Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 208 Entries. Saturday, April 2 View Page Spring is slowly starting to bloom in northern Vermont although there is still frost in the ground in most places.   Saturday, April 2 View Page We bought new poly film for the hoop houses this year and we cut the roll into pieces. To get better measurements we put one hoop together. Our hoops are 5’ x 8’ and roughly 4.5’ high.   Saturday, April 2 View Page All of the ribs of the hoop fit in the holes in the 2x4. These are just made out pine and will last us around 6-7 years. We just staple the poly on to the base and use binder clips from Staples store to hold the poly on to the electric conduit. Poly film typically does not tear and we just rip it gently off the frame and fold and store it inside for the next year.   Saturday, April 2 View Page The frames and the ribs store easily under our deck when not in use. Seeds have been selected and can’t wait to germinate in two weeks!   Tuesday, April 12 View Page Got 8 yards of compost spread tonight and the big patch tilled. We have added 400 square feet this year to 2400 square feet. We will grow 3 plants here.   Thursday, April 14 View Page My father Harold passed away last night at the age of 93. He caught on to pumpkin growing late but loved the hobby and the Vermont Club members. Remember, life is short. Grow for life and compete for fun.   Sunday, April 17 View Page New expanded patch has hoops and cables dug in. We purchased new poly this year and it is very clear.   Sunday, April 17 View Page Old patch will have one 400 square foot AG and 2 long gourds. The right side will be for our tomato greenhouse.   Sunday, April 17 View Page Here is our hopeful line up for 2022 AG’s.   Sunday, April 17 View Page We have started these long gourds. We will start more next week as they can be stubborn to germ.   Sunday, April 17 View Page Here is our tomato lineup as long as they germ.   Sunday, April 17 View Page Plant bench is happy with 20 one gallon pots sitting on our big heat mat. The bags just help to keep the moisture in. I just soak AG and long gourd seeds with a 50/50 water and hydrogen peroxide for 3 hours and the plant directly in pre warmed one gallon pots. Need to add a pinch of patience and put out a sign to remind me not to dig in the pots!   Saturday, April 23 View Page Spring has arrived in Vermont as Kerry got her Bugaboo out of winter storage.   Saturday, April 23 View Page Our tomato team won a Major award! I think mine came from “Fragile”. Thanks Porkchop and WOW for sponsoring. Look out 2022!   Sunday, April 24 View Page First Sunday update of the year. All 8 pumpkins: 1885 Werner, 1905 Rose, 1552 Young and 1469 Young and back ups are all emerged and showing sign of first true leaf. Nine out of the 10 tomatoes germinated and one 157.75 C Ansems and one 152.25 Yohe are up too.   Sunday, April 24 View Page Today I started one 5.7 MacDonald tomato, one 154.75 Ansems long gourd, one 138 LeBlanc long gourd, two 152.25 Yohe long gourd, two 1469 Young and two 536 Young.   Sunday, April 24 View Page We finished placing out the weed block. Hard to figure out how to place it to maximize it and save our backs keeping the weeds out until our plants grow out to fill their space.   Sunday, April 24 View Page Old patch pumpkin area has some weed block too. The pumpkin space there is just 400 square feet. Next weekend we will focus on putting the tomato greenhouse up. All hoops are warming up and drying out nicely due to the sun and soil heat cables. The past week we have seen a lot of flies in all of the hoops which is good. It is important to warm the soil up enough for the corn seed maggots to hatch and not eat our plant roots.   Tuesday, May 3 View Page Our season officially started last night. I believe we have woken the giants. Let’s hope Mother Nature is kind this summer.   Sunday, May 8 View Page First outdoor Sunday report and the weather today has been great. We have had frosts 3 mornings in a row but the days have been sunny and in the 60’s.   Sunday, May 8 View Page We got the new tomato greenhouse up as well. We replace it every 4 years as the poly breaks down from uv.   Sunday, May 8 View Page It is also daffodil season.   Sunday, May 8 View Page And tulip season!   Sunday, May 8 View Page Here is the 1885 Werner on the right and the 1215 Young as a back up.   Sunday, May 8 View Page Here are two 1469 Young’s.   Sunday, May 8 View Page Both 1552 Young’s are starting a bit funky but one seems to be breaking out of it.   Sunday, May 8 View Page These are both 1905 Rose. These seem to burn easily and not big fans of heat but overall growing well.   Sunday, May 15 View Page Yesterday we put up the 20” mesh electric fence so we can leave the hoops opened on warm nights. This is so easy to use and relatively inexpensive. We have been using it for 4 summers and it is still in great shape. We got it at premier1supplies.com and they call it VersaNet.   