Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 137 Entries. Friday, July 22 View Page My Apologies for a late start to the diary, but better late than never, right? A very heartfelt thank you to all who have shared seeds and knowledge, as I wouldn't be here without either. Each pumpkin has about 600 sqft of space and were placed outside May 15th with no protection or cables or anything, just roughing it. To the far end of the patch is the 900 Gansert. Out of 3 plants, this one has consistently been in the middle of the pack as far as size. A few side vines missing but overall healthy and my first set of the year on June 30th.   Friday, July 22 View Page A raccoon got to it on day 6. I've made amends with mother nature over it, but it is starting to weep just slightly, so I'll have to keep an eye on it. Still growing well, OTT is 190 @ 22 DAP.   Friday, July 22 View Page Stem end is starting to color nicely.   Friday, July 22 View Page Middle plant is unknown genetics sent from Matt DeBacco. Since they were unlabeled, and this has been my most vigorous and healthy plant from the start, I'm calling it "Fatt Matt" for documentation purposes.   Friday, July 22 View Page Females are clearly oblong when forming unlike 900 Gannett which are all dead round. I like that I took a chance on this seed and grew it, it's giving me a nice variety in shapes, and still looks like it'll bang out some orange!   Friday, July 22 View Page This one is an open pollination from July 3rd, and is on the very first secondary off of the stump about 8 feet out. I had knocked a pumpkin off of the main while training vines, and this one was slightly out-pacing my first set so I kept it. Absolutely LOVE this plant and this pumpkin so far. Almost all vines terminated while others are still filling in.   Friday, July 22 View Page Third we have the 1143 Engel. This plant started out ok, but didn't vine out like the others. When it did, it was missing a lot of secondaries and a lot of the leaves were mis-shapen. The first two pumpkins that I set on this plant had lobes that weren't completely formed, and had seeds growing on the outside of them. Rather than pull the plant, the third one set was ok, so I decided to experiment with it.   Friday, July 22 View Page Introducing the "Pumpcone" (patent pending of course!). I've always grown on hillsides and had the harmful effect of gravity pull my pumpkins one way or another. So I wanted to see what would happen if I kept a pumpkin upside down (since the lobes were inside out it took me down the rabbit hole) but also level. Initially I just had it on the plywood base, but I didn't take into account that the stem has a hard bend rather than sticking straight out. So I noticed that it was pulling to one side at day 10. I also didn't want flat shoulders once the pumpkin was flipped upright, so I'm trying an inverted cone carved out of foam board to hold a better top shape. It has been a lot of work so far and I'm worried about not being able to see the stem, but it's way more fun than pulling a plant out and having a bare spot. About 300 of 600 sqft filled, so letting vines keep going at their own pace.   Friday, July 22 View Page Late in the game but should still be my biggest watermelon ever. 291 Kent 4 days old.   Friday, July 22 View Page 219 Kemp came out with twins on a ribbon, so I felt it bad luck to split twins at birth. 6 days old, all melons are open poll.   Sunday, July 24 View Page So, as a side project this year I wanted to learn more about grafting. Eventually I'd like to graft Japanese maples and specialty conifers for a living so I'm practicing on easier plants till I get the hang of it and set up a mist bed. Here is my first attempt at Po-matoes. One potato was started per pot, and two stems were kept per pot, in two pots for 4 grafts total. The one on the right in this picture was the first try and turned out quite ugly. There is only a sliver of the potato stem that caught, and as a result the tomato kept trying to root itself in order to get more energy. This seems to have slowed now that the plant is a bit older and better connected. The stem on the left was a bit cleaner of a union and was able to stand on its own outside of the humidity dome 10 days after grafting.   