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Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 204 Entries.
Sunday, March 1 View Page
A rare glimpse of the sun, its been a very wet winter here. I'm still undecided as to my plans for this coming season but I never had any plans to replace my poly tunnel sheet. I do know that this will be my marrow/field pumpkin patch and I'll be running 20 plants here but how many of each I don't know yet. Good luck to all!
 
Saturday, March 7 View Page
Big thank you to the GPC for my fantastic award, and thank you to Ian and Stewie for picking it up for me in Vegas ang getting it to me so quickly. WELL HAPPY!.
 
Wednesday, April 1 View Page
I think I've finally settled on my plans for this coming season after changing my mind several times, i had initially planned to grow an ag in this tunnel but given the uncertainty of there being any weigh offs to take them to this fall due to coronavirus I've now decided to use this area to grow food for this season. It'll be nice to rest this area and grow a non cucurbit crop anyway as its been either Marrows or pumpkins here for years now.
 
Wednesday, April 1 View Page
So I've decided to just concentrate on what I consider to be my strong points, Marrows, cucumbers and field pumpkins. Never grown a field pumpkin before but from what I gather they are very much like Marrows and some say they don't suffer splits quite as bad. Weigh offs or no weigh offs coronavirus won't stop me growing. Here's my little cucumber tunnel, currently growing some new potatoes in here. Unheated, just been touched by the frost but that's OK they'll come back.
 
Thursday, April 9 View Page
The weather is warming up now and the first early potatoes are growing away well.
 
Thursday, April 9 View Page
I saved some of the kondor potatoes from last year which I'm planning to grow again this year, not growing for competition just to eat. They were hit bad with blight last year and some of them went rotten but these seem to be OK.
 
Monday, April 20 View Page
I've put the green shade netting on to the polytunnel frame this year, I had this net over the top of a makeshift frame last year but it was far too low and was hard work on the ole back after a long session working underneath it. This year I'll have 10 plants growing under shading and 10 plants growing with no shading. I went to the trouble of making up some timber frames at the ends with the idea of holding the netting in place with timber battens but it was far easier just to cable tie it on to the hoops so that was a waste of time.
 
Friday, May 1 View Page
I've put up a wind fence of sorts, hoping it will slow up some of the low level wind but I'm well aware that we'll still take some wind damage but that's all part of outdoor growing.
 
Friday, May 1 View Page
Line up for this year, not starting them just yet. 165 Baggs x 5 220 Baggs uow x 5 217 Baggs uow x 2 198 Baggs x 2
 
Friday, May 1 View Page
I've got a nice line up of cucumber seeds, Heavy, 10.34 kg Thomas plus my own 26.2 lb and 25.4 lbs. (10.34 was the mother of my three largest last year) Long, Ian Neales fourth place at Malvern last year and Derek Hulme 2018 seeds - cross 'A' grew 1st and 2nd place at Malvern last year, cross 'B' is from another cucumber with the same genetics. Thanks to David, Ian and Dereck for the trades! Planning on growing 10 plants for weight and 5 for length and will make more of an effort to do some controlled crosses.
 
Friday, May 1 View Page
Also very happy with my field pumpkin line up, planning to grow 6 plants. 205 Wursten 165 Schenk 123 Kloch The other three will be from MacKinnon seeds. Thanks to Brad, Patrick, Kevin and John MaKinnon.
 
Saturday, May 16 View Page
Had a nice evening mackerel fishing down on Chesil beach. I had a full set of six and thought it would make for a good picture but one of the buggers came off before Jack could take the photo.
 
Saturday, May 16 View Page
Jack had a few as well, he's growing up but still needed his old man to cast for him as they were a bit out of his casting range. He uses a spinner on a light rod if they are in close enough but that wasn't the case this time. Can't wait to get growing again, seed starting day not too far off now.
 
