Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 150 Entries. Sunday, January 18 View Page 258 kent 14 i noticed i never posted some from last year so i thought i would do some for the record. this was at the state fair in NC   Sunday, January 18 View Page 270 bushel gourd 14 weighed at bear wallow in ky. from the 245 english 13   Sunday, January 18 View Page here is what it looked like inside. very thick. they are almost solid !   Sunday, January 18 View Page 142 kent 14 this was the 291kent X 316 edwards. Picture was taken on nov 16. It had been cut and sitting in the garden since aug 8. It was already frozen once. The plant was a grafted and died, hence the small melon.   Sunday, January 18 View Page trophy of hope. Very nice ! sent to the GWG winner Gabriele Bartoli in Italy. I hope to get it back next year. :)   Saturday, January 24 View Page My winter long gourd. These things grow fast, about 4 inches a day inside with bad weather. Wow. My bushel gourd is just getting started to vine and was started the same day.   Saturday, January 24 View Page Here is the 229 bushel gourd drying outside beside my deck. So far so good. The mould just scrapes off the hard shell.   Saturday, January 24 View Page Here is a smaller one drying in the garden   Saturday, January 24 View Page waiting for spring   Sunday, February 1 View Page my 1st long gourd male flowers. Just need some females and the bushel gourd to get flowers. At least its finally starting to vine .   Sunday, February 15 View Page 1st long gourd female on 2/10/15. only had a male long gourd so i tried to polinate it.   Sunday, February 15 View Page looks like it took, but i cut it off today since i don't want a self LG. Still waiting on male bushel gourds and my next female ! Not much else to do when the low was 10 and high was 28. waiting on a winter storm to hit monday. only 2 weeks to march !   Sunday, February 22 View Page Finally, i have a female long gourd and a male bushel gourd. I will also have one on monday night too, so 2 chances. The cross has been made i hope it sets. 124 young(long gourd) X 270 kent (bushel gourd). I hope to do the cross with a female bushel gourd if i get a female but thats some weeks away.   Sunday, February 22 View Page Its the little things that make the grey winters bearable ! LOL   Sunday, March 8 View Page ice storm on feb 18 2015, thousands without power for days. Lucky for us it was just a long walk up our ice covered road/driveway   Sunday, March 8 View Page then we had snow on feb 26th ! lots of fun !!!!   Sunday, March 8 View Page mean while, i got my long gourd / bushel gourd cross on feb 22 !   Sunday, March 8 View Page here it is today march 08, its 10.5 inches and growing 1 inch a day. Hope there will be viable seeds inside. Still wait on the bushel gourd to produce a female. still time but it better hurry. Hey Bubba/Mark do you have a spring indoor Long gourd contest??? LOL   Sunday, March 8 View Page here is the 229lb bushel gourd from last year still drying. Its gotten alot lighter, so i'm hopeing it makes it.   Sunday, March 8 View Page A small 100 lb one thats almost dry. doesn't weight but 10-15 lbs now. Totally cool !   Friday, March 27 View Page 270 kent bushel gourd X 124 young long gourd. Finallly got the reverse cross, should have time for seeds.   Friday, March 27 View Page 4.31 Daho Clone. This is a 3rd generation clone from the 4.31 Daho that i grew last summer. I kept a plant alive all winter. A new clone thats rooted and ready to start the season....indoors for now as a major freeze starts this weekend. These things root so easiely. It will be a good test against a seed started plant.   Sunday, March 29 View Page Test   Sunday, March 29 View Page Same seed, same soil ,way different results. this is why you must start multiple seeds cause you never know what you will get !   Monday, March 30 View Page just waiting on spring. Mowed the grass for the 1st time this season. I like the smell of fresh cut grass ! A little more sun, warm wind and no rain and it will be time for the spring till !   Wednesday, April 15 View Page still waiting....everytime the soil gets dry enought to till the rains come... still lots of time but still waiting..   