Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 22 Entries. Friday, April 5 View Page Let's see how long I can keep up with entries this year before I get too busy. A little behind with this weather forecast. I need two or three good drying days before I can plow and till. It's going to be cutting it close next week.   Saturday, April 6 View Page I rotate between two main patches, so I'll be back in the western one this year. The last time I grew in it (2022 season), I planted winter rye in the fall of 22 after cleaning plants out, but didn't plow before tilling. I'm not sure how much that affected things, but we ended up in a drought here last year, so when I went to plow the rye, the ground was rock hard. The summer cover crop did ok, but the ground was still hard, without much rain. So.... tried to tear it up a bit with a mini excavator, filled the trenches in with leaf compost, then plowed perpendicular to the trenches and reseeded.   Sunday, April 7 View Page In addition to rotating patches, I also try to move around the planting locations within the plot. This is the spring 2020 aerial view , with the 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2022 planting locations color coded. I'm overdue to grow from the outside to the inside (N-S, and S-N). This will allow me to phase in my tilling this time.   Monday, April 8 View Page Plowed   Tuesday, April 9 View Page Heating cables in, plugged in, and plastic down. The plastic should buy me a little time to get the little greenhouses patched up.   Wednesday, May 1 View Page Plants are in about normal time, not that great looking compared to previous years, hopefully things will turn around eventually. Mowed down the cover crop right after I took the pic, I'll probably have to mow a few more times before the plants outgrow the huts.   Monday, May 13 View Page I'm about a week behind where I'd like to be, but I think I say that every year. I goofed up something with them that set things back a bit this time - lesson learned. Had (hopefully our last) frost Saturday morning.   Sunday, May 19 View Page A few nice days, so letting things breathe a bit. Most all are down and running. This is one of the 2365s.   Saturday, June 1 View Page Mowed and plowed the cover crop in the center. It had a pretty good root mass. It was a mix of crimson clover, winter rye, hairy vetch, and a few peas in there.   Saturday, June 1 View Page All fertilized and tilled up pretty. Hopefully I got ahead of it enough that everything is decomposed before the pumpkin roots settle in. I like the way this works out - 80% of the patch was only tilled once this year instead of twice if I were to have knocked it all down in the beginning, as the weeds would have regrown already. I also seeded a narrow strip in the center with buckwheat just in case the vines don't make it that far.   Sunday, June 2 View Page I was hoping I wouldn't see this, or at least not this soon. Hopefully I discovered it early enough.   Tuesday, June 4 View Page I saw my first cucumber beetle here on June 1. I haven't seen another since that one but would expect to with the heat today. This is the latest first arrival that I can remember in a long time. The only thing I can attribute it to is that everywhere I grew pumpkins last year was planted into a cover crop mix last fall, and now looks like this. Winter rye, peas, vetch, and a little clover mix. It's over 6 feet tall and will be knocked down soon. Perhaps the cover crop has just kept the soil cooler and delayed the inevitable, we'll see.   Wednesday, June 5 View Page Guess it was just a delay in the inevitable. Glad I sprayed in time.   Saturday, June 22 View Page Not much exciting to update. Had cold, crappy weather and lost some good early leaves before switching to hot weather and burning leaves. The closest plant in the pic is a 2365. The discolored leaves were from overheating while still in the mini greenhouse. It suffered from a bit of trimming via deer after it outgrew the little greenhouse. I pollinated what I hope is the keeper on 6/21 - full moon day. The plant on the other side of it is the 2287 Sadiq. It was starting out good, but got pretty trashed in a storm and broke the main vine. At this point it appears to be a non competitive plant and I will likely keep a few pumpkins on it.   Sunday, June 30 View Page 839 Sandercock doing well. Time to get it set up to pack on the pounds. I use road sand first - it drains pretty well and it's cheap - less than $10 for all I need for the season.   Sunday, June 30 View Page After the sand, I add two layers of mill fabric and jack up the vines with some styrofoam blocks. I'll readjust the fabric in a few days but I just wanted to get it under there for now.   Sunday, June 30 View Page Unfortunately, the 2365B couldn't handle the heat stress last week and aborted. The next one down the main doesn't appear to be a good option, so we'll see with I can do on a secondary.   Wednesday, July 10 View Page 839 Starting to put on some pounds   Thursday, July 11 View Page It's always tough to tell color from pictures, but I have the best colored leaves this year. With minimal rain from the hurricane I was able to perfectly time a micronutrient foliar on wet leaves that stayed wet for quite a while. This is the 2266 Kisamore plant. Although the fruit isn't a great shape, it made a fantastic recovery from the early deer and wind damage.   Friday, July 12 View Page Lost the 839. Glad I was too busy to measure, I might had had my hopes up.   Saturday, July 13 View Page Deer made it past the wire, this is my best 2365. Treated and put a fan on it, hopefully it scabs over - this is my best shaped pumpkin.   Monday, July 15 View Page Storm got me today. Over an inch of rain. I needed that, but not if it's coupled with the straight line winds.