Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 49 Entries. Wednesday, February 12 View Page Some of the fertilizer that we plan on using this year.   Wednesday, February 12 View Page Back view of the fertilizer. We got this stuff, last fall, on clearance at our local Krogers for 25 cents a bottle. Bought 35 liters. We'll see how it does.   Friday, February 14 View Page Cheyenne adding coffee grounds to the watermelon patch.   Thursday, February 20 View Page Soil test for plot "A" before anything was added.   Thursday, February 20 View Page Plot "A" soil test before anything was added.   Sunday, February 23 View Page The size and shape of our patches this year.   Sunday, February 23 View Page Clearing brush alongside plot "B" to give more light.   Monday, February 24 View Page Put the first bunch of tomatoes in the germination chamber (incubator) today. There are Brandywines, Hillbillys, and three different bunches of Big Zacs from the 7.18 Harp, 5.32 Lyons, and 5.58 Timm lineages.   Tuesday, July 29 View Page Cheyenne showing off what would become the 3.84 Hooper 2014. She has 19 Big Zac plants. They were grown from F6 1.736 Thurber 2012 (offspring of the 7.18 Harp) seeds.   Tuesday, July 29 View Page The 3.84 Hooper 2014 on a certified scale.   Tuesday, July 29 View Page The 3.84 measured 23.25 inches.   Tuesday, July 29 View Page A top view of the 3.84 on our home scales showing the heavy pleating. It measured 4.7 pounds but on weighed 3.84.   Tuesday, July 29 View Page Picked a Big Zac today that weighed 3.01 pounds. That makes six tomatoes over three pound so far. This should look really good for her FFA project. I will post pics of the 3+ pounders soon.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page A 3.02 pound Big Zac   Wednesday, July 30 View Page 3.0 and 2.4 pound Brandywines. We just got lucky with these. We have about 25 Brandywine plants that recieve no special care or irrigation, yet they have been producing lots of tomatoes over 2 pounds.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page Cheyenne posing with her 19 Big Zac plants. Our giant melons are behind them.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page One of the Big Zacs in a temporary storm shelter. We were expecting heavy wind and hail the night before we picked this one, so we gave it a little extra protection.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page A photo of our long gourd trellis and our, not so tall, tall corn.   Wednesday, July 30 View Page 3.08 Hooper 2014 Big Zac   Wednesday, July 30 View Page 3.006 Hooper 2014 Big Zac   Wednesday, July 30 View Page 3.00 Hooper 2014 Big Zac   Wednesday, July 30 View Page 3.00 Hooper 2014 Big Zac #2 We checked the scales with calibration weights and they were dead on to the gram, yet we had two tomatoes on the same day, with different shapes, weigh the same.   Thursday, July 31 View Page Cheyenne with all of our 3+ pounders so far. There are a few 2.8+ thrown in for filler. That is a 5 ounce supermarket sized tomato in her hands for comparison.   Wednesday, August 6 View Page A 3.44 pound Big Zac that we picked three days ago. Our second largest so far.   Wednesday, August 6 View Page All of our largest tomatoes so far with weights.   Wednesday, August 6 View Page Cheyyenne using the roof rack on her Rover to check on her long gourds.   Wednesday, August 6 View Page Our long gourd trellis. It is 13x8x8. We have 5 gourds growing right now. We have one at 97 in. and one at 96 in. two days ago. The one at 96 in. was pollinated too close to the ground and is now growing into a hole we dug.   Wednesday, August 6 View Page Cheyenne with our first long gourd. It is at 96 inches in the photo.   Wednesday, August 6 View Page Our punkin patch. There are two 220.3 Debacco plants in the photo. We have three 220.3s and one 1725 Harp.   Wednesday, August 6 View Page Cheyenne with our largest pumpkin (182 lbs 30 dap)and it doesn't look right. We had 5 pumpkins in a row abort on the main vine when they were soccer ball sized. We didn't added any additional fertilizer when they were small or any extra nitrogen at all, so I guess that it is the 90 to 95 degree heat that is causing it. All four plants are haveing the same problem. The plants look great but wont keep a pumpkin on.   Wednesday, August 6 View Page I just noticed that the photo of our tomatoes with the weights, didn't have the weights. Here is the correct photo.   