Wednesday, April 15 View Page of cource i could just grow these blue weed flowers... or what ever they are....   Wednesday, April 15 View Page my best bushel gourd X long gourd cross. Seeds should be ready in time to plant. Its growing in a very small pot, that was transplanted from a McDonalds cup ! LOL   Wednesday, April 15 View Page my xmas cactus is a little off in its timing, but still pretty.   Friday, April 17 View Page seeds started. line up so far is.... 291 kent 350 kent 199 mudd (thanks Frank) 251 kent 169 cantrell (thanks Dave) some proven, some new, and a dark horse. All will compete for the spots. Tomatoes are already in the ground due to warm conditions. Those are the 7.10 foss, my 4.96 kent, And clones from last years 4.31 Daho. i will start the bushel gourds later in may as their season is shorter.   Sunday, April 26 View Page i picked my LG X bushel Gourd cross last weekend. 22.5 inches. i guess that wins the winter division ! LOL   Sunday, April 26 View Page 6 seeds. 2 looked very good, 4 medium. Still waiting on the BG X LG cross. Its still growing. The LG was 63 days old when picked and had stoped growing.   Sunday, April 26 View Page Finally over the last few days got my patch tilled. The weather gods gave me a rain break after what seemed like and endless spring of every 3 days then rain. Soil looks very good so i have high hopes for the season. Plants are growing. Now if it will just warm up a little. Still 40's forcast at night all week. New plans for the season. I won't make the same mistakes as last year. Might make new ones ... but not the same old ones ! LOL   Sunday, May 3 View Page a new spot ready to go. Took me about 8 hours from green grass to finished to get it ready. Alot of work but worth it. This was the weekend i have been waiting for all winter. My plants are in the ground, the weather was perfect, and the forcast is great !! Even had a red fox visit my patch. Left foot prints everywhere. Dug some not so cute holes in the fresh tilled soil. He better leave my plants alone ! LOL Life is good !!!!!!!!   Friday, May 8 View Page final on the Bushel gourd plant i crossed with the long gourd. This was the plant !   Friday, May 8 View Page the fruit from the Bushel gourd 2.4 lbs !   Friday, May 8 View Page 85 seeds ! They look pretty good. There is a 270 Bushel gourd seed at the bottom of the plate for comparison. Not too bad for a little fruit. Full size seeds. I'll let them dry and see if the will sprout. Its the 270 kent Bushel gourd X the 124 young long gourd   Friday, May 8 View Page the fruit was 50 days old when picked.   Tuesday, May 12 View Page i have a nice mega bloom coming on my 4.94 kent tomato! The warm temps have really made everything grow , once they got use to the heat. Could use some rain, but otherwise so far so good ! :)   Sunday, May 17 View Page tomato patch, plants are growing well   Sunday, May 17 View Page 4.31 daho clone   Sunday, May 17 View Page 4.94 kent opening soon   Sunday, May 17 View Page another 4.94 kent nice big flower   Sunday, May 17 View Page 7.10 foss   Sunday, May 17 View Page 4.94 kent. don't know about this one. Plant just kinda ended in a flower. Guess i will see what happens.   Sunday, May 17 View Page 350 kent yes i'm growing melons....just not much to show yet !   Sunday, May 17 View Page oh look... a bushel gourd.... 270 kent !   Sunday, May 24 View Page 4.94 kent. That huge flower has opened. Not sure if its producing any pollen as i don't see any. Hope there is some there. I only have 1 other flower open on another 4.94 plant and i think its past time on it. This is my smallest youngest plant. Its also the most neglected and abused plant. This was 1 of 3 that came up together. When the seedlings were about 3 inches tall , i washed all the dirt off the roots to get a plant for an experiment. The other 2, bare root were sitting in a cup of water. A storm blew over the cup and most of the water ran out. 1 plant died in the sun. I came home and 1 was alive so i stuck it in the ground. Thats this plant ! LOL   Sunday, May 24 View Page 350 kent starting to take off. Waiting on the rocket fuel to arrive next week ! (Marks Mix)   Sunday, May 24 View Page gave my plants some azos today. Good stuff   Friday, May 29 View Page Marks Mix has arrived. I got off work early on wednesday just to make sure my plants got fed. Thanks Mark ! Rocket fuel applied.   