scrub pine trees at the bottom of the bank to trap sand and silt and re-build the bank. It is a technique that my late buddy Darcy Keil and I used to stabilize a lot of creek banks in the area.   Thursday, July 24 View Page I'm all in with the pumpkin on Survivor's main. I adjusted the vine again and blocked it up with Styrofoam. It got a white sheet and drenched with extreme blend with some Azos. I held off on contact insecticide as rain is due by morning. No bugs showing up yet. Still have 2 pumpkins on Submarine, and will wait a few more days before deciding if I will keep one or both. Cover crops are coming up along with weeds on the empty plots.   Sunday, July 27 View Page I had to be gone for 3 days, but the garden was left in Jacob's capable hands. Everything is looking good, and we even has a nice rain. We have 2 gourds that are now as long as a hoe handle. The pumpkins on Survivor and Submarine grew quite a bit. I will take the first measurements at day 20, the end of the month. I'm now optimistic that one could make 1000#, but know that a hundred different things could go wrong. One good thing: I finally found my lost composter. The flood washed it under some bushes and it showed up after I sprayed some weeds around them. I was afraid that it went down the creek, into the Wapsi River and was headed towards New Orleans.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page Survivor, 20 DAP, 30 days post flood. Measurements SS=52, EE=51, CIR= 69, TOTAL 172" 125# estimated weight. After all this plant has been through I am thrilled.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page Submarine 19 DAP, 30 days post flood. Measurements SS= 44, EE=41, CIR=56, total 141", estimated weight 68#. It is getting the tapered blossom end typical of a plant that is starving for nutrition. It didn't get the organic fertilizers like Survivor, so I'm sure a lot leached out of the soil. Jacob and I are pouring on the Miracle Gro and some 10-10-10 to try to get it some more nutrition.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page Long gourds on the 129.13 Young taping 69" and 66". They still should have 10 days of good growing before they slow down. The 114.5 Stivers and 139.5 Ansems now have gourds set and growing.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page I had some leaves getting brown spots and some shriveling up on the long gourds. Close inspection showed some were just strangled by tendrils. Anyway they got foliar Agri-Fos on Monday, root drench Agri-Fos on Tuesday and daconil today. Some of the gourd vines are now 26' long and growing like crazy. All of them now have gourds set, and I have been culling ones that are too close to the ground. All plants got daconil and bifenthrin today and Survivor got garlic powder. Still no sign of bugs and I want to keep it that way. Field pumpkins were just starting to show a little powdery mildew, but the fruits are growing fast.   Friday, August 1 View Page Dang deer fly! I was working in the patch this morning when one of those evil, venomous, flying demons bit me above my eye. (I don't look like this all the time) It isn't painful, it just feels weird and makes my eye water. The swelling will likely be gone by tomorrow afternoon. You would think that I would remember the insect repellant as this happens every year. Anyway the patch is looking good, but we need rain. I'm going to have to set up temporary electric fence around the long gourds because a couple are getting close to the ground and I don't want any critters chewing on them. I'm brewing batches of worm casting tea to try to activate the soil. Submarine got the first shot as it is needing the most help. I keep giving it real low doses of Miracle Grow in warm water to try to green it up without aborting the fruit. So far it seems to be working.   Monday, August 4 View Page Had about 0.1" of rain this morning, and it has been thundering some this afternoon. Our best chance of rain is in 2 days. Survivor taped 210# and Submarine taped 125#. Both are adding around 16# per day and aren't up to peak growth rate yet. Long gourds are now 96" and 97" with new ones on all the plants.   