Sunday, May 15 View Page Here is the 1885 Werner on the right and 1215 Young on the left. Both are starting to run. The 1885 will be our keeper unless it flat vines or has other issues.   Sunday, May 15 View Page These are both 1469 Young plants. The one on the right is starting to run and will probably be our keeper.   Sunday, May 15 View Page This hoop is in the old garden and the plants seem to be challenged here. The two 1552’s don’t seem happy, so I transplanted a 536 Young (1469 Young x 1215 Young) which grew there last year to see how it does.   Sunday, May 15 View Page Here are two 1905 Rose seeds. The plant on the right does not do as well in the heat and sun that we have been seeing in the past week. The plant on the left will probably be our keeper.   Sunday, May 15 View Page Here are my beat up first round tomatoes. Our grow lights were to bright and set too low for them and I burnt a majority of leaves. They seem to be slowly coming back in the greenhouse.   Sunday, May 15 View Page We have giant sunflowers started and 5 back up tomatoes so far.   Sunday, May 15 View Page Long gourds are raring to go. 154 and 157 Ansems will fight it out for one trellis and two 152 Yohe’s will fight it out for second. We have a few 144 Young’s as back ups just in case.   Sunday, May 22 View Page Time for our Sunday update. The past week has been a roller coaster of temps with daytime highs in the mid 40’s a couple of days to low 90’s for a few days. Plants have a few burned leaves but overall doing fine. Here is a view of the new patch.   Sunday, May 22 View Page We put cross braces on the long gourd trellises with my engineering son and it really helped to stabilize them. I cleaned all of the dead vines off and we are ready to rock and roll. We also put the mesh electric fence around the patch so we can keep the hoop open on warm nights.   Sunday, May 22 View Page We had the memorial for my dad this week and had both boys home.My fathers name was Harold Francis Young and my niece found a clematis by the name of HF Young. It has a beautiful blue flower and we planted it this weekend in my dad’s memory.   Sunday, May 22 View Page Here is the 1885 Werner. It is starting to run and is currently 18” long. Trouble free plant so far.   Sunday, May 22 View Page Here are two 1469 Young plants. Both seem to be fairly aggressive and the longest is 28”. We will need to pick the winner soon as the hoop is getting full.   Sunday, May 22 View Page This is the 1215 Young on the right and 536 Young on the left. The 1215 was growing very well in the 1885 hoop so I moved it Friday. Still a bit weepy in the heat but keeps bouncing back. It is 24” long today.   Sunday, May 22 View Page Here are two 1905 Rose plants. Not sure if it has the yellow genetic gene or didn’t do well in the heat, but looks cool. We will probably keep the green one though and it is 17” long today.   Sunday, May 22 View Page I decided to put the 152 Yohe out as I have a really good back up just in case. Trying mill fabric around the long gourds this year to minimize splash back to see if this slows the black bacterial spots down. We will plant the other trellis by mid week with a 157 and 154 Ansems to battle it out.   Sunday, May 22 View Page The greenhouse is getting crowded for a week or more. Happy to see the burnt tomatoes coming back strong. Will plant them around Memorial Day.   Sunday, May 22 View Page We also put in 11 Swenson sunflowers. Hoping the electric fence will keep critters out.   Monday, May 30 View Page Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all who have served or are serving our country. We have transitioned the patch from the protective hoop houses to the watering system today as the plants are starting to run nicely and the frost threat should be over.   Monday, May 30 View Page The old patch is also uncovered but we still have a pumpkin decision to make here. Tomato cave is planted and both trellises have long gourd plants.   Monday, May 30 View Page The Swenson giant sunflowers are starting to grow well. Maybe not world record stock but grew to 17 feet tall last year with little support.   Monday, May 30 View Page The tomato greenhouse is planted with: two 7.35 Brown, one 6.5 Rose, one 7.72 MacDonald, one 8.1 MacDonald, two 9.06 Brown and one 8.35 Strickler.   Monday, May 30 View Page Here is the 1885 Werner and it seems to have settled in and the roots are taking hold. This plant is about 4.5 feet and growing around 7 inches a day.   Monday, May 30 View Page This our 1469 Young plant and current patch leader at just over 6 feet.   Monday, May 30 View Page This is our only undecided spot and is in the 400 square foot space in the old garden. The 536 Young is on the left and the stronger plant currently as the 1215 Young was a late dig up and transplant. The 1215 is having big wilting issues in heat which tells me the roots are not big enough to support it. Tune in next Sunday to see who wins.   