Sunday, July 24 View Page Here is the other pot. One stem failed on this plant. Every time I took the humidity dome off, the tomato top would wilt, but then stiffen back up as soon as the dome was placed back on. I can only imagine that the tomato was healthy and able to pull moisture from the air, but not lined up well enough to get any from the potato stem. 75% success from tomato to potato is a win as far as I'm concerned for my first attempt. The potato suckers have been culled as they form to see what root growth can be driven by tomato foliage only, as well as seeing what tomato production can be driven by potato roots. This root ball fell apart when transplanting from 2 gal to 10, and so far there are only fibrous feeder type roots unlike the thick runners that grow potatoes. The potato rotted out, and the initial sprout looks like it's been screaming to send out potato foliage. My only guess is that I will not get potatoes unless some potato foliage is allowed to grow underneath the tomato plant.   Sunday, July 24 View Page I DID however, start to get tomatoes this week! My initial thoughts were that if this plant were going to fail, it would happen at the time of fruiting because that would be the heaviest draw of energy and any incompatibilities would be magnified. These tomatoes prove that the two plants are indeed very closely compatible and gave my project at least a 50% success for the first year out. I'll still be keeping a close eye on them, but I don't see why they'd get this far and fail now. Next year, I'll try allowing the suckers to grow after the graft has taken, but this year I wanna keep it the same until it's finished.   Sunday, July 24 View Page This may be a cherry variety in the other pot, but babies as well.   Tuesday, July 26 View Page Having a weird problem here, stem is starting to pinch on the stump side. Being the side with more room, not sure why this is happening but I'll have to address it very soon.   Tuesday, July 26 View Page Better view of the pinch. Not very bad yet, but I'm glad I read a diary today that reminded me of the importance of inspections for the rest of the season.   Saturday, July 30 View Page Tried to catch the sunset last night for some good pics, but I suppose it beat me. 30 Day numbers on the 900 Gansert 111"cc, 78" ss, 71" ee = 260 OTT.   Saturday, July 30 View Page I'm as far way from the vine as I could get and still had a kink, so I did some surgery last night and removed a couple more roots to prop the vine further out to lessen the incline. Took the kink out on the right side but was too close on the left, so Larry Check on gave me the idea of a steak with nylons to start pulling it bit by bit for a little extra room. Gotta love the sharing of knowledge and encouragement in this community!   Saturday, July 30 View Page 705 DeBacco (previously Fatt Matt) is doing well. She's starting to get just the slightest stretch marks after a couple days of heavy rain, but chugging along at a good pace.   Saturday, July 30 View Page Low, Wide, and Long... pretty much the opposite of the Gansert. I like the variety in shapes.   Saturday, July 30 View Page 1143 Engel is starting to tilt heavy, but I love the look so far. Only about 300 sqft of plant but still gaining about 3.5-4"cc per day so I'm happy.   Saturday, July 30 View Page The tilt is actually helping to keep the blossom end dry as it keeps a natural drain, but I'll probably need a fan or a waterproof roof soon.   Tuesday, August 2 View Page Don't normally get to share in the attention but I like this picture... 900 Gansert @ 30 DAP   Tuesday, August 2 View Page Here goes the 705 DeBacco @ 30DAP. Had a neighbor help me slide it last night and he broke the blossom off, hope it doesn't blow. I have some powder and a fan on it for now. Was a little disappointed at the numbers for an aggressive plant, but sitting at 243 OTT and still chugging along.   Tuesday, August 2 View Page Here is the 1143 Engel, 108"cc on day 29. Almost touching the board now around the entire cone... hope everything is ok under there!   Tuesday, August 2 View Page Here is a better shot of the blossom break after dusting with Captan powder.   Tuesday, August 2 View Page My beautiful wife Kirsha in front of the tall corn. Posts are 10' from ground so Polly 15-16' for little effort. Might try again and try to push em but I got busy this year so the corn went to the bottom of the priority list :) That's our ridiculous Frenchie named Elvis. He's not usually allowed in the patch but it was a combo deal tonight, no wife without the dog.   