Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 41 Entries. Friday, February 23 View Page It has been a mild winter except for that week or two in January where it flirted with temps below -40. We got our only real snow just before that. Made it easy to put up the shacks. This is the melon patch.   Saturday, March 9 View Page The snow arrived and we really need it. Temps have warmed to melting.   Friday, March 15 View Page Lots of melting.   Friday, March 22 View Page The melting stopped and the highs are about -8°C. I plugged in the soil cables.   Saturday, March 23 View Page Meanwhile in the big greenhouse, the cable was plugged in a week ago and the soil is to temp.   Saturday, March 23 View Page Outside the temporary cold-frame,inside the greenhouse, the soil is still chilly but making good progress.   Saturday, March 23 View Page Checked to make sure the hydronic heat system will still work. Apparently had enough glycol in the mixture because it flows. I turned it off now but if the soil temp falters during the season it will get turned on.   Saturday, March 23 View Page This is a field pumpkin at about 22 days after planting. It’s part of an experiment to see if I can tell if the 191 Kapelari offspring that go bushy can be revealed as such. It’s probably easier to just double plant because by the time you can tell they are fairly rootbound.   Monday, March 25 View Page Time to start melons and tomatoes. Cooler has a heat mat and thermostat.   Wednesday, March 27 View Page Watermelons have sprouted. I plant them on their sides about 3/4” down. Most of the time that lets them shed their coats. I don’t file or soak them.   Wednesday, March 27 View Page Meanwhile outside… it snowed. Again. We achieved a temp near melting but more snow is forecast. Soil temp is 14 ish. Celsius.   Monday, April 1 View Page Baby melons doing fine.   Monday, April 1 View Page May have started the rutabagas too early.   Monday, April 1 View Page Snow really melted today. Warm and Windy.   Saturday, April 6 View Page Going in. A little early but it’ll give me time in case one doesn’t come up. 1088 Miller 2365 Wolf 2037.5 Crews   Saturday, April 6 View Page I’ve been planting seeds on their sides for years. They shuck the seed coat well most of the time.   Wednesday, April 10 View Page Morning of day 4. 3 pots have some soil movement. Pumpkin growers know the stress level is dropping to acceptable levels.   Wednesday, April 10 View Page The patch is looking better now. Added the automatic openers last night and will check temperature tonight.   Wednesday, April 10 View Page Soil temp in the big greenhouse, in the area outside of the heat cable,is rising nicely. Near the surface is excellent.   Thursday, April 11 View Page Baby pics. All are doing fine. Left the seed coat underneath. Not in pic is the other 2037.5 Crews   Friday, April 12 View Page 2365 24 hours later   Saturday, April 13 View Page Transplantation of one of the melons. Hopefully it smartens up a bit. Looks a little tired.   Saturday, April 13 View Page Step one - the small jar gets buried   Saturday, April 13 View Page Step two - pull the jar out   Saturday, April 13 View Page Step three - drop the peat pellet and sad looking plant in, push a little dirt around it. This works well for the next transplant stage. Just use the present pot as your mold instead of a little jar.   Sunday, April 14 View Page Bad weather is expected later this week so it pushed my transplantation schedule ahead by a few days. Here is the 1088 Miller.   Sunday, April 14 View Page 2365 Wolf is in the big greenhouse patch.   Saturday, April 20 View Page 2365 Wolf Wanted to lean the wrong way. Fixed it a brick. There wasn’t much light this week. Cloudy with a little snow.   Saturday, April 20 View Page 1088 Miller It was reaching straight up. Again, the brick is used. Next week some above 0°C temps and some sun might smarten things up.   Saturday, April 20 View Page 202 Crews watermelon Looking better. I have an urge to fertilize this plant.   Wednesday, April 24 View Page This is just here to help me figure out how the plant start dates work out.   Saturday, April 27 View Page Had a less than prime spot to plant one of the backup 2037.5 Crews plants. This one will be a genetic cross plant. This also will show why we need a greenhouse here.   Saturday, April 27 View Page 2037.5 Crews backup plant.   Saturday, April 27 View Page Long gourd. Hopefully I can build something for it.   Saturday, April 27 View Page Long gourd. Hopefully I can build something for it.   Saturday, April 27 View Page Long gourd. Hopefully I can build something for it.   Saturday, April 27 View Page Triple score!   Saturday, April 27 View Page 202 Crews watermelon. Truthfully I’ve had better plants at this stage.   Saturday, April 27 View Page 1088 Miller. Doing better with some sunlight.   Saturday, April 27 View Page 2365 Wolf Looking good. Watered the soil because it’s going over soon.   Wednesday, May 1 View Page Some things are learned the hard way. It took me a long time to figure out that I need to keep the soil moist around the crown area to allow the vine to tip over easily. Now I can let the top dry out some.