Tuesday, May 26 View Page
Been busy getting the patch rotavated this past weekend, first I got the tractor in
 
Tuesday, May 26 View Page
I did all I could but I didn't have the height to get under the tunnel hoops
 
Tuesday, May 26 View Page
Made a nice job
 
Tuesday, May 26 View Page
Then I set about the area under the hoops with my little rotavator
 
Tuesday, May 26 View Page
Weaving my way around the hoops
 
Tuesday, May 26 View Page
It's obviously not as good as being able to use the tractor but this little machine is pretty handy around the garden
 
Tuesday, May 26 View Page
4680 ish sq ft of soil ready to go! Plants will be slightly larger this year 13 ft x 18ft (234 sq ft per plant). After one of the wettest winters I can ever remember we have now had one of the driest springs I can remember, my soil is sandy and it's like walking on the beach at the moment so no worries about soil compaction
 
Monday, June 1 View Page
Oi! Get out of there!
 
Monday, June 1 View Page
Seeds started here this morning, was thinking of starting a little later this year but decided to get them in today.
 
Saturday, June 6 View Page
Well not quite the start I was hoping for, I had a little set back with my first sowing of seeds but I did get enough field pumpkin plants and a few marrows to go so I've had to re-sow marrows and cucumbers. The problem (i think) , my propagators are basic heated propagators but have no thermostats fitted but have always given me good success so I think where I went wrong was to have them in front of a window on a couple of hot sunny days and basically cooked them. 100% fail on the cucumbers that were on the window sill. The good news is the cucumbers I planted on the 4/6 are showing signs of life this morning and I'm expecting the marrows to follow in the next few hours. I was originally thinking of starting the marrows a few days later anyway.
 
Saturday, June 6 View Page
I've put an improved frame up to hang the cucumbers off of this year
 
Wednesday, June 10 View Page
Well I think we're just about doing ok here, the field pumpkin plants germinated pretty well for me with the only real casualties being Brad's 205 and John's 181. I'm very happy to have these plants going in to the patch! Original plan was to plant 6 field pumpkin plants but I may well be tempted in to growing a couple extra now.
 
Wednesday, June 10 View Page
After a shocking start with the cucumbers my second batch germinated at 100%. Disappointed to lose the first batch of seeds but I'm now going with a line up that is all my own 26.2, 25.4 and 23.25 UOW.
 
Wednesday, June 10 View Page
The biggest disappointment has been the marrows, I've now planted 3 batches of seeds and each time germination has only been about 40 - 50% and the plants aren't exactly flying but I've heard mainly good reports from other people so I'm miffed as to what I've done wrong. The good news is I have enough for my line up now and they are looking better every day.
 
Saturday, June 13 View Page
Marrow germination assessment 2020. Batch 1, sown 1/6 can't remember how many I started but this is what I got. I started them in a heated propagator like normal, they did get some exposure to the sun which provided some additional heat. My assessment of this = not happy lol.
 
Saturday, June 13 View Page
Batch 2. Started on 4/6 when I realised I had problems with batch 1, this time I put them in the kitchen somewhere out of the sun but had the heat on and ended up with 6/12 = still not happy!
 
Saturday, June 13 View Page
Batch 3. Planted in a panic in case batch 2 failed, Ended up with 4/8 again I had the heat on and kept out of the sun.
 
Saturday, June 13 View Page
Batch 4. Started 7/6 this time I put them back in the original place in front of the window but this time I left the propagator turned off so they were at room temperature. 10/10 = happy days I've never had problems like this before so I don't know what's changed, I usually expect to see them pop in 3 days and if they don't show I dig and see what's going on as anything that doesn't come up in 3 days always rots with the heat. Without heat they have taken 5- 6 days and I have no rotten cots, I don't understand what's changed this year but I'll know what to do next year.
 
Sunday, June 14 View Page
Planted the field pumpkins out this evening, 205 + 165 Schenk 123 Kloch 211, 175, 174, 163, 103 Mackinnons. I'm very happy with how these have got going.
 
Monday, June 15 View Page
Well more problems! 24hrs in the patch and birds have taken the 165 Schenk out
 
Monday, June 15 View Page
The growing tip was taken clean out, replaced with a 2nd 163 mackinnon
 
Monday, June 15 View Page
They also had a bit of a go at a couple of the other plants but these should be ok
 
Tuesday, June 16 View Page
8 marrow plants planted out, all plants now have a CD hanging over them. Will have to hope this is enough to keep the buggers off.
 
