Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 111 Entries. Saturday, February 1 View Page Who says its too early to start? There are early weigh-offs after all.   Wednesday, February 5 View Page Here is the 5.8 Osmala a few days after germination.   Sunday, February 23 View Page Had a bunch of snow that kept the roads impassable for 4 days. Got back to the lab to find the kin and tomato seedlings cooked. Round two coming up.   Sunday, March 9 View Page Amendments have been added, soil cables installed, and hoop is up. Let the soil warming commence!   Tuesday, March 11 View Page Starting one pumpkin early. The 1874.5 Mathison and the 5.80 Osmala went into the germ chamber today.   Thursday, March 13 View Page lost the 1874...due to a change of venue and that venue being too cool...damped off   Monday, March 17 View Page Started backup 1874.5 Mathison today.   Friday, March 21 View Page 1874.5 Mathison Cots popped out of their seed today!   Saturday, March 22 View Page 5.8 Osmala has germinated and is doing well.   Friday, March 28 View Page The 1874.5 Mathison (1554 Mathison x 2009 Wallace) went in the ground today. In the planting whole went a liberal amount of mykos, kelp meal, and worm castings. A handful of alfalfa meal, a dash of azomite, and a pinch of actinovate were also added to the planting whole. The plant was then watered with a lite dose of seaweed, essential plus, and companion.   Monday, April 7 View Page The 5.8 Osmala got repotted tonight. I am going to try out this cutting the pot in half and taping it back together business.   Monday, April 7 View Page Somebody said you can't live in North Carolina and not grow watermelons. I'm giving it a go this year with the 195 Mailey (274 Kent x 255 Mitchell).   Monday, April 7 View Page The other watermelon I will be growing in the home patch is the 232 Barber {(Bright Genetics 267 Edwards x 157 fBright) x 199.5 Mudd}   Monday, April 7 View Page Two 1530 Gehweiler's (1770 Lieber x 2009 Wallace) started in germ chamber today.   Tuesday, April 8 View Page 1530's popped a baby root out. They are now in pots in the germ chamber.   Tuesday, April 8 View Page 1874.5 Mathison starting to bush up a little bit. New leaves look much better than the old leaves.   Wednesday, April 9 View Page Good news! The 4.57 MacCoy had twins! Look closely at the image. Conjoined twins from one seed. That's gotta be rare. Whoa double dicot!   Monday, April 14 View Page These seeds got the nod for my Dad's patch. This will be his first year growing AG's. I also threw in a squash, watermelons, and giant tomatoes.   Friday, April 18 View Page 1530 Gehweiler in the ground. Seed was started 4/7/14.   Sunday, April 20 View Page These six 'kins got planted at my dad's house today. From left to right: 1546 Shenoha, 753 Glasgow, 1530 Gehweiler, 1723 Marshall dmg, 619 Glasgow dmg, 454 LaRiviere. The 1530 is one week older than the other plants. Not pictured here are the 1135* Jutras, and the 713 Winey.   Monday, April 28 View Page The 625* Staring squash (969 Jutras x 996 Haist) The first true leaf looks a bit clustered...will be interesting to see if this develops normally. Seed was started 4/21/14.   Monday, April 28 View Page 1526 Menting (1770 Lieber x 1623 Wallace) started on 4/21/14.   Monday, April 28 View Page The 359 Foss (1048 Engel x 2009 Wallace). This is my son's giant for the year. Seed was started on 4/21/14.   Wednesday, April 30 View Page Ladies and Gentlemen, we have touchdown! Lets get this party started. The 1874.5 Mathison is ready to run!   Wednesday, April 30 View Page Yes that is three true first leaves. Hopefully the little one that's still curled up in there will actually vine out. Better start making decisions on a backup.   Monday, May 5 View Page My son with his 359 Foss. (1048 Engel x 2009 Wallace) He thinks it will throw big and orange!   Monday, May 5 View Page The 1874.5 Mathison. (1554 Mathison x 2009 Wallace) Part of the cover crop is tilled in. The rest will be allowed to grow for awhile longer. Also, I got some node burying done today with worm compost kelp meal and myco.   