Monday, May 30 View Page Our last pumpkin is the 1905 Rose which is also digging in and running nicely. It is a little over 4 feet long today.   Monday, May 30 View Page Here are the competing Ansem long gourds. The leader on the left is the 154 Ansems and the one on the right is the 157 Ansems dmg. I really wanted to try the 157 as it would be the new wr if it wasn’t dmg. We will make the decision next Sunday as to which one wins.   Monday, May 30 View Page The trellis next to the greenhouse has the 152 Yohe long gourd. This plant started out aggressive and is a little over 4 feet up the trellis today.   Sunday, June 5 View Page Sunday update time. All final decisions have been made and all plants appear healthy. Applied second dose of insecticide as cucumber beetles are here. Also started fungicide rotation with a dose of TKO.   Sunday, June 5 View Page Old patch is finally filled with the keepers as well and a couple of flowers.   Sunday, June 5 View Page The 1885 Werner continues to grow well and is just over 7 feet long tonight.   Sunday, June 5 View Page The giant sunflowers are getting close to the top of the 2 foot tall electric fence.   Sunday, June 5 View Page Our current patch leader is our 1469 Young at 9 feet long. She is starting to bloom male flowers let’s hope females start showing up soon.   Sunday, June 5 View Page We decided to keep the 157.75 Catharina Ansems dmg long gourd. This plant has a lot of potential but started out as a weak seedling and we were going to throw it away. Let’s see how she does! Currently just 25 inches long but looks healthy and gaining strength.   Sunday, June 5 View Page In the 400 square foot old patch we chose to keep the 536 Young. She is 4.5 feet long tonight.   Sunday, June 5 View Page The 152 Yohe long gourd is growing great and 6.5 feet up our 14.5 foot trellis.   Sunday, June 5 View Page This is the 1905 Rose who is 7 feet long tonight. Aggressive plant so far with huge leaves.   Sunday, June 12 View Page Happy Sunday everyone. It has been a typical early June week for us with highs in the low to mid 70’s and lows in the high 40’s. The plants are growing a bit slow but good overall.   Sunday, June 12 View Page Old patch and tomato greenhouse is growing well but behind the new patch pumpkins. I have sprayed Bifen and Merit 3 times this year and have sprayed TKO and Fung Onil. We do a 4 fungicide rotation that is pretty cheap: TKO, Fung Onil, kocide 3000, and Mancozeb. All easy to get products and inexpensive.   Sunday, June 12 View Page Sunflowers are cruising along with the tallest being about 3 feet.   Sunday, June 12 View Page The 1885 Werner is setting tap roots down nicely with some nicely formed secondaries. She is a little over 10 feet today.   Sunday, June 12 View Page Here is the 1469 Young and our current patch leader at 12 feet long. She has a couple of babies showing but we will wait for something further out on the main.   Sunday, June 12 View Page The 157 Catharina Ansems is starting to grow well and is just shy of 4 feet today. Excited to give this seed a try as it was difficult to germ.   Sunday, June 12 View Page Here is our 536 Young and we are hoping for bright orange. She got a bit of a later start and is 7.5 feet long today.   Sunday, June 12 View Page The 152 Yohe is still growing very well and is 9.5 feet up the 14.5 foot trellis.   Sunday, June 12 View Page The giant tomato hut is starting to liven up a bit as the plants adjust to the soil. Already see a mega bloom but it is only 8 inches from the roots.   Sunday, June 12 View Page Last but not least is the 1905 Rose plant. She is growing well and is at 10 feet long today. We are looking to back cross the 1885 into this pumpkin.   Sunday, June 26 View Page Patch update for the last Sunday of June and the plants are growing well and healthy. We had a nice vacation last week in Disney although I caught COVID but am recovering nicely. A neighbor patch sat for us and kept plants growing.   Sunday, June 26 View Page Old patch is starting to clip along as well. We had 2 pollinations this morning and will have a couple more late week. A bit behind past years but enjoying the gardening experience just as much. Lots of season left!   Sunday, June 26 View Page 1885 Werner. Pollinated a 4 lobe female with the 1905 Rose this morning. May not be our keeper but good to get one under our belt.   Sunday, June 26 View Page Sunflowers are stretching to the sky. Most are around 5-6 feet tall now.   Sunday, June 26 View Page 1469 Young is still are most aggressive grower. We missed 2 pollinations while on vacation but we should have one by next weekend.   Sunday, June 26 View Page Here is the 157 C. Ansems long gourd which is starting to pick up the pace and is around 9 feet up our 14.5 foot trellis.   