Tuesday, June 16 View Page
Funny isn't it, all the issues with germination and I've got marrows popping up on there own in the patch. I never harvest seeds in the patch so can only assume these have come from marrows which split/rotten in the patch (immature seeds I didn't save) . 6 months of wet weather last winter didn't rot them but 3 days in a heated propagator can lol
 
Friday, June 19 View Page
The CD 's have been doing a good job keeping the birds off my plants having seen no further damage as yet. This is one of my best marrow plants, a 220.
 
Friday, June 19 View Page
It's been a little windy, I've got the plants tucked in behind a piece of ply to keep the prevailing wind off them but have found a tyre to be good wind protection as well but they soon outgrow this.
 
Friday, June 19 View Page
Planted out the last of the marrows out in to the patch this evening, this 165 wanted out!
 
Friday, June 19 View Page
The cucumbers are out too. Last year I had 6 plants on each side and a row of 8 tomatoes up through the middle, this year I've got 4 on each side and 4 up through the middle. Hoping for a bigger one.
 
Monday, June 22 View Page
Well this one's toast, last night I noticed the cot leaves were rotting on this one but the rest of the plant looked healthy so I removed them and thought it would be OK. This evening the whole plant has collapsed and not sure why. Removed this and replanted another plant about 18" away from this one just to be safe. Everything else looks good.
 
Tuesday, June 23 View Page
Problem of the day, this 165 forked in to two heads, I had two choices to pinch out one of the heads of this two headed monster or replace it with a bit of a pot bound back up and I went for the latter.
 
Tuesday, June 23 View Page
Field pumpkin update, all growing fairly well and looking good. Here's John's 174
 
Tuesday, June 23 View Page
Kevins 123
 
Tuesday, June 23 View Page
And Patrick's 205. The other fp plants are all similar
 
Saturday, June 27 View Page
Put up the strings for the cucumbers today. Happy with the plants so far.
 
Saturday, June 27 View Page
Marrows are doing OK I think, we've strong winds forecast for the next few days so I've got them staked down fairly well.
 
Saturday, June 27 View Page
Marrows
 
Saturday, June 27 View Page
Another problem plant, this time the 205 Schenk. I think it's growing in to a ribbon vine and will likely have to be taken out. I planted a 220 marrow plant next to it a couple of days ago which will likely be its replacement
 
Monday, July 6 View Page
First casualty of the season (all back ups now gone) This 23.25 cucumber plant went down to some sort of stem disease, stem went all slimy and horrible so I yanked it out. The remaining 11 seem fine at the moment so I'm hoping it stays that way.
 
Monday, July 6 View Page
Cucumbers
 
Monday, July 6 View Page
Starting to climb
 
Monday, July 6 View Page
The plants outside have had quite a bit of wind on them last week but we've come through it relatively unscathed, I think this is one of the 165 marrow plants
 
Monday, July 6 View Page
And this is one of John's 163's (I think)
 
Monday, July 6 View Page
Marrows
 
Monday, July 6 View Page
Ive had very little to do as of yet but the next month or so is going to be quite busy vine burying for me now that these are starting to take off. I normally try to get to each plant every 3rd day (main vine more often) so it'll be just under 7 plants a day to sort out. (need to get that marrow record back so that I can cut back next year lol).
 
Monday, July 6 View Page
Pollenations are starting to happen in the marrow/fp patch I think I've done 7 out of the 20 so far. This is the 175 Mackinnon at 2 dap (picture taken yesterday) looks as strong as an ag squash at this stage.
 
Tuesday, July 14 View Page
Everything's moving along nicely here, no more issues with the cucumbers yet.
 
Tuesday, July 14 View Page
A marrow plant, most of the plants are looking very nice but as always I do have a couple of 'problem' plants which are not producing side vines as yet - always seem to get a couple plants like this.
 
Tuesday, July 14 View Page
Marrows
 
Tuesday, July 14 View Page
163 mackinnon field pumpkin plant looking very nice
 
Tuesday, July 14 View Page
Field pumpkin plants
 
Tuesday, July 14 View Page
And the picture
 
Saturday, July 18 View Page
First time using the sprinklers today, I tried to hand water as long as I could but I hand balled over 600 liters of water yesterday and the soil still looked dry. Now the weeds will come. Mackinnon 174 closest to the camera.
 
Monday, July 20 View Page
The cucumbers having an early morning mist
 
Thursday, July 23 View Page
Things are moving along quite nicely here although I think I'm running a week or so behind last year. I thought the plant in the centre was one of my 165's but looking at the plant label it turns out that's its a 165 Schenk fp.
 