Friday, May 29 View Page 4.94 Kent. I don't know if this meg fused bloom will make it. The stem is so short, the fruit is already touching to the main trunk.   Friday, May 29 View Page 4.94 kent. my Huge blossem seems to have had some pollen after all. Its 3.25 inches in length. Now lets see if it amounts to anything worthwhile.   Friday, May 29 View Page at least the plant got a shoot and is growing again. Still the runt of the maters ! LOL   Friday, June 5 View Page 4.94 kent not much hope for this one. Stem was too short. Already was stuck in the vine. I cracked it trying to give it some room.   Friday, June 5 View Page another 4.94 kent. This is my huge 3.25in flower. It has now grown into a circle shape. Looks good ! Like a mini MacCoy ;)   Friday, June 5 View Page 169 Cantrell Doing well. All plants are great with only 1 problem... no females. The must be very stress free ! LOL This is my smallest. All are way ahead of past years. Hope the females show or i'm going to have alot of salad :(   Thursday, June 11 View Page 4.94 kent had to do something to give the fruit space. Its already cracked the fruit stem. I cut the top off the plant. It would have been seperated in another week anyway.   Thursday, June 11 View Page another view   Thursday, June 11 View Page 270 kent BG starting to run. They love the heat   Thursday, June 11 View Page 350 kent spreading out. Females showing everywhere on all plants.... going to be busy the next 2 weeks !!!!!   Sunday, June 14 View Page pollinations in progress ! Problem, Mark Clementzzzzz i used too much of your products,you made it too good! My baby melons are too big, gonna have to do C-sections ! HELP !! I'm afraid they will blow !   Monday, June 22 View Page 251 Kent most plants are looking great ! Weather has been about perfect for melons. Everything way ahead of any year i have grown.   Monday, June 22 View Page 270 bushel gourd. Maybe another week till pollination. I wanted a little later, but mother nather had other ideas.   Monday, June 22 View Page 350 kent funny, its growing in the exact same place in the same spot where it came from.... like afish back to its birth.... hope that means good things. It was supose to grow on the other side but the plant had other ideas. Melon is way bigger then past ones at this age too. 9 days old here.   Monday, June 22 View Page 251 Kent. Gonna be a monster ! i hope. Blowing the early chart away....not that that means anything. I have had the early ones fizzle. Still, Marvin Mitchel said he wanted to see some 400 lb melons in an email he sent to the GWG members... well this is how you start on that road !   Monday, June 22 View Page Hey Mark, my hand sliped, was this more then we are supose to use???? oh well, too late now, no use crying over spilled ferts. ;)   Tuesday, June 23 View Page 169 cantrell still can't get a set on this plant. This is the main....it just ended... it got smaller and smaller till this. Would have been nice to see a female in 15 plus feet of vine !   Tuesday, June 23 View Page pear shape cull from the 350 kent. Hey Spence, i pick my pears when they are small !!   Wednesday, June 24 View Page Well the early season has gone just about as good as it could. Between the heat and the growth they are kicking my butt to keep up. I still have a few plants that have not set yet or that have problems. The ones that have set are great. At 10 day mark my smallest is bigger then i have ever had ! Of cource i have had 10 day leaders fail, so i'll wait for day 20 to give me a better idea. I guess i am just a fanatic, for fathers day i asked for a headlamp so i could keep working after dark.... Still... 85 days to a new PB and counting.....   Saturday, June 27 View Page Received My Certificate in the mail. :) The post office had fun folding it 2 different ways :(   Saturday, June 27 View Page I love hoops houses in the garden. It means that these plants are set. It also gives the DEA helecopters fits ! LOL. I still have 3 plants that do not have melons set. Due to the heat, i can't get watermelons, only pears ! The heat is gone so maybe i can get the last plants done.   