Sunday, June 26 View Page This is the 536 Young starting to fill in its 400 square foot spot. We pollinated our first female here with males from the 1885 Werner.   Sunday, June 26 View Page Weird prospective here with the 152 Yohe long gourd, but it is hard to take a photo of a plant over 15 feet in the air. If it does not bend towards the trellis top I will help it with twine. This plant is starting to throw lots of males and females.   Sunday, June 26 View Page The giant tomato house is starting to grow aggressively and we have a couple of mega blooms showing. These are a blast to grow and actually taste good as well.   Monday, July 4 View Page Here is a picture of our tiki god for scale as I will be including him in all fruit pictures. He is 11 years old now and is a bit worse for wear including the loss of his left forearm this winter. I may have to search for a new model to show size scale after this year. Any suggestions?   Monday, July 4 View Page Happy 4th of July! Here is the overview of the new patch. All 3 plants are growing well and we have removed the last pieces of weed block. We are now burying vines every 3-4 days as they are growing 8-10 inches a day now.   Monday, July 4 View Page The old patch is also coming along but receives less sun and has less amended soil. The soil around the long gourds have been improved each year and they seem to be doing well.   Monday, July 4 View Page Here is our 1 day old baby from the 1469 Young. It was pollinated with the 1905 Rose and has 4 lobes at 20.5 feet down the main vine.   Monday, July 4 View Page Here is the keeper on the 1905 Rose which is 5 lobes and pollinated with the 1469 Young at 15 feet down the main vine on June 30th.   Monday, July 4 View Page This is our keeper on the 1885 Werner which is 4 lobes and 13 feet down the main pollinated on June 26 with the 1905 Rose.   Monday, July 4 View Page We decided to cull the first 2 on the 536 as they were not far down the main and the plant was still on the small size. Here is next in line that will hopefully open by next weekend.   Monday, July 4 View Page The 157 C Ansems Lin gourd is about a foot from the top of our 14.5 foot trellis. We are starting to see male and female blossom, which is a good sign.   Monday, July 4 View Page The 152 Yohe long gourd is growing very well and is over 20 feet in length. I will start looking for pollinations in a week or so.   Monday, July 4 View Page The giant tomatoes in the greenhouse got a haircut this weekend to get them under control. Hopefully we will start seeing big mega blooms to pollinate.   Sunday, July 10 View Page It is with a heavy heart to let everyone know we are retiring our scale size model Tiki God who is a little worse for wear. Please meet Bob who will now be in all pumpkin photos to show scale.   Sunday, July 10 View Page July is quickly moving along but happy that we have all 4 plants pollinated with the crosses we were hoping for. We are burying vines like crazy even though the cold nights have slowed pumpkin growth.   Sunday, July 10 View Page The old patch is filling in but we are seeing a few secondaries aborting. Not sure why this is happening but overall plant is healthy.   Sunday, July 10 View Page The tomato hut is growing well even though we have no pollinations yet. The plants are finally getting to the size we will start looking for the larger blooms.   Sunday, July 10 View Page Here is the 157 C. Ansems. The plant is around 16 feet long and up on the trellis now. In about 2 weeks we should start seeing females in our pollination zone.   Sunday, July 10 View Page Here is the 152 Yohe long gourd around 20 feet long tonight. There are immature females in the right zone that should be ready to pollinate by mid week. Pollinating long gourds is challenging as they bloom in the late evening and are very fragile. In addition , the plant is also 15 feet off the ground.   Sunday, July 10 View Page This is our 2 day old baby off of our 536 Young which was pollinated by the 1905 Rose.   Sunday, July 10 View Page Here is our 7 day old pumpkin from our 1469 Young pollinated with the 1905 Rose.   Sunday, July 10 View Page Here is the 10 day old 1905 Rose pollinated by the 1469 Young. I had a hunch that crossing the 2005 Haist into the long dark orange pumpkin that Jerry Rose grew would end up with a rounder shape. This baby shows that so far!   Sunday, July 10 View Page Here is our 1885 Werner pumpkin at day 14 with an OTT of 85 inches. So far growth has been a bit slow but the plant is quickly filling its 800 square foot area which should help. We have also had a couple of 48 degree mornings that do not help.   Sunday, July 17 View Page Worked on plants today and trimmed around stump. I like using styrofoam board as a roof because if it gets blown off in a storm it does less damage. I also put a light coat of sulfur fungicide on the stump. We feed the stumps as the plant is starting to grow, but once plants are big we like to keep it dry and protected.   