Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 90 Entries. Saturday, January 4 View Page Figured I start the New Year out with an early morning fishing trip with my 3 youngest boys. Dave and Josh look a little tired and Kingston looks fired up and ready for action with that net!! I had them up at 3am to start our journey, it was a early morning:)   Saturday, January 4 View Page Kingston safely drove us out to our destination that would hopefully provide us with good rainbow trout action. Man was he happy!   Saturday, January 4 View Page After trolling around for just a couple small rainbows and a deep water large mouth bass Kingston began to act up. We quickly threw the net over him to contain his wild behavior!!!! lol   Saturday, January 4 View Page Well if your a fisherman and have been for many years,,,, you know how many times the new guy, young kid or just some guy on the boat that can't fish,,,,, catches the biggest fish and wins the jackpot!!! Yes, it was Kingston pictured here with his 4 and a half pound winning rainbow trout!!! Priceless for any Dad!!! Everyone caught a fish or two but over all it was a slow day. The kids didn't seem to care one bit!!! Mid winter fishing, 80 degree day, with friends and family,,,,,, doesn't get any better then that:)   Friday, January 10 View Page It sure has been nice this winter. I'm not complaining but if this keeps up things are going to be tough for our water supply:( Less then 3\4 of an inch so far this year of rain and nothing in the 10 day forecast....... Having to water the cover crops every other day and they both look amazing! Lets get some rain going for leaching the soil and filling up them lakes and rivers!!! Rain please rain! Seems like west coast is very mellow this winter and everywhere else is getting hammered with tough weather:(   Sunday, January 19 View Page Patch is slow but the winter cover crop is in full swing. Here is one of purple cauliflower. We have quit a few of these in the garden among many other winter crops. Been a very warm winter, going to be an interesting summer I'm sure with very little rain to speak of so far this winter:(:(:( Mustard at the home patch is over 3 feet and will get cut and tarped soon.   Thursday, January 23 View Page Thanks for the generous seed pack today Pingrey,,,,,,, very, very kind of you! That 1284 from a couple years ago 1495 X 1409 will see dirt for sure in my patch this year:) Thanks for the surprise seeds too, Wow,,, thank you!!!!!   Saturday, February 1 View Page Picture taking one week after Pumpkinmania, last weekend in October. My goal was to get two cover crops grown before planting time. Something different but it was Kingston's idea to add 10 pounds of chocolate cake mix, 15 pounds of cooking flour and a couple yards of maple leaves ;)   Saturday, February 1 View Page We then tilled it all in, raked it smooth and planted a mixture of two types of mustard. Man was it looking nice!   Saturday, February 1 View Page This is mid November and the mustard was up and looking very nice! The patch pretty much takes up my whole backyard now. This patch sits just over 700 sq. ft. now,,,, the perfect amount for one backyard giant.   Saturday, February 1 View Page This is early January and the mustard was in full swing, prettiest cover crop I've ever had! I've had really bad disease the past two years so the mustard was planted to try and control the Pythium, Phytophora, Fusarium, Rhizoctonia and Verticillium that has attacked me in early August. Both stalk disease testing and pathogen tests in the soil confirm all these which I had no idea I had. The Fusarium and Verticcillium seem to be the casual agents and everything else being secondary.   Saturday, February 1 View Page I let the mustard just start to flower about the end of January,,,, mowed down then tilled it in. All the soil was watered heavy then 2 large tarps were placed on top of the soil and sealed tight. The idea was to get the most out of the biofumigation and keep as much of the glucosinolate gas in the soil as I possibly could. I was told just watering it heavy would be fine but I'm not a " Just Fine " kindda guy:) Its all or nothing. This tarp will be remover in 3 weeks and I found an amazing source of compost not to far from the house that will be added with my inoculated winter crop in hopes of bring the soil up to par and back to life. This has been a ton of work this winter. My most amazing mentor tells me, with the work your putting in now and a few small tweaks this summer,,,,, a personal best should be no problem:)   Saturday, February 1 View Page This is the other patch. It has been very easy. There has been no real disease pressure so a couple different types of rye were planted. I let it grow then mow it down. Sprinklers on a couple times a week and that's it. Been a piece of cake over here! This patch is 2500 sq. ft. this year and will have 2 maybe 3 plants. I'm thinking 2 because of the time and all the sports and activities my children have during the summer months. Oh yea, we've had " ZERO " rain this year,,,,,,,,,, not looking good for our water source this spring:(   Tuesday, February 4 View Page What's all that dark blue mean in the Bellevue area Darren?   