Wednesday, July 1 View Page My best so far and a new PB 5.76 lbs . This is from the 7.10 foss   Wednesday, July 1 View Page 7.10 foss i had just cut the plant in half to get to the tomato. The last 2 weeks of heat ripened most of my tomatoes. Its cooler now, maybe the last ones will grow a little longer.   Wednesday, July 1 View Page 5.76 other side   Wednesday, July 1 View Page 5.76 3rd side   Wednesday, July 1 View Page 3.56 tomato from my 4.94 kent   Wednesday, July 1 View Page 3.56 tomato otherside   Thursday, July 2 View Page from my 4.94 kent, my huge blossem, This would have been something big in a cooler area. One side is still very green. Oh well still a nice one from a tiny plant. i running out of green tomatoes. only 2 left.   Thursday, July 2 View Page other side   Thursday, July 2 View Page close up   Thursday, July 2 View Page 270 kent bushel gourd. Great plant, pollinations in progress over the last few days. Fun easy plants to grow. heat resistant. More growers should try them. 150-300 sq ft is all that is needed.   Saturday, July 4 View Page tomato patch looking empty. just 2 left.   Saturday, July 4 View Page 251 kent. Well the 20 day numbers are in and as predicted they tell the story. Over all the melons are still on pace for a new PB. The problem is the weather. The heat went last saturday and so did the sun. Temps droped 20 degrees and the rains came. All melons droped 30% in daily gains. The rain isn't the problem, its the clouds. Can't grow without the sun. The fact that i'm still on pace is just because i was so far ahead. The lead is gone and the sun needs to shine.... we are at 8 cloudy days and counting...anyone know where i can find some used street lights ! LOL   Friday, July 17 View Page 270 kent bushel gourd.... plant is a monster, its full grown and i'm trying to stop the growth. Every leaf node puts out 1 or 2 suckers and a male flower and 1 or 2 females. UNREAL. The female is the keeper. its on the main. The planrt this year put out females at every node on the main. Last years didn't, just a few. Its growing a little slower so far.... but i'm hoping for better being on the main. Its experiment year !   Friday, July 17 View Page one of my less then perfect sets. Don't try this at home Spence. i had to turn it over and cut the vine to get it to fit.   Friday, July 17 View Page 350 kent Doing very well.   Friday, July 17 View Page 251 kent This melon needs a big H on it for HEAVY ! The best in the patch so far. The gains returned with the sun & the heat. Within spitting distance of the WR pace. I'll use boots for scale next time just for you Spence. I already had the milk jugs.   Friday, July 17 View Page tomato from my 4.94 I came back from vacation and it was past ripe and had a soft spot. This is on my home scale so its not perfect but since i already had a 5.76 i didn't try to take it to a legal scale.   Friday, July 17 View Page this is from a clone of last years 4.31 Daho. My best and last tomato. I was surprised when i put it on the scale. I was ready to give up on the clone project. This is a 3rd generation clone. 4.31 daho = clone in fall, clone in winter, clone in spring that was planted.   Friday, July 17 View Page it was a triple fused flower. Here is the stem end   Saturday, July 18 View Page Just for spence ! This melon didn't make it. 55 lbs oh well, it made a good boot picture !   Saturday, July 18 View Page a 4.94 kent clone ready to plant. There will be maters for the fall.   Saturday, July 18 View Page clones in the ground   Saturday, July 18 View Page a baby 4.94 kent. about 1 week old. look out Bubba, i'm feeding it steak and potatoes for supper. All of Marks's mixes are in there. LOL   Saturday, July 25 View Page 169 Cantrell This will be its final, great plant but i can't get a melon to grow. This one won't do better then 2 lbs a day. Just something went wrong. The 1st set didn't take...then the heat wave hit and a bunch of bad sets and no sets. Finally set 2 and neither grew. Sorry Dave.   