Wednesday, August 6 View Page Last night I dug a hole under the 2 longest gourds. If I hadn't one would have been touching the ground this morning. I guess we either have to deepen the entire ditch under the trellis or re-design the trellis for next year. Field and giant pumpkins are still growing well but we need rain. We were supposed to get some last night and today but the storms just fizzled out 25 miles to the west. One did that last week too. I guess we just have to keep up the watering. The Weenie watermelons have finally started setting fruit, and the rabbits found the vines. They chewed off a couple growing tips and hit a fairytale pumpkin vine too. So yesterday Jacob and I set out rags soaked with fox urine to scare them off and electric wires to fry the little pests if the urine doesn't work.   Thursday, August 7 View Page Survivor plant this afternoon with long gourd trellis in the background. It sure is an improvement from the photo I posted on June 30. Survivor is covering close to 700 square feet, and I am just leaving paths in to the stump and fruit. Long gourds on the 129 Young are 105" and 109" and slowing down. I hope that with some extra watering and feeding I can get them to at least 120. I have one on the 115 Wright that is 55" with at least 2 weeks of good growth left in it.   Thursday, August 7 View Page Survivor pumpkin day 28 estimated weight 268#, averaging 25 per day for last 3 days. Getting a real wide bottom on it. I had to add more sand around it. I traced the secondary vine that I was worried about way back into the flood tangle and it won't hurt to let the pumpkin grow right over it. Submarine's growth is down to 9 per day. I guess it is going to take more water and fertilizer to get much size out of it. Weather forecast is for dry cool conditions for the next week. Not ideal but it sure beats the 105 degree days we had 2 years ago.   Thursday, August 7 View Page Stem on Survivor looks good. I keep moving it a little at a time to prevent stress on the right side. Soon it will be too heavy to move. If necessary I can cut that end loose later in the season. There really isn't much plant past the pumpkin.   Tuesday, August 12 View Page Survivor's day 33 estimated weight 364# gaining around 17# per day. The weather has been cool and dry, so I am pouring on the water and starting foliar feedings. Submarine's estimated weight is 194# gaining 9# per day., The biggest field pumpkin is around 60# adding about 3# per day. It is starting to turn orange so growth should slow down real soon. The bright spot in the garden is the long gourds. I now have one on the 129 Young that exceeds 10', a new personal best. The 115 Wright has a fairly young gourd that is growing close to 7" a day. I definitely need to re-design the trellis for next year so I don't have to dig holes when they get too long.   Tuesday, August 12 View Page I dug a hole in the middle of one of the empty pumpkin plots that hasn't been watered to check on the moisture. The brassica cover crop isn't growing well and I have to keep it mowed to keep weeds from going to seed. The top 4" is powder dry. At 12" there is just barely enough moisture in the soil to make a ball that sticks together. I didn't think I would say this 5 weeks ago, but we need rain. Both Weenie watermelon plants have fruit set, so we will see if the amount to anything. Hard to believe that on June 29 they were in 4 feet of water and now the soil is cracking from drought.   Thursday, August 14 View Page Temperatures the past few mornings have been in the low 50's and Survivor's growth is suffering. Down to just 22# gain in 2 days. Forecast if for mid 60's for lows for the next week or so which should help. Also there is a chance for a little badly needed rain on Saturday. Long gourds are doing well. One is getting close to Dave Miller's new state record, but it is nearly done growing. I had his old record beaten, but he went and increased it another 3.5" at the state fair. Way to go Dave! I hope we both have even bigger ones in October.   Tuesday, August 19 View Page Survivor day 40 estimated weight 487#. Gains have jumped up to 20 per day for the last 5 days. I hope it can keep it up, but we need rain. Submarine has lower gains, but it also has 2 pumpkins on the plant. Jacob and I hope to have one or two to sell, and Submarine has good orange color.   Tuesday, August 19 View Page Stem end of Survivor still has no stress, but it is starting to ooze in 2 spots. I will wipe it down with disinfecting kitchen wipes and apply fungicide. The skin is developing some netting despite the white sheet and shade tarp. It thumps more solid than last year's pumpkin that weighed light.   