Sunday, July 17 View Page A friend suggested our green greenhouse poly was not helping us in growing a huge tomato. We had some left over hoop house poly and decided to try that. So far the plants seem very happy.   Sunday, July 17 View Page The 2400 square feet is filling in nicely with the 3 plants and soon vine burying season will be done. The 1469 Young has a small leaf issue that looks like a manganese deficiency, so I foliar sprayed manganese on Friday evening.   Sunday, July 17 View Page The old patch is just about filled in and the leaves look great.   Sunday, July 17 View Page Here is the 157 C Ansems which is not doing well. The females are aborting before the open. I have hit the plant with bloom booster in hopes that it will help,   Sunday, July 17 View Page The 152 Yohe is growing extremely well with females showing every where. We have pollinated 7 blossoms so far and it looks like a couple are growing longer.   Sunday, July 17 View Page Each year Kerry named our pumpkins after a theme or a show and this year it is from the show Ozarks. Here is baby Charlotte Byrd from the 536 Young who is 9 days old today.   Sunday, July 17 View Page Here is Wendy Byrd off of our 1469 Young at 14 days old with an OTT measurement of 99 inches which puts her around 25 pounds.   Sunday, July 17 View Page This is Darlene Snell from the 1905 Rose. She is 17 days old today and has an OTT of 121 inches for est 43 pounds.   Sunday, July 17 View Page This is Ruth Langmore from the 1885 Werner. Ruth is 21 days old today with an OTT of 163 inches for an estimated 100 pounds.   Sunday, July 24 View Page Kerry and I saw a One Republic concert in NH this weekend. Great show with a band called Need to Breathe as the warm up act.   Sunday, July 24 View Page The plants have almost filled the patch now and we will be weeding on a weekly basis. We now bury 2-3 times a week and weed once. The issue that looked like manganese deficiency has slowed down, so that may have been the case. I will foliar spray another dose of manganese next week.   Sunday, July 24 View Page The old patch is pretty much filled in and the other giants are coming along.   Sunday, July 24 View Page The giant tomato plants are thickening up and we have decent pollinations on 9 out of 10. None of these were huge blooms but could still produce some very large maters.   Sunday, July 24 View Page The 152 Yohe is the only long gourd plant that is producing females as of now. We have 2 pollinated so far and one is out performing the other. We will cull the slow grower in a couple of days if it doesn’t pick up.   Sunday, July 24 View Page Here is Charlotte from the 536 young at 16 days and est. at 42 lbs. She had perfectly symmetrical lobes but now is a bit of lopsided disarray. If you have seen the show Ozark, you will understand with a mom like Wendy Byrd it is easy to turn out lopsided.   Sunday, July 24 View Page Here is Wendy Byrd from the 1469 Young. She is 21 days old today with an OTT of 183 inches for an est. 143 pounds. She is up 118 pounds this week.   Sunday, July 24 View Page Here is Darlene Snell from the 1905 Rose. She is 24 days old and has an OTT of 185 inches for an est. of 150 pounds. Up 108 pounds for the week. She has been a stubborn grower but her plant is looking great. Hopefully she will be a late stage grower.   Sunday, July 24 View Page Here is Ruth Langmore from the 1885 Werner. She is 28 days old today with an OTT of 242 inches for an est. 329 lbs. putting on 228 lbs this week. She has been a steady grower but keeps backing up kinking the main. We have pulled her ahead twice already.   Sunday, July 31 View Page We got a chance to stripe bass fish in Maine this weekend. They are a fun fish to catch and if big enough to keep, a good eat.   Sunday, July 31 View Page We are sad to announce that we are 2022 members of the blossom end split club with Wendy off the 1469 Young. She was 27 days old and estimated at 335 pounds. We have no other pumpkins on plant but will see if we can get a lawn pumpkin off of it.   Sunday, July 31 View Page We had our first split and it was a tough one as always. This left 800 square feet of healthy plant. There is a possible baby on the main and maybe on a secondary that will show in a week. We will leave them for the bees and if we see nothing in 10-14 days we will compost the plant. Tough hobby!   Sunday, July 31 View Page Old patch is still humming along.   Sunday, July 31 View Page Tomatoes are starting to swell. We are seeing a bit of black like blossom end rot but not on all plants. It also seems thin and may peel off as it dries.   Sunday, July 31 View Page Biggest tomato so far on the 6.55 Rose. It has a circ. of 17 inches.   