Saturday, July 25 View Page 291 kent a long melon. Very strange for me ! LOL (and a boot for Spence)   Saturday, July 25 View Page 350 kent tied with the 291 for size and growth. (and a boot for Spence, size 13)   Saturday, July 25 View Page 251 Kent Still the biggest in the patch and doing well. my gains have returned with the weather and the forcast looks great. I have "critters" nibbleing vines again so hopefully i can stop that. Why do they pick the best plants to nibble on. We have hit the 40 day mark and are almost half way to the finish line. Very happy so far. Just have to keep em going... Oh (and a boot for Spence)   Friday, July 31 View Page 270 kent bushel gourd. I'm just not happy with the growth. Maybe i should have done ____ Just don't know. Looks nice, but slow... so i cut it off. Got 1 more set for another try. It will be my keeper as everything is deadheaded. Go big or be a decoration ! LOL   Saturday, August 8 View Page sunset and hoophouses.... nice   Saturday, August 8 View Page 291 kent if it only had some length it would be something. just never got going but it keeps growing at a steady rate. No growth curve here, just a straight line. Well i'm sure it weighs heavy buy the shape.   Saturday, August 8 View Page 251 kent. 1st over 200 this year. Also has that HEAVY shape to it. Just got to keep it growing.   Saturday, August 8 View Page 4.94 kent tomato clones. should be flowering this week for my fall maters   Saturday, August 8 View Page 251 kent. Haven't shown this one till now. Doing well also over 200. Has that flat top that says i got a big hollow spot. Should still weigh well. Keep growing ! Sibb pollinated.   Saturday, August 8 View Page Found this the other day. Man where was this in june. Its like 4.5 cm. Thats twice some of my keepers. Would love to grow one of these out some day. But it was on the 251 so it got snipped right after the picture.   Tuesday, August 25 View Page 270 kent bushel gourd. doing well, over 150 and still growing.   Tuesday, August 25 View Page 251 kent I planted several to get a better feel for the seed instead of just 1 . so far i'm happy. This is the youngest. a little long and skinny but i hope to fatten it up for the fair in NC in Oct.   Tuesday, August 25 View Page 291. Now if this one was longer(like combined with the previous)i'd have something. I do know this will weigh more then it charts. Over 200 by the chart and still growing.   Tuesday, September 1 View Page the 251's . like 2 big pigs. the smaller one (if you can call it small) is catching up. Going to be a coin toss at the end on which goes where !   Tuesday, September 1 View Page here is my 220 kent 15 fresh from Cullman,Al I took it to thunder road distillery to help promote their new watermelon moonshine !   Tuesday, September 1 View Page mark's Mix's come in all sizes !   Saturday, September 12 View Page 225 Kent 15 , from my 291. Weighed at the tennessee state fair. Another 2nd place. All grown with Marks Mixes ! Thanks mark. They should keep getting bigger. Up next will be Bear wallow , KY. next weekend !   Saturday, September 12 View Page 220 kent 15, from my 350. I donated it to the local distillery for display. It was weighed in Cullman,Al. I Came in second.   Saturday, September 12 View Page tomato clones. Tomatoes set. now we wait. The weather has turned cool so they should do well after last weeks 90+ weather. Even got about 2 inches of rain to boot !   Sunday, September 20 View Page Main vine from the 220 i weighed in cullman. Could be why the melon slowed down. The rabbits chewed 3/4 of the vine for the main that was over half the plant, but not all the way so with the node roots it never showed signs of a problem. They divided my plant in 2.   Sunday, September 20 View Page 231.5 kent 15 From my 251 kent 14. Was a great day at Bear Wallow ! Came in 2nd. Was a close weighoff between Frank Mudd, spencer Glasgow, and myself. Great Fun !   Sunday, September 20 View Page Here is the picture from Spencers story.. I'll let him tell it .. from his post... chris kent jumping around in the chaos but to sum up the story the scale read 232.0 when his melon first made it on the scale with the scale still settling it was SOOOO close he jumped on scale hoping it would round up that .5 of a pound... he jumped on the wrong side of the melon and thats how we ended up with the 231.5 kent. LOL Thats the way the melon crumbles ! I love weighoffs !!!   Sunday, September 20 View Page My lemons are getting ripe !   Sunday, September 20 View Page Can't weight till Elkin NC next weekend. Another great weighoff site. Yall come !   