Monday, May 5 View Page I started a backup squash seed today because the other squash might be a mutant. It came from the 798 Blalock* 05 (857 Platte* 04 x 772 Golat* 04) 22% heavy and a very small seed cavity.   Tuesday, May 6 View Page First application of Imidacloprid tonight. And then some garlic to keep the skeeters at bay.   Wednesday, May 7 View Page Got Long Gourd? 114.25 Westfall (96 Hamilton x sib) showed a little root today.   Friday, May 16 View Page Got home from my trip to the west coast today to a surprise blossom that opened on a side vine at about 6ft x 2 ft. Its getting the chop.   Saturday, May 17 View Page 2nd female opened on the main of the 1874.5 Mathison this morning at 8-9 ft. I went ahead and pollinated it but I dont think there is enough plant behind it to really push it so it will probably get the chop in favor of the next one at 11-12 ft.   Saturday, May 17 View Page Here is the 1874.5 Mathison plant filling out nicely. The side vines are growing at an excellent rate. I need to get the rest of the cover tilled in tomorrow.   Monday, May 19 View Page 625* Staring at the lab patch.   Monday, May 19 View Page 1530 Gehweiler at the lab patch.   Thursday, May 22 View Page Here is the cull of the kin at 9 ft. It was 5 dap. I present the 1 Craps '14 UOW. It was an 1874.5 Mathison x self. Walls looked good and had a non-existant internal cavity. I'm just sure it would have gone heavy. Unfortunately, the seeds were a bit underdeveloped. Keep your fingers crossed for the next one folks, it should be pollinated in a day or two.   Saturday, May 24 View Page 5 lober on the 1874.5 Mathison pollinated at 12 ft on the main.   Saturday, May 24 View Page This mornings pollination on the 1874.5 Mathison at 12 ft was pollinated by the only 2 males available. This should be the one to go with but there is a backup at 16 ft that will open in several days.   Saturday, May 24 View Page Here's the 1874.5 Mathison from the top of the patch. Notice the older leaves showing some yellow. I think Mg/Mn are a little locked up. Foliared Epsom twice with some improvement and Mn Sulfate should be here today or Monday. Its been a busy day in the patch. I installed a drip system today and got the rest of the cover tilled under.   Saturday, May 24 View Page Here's a view of the watering system from the stump.   Saturday, May 24 View Page Here's my handy PVC connectors for the drip hoses.   Monday, May 26 View Page 1135* Jutras getting a little bushy.   Monday, May 26 View Page 713 Winey at Dad's patch.   Monday, May 26 View Page The 1530 Gehweiler   Monday, May 26 View Page And the 1723 Marshall dmg is off to the races. We have touchdown already. Who would have thought an Alaskan seed would like the warm weather? Everything at Dad's patch looks like it needs N though. Now lets kick these things in to high gear!   Monday, May 26 View Page And back at the home patch, the 1874.5 Mathison x self 2 DAP.   Tuesday, May 27 View Page Warm out today. Gotta keep those young pollinations' cool as a cucumber.   Wednesday, May 28 View Page The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qrriKcwvlY 1874.5 4 DAP   Thursday, May 29 View Page 625.5* Staring on the left and 1530 Gehweiler on the right. 625.5* has touched down. The 1530 has a fat main and doesn't want to go down yet.   Thursday, May 29 View Page 1874.5 5 DAP   Friday, May 30 View Page Its awful early in the season for rot. I'm lookin for answers here folks...if you have a diagnosis, email it my way. These all happened at nodes that had been buried. Multiple leaf stalks had that jelly stuff in 'em. Lost a total of 6 leaves today. Whatever this is, if its treatable I want to take care of it.   Tuesday, June 3 View Page 1874.5 Mathison 10 DAP 23 CC   Wednesday, June 4 View Page 625* Staring vining out   Wednesday, June 4 View Page 1530 Gehweiler vining. There's a female on the main...too soon.   Thursday, June 5 View Page 407 Craps 13...this is my 150 plant... from here to the fence is the space..gonna freight train this one.   