Sunday, July 31 View Page The 152 Yohe is fully pollinated for us with 4 long gourds. We will choose 1 of the last 2 small ones to go to the finish line. Longest one is 82.5 inches tonight.   Sunday, July 31 View Page Here is Charlotte off the 536 Young at 23 days old with an OTT measurement of 189.5 inches estimated at 158 pounds. Up 116 pounds for the week.   Sunday, July 31 View Page This is Darlene from the 1905 Rose at 31 days old and an OTT measurement of 238 inches estimated at 313 pounds. She is up 163 pounds for the week. Not sure why she is growing so slowly as her plant looks great.   Sunday, July 31 View Page Last but not least is Ruth from the 1885 Werner at 35 days old and an OTT measurement of 297 inches estimated at 607 pounds. She grew 278 pounds this week!   Sunday, August 7 View Page What do you see out of your second story window saying good morning. All sunflowers are magical but giant ones are the coolest.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Guessing theses are somewhere around 15 feet tall. Will probably take one to the local fair in 3 weeks.   Sunday, August 7 View Page We cleaned up the 800 square foot patch where the 1469 split as we had no new prospects to even get a front porch pumpkin from. It is sad to pull up a totally healthy plant.   Sunday, August 7 View Page The old patch is alive and well as the fruits keep ticking along and the plants appear healthy.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Did some pruning and supporting in the tomato greenhouse today. We still have 9 out of 10 with tomatoes ready to swell.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Our biggest tomato so far has a circumference of 20 inches.   Sunday, August 7 View Page We have 3 long gourds growing on the 152 Yohe trellis. I have just pollinated the first on the 157 C. Ansems tonight. We should know by next weekend if they took.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Here is Charlotte off the 536 Young. She is 30 days old today and has an OTT of 239 inches for an estimated 313 pounds. She gained 155 pounds this week for an average of 22 pounds a day.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Here is Darlene from the 1905 Rose. She is 38 days old today and has an OTT of 285 inches for an estimate of 532 pounds. She gained 219 pounds this week averaging 31 pounds a day.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Here is Ruth from the 1885 Werner at 42 days old and has an OTT of 338 inches for an estimated weight of 887 pounds. For the week she gained 280 pounds for an average of 40 pounds per day.   Monday, August 8 View Page We culled a couple of giant tomatoes this weekend. Both around 2 pounds 2 ounces. We are now down to keepers on our plants.   Sunday, August 14 View Page We had a beautiful day to have our VGPGA patch tour. Around 18 people attended and 3 patches were toured including ours.   Sunday, August 14 View Page The new patch is doing fine minus Wendy. Her plant is being composted and winter rye will be down next weekend.   Sunday, August 14 View Page The tomato plants seem really healthy and happy with 6 tomatoes having a circumference over 20 inches. Nothing seems to be looking special so far but time will tell.   Sunday, August 14 View Page The biggest tomato so far has a circumference of 22.5 inches and still very green.   Sunday, August 14 View Page The 152 Yohe long gourd is still growing well. No personal bests from first 2 but they are both over 100 inches. The 3rd one is growing well too.   Sunday, August 14 View Page Here is Charlotte off the 536 Young. She is 37 days old today and has an OTT of 269.5 inches for an estimated weight of 451 pounds. For the week she is up 138 pounds for an average of almost 20 pounds a day.   Sunday, August 14 View Page Here is Darlene Snell off the 1905 Rose at day 45 and an OTT of 320 inches for an estimated weight of 752 pounds. She has gained 220 pounds this week for an average of 31 pounds a day. Fittingly she is also showing her butt crack as only Darlene could!   Sunday, August 14 View Page Here is Ruth Langmore off the 1885 Werner. She is 49 days old today and has an OTT of 370 inches for an estimated weight of 1141 pounds. She has gained 254 pounds this week for and average of 36 pounds a day.   Sunday, August 14 View Page Here is a side view of Ruth off of the 1885 Werner at 49 days old.   Sunday, August 21 View Page Hard to believe we are over the half way point of August. We are happy to still have 3 out of 4 pumpkins still in the patch.   Sunday, August 21 View Page Love this time of year. Long gourds are lengthening and tomatoes are plumping up. Fall is just around the corner though so grow babies grow!   Sunday, August 21 View Page The 152 Yohe has been a fun easy plant to grow with 2 long gourds over 10 feet and another closing in fast.   Sunday, August 21 View Page Here is our one and only long gourd on the 157 Ansems dmg 2021. She is 14 days old today and 44 inches long. Look out for this one if we can get it to finish solid.   