Monday, February 24 View Page Well, I saw your post today Mr. Fredricks's. First of all,,, that 980 is one heck of a fruit! Boy has she grown some nice ones including your 1116 from two years ago!! I see you have a secrete weapon for the patch this year,,,,, I love secretes and I'm sure it will keep me on my toes all summer. We'll,,,,, what could this secrete be??? HMMMMMMM???????? Well there's nothing better then a friendly pumpkin growing revelry,,,,,,,,,, two Christian brothers testing the skills they have learned over the years:) I'll tell you this,,,, I have no real secretes this year...... I will tell you I have done a couple winter soil tests and think I may finally have things dialed in! I will know the answer about the middle of August........... I hoping not to be using a normal size pallet this coming season! lol This is a custom 8' X 5' pallet I picked up as incentive to push and prod my kin as hard as possible and some how making it to the end!!! Who knows,,,,, Vince may surprise us both and come with a real monster this season! Boy this is going to be fun!!!!!!   Wednesday, February 26 View Page Sorry for the blurry photo but you don't need to see the weather man anyways! So we've had no rain to speak of in over 14 months............ Be careful what you pray for!!! This is one of the biggest storms to hit LA in over 3 years!! The storm is 4.4 million square miles wide!!!! That is insane!! The forecast are calling for 3 to 7 inches all through our area!! With all the recent forest fires, its going to be one hot mess!! I'll be up north at the growers meeting so I won't be able to see any of it:) So bring it on!!!   Tuesday, March 4 View Page Had a wonderful weekend up at Elk Grove. What a great group of guys and gals. Pete and Cindy did a fantastic job putting this all together! Must of been a 150 plus that turned out to learn, meet new friends and chat with some old ones and just talk pumpkin for the weekend:) Kevin Smith and I drove up early Friday and pretty much talked pumpkins for three days straight,,, good times!!!   Tuesday, March 4 View Page Both Russ and Russ receiving their jackets! Pingrey, you worked hard this season, real hard and was nice to see you get your jacket! Keep an eye on this guy,,,, I don't want to jink you but I think 2014 is gonna be one heck of a ride for you ;) Great job bud!   Tuesday, March 4 View Page Top ten best of the year average!! The numbers these guys put up on the boards this year was truly amazing!!   Tuesday, March 4 View Page Had the pleasure of hearing how Tim grew his giants in 2013. The dude worked hard, a couple hours every morning and couple hours at the end of the day after working all day! I got a kick out of you electric bill early season while keeping the plants warm,,,,,,,,, man did that electric bill go up and down! lol!! One of the must humble, nicest guys out there, willing to answer any question. Looks like you'll be up in the Daletas area in a couple weeks speaking....... After that,,,, put your feet up, relax and don't pick up your phone or check an email for a few months! :)   Wednesday, March 5 View Page Neil wasn't able to make the drive to Elk grove this weekend due to his trailer or storm we had going. Made the call and got a fresh batch for early season. I'm one of the weird guys that shelf life dates and having to have the freshest product put me in a happy place:) I'm sure there's a few others out there as crazy as me! lol I'll order what I'm going to use for vine burying at the very last minute:) I love the new packaging they put together!!!   Wednesday, March 5 View Page I'm posting about myco Jim and your posting about " real " life! Gave me goose bumps,,,,, great post my Brother!   Tuesday, March 25 View Page Looking good Darren! Remember, nice, soft, fluffy soil this year!!! Got a good laugh out of your last few diary posts!   Thursday, April 3 View Page Second cover crop of the winter coming in. The jury's out on the old mustard trick but if my cover crop has anything to say about it,,,,,,,,, its the best cover my patch has ever seen! Not " one " hot spot anywhere!   Thursday, April 3 View Page Its a mix of all kinds of goodies. Just over 2 feet and will be cut soon.   