Thursday, July 23 View Page
123 Kloch, behind it a 163 Mackinnon, behind that the 174 Mackinnon
 
Thursday, July 23 View Page
The smallest plant in the patch this year a 220 Baggs which was planted out late as a back up, a fine looking plant none the less throwing sides at every leaf node.
 
Thursday, July 23 View Page
211 Mackinnon, behind it the 175 Mackinnon and behind that the other 163 Mackinnon. Plant maintenance is taking me about 3 hours a day every day.
 
Thursday, July 23 View Page
Ian Paton kindly sent off a soil sample for me, I've not actually had a test done for years, but things are looking in pretty good shape.
 
Saturday, July 25 View Page
What's this John? LOL My 174 plant has always been the most advanced plant in the patch in terms of vine length but the longer the vine gets the thinner its getting. It actually grew close to 1ft in length over the last 24 hrs but there's not a lot of meat on it. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
 
Saturday, July 25 View Page
Problems with one of my 198 plants, This main vine tip appears to have fused itself to itself causing the head of the main to double back on itself
 
Saturday, July 25 View Page
I've done a little surgery and am hoping it can grow on again as normal but will have to wait and see
 
Saturday, July 25 View Page
And this main on one of the 217 plants has also gone a little strange on me and twisted up but it's not fused this time. There's one flower before the problem but it's only 6 - 7 feet out so I may likely have to go with that. Things like this are why I grow so many plants!
 
Sunday, July 26 View Page
A better picture of the cucumbers
 
Sunday, July 26 View Page
Here's a picture for those of you growing cucumbers in pots, found these two roots at the surface of the soil about 30 inches from the stem. Last year I made the mistake of bringing a hoe in here to deal with the weeds and destroyed roots, this year I'm doing the painstaking job of hand pulling every weed seedling that germinates but it should help the roots. That being said I'm still about a week behind last year due to the germination issues I had early on and cooler days so we're trying to play catch up.
 
Wednesday, July 29 View Page
165 Schenk fp. Plants are quickly filling up their patches now.
 
Wednesday, July 29 View Page
Cucumbers are growing well too, they'll be up to the timber in a few days and then I'll be able to start thinking about pollenating
 
Sunday, August 2 View Page
Plants are growing along OK, now starting to select female flowers on some plants.
 
Monday, August 3 View Page
Here's a little 'old school' mackinnon the 103 plant which is looking very nice.
 
Thursday, August 6 View Page
Cucumbers are looking great, first female flower will open tomorrow. I'm just going to leave them to do there own thing again and open pollinate, I only get so much time in the mornings before work and I have to give priority to the marrows/field pumpkins as I certianally don't want these cross pollenating!
 
Thursday, August 6 View Page
The leaves are looking strong and healthy.
 
Friday, August 7 View Page
First cucumber flower open.
 
Friday, August 7 View Page
175 fp at dap 4 looks perfect
 
Friday, August 7 View Page
Not the best photo but the 165 Schenk fp at dap 2 is a longer shape. Very nice my friend!
 
Saturday, August 8 View Page
I had a visit from Carl Lamborne and Tim Saint today.
 
Saturday, August 8 View Page
I think they liked the look of the plants
 
Saturday, August 8 View Page
After we had a little look around the patch and lunch down the pub Carl wanted a bit of manure so I loaded him up like us farmers load up dung lol
 
Saturday, August 8 View Page
But Carl got worried that he would get pulled over for being over loaded so insisted he leveled it off, I tried to convince him that 'she'll be alright' but he wouldn't listen. Nice pins carl
 
Saturday, August 8 View Page
Carl
 
Friday, August 14 View Page
Cucumber plants are still looking good, last female flower was pollenated yesterday and I've taken the growing tips out of some of the main vines.
 
Friday, August 14 View Page
My first set cucumber DAP 7 has certianally altered in a week.
 
Friday, August 14 View Page
I found this feller lurking around in amongst the fp's.
 
Saturday, August 15 View Page
163 Mackinnon developed some big Splits shortly after pollination which seem to have dried up however its a bit wet around the arse end.
 