Tuesday, August 19 View Page Long gourds from the 129.13 Young. They are still growing 1/2" to 1" per day. I didn't know which one to keep. as they kept swapping the fastest growth pace, so I kept both. The one at the left is almost on the ground, so I will have to get on my knees and dig the hole deeper with a hand trowel. The board that it is taped to is attached to the trellis with 2 screw eyes and heavy cord. I don't want it to break.   Tuesday, August 19 View Page Top of the 129.13 Young gourd. Now you can see why I want to keep this one intact. That is a 10' 2x4, and the current Iowa state record is 124.5". But I'm sure at least a couple more growers have a shot at beating this one. After the flood, I an truly grateful that God let these plants survive and gave me a chance to grow them.   Tuesday, August 19 View Page Gourd on the 115.13 Wright, the seed that grew my personal best. It will soon hit the 10' length, and there is another one on the plant that might do even better. We also have a good one growing on the Ansems world record, but it is in a bad place between 2 cattle panels. Jacob has been a great help with the gourds. I couldn't have gotten the last panel put up for this gourd after my shoulder surgery without him. Next year We will put in taller posts, a couple wider panels and dig out the ground under the trellis deeper so we don't have to grow the gourds into holes.   Wednesday, August 20 View Page I found the first 2 spotted cucumber beetles of the season, and they did not survive the meeting. Where there is two there will be more. At least the brutal winter and the systemic insecticide and garlic have worked well. After the bees are gone this evening they will be fed some bifenthrin.   Wednesday, August 20 View Page Change of plans for the spraying this evening. We started having some sprinkles and I was afraid they could wash off contact sprays. It was about time for another shot of Merit, so that is what I used. I watered it and hopefully we will get the rain that is in the forecast. The past 6 weeks the rains have either gone 30 miles to the north or south or died out 3o miles west of us. I don't think we have gotten much more than an inch since the big storm at the end of June. When it looks like the current sprinkles are done I will get out the contact spray and garlic.   Thursday, August 21 View Page I'm running into a problem with Survivor. It started a stem split right where it attaches to the pumpkin. It wasn't too deep, so I used my pocket knife to extend it a little up the stem. I hope that keeps it from going into the pumpkin. I painted that and the other oozing spots with daconil. I need to get some sulfur tomorrow. It is too far to run electricity for a fan and the weather turned super humid. Maybe I can find a battery fan to dry it out.   Friday, August 22 View Page I got the sulfur and treated the stem on Survivor this evening. The work I did last night was successful, but now it is holding water around the stem. It started growing over the blossom and the stem is pointing up at 45 degree angle. Now I am getting powdery mildew on Survivor, mainly around the shade tarp. At least growth is up to 26# per day, est. 565# at day 43. The weather is the hottest of the year, 89 today and humidity is through the roof. Still we aren't getting the predicted rains. They are all north or south of us or fizzle out just to the west.   Sunday, August 24 View Page Stem split on Survivor. I have seen worse, but this pumpkin is becoming a reverse birdbath. The stem is pointing up and water collects around the split. It took several paper towels to soak it up. The split only goes about 2" deep but I don't want rot to start.   Sunday, August 24 View Page I got a battery operated fan from my daughter and have it set up to dry out the split. Once it is dry it will be filled with sulfur and sealed with quick drying latex caulk. I will try to get another water shedding cover over the stem. I learned while watering that the shade tarp leaks a little, and it gets condensation on the bottom in the morning. If the crack widens I may have to re-caulk. I found 2 small pumpkins hiding in the weedy vine tangle left by the flood and eliminated them. So far growth for August has averaged 19# per day. Today is hottest day of the year, around 92 and sunny.   