Thursday, April 3 View Page If you think I've been sitting around all winter doing nothing Jim and Vince,,,,, think again:) The kids and I have been having fun!!!! This has been going on all winter,,,, this is the 4th or 5th germination. Been playing and testing all winter. There must be 40 plants in the yard in pots still growing from the germ room.   Saturday, April 5 View Page Your right Vince,,,,,,,,,,,, its pretty bad over here. I go back and read some of my posts and I'm so excited,,,, I can't even spell :)   Tuesday, April 8 View Page The last secret weapon has arrived. Thanks you and you know who you are:) Jim, Vince,,,,,,,,,,,, get ready,,,,,,,,,,,,,, game time is just about here! Don't let the motor oil fool you:)   Monday, April 14 View Page The last picture of the second cover crop of the winter. This ones for you Pingrey, California cover crop and Kingston gives it a thumbs up from the other end of the patch:) Its haircut and till time.   Monday, April 14 View Page For all the true tiny backyard growers. The whole yard is patch now at the house. Its 44' X 17' I will grow one plant at this location. There will be a completely different vine pattern this year and one or two things learned over the winter:) The count down clock has been started!!!!!!!   Monday, May 5 View Page Well, nothing going on in the patch yet. Its been tough and there's been slight withdrawals seeing all these seedlings and even a few plants out at 12 feet already ( you know who you are ) and having nothing going yet. Been banging out some ideas all winter with another grower and with October 26th as a weigh off date,,,,,,, we're thinking of getting in on some of that Indian summer stuff we get 90% of the time. Planting time is just around the corner! Man,,,,,,,,,, it can't come soon enough!!!!!!!!!   Tuesday, May 13 View Page 2009, 1676's, 1284 Pingrey's all up and looking fantastic!! Still waiting on the 1734.5. Its only been 4 days so I'm very excited! Each year I get so excited around this time. Each year I say I'm more excited then the year before,,,,,, well,,,,,,, this year I really am more excited then the year before!! lol! Lots and lots of homework assignments kept me busy all winter, with disease being at the top of the list. Knowing what disease your patch has and when it starts to attack is half the battle. Good luck to everyone this year and wishing everyone a new personal best.   Tuesday, May 13 View Page Yuck!!!!!!! When it gets this hot here which is really rare,,,,,,, the house stays about 98 well into the night! No need for air condition being this close to the ocean. A couple times a year this happens and boy would it be nice to have a cool house to relax in......... Many records will fall in LA county over the next couple days.   Saturday, May 24 View Page Many great seeds were started this year. Here is what made the cut. A couple 1284 Pingrey will be fighting for this spot.   Saturday, May 24 View Page A couple 1676 Daletas will battle for this spot.   Saturday, May 24 View Page And the 2009 gets the honey hole at the house. All back ups are just about ready if needed. Looks like I have some catching up to do by the looks of all the diary's!!!   Sunday, June 15 View Page Plants are all small still with a later then usual start date. This is the 2009 at home in the honey hole. Its had a few issues,,,,,, raccoons and a tissue test already being sent out. She's getting the golden treatment and I'm sure we'll be just fine.... One side at the big patch has the 1284 Pingrey as the clear winner. The other side still has the 1734.5, 1676 and the worlds heaviest pumpkin,,, the 2032. I'll choose over the next week of so. This patch has issues so which ever makes it and is looking the best will win the spot:)I'll get some pictures up of these plants as soon as I see a clear winner.   Sunday, June 22 View Page Mr. Fredricks, Vince,,,,,,,,,, the 2009 has its first baby:) Starting two weeks later then the past couple years, I find it amazing how I'm still in the same spot as I was in previous years. Its this one or the next in line. Any further and I'd be setting in the driveway!!! Excitement level 10 has arrived!!!!!   Tuesday, July 1 View Page Its getting to be that time of year again. The water barrels are out and ready for weekly feedings. Kingston loves to take a dip this time of year. Disclaimer- These barrels are for organics only and no children were harmed from GMO's or any type of fungicides... :)   Tuesday, July 1 View Page Man that's cold Dad!   Tuesday, July 1 View Page The 2009 has had a few issues but things seem to be working out. It was a very slow starter but has found 4th gear and running away!! Still a lot of patch to fill in.........   