Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 45 Entries. Thursday, April 20 View Page The 1824 Shenoha....:) Shazzy....Thank you sir...:)   Thursday, April 20 View Page The 1824 Shenoha....:) Shazzy....Thank you sir...:)   Saturday, April 22 View Page Planted Competition Tomatoes tonight, look at them roots along the side and bottom..Can we beat our PB finally and get to 5 pounds...we only need a 1/2 pound more to beat it....Planted 2-4.29 Timm, 1-8.41 MacCoy, and 1-6.57Boudyo...   Sunday, April 30 View Page The plants are in. Feeling a little disappointed though. The squash were in different pots, non flower pots and didn't have proper drainage. The first two or three leaves are warped and looked burned but they actually were drowning. I,m, always amazed at our own stupidity. After all these years its still so easy to screw up and make newbie mistakes. On a bright note, the pumpkins were looking better. The melons were a bit to wet to. Not to self. Make sure flowerpots have proper drainage. Idiot. lol   Tuesday, June 6 View Page Alright, lets get this bp diary going!!! first pollination of the year, june 6!!   Tuesday, June 6 View Page Its a 4 lober!   Tuesday, June 6 View Page covered in pollen!! 5 males 1824 Shenoha x self   Tuesday, June 6 View Page And of course we have tons of tomatoes growing, San marzano for sauce, cherry's, giants, black cherry's, etc.   Wednesday, June 7 View Page Starting to make a bend in the vine. We are less aggressive then some and use bamboo stick to help move the vine. Its ok if this process takes a week or two since we have more then 3 months to harvest time. Trying to do this to fast can make you break your main vine, or even snap of the fruit once it gets bigger. I would rather have a crappy position for a big pumpkin then no pumpkin at all but a perfect s bend! Moving the pumpkin an inch a day once it gets bigger works well to. Obviously you have to do this well before day 20! lol   Wednesday, June 7 View Page The plant right now, growing fast.   Wednesday, June 7 View Page Our rocket fuel helps speedy growth. Biggest factor is the hot southern weather though. A friend early on, a foe later in the season.   Wednesday, June 7 View Page And you have to inoculate of course. WoW and Hollands land "o Giants have been our sources for the year. Hollands has been a source for years and has always stood out to us for its prompt and speedy delivery. WoW is new but has been just as prompt and has been impeccable so far to. Thanks to both of them.   Friday, June 9 View Page ghost peppers, very prolific in our hot climate!   Saturday, June 10 View Page We grow other stuff to, here our first try at artichokes. They were delicious!!!!   Saturday, June 10 View Page Tina takes great pride in our eating vegetables and puts in a lot of hard work on top of the giants to keep them healthy to and the from yard to table food beats anything that comes from Walmart. Nothing as good as home grown food!!!   Saturday, June 10 View Page Weird pollination on the 1844.5 squash. The whole plant has been somewhat difficult and seemed for a while to struggle in N uptake. After nutrient supplementation it has snapped out of it and leaves have increased significantly in size. This first pollination opened partially on one day and completely the next. We pollinated both day and although unexpected it took. 1844.5 x self.   Monday, June 12 View Page And with all those different veggies and giant pumpkins/squash you need a decent spray program for bugs and disease. This year we use a mix of commercial chemicals and store bought milder versions.   Friday, June 16 View Page cow peas first time growing them, delicious!!! Tina made them mix in with rice, bacon, sausage, a sort of dirty rice !!!!   Friday, June 16 View Page day 10: 27 inches   Friday, June 16 View Page looooooong stem!!!   Friday, June 16 View Page Our little hulk took after a weird pollination!!   Tuesday, June 20 View Page Japanese eggplant   Wednesday, June 21 View Page And we have a flock of these gals to help supplement our home grown veggies, we fresh eggs. (and maybe meat in the future)   Wednesday, June 21 View Page And what Tina does for maters, I do for the giant pumpkin and squash. And with work hours not always in sync with growing, at times after shift late at night I have to go out to get on some fungicides. This is something we were unable to do when we grew in the past, away from our home. Right now in the middle of Tropical storm Cindy, being able to apply fungicides in between rains during dry spells of 12 hours is priceless. Its tiring but hopefully will pay off in the end. No pain no gain!!!   Wednesday, June 21 View Page When you apply fungicides be aware of these guys. unfortunately a lot of fungi and pesticides we use are of risk to honey and bumble bees. We kill our pumpkin enemy's but in the process some of the good guys to. Getting older and hopefully a little bit smarter, we try to minimize the use of heavy commercial pesticides and fungicides. And in our heat, and humidity I don't think there are many places that have a a higher disease and bug pressure then we have. We have been able to significantly reduce the amount of harmful chemicals we spray into the environment, and added more biologicals to our program. So if you can, work smarter and not harder, not dumber and more, but smarter and less!!!   Wednesday, June 21 View Page This is Azzie, cruising towards day 20 while tropical storm Cindy is dropping some serious water in the south eastern part of the country!   