Saturday, August 15 View Page
However I have a back up plan if I need it. All marrows and field pumpkins have at least one fruit set now
 
Monday, August 17 View Page
My first set marrow 16 DAP suddenly lost its nice shape. I don't think the outcome of this will be very good but it's getting a bit late to set another especially since ive pinched out everything else on the plant and getting another on the plant will be at least a week away.
 
Monday, August 17 View Page
Marrows plants are getting there, vine burying job should be done in another week.
 
Monday, August 17 View Page
Same with the fp's.
 
Monday, August 17 View Page
175 Mackinnon DAP 14 Massive stem on this fruit. I like it!
 
Monday, August 17 View Page
163 'A' Mackinnon DAP 11 but I love the shape and skin on this one more I think. Not sure about the other fp's yet, had a couple of aborts, a couple of slow starters and a couple with split, wet bums.
 
Tuesday, August 18 View Page
174 Mackinnon DAP 9 (side vine) Couldn't get a fruit set on the main as it was growing so fast in length that it had no meat to it. I culled the main and set this fruit on the last side out and as close to the main as I could. I still think this could have potential, its still one of the best plants in the patch. Here's a nice under canopy view.
 
Tuesday, August 18 View Page
165 schenk DAP 13 This one is a loooong one!
 
Friday, August 21 View Page
First set cucumber DAP 14 (top right) 19 inches long. I didn't want to support them quite as early but its very windy here at the moment and the whole tunnel is rocking!
 
Friday, August 21 View Page
Never seen this before but it'll be interesting to see how this grows out, there's no internal cavity for air to enter with a cucumber as they are solid so I can only assume this will probably grow on as normal but time will tell.
 
Friday, August 21 View Page
I culled the first set marrow and plant as there was no point keeping that and its too late to set another one now (marrow still airborne in photo). Lost a second marrow which aborted and I've got a third one that looks like it's developing dill rings already.
 
Monday, August 24 View Page
Picture of the patch
 
Monday, August 24 View Page
Plants have taken a bit of wind damage over the last few days and there's more wind on the way. Mildew is moving in too so having to start spraying for that. Got some real nice looking fruits coming along and some that are not so good.
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
Best marrow in the patch right now, DAP 20 on a side vine.
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
Several marrows are showing dill rings and other problems like this already, so will likely be trouble later on. I thought this picture was appropriate
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
165 schenk fp DAP 21 starting to fill out nicely now and the plant is in pretty good shape
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
174 Mackinnon DAP 17
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
175 Mackinnon DAP 23
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
211 Mackinnon DAP 14 Late start and on a side vine as my first attempt aborted
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
163 Mackinnon 'A' DAP 20 Still my favorite
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
Too bad it's on the worst plant, the wind seemed to catch this one worse than the others.
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
Now for the not so pretty ones LOL. 163 'B' DAP 20
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
123 Kloch DAP 16
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
103 mackinnon DAP 18
 
Wednesday, August 26 View Page
And the photo which should have gone with one of the posts above. 211 Mackinnon
 
Friday, August 28 View Page
My first set cucumber is 22.5 inches long and 14 inches circ on day 21. Looking back at last years pb I'm 1.5 inches shy for length and .5 of an inch shy for circ for the same age but still going to be a good cuc. I've got three that measure bigger than this and theyre a day younger ;) I'll post there measurements tomorrow.
 
Friday, August 28 View Page
Lost my first fp today, sorry Kevin it was your 123 Kloch. 39.2 lbs UOW, DMG.
 
Friday, August 28 View Page
It went on a rib.
 
Saturday, August 29 View Page
26.2 DAP 21 24.5 Inches long 15 inches circ
 
Saturday, August 29 View Page
25.4 DAP 21 23.75 inches long 15 inches circ
 
Saturday, August 29 View Page
23.25 DAP 21?? 24 inches long 14.5 inches circ Not sure when this one was pollenated exactly but it may be a day or two younger than the others. These are currently my best three which are measuring pretty much the same size in comparison to last years pb (albeit 5 days later in the year) which is surprising given the cool weather we're having here right now.
 
Wednesday, September 2 View Page
Well the weather here has improved but the night time temps are still pretty low and it's showing in the growth of the cucumbers and I could see my chances of a pb slowly slipping away. So last night I put 2 fan heaters in with them and blocked the doors up at both ends. They were cutting in and out at about 60F last night but I see from the thermometers this morning that it did go down to 53F so I tweaked them up a little. The plants are still pretty healthy, some of the bottom leaves are ageing but I'd expect that, mildew is under control at the moment.
 