Tuesday, August 2 View Page Man! 2 shots in one night for THIS rockstar! So, some do it on a budget, but I know a lot of growers spend a lot of money on this hobby and gardening in general, myself included. Recently I purchased a set of wind chimes for my patch to drown out the neighbors yelling at each other. They couldn't be some rinky dink chimes from the dollar store though, they had to match the scale of the pumpkins, and provide a soothing sense to the garden. What I settled on was Pentatonic Bass tuning from Music of the Spheres, which you can see behind me is one serious set of chimes! Hand crafted one at a time in the USA, this is absolutely one of THE BEST purchases I've made in an awful long time. I'm sorry to plug a product, but every gardener out there should hear the soothing resonance these big tubes bring while I'm out there spraying :)   Sunday, August 7 View Page Porkchop, this one's for you buddy! Couldn't figure out how to measure the corn without ripping it out and laying it down so I made a custom ladder extension.... still couldn't reach the top though. Estimated 15' tall.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Big Watermelon Lady, this one's for you! ;) 20 days old or so   Sunday, August 7 View Page For all you ORANGE lovers out there, Laetiporous sulphureus better known as Chicken of the Woods. Found this over 4th of July weekend. Made some killer vegan chicken noodle soup with it. This is one of the freshest, best looking pieces I've ever come across.   Sunday, August 7 View Page 900 Gansert on day 37   Sunday, August 7 View Page suppose it was time to go in...   Tuesday, August 9 View Page Sister stopped by to see the progress, 40 day #'s on the 900 are 137"cc, 90"ss, 84"ee for total 311".   Tuesday, August 9 View Page Let the wife name the pumpkins for the first time this year. Here we have Ellie ( 1143 Engel) at 36 days old.   Tuesday, August 9 View Page Side shot of Ellie. Starting to get a beautiful shape to her :) 119" cc.   Tuesday, August 9 View Page I have her all set up to keep the moisture underneath at bay. Working well so far.   Tuesday, August 9 View Page I just love this time of year... when the orange starts crowning over the leaves. It amazes me how fast they are every single year.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page Saw that Spence was looking for Waldo, so here you go! Found him at Red Rock Amphitheater in Denver earlier this summer :)   Wednesday, August 10 View Page Libby (705 DeBacco) at 38 DAP with Belle (900 Gansert) at 41 DAP in the background.   Saturday, August 13 View Page Libby at 40 DAP. 284" OTT   Saturday, August 13 View Page Nice shot of Libby's stem side just before sunset.   Saturday, August 13 View Page And a side view to show the low profile of this lady.   Monday, August 15 View Page Belle @ 46 days old   Monday, August 15 View Page Amazing how big the raccoon paw has stretched, looks more like a bear claw now.   Monday, August 15 View Page Libby laying low ??   Monday, August 15 View Page She's starting to crack all around the outside, I think she still wants to slide outward from the stem but can't, so is swelling out a bit faster than she'd like.   Monday, August 15 View Page Blossom end is holding up nicely though ????   Monday, August 15 View Page Ellie is looking better and better every day! Touching the board all around now so will have an OTT soon.   Monday, August 15 View Page 134" cc @ 42 DAP   Tuesday, August 16 View Page Pomato update, plants doing great!   Tuesday, August 16 View Page Dark cluster variety in this pot, big beefy stalks off of a rather skinny potato stem.   Tuesday, August 16 View Page Here is the union. This one lined up well and has been trouble free.   Tuesday, August 16 View Page Cherry variety in the other pot, either Esterina or Peacevine, not sure?   Tuesday, August 16 View Page The stem on the right has struggled from the start. It didn't line up well and is still trying to root as a result. No fruit yet on that stem, just blooms. The stem on the left is the cherry variety.   Wednesday, August 17 View Page Back in the Army, we had a guy who just seemed to be all jacked up no matter how hard he tried... Drill Sergeant used to call him Private Cantgetright... This ear of corn made me think of him and chuckle.   Friday, August 19 View Page 50 day numbers on Belle (900 Gansert) 150"cc, 98"ss, 89"ee = 337 OTT, doing about 17lbs per day now.   Monday, August 22 View Page Ellie (1143 Engel) at 49 DAP is 143"cc, 76"ss, 73"ee for total 292 OTT. Picture is from day 44, not sure how accurate the OTT is with the cone underneath the shoulders, but this pumpkin thumps a lot deeper than the others. I believe with the shape it's holding, there's not much empty space in the cavity, the walls seem nice and thick.   