Sunday, August 21 View Page I didn’t have the guts to cull one of these 2 tomatoes on the 6.55 Rose and they now each have a circumference of 24 inches each. I will be growing this seed again next year!   Sunday, August 21 View Page Here is pretty little Charlotte off the 536 Young. She is 44 days old today and has an OTT of 290 inches for an est. wt. of 565 pounds. She has gained 114 pounds this week. Ain’t she cute!   Sunday, August 21 View Page Here is Darlene off of the 1905 Rose. She is 52 days old today and has an OTT of 344.5 inches for a est. weight of 935 pounds. She gained 183 pounds this week estimated at 26 pounds a day.   Sunday, August 21 View Page Here is Ruth off of the 1885 Werner. She is 56 days old today and has an OTT of 390.25 inches which gives an estimated weight of 1322 pounds. She has gained 181 pounds this week which estimates 25.85 pounds per day.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Picked an early tomato for our fair off the 6.55 Rose and it weighs 4.61 pounds. This is the plant with 2 tomatoes and is the lower and smallest one by measurement.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Back side of the 4.61 Young 2022 from the 6.55 Rose.   Thursday, August 25 View Page What your truck with a 58” bed looks like with a 16 foot sunflower and a 10 foot long gourd in it heading to the Champlain Valley Fair.   Sunday, August 28 View Page Last picture in August as summer winds down. Happy to say we still have 3 pumpkins alive and slowly chugging along. Disease is starting to take hold but we have enough green to last for a few weeks.   Sunday, August 28 View Page We brought a 16foot tall sunflower, 4.6 pound tomato and a 122 inch long gourd to the Champlain Valley Fair. Next weigh off is the VT State weigh off on September 17th that is right around the corner.   Sunday, August 28 View Page The tomato hut is still growing well. Can’t compete with Porkchop but not too shabby for northern Vermont.   Sunday, August 28 View Page Here is a single bloom from the 8.35 Strickler plant. Currently she has a circumference of 25 inches and gaining 1/4 inch a day.   Sunday, August 28 View Page Here is the second tomato on the 6.55 Rose plant and currently has a circumference of 26.5 inches. She is putting on a 1/4 inch a day.   Sunday, August 28 View Page Here is Charlotte off the 536 Young. She has an OTT of 303 inches which estimates 640 pounds. Slow grower but very pretty!   Sunday, August 28 View Page Darlene off the 1905 Rose is still maintaining good growth at 59 days. Currently she has an OTT of 368 inches which estimates a weight of 1124. She has averaged 27 pounds a day this week.   Sunday, August 28 View Page Ruth from the 1885 Werner needed to be pulled forward again as she was backing up on her vine. This will be the last time we can hook up to our 1025R John Deere as she was backing the tractor up a bit as we moved her.   Sunday, August 28 View Page Did a weigh for a small one off the 7.72 MacDonald plant. Happy with the 4 pound 1 ounce weight as she had a circumference of just 23.25 inches.   Sunday, August 28 View Page This is day 63 for Ruth off the 1885 Werner. She has an OTT of 407 inches today for an estimated weight of 1480. She is very wide with a circumference of 191 inches. Going to need a long strap to lift her up!   Thursday, September 1 View Page We had a couple tomatoes flash and decided to get them on a scale. This is from the 7.35 A seed and weighed in at 4.96 pounds.   Thursday, September 1 View Page Here is the 7.35 B Brown that flashed as well and was a little better at 5.24 pounds.   Sunday, September 4 View Page Happy September! Typical roller coaster weather for northern Vermont. We are in a cold front with 60 degree temps and drizzle while 1 hour south of us is close to 80 and partly cloudy. Plants are old and beat up but fruit are still growing slowly.   Sunday, September 4 View Page We have a few decent tomatoes growing for us at least and our little backyard patch. This is a single bloom off of the 8.35 Strickler and has a circumference of 26 1/4 inches.   Sunday, September 4 View Page Here is a good one off the 7.72 MacDonald and has a circumference of 28 inches.   Sunday, September 4 View Page Here is a beauty off the 6.55 Rose at 28 1/8 inch circumference. This is the second tomato on this plant. The first tomato, which was lower on the plant, went 4.6 pounds at our local fair. Plant is a grower!   Sunday, September 4 View Page Here is pretty Charlotte off the 536 Young. She is 58 days old today and just shy of 700 pounds.   Sunday, September 4 View Page Here is Darlene off the 1905 Rose at 66 days after pollination. She is still plugging along and has a circumference of 165 inches today.   Sunday, September 4 View Page Here is wide Ruth from the 1885 Werner. She is 70 days old today and has a circumference of 198 inches. Let’s see if we can keep her putting on inches for the next couple of weeks.   