Sunday, August 24 View Page Survivor today. If you had told me on June 30th that it would look like this in less than 2 months I would have thought you were crazy. It went from a soggy 45 square foot mess to a 750 square foot healthy plant. But being my last competition plant makes me uneasy with the stem split.   Sunday, August 24 View Page 3 gourds on the 115.1e Wright growing into holes. The one on the right is close to 10', the one in the middle id around 9' and growing faster. The one on the left is set lower on the trellis and may need to be grown on a slant board soon. I will keep it hanging as long as possible.   Sunday, August 24 View Page An unsuccessful attempt at growing on a slant board. I had success with this in the past with the shorter, fatter gourds but this one decided to be a snake.   Sunday, August 24 View Page The best gourd on the Ansems world record plant. The gourds on this one are real skinny at the bottom end, and all the others on the plant aborted. This one is around 8' long and growing 3 to 4 inches per day.   Sunday, August 24 View Page Another gourd on the 139 Ansems. The bottom ends stay skinny and rot. I let the bugs do the pollination, so maybe they didn't pollinate well.   Monday, August 25 View Page Big Pumpkins members are great. Cecil emailed me a technique to wick water out of the trouble spot on Survivor, and I will give it a try. Kolache told me about a battery operated fan at WalMart. Then I remembered that my daughter bought one after the big storm at the end of June when our electricity was off for a long time. I bought it from her and used it overnight to get it all dried out. Unfortunately Mother Nature won't cooperate. Radar shows a line of storms has been going by north and west of us for a while, but most has missed us. We might get just a little rain at the tail end. My parents one county to the east got 3.1" in the past week, and we have gotten barely over an inch in the past 6 weeks.   Tuesday, August 26 View Page Survivor got another stem split, just opposite the first one. Day 47 estimated weight is 636#. We have been getting some heavy rains but they last only a few minutes and are gone. The stem was full of water, so I soaked it up with paper towels and added more sulfur. I put temporary patches of caulk over them and re-set my cover. It is supposed to rain every day through Saturday. Once we get dry weather, the tarp comes off to get sun and the fan goes back on. Once it is good and dry I will clean off all the sulfur so I can get a caulk seal, pain the inside with Daconil, dry it again and caulk it. Then hope and pray for the best. If I can keep it going it has a chance to make a personal best, if it doesn't go light. I used my pumpkin tape to measure my snake gourd to see how long it would be if it was straight. 106" and still growing. To bad the vine grew over the top of the trellis and back down to within 4' of the ground before setting the gourd.   Friday, August 29 View Page Day 50 Survivor estimated weight is 661#, with 35 days to go. I need just 259 more pounds for a personal best, but with all of the stem problems I will settle for anything that makes it to the weigh off intact. Every day has a new issue crop up. 3 days ago I sprayed Agri Fos and bifenthrin. Bye bye cucumber beetles. 2 days ago I sprayed milk and daconil on the PM. It is getting bad near the shade tarp, and today is sunny and breezy so the tarp came off. Might help dry up the stem too. Submarine has 2 great orange pumpkins at 300# and 227#. We brought our two best long gourds in for safe keeping, and we have 2 more on the trellis that are approaching 10' long. Another one on a slant board is at 100" and staying fairly straight. It has a few more growing days left, so its time for more foliar feeding.   Friday, August 29 View Page Picture of my slant board success. You can see every day that the end gets closer to the bottom of the board and the black electrical tape gets stretched downward, Right at 100" long now.   Sunday, August 31 View Page With a sunny breezy day I decided to clean out the stem split on Survivor. I needed a stick to scrape out wet sulfur powder, so I went to get one off a branch on a sycamore tree. I found this little critter hiding out, waiting for night to come out and eat bugs.   Sunday, August 31 View Page Survivor cleaned up and drying out. I have never had one grow like this before. The stem and blossom were once parallel to the ground, but the blossom turned down and the stem turned up. It makes it hard to get consistent measurements. As near as I can tell. growth is down to 7#$ a day. Maybe it is in the measurements, maybe it is good to prevent more splitting, or maybe it is a sign that the end is near. But if it keeps this pace up until the weigh off and does a few pounds heavy it could be a personal best. It does thump very solid.   