Monday, August 22 View Page Libby (705 DeBacco) at 50 DAP is 148"cc, 78"ss, 79"ee for total 305 OTT. She slowed down for a couple days after a bit of vine pruning but is still chugging right along. Pic is from day 45.   Tuesday, August 23 View Page Blossom end of Belle gets a shot today   Tuesday, August 23 View Page Top side   Tuesday, August 23 View Page And Libby in the background. Really happy with the color on everyone this year, Belle being my darkest orange.   Tuesday, August 23 View Page Wife caught me giving Ellie a dose of my secret weapon today.   Friday, August 26 View Page Not really sure about the rules for long ears of corn, but if you count the silk, I'm over 2' on a test ear.   Friday, August 26 View Page But only 21" from the tip of the cob itself   Friday, August 26 View Page Looks like it's maturing well. Should have a bunch of seeds to share for next year.   Saturday, August 27 View Page So Libby (705 DeBacco) has been wanting to grow long and wide all year. I was able to slide her for a while but got spooked when the blossom broke off. You can tell she wanted to keep going because her bottom sunk in a bit.   Saturday, August 27 View Page When she couldn't slide that way anymore, she started pushing the other way. Fairly severe bends but no kinks... Well she got to heavy to go that way so started to swell up and out.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Came home today and noticed she's ready to blow. She'll be harvested on September 6th for the grand opening of the new Agricultural Sciences building at West Virginia University on September 9th. Just need her to hang in there a couple more days!   Saturday, August 27 View Page The Gansert Glow is just ridiculous!   Saturday, August 27 View Page But then again, the Engel Orange and the DeBacco Dreamsicle are no slouches either!   Sunday, August 28 View Page Test lift complete, ready to rock and roll now!   Saturday, September 3 View Page Still truckin along and getting brighter in the patch!   Saturday, September 3 View Page Libby gets harvested tomorrow for University display. One last dose of secret weapon to fatten her up!   Saturday, September 3 View Page Same for Ellie, going to North Elementary in Morgantown for guess the weight contest this week. Little nervous about flipping right side up, but she seems solid so should be ok.   Saturday, September 3 View Page So... Thought I might have a shot at world's smallest pumpkin :)   Saturday, September 3 View Page Not even close, was 2.24 ounces. Still pretty cool to find, gonna put it next to my biggest one on display.   Saturday, September 3 View Page Potato tomatoes are doing great! Looking better than my actual potatoes to be honest.   Saturday, September 3 View Page Here is the other pot. They'll be dug up in our horticulture class on the 14th to see what happened under the mulch.   Sunday, September 4 View Page OOOH BABY! Tiny truck never looked so good!   Sunday, September 4 View Page 637 Trychta uow, will get final measurements tomorrow after we set her up. Seed was 705 DeBacco.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Took her around town to spread the word a bit, everyone had a blast!   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Here she is in her new home ate the WVU greenhouse. Working on signage now and wife made a beautiful slide show for me yesterday to run on a loop.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Came home to lift the second kin, and got sick to my stomach when I found this on Libby's main vine about a foot out. I looked at this vine 100 times over the last 70 days and never caught it. Let this be a lesson to all who want to use staples to lay the vine down instead of two bamboo sticks :(   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Being set on the first secondary, she was basically pinched off from the rest of the plant... At least she made it!   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Got Ellie (the Cinderella) lifted and she looked good but the chat room was right, will leave her the way she was grown to display.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page A good example for younger growers on why we use play sand underneath. Here you can see the linear scratches from sliding outward. Everything looks good on the stem though, even though it was trapped.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page A little WV love went into this one while loading.