Wednesday, September 7 View Page Weighed our first official tomato tonight. Hopefully bigger to come. This is from the 9.05 Brown. We have one more 9.05 in the patch that is younger and fatter which hopefully will go bigger.   Saturday, September 10 View Page Here is an update on our 8.35 Strickler single bloom tomato. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCtlznD4188   Monday, September 12 View Page I got a bit nervous of the ripening lobe of the 6.5 Rose, so we picked her tonight and we’re excited to see the scale read 7.28 pounds which is new Vermont state record!   Monday, September 12 View Page Better size comparison for the 7.28 pound tomato.   Monday, September 12 View Page Two happy growers with the new 7.28 Young 2022.   Wednesday, September 14 View Page We got 4.5 inches of rain yesterday and I decided to harvest instead of waiting for VT weigh off Saturday. This is off the 7.72 MacDonald which was a great grower for us. Our recent 7.28 had 2 lobes that were thicker and that is probably where the extra .21 pounds came from but we are both over the moon to get 2 over 7 pounds to the scale!   Wednesday, September 14 View Page The obligatory picture with a gallon of milk with the now 7.07 Young.   Wednesday, September 14 View Page Bottom of the 7.07 Young.   Friday, September 16 View Page We loaded up Darlene tonight (1905 Rose) for the Vermont weigh off. Think heavy girl!   Friday, September 16 View Page Our big single off the 8.35 Strickler is just barely starting to blush. It has a circumference of 28.25 inches tonight. It may frost tonight so we have covered it well. If she stays solid we will weigh in Saratoga next weekend.   Sunday, September 18 View Page Here is the first look of our fall lawn display. Weigh offs are cool but lawn displays are da bomb!   Wednesday, September 21 View Page Lil Miss single bloom from the 8.35 Strickler has told us that it is time to be weighed. Here she is with our model gallon milk jug. We will be meeting the VT Secretary of Agriculture tonight at a local grocery store as this measures larger then our new State record of 7.28. Fingers and toes are crossed!   Wednesday, September 21 View Page Here is the bottom side of our single bloom off the 8.35 Strickler.   Wednesday, September 21 View Page Lil Miss single bloom is now officially the 7.95 Young 2022 (8.35 Strickler x open) She was so close to making it to 8 pounds but we have had inches of rain and I did not want to have a big problem occur.   Wednesday, September 21 View Page Here are the happy growers with the new State record 7.95 Young. What an unbelievable tomato year for us and we want to thank all who gave us advice and cheered us on!   Thursday, September 22 View Page Here we are with our club member witnesses. Final measurements were 28.25 x 23.75 x 23.5 for a total of 15,767. So she was a bit light, just below a multiplier of .00051. Not sure why but all of our tomatoes this year were at the .00051. Next year we need to figure out how to get a bit more density.   Sunday, September 25 View Page We had a great time at the Saratoga weigh off this weekend. I told my friend Porkchop that I would bring our 7.95 Young to show people. Looks like he enjoyed seeing it. LOL   Sunday, September 25 View Page Here we are with our latest big tomato which is now the 6.48 pound Young from the 9.06 Brown.   Sunday, September 25 View Page Charlotte is now the 691.5 Young 2022. Saratoga has 3 places for the HD award and she was very fortunate to come in 3rd. Thank you to the Saratoga chamber and all of the organizers and volunteers for hosting a great safe fun weigh off.   Sunday, September 25 View Page Here is the 691.5 Young in her spot in the fall display. Weights at weigh offs are a great thing but anything orange in a display is the star of the show!   Wednesday, September 28 View Page BLT anyone? Time to seed the 7.95 Young. Unfortunately, the seed count appears to be quite low.   Friday, September 30 View Page We are loaded up for the Topsfield Fair on a frosty cold morning in Vermont.   Sunday, October 2 View Page Ruth (1885 Werner x 1905 Rose) is now the 1680 Young. We got a ribbon and an HD. Was a great night for us, The best part was seeing old friends and making a few new ones. What a great hobby!   Wednesday, October 12 View Page We have Ruth (1680 Young) back home from her tour at the Topsfield fair to join our front lawn display. Check out my vintage BigPumpkins.com sweatshirt!   Saturday, October 22 View Page We seeded and carved our giant pumpkins today. Far left is our 1680, middle is the 1442.5, and far right is the 691.5. Happy Halloween!   Tuesday, November 1 View Page Good bye 2022 pumpkin season. Time to rest and start planning for 2023. Please support local club seed auctions to keep our hobby alive and well.