Tuesday, July 1 View Page This is the 30' X 30 spot the two 1284 Pingery's were. Disease took them both out crushed any chance I had. Boy this is fun:(   Tuesday, July 1 View Page The 1623 Wallace has taken the place of the 1284 on the opposite side of the patch. Its a very later start so this will be an experiment to see how bad this area of the patch really is.... MUUHHAAUUHHAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And stay tuned..............................   Tuesday, July 1 View Page Opposite side of the patch I had two 1676's. This was the clear winner and is really starting to move. This plant is so easy to grow, no burn, nice leaves, secondaries perfect off each side. I'm really excited to see what this plant does. Party is about to get started on both the 2009 and the 1676 Daletas,,,,,,,,,,, I can't wait!!!!   Saturday, July 5 View Page The 2009 is marching full speed ahead now. Every 5 days I'm burying 5 feet of vine. Shes 25 feet wide now in the back and ready to push one of the girls up front. There won't be any final decisions for a week or so:)   Saturday, July 5 View Page She has plenty of room on both sides of the patch to get wide! Setting the pumpkin at this direction is all new to me. There will be a closer pollination with a much wider plant. I know the disease is coming to get me so if I can get her going a touch closer, I think I have a better chance a personal best. All protective measures are in place and I'm ready for battle!!!!!!   Monday, July 14 View Page North side of the 2009 at the house. What a plant! By far the healthiest plant I have ever grown.   Monday, July 14 View Page West side around back. Its just about filled in the whole backyard. The leaves are as big as giant Japaneses umbrellas!!! Nitrates are on the lower side too.........   Monday, July 14 View Page Faith with one of the leaves that were trimmed tonight from either a tare or just making more room in my small space.   Monday, July 14 View Page The only problem is,,,,,,,,,,,, I'm having all the pumpkins abort. I've never experienced this before:( All three on main are now in the compost pile........ Having such a small area the main has now been cut and its all about the 1000 pound side vine kin. I have 4 on sides that look good and I'm hoping one of them takes and I can be off to the races!!! My Dad taught me as a young boy, " Never Give Up " so I'm all in and staying on track! To the bitter end Steve and Pingrey, to the bitter end!!!   Monday, July 14 View Page Also, did a stealth mission trip all the way down south to visit the famous " Fredricks's " patch. Thanks for the hospitality Jim and had a wonderful time! Always nice to visit another patch and see what style of growing others are doing. I really wanted to look under the cooler to see the " secrete weapon " you've been talking about:) I didn't though and will wait until the end of the season! By the way,,,,, your plant looked amazing as always!!! I'm going to need a lot of luck taking you and Vince down this year on a side vine ;)   Monday, July 14 View Page Sorry about the double post on the north side of the patch. You get the point though,,,,, it looks the same from the other side. lol   Thursday, July 17 View Page Man this is fun!!!!! The 2009 is an amazing plant but somehow I've done something to her or a nasty disease has decided to do something for me. Two 1284 Pingreys have been torn out of the patch due to disease, a giant 1676 Daletas plant has decided to start throwing molting leaves and green blotches on the kin I've decided to keep. Man,,,,,,,, if things keep up,,,,, I may have mustard by early August!!! What a difference a year makes.......... Excitement level is still there but has been dulled a little. I keep telling myself its early but its getting later and later:)   Thursday, July 24 View Page Finally got the 2009 at home right where I what her! The whole plant is now looking like this so I'm pretty excited!   Thursday, July 24 View Page I'm hoping balling the whole plant up in one big pile may be the new thing. I have one kin set on the other side and hoping she really starts to take off. A heck of a lot easier to water this way too! Kingston has never seen this before and wasn't very happy. I told him don't worry,,,,,,, this year at pumpkinmania,,,,,, you will beat me. He got pretty excited and is now smiling again:)   Thursday, July 24 View Page It just gets better. This is the site of the two 1284 Pingreys....... Rest in peace and sorry Russ. Its been a tough, tough season around here.   Thursday, July 24 View Page It gets even better. This is my last plant, the 1676 Daletas that has full blown mosaic. Doesn't it look great!   Thursday, July 24 View Page This is what all the new growth looks like,,,,, I'm pretty excited!!   