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page 1143 Engel ready for her contest. Will be doing a lifting demo for the 4th graders on Thursday. Their teacher built a mini tripod over the weekend to teach them about pulleys and gears so they understand the science behind it.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Beautiful kin :)   Thursday, September 8 View Page Had a blast today at the elementary school teaching kids about pumpkins! News and the local paper showed up. Thank you Shannon for a great seed and your generosity, it'll definately be paid forward!   Saturday, September 10 View Page Had to get me some new kicks for my big debut :)   Saturday, September 10 View Page North Elementary has been a fantastic partner this year and on short notice put together a press release to help advertise the guess the weight fundraiser that we're doing. A huge thank you to Natalie Webb, James Rye, and the entire 4th grade class for letting me do this .   Saturday, September 10 View Page Not only the local news, but front page, above the fold! What an amazing week!   Saturday, September 10 View Page If you'd like to see the news clip, here is the story. Don't know how to link so please copy and paste :) http://www.wvalways.com/clip/12717448/ellie-the-giant-pumpkin   Saturday, September 10 View Page Last one standing gets an update. 72 DAP is 357 OTT   Saturday, September 10 View Page She's slowed down a good bit but with this crack I'm not complaining.   Saturday, September 10 View Page Her other side :)   Saturday, September 10 View Page Cleaned with peroxide, dried, and packed with fungicide. Hadn't wept, powder was still dry after 2 hours so cover went back on until I can get a fan on her.   Saturday, September 10 View Page Another great shot! I really got lucky with this one! Thank you Norm for the seed, great man!   Wednesday, September 14 View Page HA HA HA HA! :) It never rotted out! Miniature Atlantic Giant that is hard-skinned. Wonder if it has any seeds inside, or is it solid?   Wednesday, September 14 View Page So I'm hopeful that I'm seeing healthy tissue inside the crack. I've slowed her down a bit by cutting some foliage as well as the closest 4 tap roots, and she is still gaining to let me know she's alive, but not so much that she's still splitting. Fingers crossed for good measure, but I believe in her! She's still got lots of smile to bring!   Monday, September 19 View Page 80 day numbers on Belle are 164 cc, 104 ss, 95 ee for 363 OTT.   Monday, September 19 View Page She's still cracking, but still healing as well. Cracks keep going new directions, so hopefully they stay shallow and slow enough to keep healing. At any rate, figured I'd spend some time with her tonight just in case... :)   Wednesday, September 21 View Page Took over the University newspaper today with Belle. Was a proud day, lots of friends saw the paper... Good vibes! :) Story can be found at www.thedaonline.com if anyone is interested.   Wednesday, September 21 View Page So they say crack kills... But crackheads never believe that it'll kill them... She's still healing cracks but forming them in new directions. Got a bit nervous when I pulled the blanket off today, but I've settled myself and I still believe this pumpkin will make it. Hope that doesn't make me a crackhead...   Sunday, September 25 View Page Just like the Liberty Bell... Patch one crack and another appears.   Sunday, September 25 View Page Something my wife cut out of a magazine and hung on the fridge for me. How true it is :)   Thursday, September 29 View Page Picked my first big watermelon this morning. Hope to grow my first giant watermelon next year :)   Thursday, September 29 View Page Picked up Ellie today from North Elementary. Still pretty shiny.   Thursday, September 29 View Page Teachers there are amazing! They taught the class about lifting, and now life cycle. What I wouldn't give to go back to that age and have this kind of learning... Fun stuff!   Thursday, September 29 View Page However, the little fingernails were expected. Was so worth the damage to see how much the kids loved having it around.   Thursday, September 29 View Page All loaded up for the WVU homecoming parade tomorrow, then Altoona on Saturday! Super excited, been a couple years since I loaded up for this trip.   Thursday, September 29 View Page And here is Belle on Day 91. 