Thursday, September 3 View Page
Youngest cucumber is DAP 21 today Length 25 inches Circ 15.75 inches All of the others seem to have put the brakes on when they got to this point so I expect this one will too.
 
Tuesday, September 8 View Page
My best field pumpkin 163 Mackinnon DAP 33 tapes 190 inches OTT for an estimated weight of 142 lbs. I've 3 more which I haven't taped 165, 175, 174 which must be approaching 100 lbs.
 
Tuesday, September 8 View Page
I haven't measured any of the marrows but they are growing along OK, not going to challenge my pb this year but hoping to have a competitive entry. This is one of the largest in the patch right now on a 198 DAP 30
 
Wednesday, September 9 View Page
175 Mackinnon went down to a BES today.
 
Saturday, September 12 View Page
The cucumbers are still gaining slowly, longest one is 28 inches long with a 17 inch circ not sure they will get too much larger now but I'm happy with this and can think of improvements for next year.
 
Saturday, September 12 View Page
Luke came to have a little look around the veg this afternoon
 
Saturday, September 12 View Page
He wanted to play 'swing the cucumber'
 
Saturday, September 12 View Page
The 163 Mackinnon tapes 194 inches OTT on day 37 which is just over 150 lbs est. Not sure we're going to get much more out of her as she's ripening fast but she's a nice looking fp.
 
Saturday, September 12 View Page
Luke assessing the fp on John's 174
 
Saturday, September 12 View Page
174 Mackinnon DAP 34 is taping 120 lbs est, looks like its still got some growth left in it and is another nice looking fp.
 
Saturday, September 12 View Page
Well the weather had been pretty poor here for a while and i had kind of given up on a big marrow this year but the last week has improved and the growth of the marrows has reflected that. This is my best hope for this year growing on last year's 217 UOW.
 
Saturday, September 19 View Page
How about this, The kids planted a few spare fp seeds I had left over and put them in the poly tunnel I wasn't using. They planted 4 plants out in there, I set the irrigation to come on daily for them and to be honest they did very little to them. Now they've found two reasonably sized fp's and Mel looked at me and said 'that's almost as big as yours' lol. Think they are planning to carve them for Halloween.
 
Tuesday, September 22 View Page
It's that time of the year when the marrows start splitting and I've lost several but I don't remove them straight away as they can grow on for a while with a small split. This ones pretty terminal however, it had a small stem split to start with but that's now grown in to a huge stem split and a huge split in the body of the marrow. 160 lbs UOW DMG off of last years 198. Too young to consider saving seeds!
 
Tuesday, September 22 View Page
For those of you that follow my diary you'll know l always stand next to my marrows for photos as I think it's the best way to give a true idea of size. I'm about 6ft tall with my boots on lol.
 
Tuesday, September 22 View Page
Unfortunately there's one Welsh idiot out there that takes his photos like this and tries to mislead people in to thinking he's got something he aint, he didn't bring his to an official scale last year but chose to weigh his somewhere on the quiet. All I'm trying to say is we've got two GPC weigh ins in the UK this year make it official or shut up. Amen lol
 
Tuesday, September 22 View Page
Smallest cucumber developed a small soft spot so I took in off and weighed it out of curiosity and it was 14 lbs UOW. Weights are going to be down this year and the only cause I can think of were a few cold nights we had back a few weeks ago. Start some off earlier next time.
 
Tuesday, September 22 View Page
Best and only chance of a pb marrow is still hanging in there.
 
Tuesday, September 22 View Page
One end
 
Tuesday, September 22 View Page
The other end
 
Tuesday, September 22 View Page
Round the girth
 
Sunday, September 27 View Page
117 Baggs 20 UOW DMG (217xopen) I did cross this one with a 165 however the evening before pollenation day the flower petals came apart a little before I got to it.
 
Sunday, September 27 View Page
The fp on Patrick's 165 is taping about 130 lbs ish
 
Sunday, September 27 View Page
The fp on John's 174 is taping just shy of 150 lbs
 
Sunday, September 27 View Page
And the fp on John's 163 tapes just short of 160 lbs.
 