Thursday, June 5 View Page back access to the patch has been granted   Thursday, June 5 View Page Culled off the 1874.5 today...all in on the main kin now!   Thursday, June 5 View Page 1874.5 12 DAP did 12 ott overnight.   Monday, June 9 View Page 111.5 Martin LG transplanted today.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page The 1526 Menting (1770 Lieber x 1623 Wallace) is starting to fill out its space.   Tuesday, June 10 View Page 1874.5 Mathison 17 DAP   Friday, June 13 View Page 1874.5 Mathison 20 DAP 180 OTT. I'm in OH for the weekend, the kin's got these guys to look out for her.   Wednesday, June 18 View Page 1874.5 25 DAP 229 ott Its starting to develop a big hump on top.   Wednesday, June 18 View Page 625 Staring* x self at 12ft.   Monday, June 23 View Page 1874.5 Mathison 30 DAP 264.5 OTT   Saturday, June 28 View Page 1874.5 Mathison 35 DAP 294.5 OTT. She did 45 lb last night. Averaged 30 lb per day over last 5 days.   Sunday, June 29 View Page 359 Foss (1048x2009) x 407 Craps (1048x1048) This should really solidify the orange in this line and still have that potential to throw big.   Sunday, June 29 View Page V with the days culls. One from the 1526 Menting and two from his 359 Foss.   Monday, June 30 View Page 1530 Gehweiler x 1526 Menting this ones about 14 feet on the main. Also, had another open on a side vine so I pollinated it with the same cross.   Monday, June 30 View Page 625 Staring* x self. That baboon butt aint gonna cut it. I see splitsville in the future of this one. I would have culled this already if the two pollinations after this hadn't aborted.   Monday, June 30 View Page V watering his 359 Foss.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page Finally got the pollination I wanted with the 1526 Menting x 1874.5 Mathison. I had to get to work early this morning though and didn't have time to wait for the pollen to get fluffy and nice. Hopefully this still takes.   Thursday, July 3 View Page 1874.5 Mathison 40 DAP 310.5 OTT In other news the 359 x 407 didn't take. Will try again a few feet down the line.   Friday, July 11 View Page 407 Craps x self. This is my 150 sq. ft. plant   Sunday, July 13 View Page 4.57 MacCoy   Sunday, July 13 View Page 5.8 Osmala   Sunday, July 13 View Page 1526 Menting x 1874.5 Mathison 12 DAP 94.5 OTT This one is pretty fast outta the gate for me.   Sunday, July 13 View Page 1874.5 Mathison x self 50 DAP 332 OTT. It averaged 12.5 Lbs per day over the last 10 days. Regardless of the chart you use this ones right at 800 lb, beating my old personal best by over 200 lbs and 39-40 days to go! :)   Sunday, July 13 View Page My son Vance with his 359 Foss x open at 105 Lbs.   Friday, July 18 View Page 1874.5 Mathison 55 DAP 336.5 OTT for a mind boggling 6.2 lb/day average gain over the last 5 days. Got canteloupe-ing?   Saturday, July 19 View Page Here's my sad little squash. DAP 31 625 Staring*   Sunday, July 20 View Page 1530 Gehweiler 20 DAP 169 OTT. This is the one on the side vine, the one on the main aborted. A new one gets pollinated 7/21 on the main. I will self that one.   Monday, July 21 View Page 1526 Menting 20 DAP 162 OTT   Tuesday, July 22 View Page 2.48 Craps UOW from 5.8 Osmala x open. Too much stem on the fruit, and I didn't get a witness. I am a giant tomato rookie, can you tell?   Monday, July 28 View Page 1874.5 Mathison 65 DAP 345.5 OTT. Over the last 6 days I was on vacation it averaged 3.8 lbs per day. A little less than a month until weighoff, and its getting some color and a lot of character.   Monday, July 28 View Page Here is my 2.25 Craps UOW on the scale, if you look at the pic you can see why its UOW. The scale flashed when I took the pic! I need to grow a bigger tomato anyway. This one came from the 4.57 MacCoy x open.   Tuesday, July 29 View Page 1266 Marden x 1526 Menting It's about 17' out on the main, but there are only a few secondaries. It threw a bunch of stunted secondaries full of flowers. 99% sure this is my fault. This is why you gotta get your soil right. There is probably not enough plant behind this one to push it but I like the cross and I'm gonna try to do what I can to push it with ferts from the sky.