366.5 OTT, up .5" in each direction after 3/4 of plant was cut to slow her down. Just enough to let me know she's alive! :)   Saturday, October 1 View Page Libby came in at 631 today after a month on display. This is only 6lbs different from our unofficial harvest weight, so I can only imagine it may have been weighing a bit light on the load cell? At any rate, I'm happy with her.   Saturday, October 1 View Page My chunky little Cinderella came in at 671, also after a month on display. She'll be delivered tomorrow to a very excited young boy who won her! Two down, one more to go next week!   Tuesday, October 4 View Page Winner of Ellie was Brent Hagood of North Elementary with a guess of 678 lbs! Congratulations!   Tuesday, October 4 View Page Another shot of the bottom... Or is it the top?   Tuesday, October 4 View Page This fine young man donated the pumpkin back to the school so his friends could enjoy it as well. As a reward, we will be doing the seed harvest with his class just before Halloween.   Tuesday, October 4 View Page Her final home at the front entrance. Still lots of gloss, and lots of smiles yet to bring! The school raised just over $1/lb so it was a great success at a moment's notice. A lot of extra work, but such a fun project to get to do.   Friday, October 7 View Page A couple friends came over to help me lift Bell, and I'm sure glad they did because the rain made it tough work. Thank you Harrison and Andrea!   Friday, October 7 View Page Ended up having a little trouble with the winch, but got finished by flashlight and are ready to roll! 900 Gansert, 99 days old, 367 OTT. Was a wild ride from the last week of August, but I'm happy I stuck with her!   Saturday, October 8 View Page Had a blast today in Ohio. OVGPG put on a great event and I ended up with a new personal best. Was fairly light to chart, but I didn't care to do the math. I believed she would make it, and am very happy I stuck it out. Met some incredible growers, saw some massive kins, and got back home safe and sound.   Saturday, October 8 View Page Even managed to grab my first bit of hardware for the office. What a beautiful end to a long and tough season. Congrats to everybody who got one to the scales this year!   Sunday, October 9 View Page She split last night... hung in there JUST long enough. I think the cold weather got her, it was low 40's last night.   Sunday, October 9 View Page I sat back and admired a little today. She's off to the University this week to await her sculpting.   Wednesday, October 26 View Page Well, Belle's stem popped off today. It was pulling away from the pumpkin around the entire edge of the stem, so I gave it a bump and it popped right off. Never saw this happen to a big one before, but at least she's ok underneath.   Wednesday, October 26 View Page Lots of people in Ohio mentioned what a beautiful stem it was, so here is a shot of the inside if anyone would like to see. Still dead solid and clean... kind of wierd how it just separated.   Wednesday, October 26 View Page Stem weighed 3lbs even. She goes to the student union tomorrow and will be sculpted next Friday. Can't wait to see what's inside!   Thursday, October 27 View Page We all know what that means... at least she made it outside the building before she let go.   Thursday, October 27 View Page Aftermath... the 3rd graders had fun digging through it even though it was pretty soupy. Was rather thin the whole way around but she had a tough year.   Thursday, October 27 View Page About 1/4" thick at the bite that was cracking. Amazing it never went the whole way through! :)   Monday, November 7 View Page So I started new patch prep for 2018, and apparently the previous owners treated this lot like a garbage dump... here is some of what I've uncovered with the tiller.   Monday, November 7 View Page As you can see, I should have stopped and gone through with a shovel. Hit something big and solid, and the handle kicked up and popped me under the jaw pretty good.   Monday, November 7 View Page Ended up biting all the way through my bottom lip. Please let this be a reminder to always practice safe equipment use, and to adjust plans if it is not going well. No broken jaw or missing teeth, but sure in a lot of pain.   Monday, November 7 View Page But we got Ellie opened up today. Nice thick walls and good seed count. This should blend well with the 900 for next year. I knew she'd be close to touching in the center, but she just looks comical being that flat!   Friday, December 30 View Page A Norm filled doughnut! The first and last bubbles of 2016 to show up, what are the odds!