Sunday, September 27 View Page
It might go heavy if luke puts enough soil on top of it
 
Sunday, September 27 View Page
The best marrow hasn't split yet, looks like it tapers off toward the flower end from this side
 
Sunday, September 27 View Page
Put the little feller behind it and take a photo from the other side and it looks bigger lol
 
Friday, October 2 View Page
Well the weather's certianally broke here, we've had a lot of rain over the last couple of days and the 174 blew up which was unlucky as I was planning on taking it to the Wargrave nursery weigh off this weekend. After this happened I was down too my last two sound marrows and my last two sound field pumpkins and with more bad weather on the way I cut them all off.
 
Friday, October 2 View Page
Here they are waiting to be weighed, my best marrow and fp will be going to Southampton next weekend, leaving my 'reserves' to take to Wargrave tomorrow.
 
Friday, October 2 View Page
The 165 schenk in the boot
 
Friday, October 2 View Page
And my second best marrow for the year (a 198) lying across the back seat.
 
Saturday, October 3 View Page
Success at Wargrave weigh off with my marrow. Well pleased with the weight. Big thank you to Curtis and his weigh off team for putting on a well organised weigh off for us in these difficult times. Much appreciated.
 
Saturday, October 3 View Page
And one with elle's
 
Saturday, October 3 View Page
The 165 schenk did me proud and is now the 153.4 Baggs 20 (165 Schenk x 211 Mackinnon) Actually taped only about 130 lbs so this thing was pretty solid. Thanks for the seed Patrick.
 
Friday, October 9 View Page
I forgot, or couldn't care to mention that I weighed a cucumber at Wargrave last weekend. It weren't my year with them.
 
Friday, October 9 View Page
Well, all I've got to do now is get it to the scales in one piece tomorrow. I'm not convinced it's going to be a pb but I'll be surprised if its less than 180 lbs. Whatever happens im happy!
 
Friday, October 9 View Page
My best field pumpkin of the year (160 lbs est) also ready to go.
 
Friday, October 9 View Page
I asked Ian if it was OK to bring some more marrows (all damaged) along just to get an official weight, he said he didn't mind weighing them so here they are. All four at the front of the trailer have stem splits, all well over 150 lbs a piece. Plus the 174 fp which is also damaged. I was lucky as I think (hope) that my heaviest marrow and fp for this year are the ones that remained sound. Will see if the scales agree tomorrow.
 
Saturday, October 10 View Page
A late addition, after a little deliberation Jack and Ellie have decided to bring their fp effort along to weigh. Im finding it little amusing, they're going to place higher than some very well seasoned fp growers I think and they weren't even trying lol. I also harvested my best cucumber for the year I think. I hope we're not going to get moaned at for bringing too much stuff LOL.
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
Well what a day we had at the weigh off yesterday. I have a new pb field pumpkin, 168.7 Baggs 20 (163 Mackinnon x 123 Kloch)
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
And who would of thought that my other fp would have come in at exactly the same weight, crazy. 168.7 Baggs 20 DMG (174 Mackinnon x 211 Mackinnon) thank you for the seeds John.
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
Jack and Ellie made their weigh of debut with their fp at 103.6 lbs. Not sure where Ellie was but it's not normally like her to miss out on being in a photo.
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
I did manage to find a cucumber that was a bit more respectable. My best one this year.
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
And then there were the marrows, This one is the 185.2 Baggs 20 DMG (198 Baggs x 165 Baggs) This one suffered a big stem split and only just about made it to weigh off day, a part of it at the front had already gone to mush. I gave this one to a good friend of mine Tim Saint.
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
187.4 Baggs 20 DMG (220 Baggs x 165 Baggs) Also went down to a stem split
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
189.6 Baggs 20 (220 Baggs x 198 Baggs) This one also had a small stem split but was weighed as sound (did not run in to the cavity)
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
198.4 Baggs 20 (165 Baggs x 220 Baggs) Much the same again, I called this one DMG but Sebastian, Ian and Stuart were all happy it wasn't. The 165 has been a heck of a seed for me, 220 UOW, 203 UOW, 198.4 and too many more to remember she keeps rolling them out.
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
200.6 Baggs 20 (217 Baggs x 220 Baggs) Finally managed too break the 200 lb barrier on an official scale without splits. Now just 6 lbs short of WR!!
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
2nd and 4th of all time in the world!
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
I had to get one pic of Ellie and luke
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
And one last picture with the GPC's very own Sebastian Suski. I made sure he had the heavy end lol. Well done to Sebastian for setting the new UK record for Bushel gourd also.
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
So close guys, so close! Ian actually e-mailed me back in the summer and asked me to bring a WR marrow to the weigh off and they would weigh in a WR pumpkin on the same day and we both came so close. Maybe next year!
 