Thursday, June 22 View Page Oh and yes, we are growing melons to. But we will keep them of the radar for while until there;s something special to announce. There's a little one growing but we would like a better distance from the stump. Still in pollinating mode!   Sunday, June 25 View Page Tropical Cindy is over and we had plenty of rain. Just spend 2.5 hours of weeding two plants and could have spend more time doing it. Always make me think of growers who grow 5 to 10 plant and I'm in awe. I couldend imagine having to grow 5 plants let alone 10. Maybe after retirement, in 30 years from now, lol. Doing them properly would mean having a full time job growing giant pumpkins in mid season. Combining two plants with a veggie garden with a job and family already is challenging enough! Anyway, the tropical system dumped a lot of moisture and humidity is high. The spray program has worked so far but tonight a fungicide/pesticide spray is due again. First symptom like spots are popping up with the weather being perfect for issues. Also exposed buried main vine to be able and keep an eye on it. No signs of rot yet, knock on wood. As far as feeding goes I,m sure some nutrients have washed out but we have been using granular fertilizer and try to apply it before rains. That way when it rains we are fertilizing, lol. Its slower to release then a foliar feed but you need both. Calcium is due since soil levels were lower then usual and we might give the young fruit a calcium bath, at day 19 it should be able to take it. Another gardening session later tonight with a bit more weeding and a spray for the plant. Pics to follow later.   Monday, June 26 View Page day 20 est. 113 lbs   Thursday, June 29 View Page Had to move the position of the pumpkin a little bit. On the pic the stem is to close to the soil so I brought it up some and lifted the main vine along with it and supported it. It stands up more straight now. And all without incident. Lets hope it stays that way,. Knock on wood!!!   Thursday, June 29 View Page Plugging along steady. No spectacular gains, but slowly ramping up. a little more every day.   Thursday, June 29 View Page "Pumpkins in the mist" Still having to do late night sessions and the neighbors have not complained yet. I,ve done it with the pump sprayer but that takes 30 minutes longer, so I rather have the stihl roar for 10. Sorry neighbor. Tonight we drenched 80 gallons per plant with some goodies and foliar fungicides with more goodies on top of that. The plants have been looking good and have that healthy dark green shine. Al we need now is the lbs to show for it.   Friday, June 30 View Page our 1844.5 Holub on day 20. This peculiar female opened up partially on one day and completely the next. We selfed it both days and it took. Our weirdest pollination ever. Then it crept to day 10 at about 2 inches a day. From day 10 to 20 the plant has developed more and the fruit has sped up. Our personal best is 499 for a squash so if we could break 500 lbs we have good season. We always had issues with squash and this ones no different except for the fact that this time we got one set on the main vine. Once more vines are ended I hope daily gains will increase even more. Fingers crossed.   Tuesday, July 4 View Page With afternoon storms and temps in the mid 90s disease pressure is peaking. Found about 4 leaves on the 1824 that had early signs of gummy stem infection. I thought I covered the leaves pretty good but because i spray with the stihl from the side, I guess some of these leaves near the main vine got less spray coverage. Pruned the leaves off to prevent spores from spreading in future rains and wind. Sprayed daconil and eagle. Gummy stem comes with downy mildew sometimes or vice versa and hopefully the fungicides will slow everything down. The rains and humidity are not going to stop so all we can do is spray, check and try to control as best we can.   Tuesday, July 4 View Page A close up of the gummy stem infection. these necrotic area's were near the edge of the leaf, but on a couple other leaves they were mid leaf and tell tail gummy stem. They almost look like the leafs are starting to rust. Southern weather is like an incubator for plant diseases, lol! The melons showed some signs to, the fun has begun!!   Wednesday, July 5 View Page Here's granny smith on day 25. Why the name granny smith? Not just the color,,,,,   Wednesday, July 5 View Page The shape is apple like to....lol!!   Thursday, July 6 View Page day 30. Not our fastest grower but a pretty pumpkin. Seems its going to get some color later to.   Sunday, July 9 View Page I know there's lots of real cool guys who can resist the call of the tape, but lets be honest and say that the real joy of growing pumpkins in not growing tons of real nice looking salad, but in the pumpkin itself, changing in shape daily and slowly morphing in to a vegetable of jaw dropping size. Nothing beats the joy of a ton of inches added or disappointment of less inches then hoped for.   Monday, July 10 View Page Day 31 and now gaining on the pumpkin. So either the pumpkin could be doing better or the squash is doing great, lol.   Tuesday, July 11 View Page Phytophthora on the squash plant   Tuesday, July 11 View Page After it looks like a water soaked leaf and severe wilting in the sun, it goes necrotic within a day. Spreads fast to.   Tuesday, July 11 View Page might look like this.   Tuesday, July 11 View Page And then to top the squash fun off: " hello old friend".........................   Sunday, December 24 View Page One of Tina’s Christmas gifts to me, she must have thought it was poignant. I have no clue why.......... :)