Wednesday, August 13 View Page Got another one that is almost exactly 3 pounds. If our goal was to average 3 pounds we would be doing great. There are lot of potential 4 and 5 pounders on the plants, so the season aint over yet.   Monday, September 1 View Page Cheyyenne with her first long gourd. This one was only 7 feet up and was growing into a hole. We decided to go ahead and cut it to allow the others to get longer.   Thursday, September 4 View Page My daughter Cheyenne took some of her veggies to the Tennessee Valley Fair today. Her long gourd set a new Tennessee state record at 95.75 inches and her watermelon weighed in at 170.8 pounds. We had the pleasure of meeting BrotherDave and learned a lot in a short time. We will taking all our agriculture classes to the fair on Monday to see the exhibits. Now to get ready for a GPC weighoff.   Thursday, September 4 View Page Cheyenne taking a photo with BrotherDave and his vegetables at the Tennessee Valley Fair. It was nice putting face with the name and learned a few growing tips too.   Thursday, September 4 View Page Another shot of Cheyenne with her 170.8 pound watermelon at the Tennessee Valley Fair. It was grown from a 194 Jones seed. Just two ounces from our PB, with a few good ones left in the patch waiting for a GPC weighoff. It has been our best year ever for everything we have grown. The extra work, knowledge, and soil amendments are sure paying off.   Tuesday, September 30 View Page Cheyenne posing with her largest pumpkin and PB. This one is on a side vine. We couldnt get one to stay on the main. It is a 899 Sherber 2013 X Self.   Tuesday, September 30 View Page Another view of Cheyenne with her largest pumpkin. Heading to Allardt this weekend. Many thanks to Joe Scherber for the 899 seed.   Tuesday, September 30 View Page Cheyenne with her last watermelon of the season. Just 3 days to go. It measured 187 lbs a couple of weeks ago, so it should be her PB. It was grown from a 260.5 Clementz seed.   Tuesday, September 30 View Page Cheyenne with her long gourd plant. It was grown from a 102 McWilliams 2013 seed. This plant has already produced the TN state record for her at 95.75". There are longer ones still hanging, so she hopes for another state record in a few days.   Tuesday, October 7 View Page Cheyenne with her 685 pound pumpkin. It was good for 10th place among some "heavy" competition at Allardt.   Tuesday, October 7 View Page Cheyenne with her 169.7 pound waremelon at Allardt. It went way light. It had a month more to grow than the 170.8 pound one she took to the fair, so it must be full of air.   Thursday, October 9 View Page Cheyenne delivering her pumpkin to Maple Lane Farms in Greenback Tn where it will greet the 80,000 visitors to their corn maze. They sure had a nice fork truck.   Thursday, October 9 View Page Cheyenne sold her watermelon from Allardt to East Tennessee Seed and Feed where we bought our orgional Carolina Cross seeds years ago. Many thanks to them for helping to support out giant veggie habit.   Thursday, October 9 View Page Another shot of Cheyenne with her pumpkin at the Maple Lane Farms corn maze. She is holding her ribbon from Allardt.   Thursday, October 9 View Page We would like to thank Ron Wallace at Extreme Gardening and Reforest Technologies Inc. for providing grow products for Cheyeyenn to test. We will be sending in photos with our results soon. All of the plants that the products were used on did better than those without.   Sunday, November 2 View Page Cheyenne with all of her long gourds. She grew 15 gourds on a single plant grown from the 102 McWilliams 2013 seed. The gourds range from 72 to 101 inches. Her 95.75 inch gourd held the TN state record for a month. The plant grew in native soil with no ammendments. Next year we will amend the soil and prune for length.   Sunday, November 2 View Page I ran across this photo the other day and was amazed a how far Cheyenne had come. Cheyenne with her first giant pumpkins, way back in 2003. They were grown from a packet of seed that we got at our local feed store. They were planted in the garden with all of the other vegetables and were given no special care. We grew several to about 80 pounds back then but they were big enough to get us both hooked on giant growing.   Sunday, November 2 View Page Whille going through all of our seed stocks, I ran across this special packet of seed. It is a packet of AG seed from 2003 from which Cheyenne grew her first giant pumpkin. The first year none were over 80 pounds. There is one seed left in the pack. If I can get it to germinate we will see what we can do with the 2003 gentics now.