Sunday, October 11 View Page
And that's about it for another year lol.
 
Tuesday, October 13 View Page
Just like I said a few weeks ago, he'll weigh up at home and hide behind it trying to make it look as big as he can. 190 lbs this time lol.
 
Friday, October 16 View Page
The only way that's 190 lbs is if its got no cavity. Starting to get a bit of a joke now
 
Friday, October 16 View Page
If your going to try to make something appear larger than it is at least do it properly ;)
 
Friday, October 23 View Page
Well I've started removing seeds from some of my marrows, these are from the 189.6 lb marrow. I'm not liking the look of these.
 
Friday, October 23 View Page
And then this evening I cut open the 198 lb marrow and for a minute I thought it was seed less! I've never seen a marrow with such few seeds!
 
Friday, October 23 View Page
And here they are, on a more positive note the 187.4 marrow had a decent seed count and I've still not opened the 200.6 or 164.
 
Friday, October 30 View Page
Well I got the last two marrows cut open, seed counts were poor! Here is one last photo of the 164 lb marrow before it got the chop!
 
Friday, October 30 View Page
Luke just likes to climb up on top of them
 
Friday, October 30 View Page
Not quite a world record but hey it's the world's heaviest striped marrow! I'm a sucker for the stripes.
 
Friday, October 30 View Page
Almost a month since it was cut and it was still perfectly healthy inside and outside
 
Friday, October 30 View Page
There were a couple of nasty internal cracks around the mid section
 
Friday, October 30 View Page
But none of them were within an inch of the green skin
 
Sunday, November 1 View Page
I cut the field pumpkins open yesterday, this is the 153 lb field pumpkin grown from Patrick's 165. Now I see why it weighed heavy!
 
Sunday, November 1 View Page
Ellie carved the 168 lb field pumpkin, there were close to 400 seeds!
 
Sunday, November 1 View Page
Looks a mess I know but the cucumbers were done growing before the mildew set in
 
Sunday, November 1 View Page
I didn't have such a good season as last year with the cucumbers but happy with these, I've got one or two improvements in mind for next year.
 
Sunday, November 1 View Page
I know cucumbers are quite susceptible to root diseases so i was very happy to see roots this healthy
 
Sunday, November 1 View Page
No mycos, no azos, no kind of any growth stimulants, hormones or whatevers were used in my garden this year. Just plenty of shit, but no 'bull shit'! I just give my plants a lot of my love, a lot of my time and dedication. I believe a fair bit of the luck I've had with the marrows in particular is down to my own experiences i've had with them and growing in a cooler climate that suits them perfectly, for years I believe ive wasted my time trying to grow ag's in a climate that's too cool and got myself whipped by growers growing in better climates, now finally ive realised what I'm good at and what grows well here. Look at those roots! ;)
 
Thursday, December 3 View Page
Just a heads up to anyone that winds up with any of my seeds, seeds from all my marrows/fp's germinated fine with the exception of the 189. A third of the seeds from this marrow looked fine and the other two thirds looked a little iffy but they are certainally not empty. The better looking seeds germinate fine but the others are a little hit and miss. For this reason I've tried to pack them up in 3's (one good with two iffy)! The worst part for me was the seed counts this year, most were low, 198 - 28 seeds and 164 - 40 ish.
 
Friday, December 4 View Page
Dad helped me get some manure on to the patch last weekend
 
Friday, December 4 View Page
Tight squeeze in between the tunnel hoops
 
Friday, December 4 View Page
Last year the patch had 20 bucket fulls like this, in light of the soil test we had done I've cut that down to 10 this year.
 
Friday, December 4 View Page
One each side
 
Friday, December 4 View Page
A nice but lighter covering this year.
 

 

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