Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 44 Entries. Thursday, January 1 View Page Mai ka lâ `ô`ili i Ha`eha`e a hâli`i i ka mole o Lehua. From the appearance of the sun at Ha`eha`e till it spreads its light to the foundation of Lehua. (Ha`eha`e is a place at Kumukahi, Puna, Hawai`i, often referred to in poetry as the gateway of the sun.) Hau'oli Makahiki Hou Kakou! (Happy New Year Everyone!)   Sunday, January 4 View Page ...everyone always asks me...so where do you live in relation to the lava flow...I live in Hawaiian Paradise Park...down Paradise Dr. and 6th...at the bottom in red is the lava flow.   Sunday, January 4 View Page Here is another view showing the flow of the lava in our area...   Sunday, January 4 View Page Here is today's shot of Mauna Kea...for those who say it doesn't snow in Hawaii...well, here is proof...only place you can go snowboarding and surfing in the same day!! : )   Monday, March 30 View Page Well got 1/2 my pumpkin plot worked up...next will be to finish spreading soil on pumpkin plot #2 and then to disassemble my old cover frame and get ready for new frame...   Tuesday, March 31 View Page Meant to have this picture with yesterday's caption   Wednesday, April 8 View Page Trying my hand at growing a giant tomato this year along with my giant pumpkins...pretty excited that my little plant is taking off now and growing nicely! You guys here on BP.com are a bad influence...lol...   Sunday, April 12 View Page My new giant tomato seedlings started sprouting yesterday!!! Where our days have been "slightly" cooler lately, I decided to start these using one of my heating pads and they popped up 3 days sooner then the first 2 plants...took them off the heating pad this morning and put them in the greenhouse...sun came out and I think they liked it cuz a bunch more sprouted by the afternoon!!   Tuesday, April 14 View Page One good thing about living in Hawaii...rain or shine, the weather is always great to grow in!!...Thanks again to everyone who donated seeds for our 4-H program...seeds seem to be very aggressively growing...most have sprouted within 2 days...so been working to get them in pots! If you would like me to follow a certain seed that you donate, please let me know... settlage@hawaii.edu   Sunday, April 19 View Page I under estimated the great genetics you guys sent to me to try and grow here in Hawaii!! Got a tad of sunshine and they took off!! Growing great! But I was hoping to have these ready to distribute next weekend...So having to contact people now to come and get them so they can get them in the ground before they get too big for their little pots. I wasn't able to take pictures of everyone's plants, but was able to get a few today, there are still some too that are just now popping up out of the soil, so will wait for them to get a little bigger before I get pictures of them...you can check them out at the following website: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153154364130944.1073741870.316404270943&type=1   Saturday, April 25 View Page Had a great day today!!...we distributed 200 giant tomato and giant pumpkins today!!...Yesterday a couple dozen giant tomato and giant pumpkins were taken out to a few local schools in the area...this coming week we have a couple dozen giant pumpkin plants that will be taken out to some schools on the west side of the island. At least the schools will be able to get the plants in the ground before school ends...   Sunday, April 26 View Page Two days after getting my 1008 Cook plant in the ground and we are getting a dramatic new look...much larger leaves...grow, grow, grow!!   Wednesday, April 29 View Page My 1008 Cook is a happy plant!...only two days different in these two pictures...I hope it just keeps growing aggressively like it has been... : )   Tuesday, May 12 View Page This is 1008 Cook...4 HUGE leaves off main vine...again kink not bothering it much...even the main vine where kink is, seems to be getting bigger...today this plant is jus under 8 foot in length...but with huge leaves, it's about 4 foot in width...secondary vines inching jus bout a foot to right and left...got help picking up pipe for frame to go over garden plot...we'll finish picking up rest of supplies tomorrow then Thursday we'll start building...it's not exactly what I was wanting but for those who felt I should have high ceiling...well it will certain that...gonna end up being TALL structure!!   Tuesday, May 12 View Page Here's a peek at Hawkley...its at about 7 foot length...and jus slightly smaller leaves then 1008 Cook...has a couple secondary leaves starting...not too bad I don't think for being only 4-5 weeks old....hoping the pumpkins will grow as good as these leaves! : )   Wednesday, May 13 View Page Some have asked what Hawkley looked like when I planted it...well, here is a picture of what it looked like...a little over 2 weeks ago is when this shot was taken. It got in the ground a little later than what I would have liked but it sure seems to have caught up jus fine...it was not my first choice of plants to grow but we'll see what it does...   Wednesday, May 13 View Page These back up seeds arrived in the mail yesterday...mahalo nui to Gary & Karen Cook! As soon as I got the seeds I started them...using paper towel method to germinate...we'll today, one day later all the 1008 Cook seeds and one 1400 Cook seed germinated. Have a good hunch that the other three 1400 Cook seeds will germinate by tomorrow. Looks like these 1008 Cook seeds will be just as aggressive growing as the damaged plant I'm currently growing is!   Thursday, May 21 View Page For those who wanted to see we finally got the frame up...hoping to get the sides up in a few days...   Friday, May 22 View Page Hawkley has a baby pumpkin starting... : )   Saturday, May 23 View Page Yay!! An we have a baby pumpkin (well, a female flower anyway) starting on 1008 Cook!...only one day behind Hawkley...   Saturday, May 23 View Page hmmm??...they forgot to post the 1008 Cook pic with caption...   Sunday, May 24 View Page To give you a little idea of how much my plants have spread out...this is looking at them from one end...   Sunday, May 24 View Page Here's looking at it from the other direction...   