Sunday, August 31 View Page Another eastern Iowa grower who used seed from Jacob's 553 sent me a photo of his pumpkin. Looks like a Howard Dill contender to me. I can't wait for October.   Wednesday, September 3 View Page I cleaned up the stem on Survivor, scraped off the bad stuff and painted on fungicide. A little liquid fungicide poured into the stem split and some sulfur was blown in. No signs of extra splitting, but growth is down to a crawl. I gave it a foliar feeding last night and will repeat tonight, I'm using high potash tomato fertilizer to try to jumpstart the fruit growth. The last time we had a pumpkin with a stem split quit at Labor Day, It was Jacob's and it went down a week before weigh off. That was an unusually hot September so if Survivor is done growing I hope the weather turns cool. It is supposed to hit 90 tomorrow and then a big cold front will set off big storms. Jacob and I picked 2 more gourds to get them into safe keeping. We don't want a storm to knock them down and break them. We will each have a competitive entry and an exhibition entry, and the shortest this year beats our best from last year. So even though the pumpkins won't be great we still have a lot to be thankful for.   Friday, September 5 View Page Survivor measures 313", 687# and thumps very solid. It has gained only 50# in the last 10 days. If it keeps this pace and goes heavy I might get a personal best, but I will be thankful if it makes it to Pumpkinfest intact. Submarine's main fruit is up to just 247#, gaining twice as fast. It's shape is improving and the color is so bright you need sunglasses on a cloudy dat. We definitely need to grow that seed in a decent spot next year. A groundhog chewed some leaves on it due to a shorted out electric fence. Jacob is not happy about that, and the groundhog's days are numbered.   Monday, September 8 View Page Wonder Weenie update. I got one melon to set and grow. It is short and fat but I will take it. It is better than I expected, which was nothing. I had one going on Miracle Weenie, but it rotted. You can see from the picture that I didn't do much weeding. Once the ground dried out enough after the flood, it was so weedy that I just gave up.   Monday, September 8 View Page I went to check on Survivor this evening when I saw something crawl out of this hole in the sand and go up and under the pumpkin. It was gone so quickly I couldn't tell if it was a mouse or a toad. The hole wasn't there this morning. 2 weeks ago I tried to drown out what I thought was a mouse hole and a toad crawled out. I probed with a fiberglass fence post and all I found was a concave bottom. To be safe I placed a mouse trap baited with peanut butter. It taped out at just 700# for day 60. Not what I hoped for in May, but I'm happy. It is starting to get some orange color too.   Monday, September 8 View Page Gourd update: Jacob and I each have 2 real nice gourds taped to boards in safe keeping. The slant board success I posted on August 29 is now 112" long and growing slowly. It is on the 137.5 Ansems. We have one on the 115.13 Wright that grew Jacob's gourds that didn't get taped to a board and ended up bent. Following the curve it is 106". It got a slight crack that I sealed up with duct tape. My slant board failure was on the 139.25 Ansems. Following the curves it measured 106" of good gourd, 7" of shriveled green gourd and 1.5" of brown rotting tip. None of it shriveled up as long as it was on the board and in the sun. After I took it off the board it grew under leaves and the shriveling and brown stuff started. Maybe shade is a key to the shriveled tip problem? All of the 139 gourds that set in the shade under the trellis fizzled out much sooner.   Wednesday, September 10 View Page After 2 rainy nights I had to use paper towels to get the water out of Survivor's stem split. I'm glad it had been blown full of sulfur. I was having trouble getting my battery operated fan in the right place to dry it out, so I came up with a new idea. I took the bubble stone off my minnow bubbler and ran the hose into the split. It gets the air right where I need it. Nothing touched the mouse trap, but something has been chewing up the sheet. I hope it was a toads that I saw crawl under the pumpkin and crickets eating the sheet.   