Thursday, July 24 View Page And all kins set look just like this. Man this is great! I know I'll smash my personal best this year with everything I have going! What a year! lol Besides this plant, I have soil, roots and tissue sent out so I can get to the bottom of this amazing year. Thanks for the post today Jim,,,, made my day!   Tuesday, July 29 View Page Seasons just moving right along. Just got this back yesterday and looking good. This is a soil and root pathogen test from the 2009 at home. Personal best,,,,, here we come!!!!!! The joys of not being able to rotate patches from year to year.   Friday, August 22 View Page Having one is better then none. This year my 6 year old will be beating me:) Everything I've had has been taken out by disease......... Its day 30 tomorrow and will finally get the tape to it. Plants in bad shape, weeds everywhere, step on vines but I think a personal best for Kingston this year. Its making my whole year worth something watching him grow his kin!! He will have a special guest taping it for him tomorrow and see how far past his personal best he may be!! The excitement is killing me!!!!   Friday, August 22 View Page Man Darren, all the rot this year,,,,,,,,,,, sorry to hear about your tough season :(   Sunday, August 24 View Page Had a fun day yesterday. Steve had an overnight in LA so we spent the afternoon together. Lunch, looked at both my patches in all their pity............ Put together a little fall, winter then survival program for 2015. The highlight of the day was taping My 6 year old and his 1874 Mathison. His personal best is at 260 pounds. It looked bigger then that but really had no idea where at sat.......   Sunday, August 24 View Page Steve helped Kingston get every measurement. Side to side, front to back,,,,,,,   Sunday, August 24 View Page Full circumference from both top and bottom. Something I didn't even know. He showed Kingston exactly where to put the tape and made sure he wrote the numbers down:)   Sunday, August 24 View Page We then got the phone out and started adding........ Where will she land, was she still growing, how much is left in this diseased and hardly taken care of plant???   Sunday, August 24 View Page We had it,,,,,,,,,, day 30 and she sits at 327 pounds and still doing 19.5 pounds a day!!!!! I really don't know who was more excited, Steve, myself, mom or Kingston!!! I think Steve and I were the most excited! lol It was a great day hanging out yesterday, thanks for making the time Steve!! Even though I have no pumpkins for myself this year, its times like this that make it so worth it!! Jim, Vince,,,,,, look out,,,,, Kingston could be right on your coat tail at Pumpkinmania this October:)   Saturday, August 30 View Page I was working down south again and had the pleasure and honer to visit the world famous " Fredricks " patch. This guy really knows how to keep a plant healthy! He doesn't use much and is completely organic. How he keeps the pm and other disease at bay this way amazes me! You have a decent kin going Jim,,,,,,, thanks for making the time the other day!!!! I'll have to admit,,,,,,,,,, I'm a little jealous to see a pumpkin like that when I have nothing:)   Saturday, September 6 View Page Kingston's 1874.5 Mathison continues to put on weight...... He's down to 14.5 pounds per day over the past 7 days. I'm going to keep the weight a secrete until pumpkinmania. As you can tell,,,,,, he wanted to enforce the trick we learned a couple weeks ago. If your a fisherman and have caught smaller fish and want them to look bigger for the photo,,,, lol,,,,, you know what I mean:)   Saturday, September 6 View Page He is so happy and all he can talk about is his pumpkin and how he is going to beat me! I couldn't be happier:) We thank Jesus every day for any weight she gets,,,, the plant is a complete mess and any leaf you touch disintegrates into dust. lol Goooo Kingston!!   Monday, September 8 View Page This is for you Lee. Looks like I planted the mustard the last week in July. So pretty close to chest high by now. The stuff really grows fast in the summer! Both patches have mustard and it almost feels like I took the year off:) While everyone is staying on top of their fert programs, checking kins morning and night, making sure irrigation is working, losing sleep,,,,,,,, I'm just relaxing and watching the cover crops grow:) Wish it was the other way around!!! lol I'm really interested to see what my soil pathogen tests look like after this first round of mustard. I'm hoping much better then my last............... :(   Saturday, September 27 View Page Besides Kingston's pumpkin this summer, its been all about a good cover crop for my situation.   