Friday, September 25 View Page sunset last night. pretty   Friday, September 25 View Page 291 kent . headed for Elkin,NC. Looks to go heavy(i hope) Kinda short, but has the fatness that i like. We will see in the morning. Hope the rain breaks for the weighing.   Tuesday, September 29 View Page 231 kent 15 from bear wallow cut in half. not too bad.   Tuesday, September 29 View Page 238 kent 15 At a rainy Elkin NC. Came in 3rd this time after 2 great growers , Larry Boyette and HC Williams. If anyone has a picture with my eyes open, could you send it to me! LOL   Tuesday, September 29 View Page 238 kent, inside. I guess this is why it didn't weight what i hoped it would. WOW !   Tuesday, September 29 View Page Up next is Allardt,Tn and then the NC state fair. I hope the 2 i have left weigh well. Bring my "A" melons. Fingers crossed ! They measure the same so i guess its flip a coin time.   Wednesday, September 30 View Page 270 kent bushel gourd. Has a few growth cracks ! LOL I guess if you want pretty, pick em early. estimates a few pounds bigger then mama, but mama went heavy. lets hope it weighes well on saturday.   Wednesday, September 30 View Page 4.94 kent clone. Growing longer then the plant did in the summer heat. Now what do i do with it. No sign of color.   Wednesday, September 30 View Page 251 kent 14, i flipped a coin and this one called heads. So it gets picked on friday for the trip. Hopeing the rain will go away.   Wednesday, September 30 View Page 251 kent 14 plant B, This little piggy goes to the state fair in Raleigh, North Carolina on oct. 13th Still growing too !   Sunday, October 4 View Page my 251 kent becomes 295.5 kent 15 Finally a good one for the year. !!   Sunday, October 4 View Page 295.50 a nice fat melon. Weighed right to the chart.   Sunday, October 4 View Page another plaque for my wall. I really love these ! Great weighoff site. Even with the cold rain there were alot of people there.   Sunday, October 4 View Page 213 bushel gourd. Beautiful but light. Measured 255. oh well, still easy to grow.   Sunday, October 4 View Page 9 days to go to the last weighoff at the NC state fair. Looks like good weather this week after 4 inches of rain.   Thursday, October 8 View Page my lemon tree. It has 24 full size lemons on it. They seem to take a long time to grow, finally truning yellow.   Thursday, October 8 View Page 199 mudd. toped out at 137 lbs   Thursday, October 8 View Page the 4 inches of rain split my late season clone tomatoes. :(   Thursday, October 8 View Page and a 2.90 tomato clone   Thursday, October 8 View Page the 295 melon had stoped growing 3 weeks before i weighed it. This is why. the main vine rotted out. There were no roots on the vine from the rot to the melon.   Thursday, October 8 View Page The patch is very empty. Only 1 melon left. It will be picked on monday for NC state fair. patch cleanup is under way. A very important part of spring prep is fall cleanup ! Getting the beds ready for the long winter.   Monday, October 12 View Page 251 kent 14 loaded for the trip in the morning. Can't wait !!!!   Monday, October 12 View Page they have waiting down pat ! LOL   Monday, October 12 View Page 4.94 kent 2nd seed planting. clones did better.   Monday, October 12 View Page ready for next year. come on spring !   Sunday, December 20 View Page 302 kent 15 final from the NC state fair. Thought I better post the final picts befor the year changes.   Sunday, December 20 View Page the NC state fair had a cool sign with the melon ! Thanks to HC Williams for getting the sign when he picked up the melon and harvested the seeds for me. The people in this hobbie are truly the best !   Sunday, December 20 View Page My 213 Bushel gourd seeds. I was going to let the gourd dry to add to my collection, but the cracks in it said otherwise. It started to go bad so I got the seeds out before they were lost. Nice seed count .   Sunday, December 20 View Page Next years experiment. Salvaged from work. Was used to put a soft top on a jeep. I don't have a jeep, just melons ;)   Sunday, December 20 View Page My blue flower weeds are blooming. Its been so mild that they are blooming in the fall. From seeds to flower since October. Who needs to plant a cover crop, they just grow themselves. LOL