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page 1530 Gehweiler 30 DAP 218 OTT I like that its gonna go orange...hope it starts putting on some weight.   Thursday, July 31 View Page 1526 Menting 30 DAP 201 OTT Gonna have to work on my dirt this off season.   Thursday, August 7 View Page 1266 Marden x 1874.5 Mathison   Thursday, August 7 View Page 1526 37 dap 223.5 OTT   Thursday, August 7 View Page 1530 38 dap 247.5 OTT   Tuesday, August 19 View Page 1874.5 87 DAP Discovered soft spots on underside of stem. Weigh-off is Saturday. Peroxide and Fans are my friends right now. Fingers crossed it hangs in there.   Saturday, August 23 View Page The 1874.5 Mathison x self is now the 868 Craps '14. 4% light to the chart.   Saturday, August 23 View Page 868 lbs. was good enough for 6th place. A new personal best for me by 270 lbs.   Tuesday, August 26 View Page The 868 Craps got cut open today to get seeds out. Quite a few had already germed and two had cots already. I still got what look like 100 viable seeds from it that are drying now. Walls weren't crazy thick but weren't paper thin anywhere.   Tuesday, August 26 View Page close up of the blossom...it would have been pretty hard to split her   Tuesday, August 26 View Page Look what I found when I cut open the 868 Craps 14 to get seeds out! It was 100 degrees in Cullman Saturday! There was another one like this and half the seeds inside had germed. Anybody got a greenhouse and want to get a jump on a winter plant?   Thursday, August 28 View Page 1530 60 dap 289.5 ott She's slowly moving ....but moving so I'll take it.   Thursday, September 4 View Page My 625 Staring* went squmpkin on me!   Thursday, September 4 View Page My son Vance with his 359 Foss. The stem went soft on it so we cut it loose and moved it inside to keep it temperature controlled and dry. Hopefully it will make it so he can get an official weight on it and enter it in the local fair.   Monday, September 8 View Page 1530 Gehweiler 70 DAP 302 OTT. Real nice lookin' 'kin.   Thursday, September 11 View Page Pop goes the weasel and the weasel goes POP!   Friday, September 12 View Page That sure is pretty.   Friday, September 12 View Page A mere matter of moments after taking this pic...."Down goes Frazier....Down goes Frazier!" It was a valiant effort to keep my son's 'kin from going down but alas she is destined for mush. The 'kin and squmpkin are in our front yard now making our house more interesting.   Tuesday, September 16 View Page 1530 Went POP! Pulled back the sheet this morning and it was really soft up here where the skin pulled apart. The amount of mush in there suggest a hole underneath somewhere. I will hack it open tomorrow and have a look.   Monday, October 27 View Page After the State Fair, I took some pumpkins to the local elementary school where they were learning about the life cycle of plants and specifically about how giant pumpkins grow. I gave a presentation to several groups of kids K-2nd grade for over an hour and they were filled with tons of questions, one of the teachers called me "Professor Pumpkin." A special thanks to Sambo for providing the "big" pumpkin in the back of the truck. All the kids were just wild about seeing one that size.   Wednesday, October 29 View Page Got an old engine hoist laying around? It's a great way to get a giant pumpkin out of the back of your truck!   Wednesday, October 29 View Page Just lift that baby up, and drive the truck away. That's a pumpkin hanging in the air, just waiting to be dropped in the engine bay of a 1970 Chevelle!   Wednesday, October 29 View Page Didn't have a Chevelle handy so we dropped it on 4 bales of wheat straw. And Vance is just as happy sitting on top of that pumpkin as he would behind the wheel of a Chevelle anyway. One more pumpkin to get in place tomorrow and we will be ready for Halloween.   Friday, October 31 View Page Here is my first attempt at carving/shaving a giant pumpkin. I'm sort of impressed with myself(I'm not artistic)...and the kids loved it.