Saturday, September 27 View Page I let the mustard get up to about 5 feet and right before seed. Stuff grows fast in the summer heat so you really have to watch it. Stuff took over my entire backyard!   Saturday, September 27 View Page I mowed it really fine, ran the tiller over it as deep as I could go then watered it in heavy with a good couple hundred gallons of water. One of the easiest cover crops I've ever tilled. Now just sit back and wait until 2015:) Kingston's weigh off is in 4 weeks. He's on cruise control just hoping nothing goes wrong over the next month ;)   Sunday, September 28 View Page Spent 3 days on the water with my biggest boy Ryan! This is a 110 miles out and down into Mexican waters. So nice to get away!   Sunday, September 28 View Page KC Kevin here on BP joined us. Here he is with one of the many Dorado we caught on this warm summer day!   Sunday, September 28 View Page Here's a couple more. It was pretty much wide open if you hit the right kelp paddy! All the fish were small but we still managed to pull limits of both Tuna and Mahi Mahi:) The freezer is full and lots of BBQ fish dinners over the next few months............   Saturday, October 25 View Page Kingston's big day tomorrow! Days between watering,some days leaving the water on all day:(, weeds everywhere, diseased plant, growing in terrible sand\dirt in my neighbors yard,,,,, the list goes on and one. lol Here is is checking the bottom and gave me the thumbs up that everything looks good dad!!! This thing is huge he said!!! I think the feeling I have for him possibly doubling his personal best is better then a personal best myself:) I was raked over the coals this year with heavy disease on all 3 of my plants. Kingston making his to the end has been priceless and watching him weigh tomorrow makes this whole season on of my best yet!!   Saturday, October 25 View Page He took many pictures after loading it in the truck! He still keeps asking me the question he's been asking all summer, " am I really going to beat you dad " ? lol!! Yes you are son!!! This is his 1874 Mathison and tapes right at 700 pounds. Under or over chart really doesn't matter. Tomorrow is his day and boy am I excited!!!! ;) Gooooooo Kingston!!!!!!!!   Friday, October 31 View Page It was finally Kingston's big day!   Friday, October 31 View Page Here's Kingston's pumpkin and some of the family that showed up to support him:)   Friday, October 31 View Page Great shirt Mom!   Friday, October 31 View Page Kingston's pumpkin being lifted onto the scale. Boy was he excited!!! Would he get a new personal best this season???   Friday, October 31 View Page YES!!!!!!!! 649.5 pounds!!! He did it!!! Just water when he remembered and a plant worst then anything I have ever seen..... He doubles his personal best by a mile!!!! Well done son, you beat me by 649 pounds:) After disease took out all my plants, Kingston took over with his. The thing kept growing even with the lack of care. A complete disaster of a season ended up being my most successful season yet!! Great meeting you in real life Tom ( Firewood ), always good to see you Kevin ( KC Kevin ) and congrats on the win this year Jim ( Team Faith ) you had the biggest kin in all our area despite the rough conditions we all had this year with disease:):) Great to see you too Vince and so sorry about the potential personal best that rotted just weeks before the weigh off :( Man this hobby can be tough on a person and yet,,,,, we keep coming back for more!!!! lol 2015 here we come!!!!!!!!!!   Friday, October 31 View Page Kingston with Tom ( firewood ) The next diary post is another thing Kingston won,,,,,,, thanks to Tom!! I hoping I may have to borrow this from him next year ......   Friday, October 31 View Page Thanks Tom and you Lee for making this amazing prize!!!!!   Monday, November 24 View Page Well, Darren and I have been playing with this idea of his all summer. Mailing seeds to each other numerous times over the past few months. I think he's finally nailed it!   Monday, November 24 View Page One small envelope, only one stamp, two full sized seed envelopes, two seeds in each package and the patent pending Darren special " O " ring! Four total seeds.   Monday, November 24 View Page With full success again brother!! Anyone looking to save a little money. We've done this over and over this year and not lost one seed. Well done Darren,,,,,,,, nice job thinking outside the box! And I got some amazing orange genetics to boot!   Saturday, December 13 View Page Merry Christmas to me! Thanks for the DVD Daria!! If any of you haven't seen this yet,,, make sure you do. Daria did one heck of a job documenting what we all go through,,,,, good and bad. You will for sure laugh and cry! A must see for pumpkin and non pumpkin growers. Again, great job Daria!!!