Wednesday, September 10 View Page Forecast is for low 40's the next 3 nights and upper 40's the following 3 nights. If it gets clear and calm my valley will get into the 30's. Time to break out the blanket.   Monday, September 15 View Page I have accepted the fact that Survivor has stopped growing. My efforts will now go to keeping it intact for the weigh off. Of course I will keep spraying the bugs so they don't lay eggs for next year. I can start cutting off the gourd vines so I can get a head start on fall soil preparation. Of course that means I will have to do a lot of fishing so I have plenty of fish heads and guts to bury for fertilizer. Oh the sacrifices we growers make for our plants.   Saturday, September 27 View Page This is some of the long gourd disease we have been battling for years. It starts as spots on the leaves, then spreads across the leaves, the stems and gets on the gourds. If the gourds are half grown it turns the tips brown. If they are small it kills them outright. Hot humid weather brings it on quicker. Daconil and AgriFos help some, but don't take it out completely. Looks like I have to do some research.   Saturday, September 27 View Page The biggest pumpkin on Jacob's 553. The blossom end didn't fill out well and it is getting one tiny soft spot about the size and thickness of a dime. We hope it lasts one more week.   Saturday, September 27 View Page Wonder Weenie is sitting on a piece of plywood awaiting harvest. The stem is still green so it still may be growing. It will probably take last place but I will enter it anyway.   Saturday, September 27 View Page Field pumpkin waiting for Pumpkinfest. Since the flood only left me with one plant and I wanted to share some with family and friends, I let a total of eight grow on the plant. Still it is the biggest field pumpkin I ever grew and will provide seeds for next year.   Saturday, September 27 View Page Dirty little cucumber beetles didn't show up until the last week of August. Now they are everywhere. It is too close to harvest to spray so I will wait until after Pumpkinfest to deliver the fatal blow.   Saturday, September 27 View Page The Ranger is ready for duty. Jacob and I took off the topper and I made a gourd hauling rack. The rack comes off to load a pumpkin with the tripod. Then it goes on and the gourds taped to 2x4's are tied and duct taped to the rack. Then a short ride of just over 3 miles at slow speed to the weigh off.   Sunday, September 28 View Page I had my 2 1/2 minutes of fame this morning. I was interviewed on Channel 9 this morning along with Doug Edel of the Chamber of Commerce to promote Anamosa's Pumpkinfest. I hope it helps bring out the crowd, as it sounds like we will have a great weigh off.   Wednesday, October 1 View Page It is supposed to rain tomorrow and maybe on Friday, and Jacob's Submarine pumpkin needs to be hauled out in the 2WD Ranger. We have a steep, grassy hill to climb and it gets tough if it is wet. It isn't going to be a competitive size, but it sure is orange and looks good from the stem end. So we hauled the tripod down to the patch, got out the hoist, straps and pallet went to the patch,   Wednesday, October 1 View Page Unfortunately the blossom end didn't look so good. Reminded us of what happened to Jacob's pumpkin about 9 years ago, but that one was around 3 times bigger. At least we had a backup on the plant, but it isn't as big or as pretty.   Wednesday, October 1 View Page The Submarine back up isn't much to look at, but after a devastating flood it is better than nothing. At least Jacob has a decent gourd, a good 23" longer than his personal best from last year.   Friday, October 3 View Page Loading day for Survivor. The stem split never got into the cavity and it thumps like a rock. Jacob helped me move the tripod over and lift the pumpkin. It feels heavy on the hoist. Before we get it too high we need to check the bottom and brush off the sand.   Friday, October 3 View Page A crappy end to a miserable pumpkin season. My Wonder Weenie watermelon will likely take last place. Noah the field pumpkin may go around 60# but it also had a family of 7 more kins that weighed over 250# total on the same plant. Jacob has Mini Submarine, maybe 250#. But we have gourds. Best gourds we have ever grown.   