Thursday, May 28 View Page Here is my 1008 Cook...it's now about 46 days old...it makes me wonder what it would be looking like had I had good soil and if it had never gotten the kink in the main vine...I decided to remove the cover I had over the plant...also expanded the plywood walls...give it a little more elbow room...crossing fingers that the pests won't damage leaves too bad over the next few days...next week my sides will be ready to hang...then I can remove the plywood...figured that I might need a little bit of a wind break so decided to keep it up just a little longer.   Saturday, May 30 View Page I've been watching these two female flowers very closely the past several days...although I was hoping these would open next month it was sure fun this morning watching them open...plus it smelled soooo good as I sat in my pumpkin patch!!! Anyway, so as you can see I hand pollinated them...Hawkley is on the left and 1008 Cook is one the right...I notice that Hawkley has a bright orange flower and 1008 Cook has a pale yellowish-white color flower...curious if there will be a correlation between flower color and pumpkin color...anyone know or wanna guess what they will end up looking like?   Sunday, May 31 View Page Well we dodged our first bullet...keep praying that we will have a mild hurricane season this year!! TROPICAL OUTLOOK: The first major hurricane over the Eastern Pacific has reached category 4 strength with winds of 140 mph. Hurricane Andres is located far from land as it treks West at 6 mph. It will NOT impact Hawaii due to colder sea surface temperatures in its path. With El Nino intensifying later this year, we are expecting a busier hurricane season. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center is forecasting 5-8 tropical cyclones to form over our basin this season.   Monday, June 15 View Page Some were wondering what a pickle worm looks like...well here you go!...this happens to be one that came out of one of my pumpkins after spraying some neem oil.   Wednesday, June 17 View Page Finally got covered frame DONE!...put last side up yesterday...very grateful for the guys that helped to put it up, but all the delays have taken it's toll on my plants and pumpkins this year...now having to do "extra" treatments to overcome these new challenges...crossing fingers that I don't lose my remaining pumpkins...   Wednesday, June 17 View Page Current picture of 1008 Cook pumpkins... number 2 (at about 12 dap) and number 3 pumpkins (at about 9 dap).   Wednesday, June 17 View Page Picture of Hawkley #1 at about 16 dap   Sunday, June 21 View Page Excited to see how my pumpkin grew in the last 3 days!...this is 1008 Cook #2 and #3...top picture was taken Thursday and then bottom picture was taken today...I see that #3 has been defeated and have decided to sacrifice it along with my main vine to give #2 pumpkin more elbow room to grow. Then my neighbor just told me that I had pigs come into the yard last night...looks like they were rooting around the compost pile (which is just old grass clippings)...but that is a little too close for comfort for me...because 1008 Cook pumpkins are only like 5-6 feet from there!!   Wednesday, June 24 View Page Not taking any chances...feral pigs have come onto property twice over last couple of nights to raid my compost pile and pineapple patch...which is only like 10 feet from where 1008 Cook is growing...so put up electric fence today and set up two trail cams jus in case they decide to make their visits a habit.   Sunday, June 28 View Page YEP...I GOT PIGGIES!!...these feral piggies can have all the jackfruit they want but STOP destroying my pineapple patch :( ...can't see it in the picture but pumpkin patch is to the far right...   Sunday, June 28 View Page You can see I'm also getting piggie visits at night too...here you can see how close they are to my pumpkin patch...glad I have electric fence...so far they haven't challenged it...and hope it stays this way too...LOL   Wednesday, July 1 View Page Fun to go out each day to see how much more my pumpkins have grown...1008 Cook is on the left and Hawkley on the right...each day is one day closer to contest day...keep growing my little pumpkins!!!   Friday, July 3 View Page Here is a picture of 1008 Cook...figuring that 30 day measurement was about 210 pounds (yesterday)   Friday, July 3 View Page Here is a picture of Hawkley as of today...it's 29 day measurement was at about 128 pounds (measured on 6/28)   Saturday, July 4 View Page Before and After...I won't be letting these weeds get away from me again!! LOL...I do havta say that I'm proud of myself for managing my vines though this year...this sure has made a difference when I do havta weed or spray... : )   Sunday, July 5 View Page Rainbow over my patch!! WooHoo!! : )   Friday, July 24 View Page Well, as some of you know I had to cut off life support on my 1008 Cook pumpkin on Tuesday at 49 dap...rot had developed in the main vine...at the point where it connected to the stem of the pumpkin...well, yesterday I had 3 neighbors help me load my pumpkin up in my truck so I could take it over to my office...going to store it in my storage room until contest day...the room has AC on 24-7. Hoping it will keep the pumpkin from rotting prematurely...had my livestock scale handy, so decided to get an initial weight...hoping it's sibling that I started last week will do just as well as this pumpkin or better.   Saturday, July 25 View Page Working hard to get as much regrowth on the 1008 Cook plant to support the new baby pumpkin and help make it grow...lost many leaves to PM...but 1008 is not giving up!!...I see new leaves appear daily and the fragrance from flowers is unbelievable!!!   Tuesday, July 28 View Page Happy with how my new 1008 Cook pumpkin is growing....seems to be growing at same rate its sibling grew...at 12 dap its the size of a basketball...keep growing little pumpkin!!   Wednesday, August 5 View Page 11a WEDNESDAY UPDATE: The Tropical Storm watch for Maui County and Hawaii County has been dropped as #Guillermo weakens...YES!! we dodged another bullet!! : )   Friday, August 7 View Page Well, two less piggies I havta worry about getting into my pumpkin patch...but there are still a few more to catch...I was surprised, that poke flavored spaghetti really did draw them in!!