Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 14 Entries. Sunday, January 1 View Page Going orange again this year! Happy New Year to everyone and best of luck in your patches and gardens.   Friday, March 17 View Page New patch buddy, this is Tova. She is a 3 month old Blue Heeler (Australian cattle dog). She is already getting training in the pumpkin patch, walking boards and perimeter of the patch is OK.   Friday, March 17 View Page Cover crop really got a good head start this year, and now will need mowing a few times before being tilled in. I alternate between having it rototilled in green and then next year having it rototilled after being killed. We added copious quantities of a manure/compost blend last year so the organic matter will be higher for a couple years. Got a lot of help from Richmond Dave on soil balancing and ongoing ammending.   Monday, March 27 View Page Seed choice was an easy one this year, we are gladly growing 3 Wolf plants this year. Thanks Andy, I really appreciate the opportunity to grow theses seeds, we hope to do them justice and bring a couple whoppers to the scale.   Friday, April 14 View Page The cover crop needed a bit of a haircut before the tractor service could get in and rototill. We will spread down copious quantities of gypsum and a few other micronutrients to get our ratios inline before planting time. Seeds are started, things are happening.   Tuesday, May 2 View Page We did 3 passes with the tiller and combined in the recommended amounts of granular gypsum, 0-0-50, calcium nitrate, manganese sulphate, iron sulphate and magnesium sulphate. Many thanks again to Richmond Dave for his patience teaching me the importance of the Base Saturations and providing me with a deeper understanding of nutrient relationships as laid out in the Langley Estimator. We are behind schedule, but have 4 healthy seedling plants that are eager to get into the ground and inside their heated hoophouses. Oh yeah, I gotta still put them up.   Thursday, May 4 View Page So we threw down some heat cables and covered them in a deep mound of Promix HP with mycorrhiza and a dash of some slow release 14-14-14, then put up our 2 smallest hoophouses to give the seedlings a 2 week overnight heated bedroom, after that it’s freestyle. The 2365 Wolf failed to germinate, so we have a 2006 Wolf and 2493 Wolf this year for Atlantic Giants and two prizewinner plants that will fill in the rest of the space.   Thursday, May 4 View Page So we threw down some heat cables and covered them in a deep mound of Promix HP with mycorrhiza and a dash of some slow release 14-14-14, then put up our 2 smallest hoophouses to give the seedlings a 2 week overnight heated bedroom, after that it’s freestyle. The 2365 Wolf failed to germinate, so we have a 2006 Wolf and 2493 Wolf this year for Atlantic Giants and two prizewinner plants that will fill in the rest of the space.   Tuesday, May 9 View Page 2006 Wolf is liking the 85 degree soil temperature and with the smaller hoophouse, the heat escaping the soil is keeping the ambient air temperature over 60 degrees at night when it’s closed up.   Tuesday, May 9 View Page 2493 Wolf also pretty happy that it’s out of the starter pot and into its new home. With only 2 competition plants this year, the pumpkin plants will have free rein to do what they want. The prizewinners won’t get planted out until there is no need for starter hoophouses, I don’t want the hassle of that this year. I’ve got a bunch of golf tournaments again this year, and will rely heavily on my team grower to step up whenever I need extra hands.   Wednesday, May 24 View Page 2006 Wolf was a bit of a problem child and started out immediately as a double vine. We did some surgery and cut away one of the doubles in the cluster, watered the heck out of it and it has turned around. Main vine is normal (ish) and secondaries are perfect. Off and running, here we go!!   Wednesday, May 24 View Page 2493 Wolf also an early bad actor as you can see a split in front of the small secondary on top. It just exploded one day, I used sulphur to dry and it’s getting all gnarled and like bark, all good and healed. Also off and running, here we go.   Tuesday, May 30 View Page 2006 Wolf in the foreground, 2493 Wolf next, 2 prizewinners from Nana Rea behind that and then garlic, onions, potatoes, lettuce and a few other veggies at the top. Plants are both on the go now and I’ll start with my rotation of ferts, fungicides and aphid/whitefly prevention. We also get a weird cabbage butterfly larvae and caterpillars that seem to be merit/imidacloprid resistant. They arrive later in the season so I’ve got time to prepare for that. Again, huge thanks to Ken for this website and our ability to look back at previous years and compare with current progress. It’s abundantly clear that a hoophouse, greenhouse, Polly tent, massive hooptie house or some other type of Richmond Dave growing building is the only way we are going to get plants to the size that Dave has now and it’s not even June yet, amazing my friend. Dave has taken growing to the next level in British Columbia with his knowledge, abilities and dogged determination.   Friday, June 2 View Page Plants are taking off now, it will be a sea of green not long from now. Well, as you can see, I do rake trenches for vine burying ahead of the plant, as I actually find it easier and a time saver to just to allow the vines to go where I want them (in the trenches) and then easy to cover, done and done. I do a few trenches each day while the secondaries are popping out and claiming ground space. Also, we didn’t stockpile compost or any vine burying mix this year anyways after adding copious quantities last year.