Friday, October 3 View Page We are looking forward to Pumpkinfest tomorrow. I'm anxious to see what Don Young has under that blanket, and I can't wait to see Scott Steil's MONSTER field pumpkin hit the scale. I have heard that a lot of growers had their best season ever. Please, everyone coming to the weigh off, drive carefully and watch out for all the critters and idiots on the roads. I pray that everyone has a safe and fun day. And dress warm for the parade!   Saturday, October 4 View Page A pair of Anamosa site records and Iowa state records. Marty sure knows how to grow big watermelons, and I got lucky with the gourd.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Submarine Junior that Jacob had on his 553 plant after his larger pumpkin split. It wasn't last place and even took 2nd among Jones County growers.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Darren Christiansen's Nebraska state record 1399 and Howard Dill winner in line to get weighed.   Saturday, October 4 View Page The largest field pumpkin I have ever seen. Scott Steil repeated as winner of both pumpkin categories.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Pumpkingoober Joseph Young brought a huge 48# rutabaga   Saturday, October 4 View Page Dan Carlson and Marc Petersen grew this 1579# monster that took 3rd place. It was the largest grown in Iowa this year.. First place came from Minnesota and second came from Wisconsin.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Travis Halverson's second place pumpkin. The first time we have had 2 pumpkins over 1600#.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Scott Steil's 1666.5 pumpkin on the trailer before weighing. He beat Don Young's site record by 4.5#, but Don's state record was not broken.   Saturday, October 4 View Page John Barlow came close to my gourd, just 0.5" less for 2nd place. My son Jacob got 3rd with his 123" gourd. The top 3 gourds all beat John's previous site record of over 119".   Saturday, October 4 View Page Marlene Kuhn (Kolache) broke the 1000# barrier and took 11th place.   Saturday, October 4 View Page 1546.5# was good for 4th place for Ralph Trumm of Cascade, Ralph also won the award for the ugliest pumpkin.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Top 3 in the Watermelons. 2nd place Rusty Caspers owns the next farm north of our acreage.   Saturday, October 4 View Page The top 3 pumpkins and their growers get to ride in the Parade. My goal is to get that float someday. The way weights are going, I'm really going to have to put in a lot more work and hope for good luck.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Long gourd awards left to right: Organizer Greg Norlin, 3rd place Jacob McWilliams. 1st place Mark McWilliams (me) 2nd place John Barlow.   Saturday, October 4 View Page 2nd year grower Jack Bastain with his personal best pumpkin. He took 18th place this year after taking 10th place with a smaller pumpkin last year. It shows how the weather was better for growing this year.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Here is a picture of Jack that shouldn't be rotated.   Sunday, October 5 View Page A random shot from the weigh off. Ralph Trumm bringing in his entry form stopped to talk to Greg Norlin and watch the unloading. Pumpkin Master John Dirks on the Maquoketa Valley REC forklift. 2 Anamosa High School wrestlers and coach Dean Miller helping Darren Christiansen guide his record breaker off the trailer. Another wrestler waiting for the next truck to pull up to the weighing station. The weighing station was kept busy weighing over 11 1/2 tons of Atlantic Giants.   Sunday, October 5 View Page Trucks lined up waiting to get to the scale. With so many huge pumpkins it takes a long time to get them moved and weighed safely.   Sunday, October 5 View Page The picture of the watermelon leader board that I posted earlier has to be updated after John Barlow arrived with this 130#. John took second in both watermelon and long gourd and finished in the top ten of pumpkins.   Sunday, October 5 View Page Top ten pumpkin growers were called to the stage for the awards ceremony. Scott Stiel is getting used to taking big checks home to Minnesota.   Sunday, October 5 View Page Top ten pumpkin growers were called to the stage for the awards ceremony. Scott Stiel is getting used to taking big checks home to Minnesota.   Sunday, October 5 View Page They set my personal best 67# field pumpkin right next to Scott Stiel's 189.5. Made it look tiny.   Sunday, October 5 View Page I knew Ralph Trumm's new personal best was going to go big when I saw that it wouldn't fit between the wheel wells and he needed 3 pallets to get it on his truck.   Sunday, October 5 View Page Don Young brought along his lifting ring to use at the weigh off. It sped up the weighing as the wrestling team could get pumpkins pre-rigged for the Pumpkin Master. Don recruited the Sheriff to help him get his pumpkin rigged up. Don took 8th place for the second year in a row.   Sunday, October 5 View Page My neighbor and new grower Rusty Caspers had the largest pumpkin grown in Jones County, and he took 3rd in watermelons. After the heavy rains and the big wind storm at the end of June, I figure he did pretty good.   Sunday, October 5 View Page Steve Krug finished in the top 10 with this big orange beauty. Unfortunately he lost one much bigger just 2 days before the weigh off.   Monday, October 6 View Page I did a necropsy on Survivor today. The verdict: extreme mouse damage. They had eaten off about one square foot of the skin on the bottom side before they dug a hole through to the cavity. A lot of seeds were eaten up. I saved just a few seeds and will leave the pumpkin for the deer. Now it is time for fall patch prep. The empty plots have already been covered with a mix of grass clippings and leaves. I will have a whole lot more leaves to apply in a couple weeks.   Tuesday, October 7 View Page Another record was set At the Ryan Norlin Memorial Weigh Off. Long time gourd grower Dick Stivers set the site record for shortest long gourd at 4 9/16" long. Dick had some of the same trouble other growers had with the ends of the gourds shriveling up. Hopefully he will get that figured out and be one of the top gourd growers again next year. You sure have to appreciate his sense of humor.   Wednesday, October 8 View Page The final weight on Wonder Weeine. Mircle Weenie ended up around 35# or so, no official weight. At Pumpkinfest, I had no giant pumpkin entry, last place in watermelons, 8th out of 14 field pumpkins, and first place long gourd. So it wasn't a total washout like I thought it was on June 30th. Now it is on to fall patch preparation and deer population control. Retirement is great; I have more time for fun activities.   Monday, November 3 View Page Fall patch prep has started. The empty plots have a spotty cover crop of ground hog radish. I had to keep it mowed down for weed control which hurt the radishes some. Everything got a light rye seeding and covered with chopped leaves and grass clippings. Then I applied 7400# of compost. I hope to get one or two pickup loads of old cow manure to add this fall. In the spring I will add 50# of kelp meal with some Epsom salt and just a little bit of borax. Then 50# of 0-0-50, and 500# of chicken manure crumbles. After that just micorrhizae and some beneficial bacteria products and see what happens. Maybe some more fish heads for the gourds. The long gourd trellis will be re-designed to give them more height and growth area. My extra ditching and soil build up will have to wait for a year. Hopefully we won't get flooded 2 years in a row. Big floods like this year only happened 4 times in the past 28 years so I hope we will be safe.   Thursday, November 13 View Page No frost this morning but it only missed it by a couple degrees. Sunny today, so the covers came off Survivor to warm up. After an all day rain I was pleased to see no water in the stem split. The minnow bubbler needed new batteries, but it is keeping the inside of the stem dry. I gave it a foliar feeding and stirred up a bunch of cucumber beetles. They got a shot of insecticide and the whole plant got a shot of Daconil to keep the PM from flaring up. I'm going to have a big job cleaning all the fungicide off the stem if it lasts until the weigh-off.   Thursday, November 13 View Page No frost this morning but it only missed it by a couple degrees. Sunny today, so the covers came off Survivor to warm up. After an all day rain I was pleased to see no water in the stem split. The minnow bubbler needed new batteries, but it is keeping the inside of the stem dry. I gave it a foliar feeding and stirred up a bunch of cucumber beetles. They got a shot of insecticide and the whole plant got a shot of Daconil to keep the PM from flaring up. I'm going to have a big job cleaning all the fungicide off the stem if it lasts until the weigh-off.