Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 87 Entries. Sunday, March 3 View Page Well, so much for the off season. The winter that wasn't. Use the snowblower once. Barely had ice, ice out will likely be either today or tomorrow, five days earlier than the record. Suppose I'll get a head start on the grow. Still too wet and too much frost to get an accurate soil test, but I know I need to add sulfur to get the ph down. Tents up just to let the sun do its magic as it gets stronger.   Saturday, March 30 View Page Call me crazy, but I'm going to stagger some starts this year. Maverick is first out the gate. Huge thanks to the Champ himself for hooking me up with the seed last year.   Monday, April 8 View Page My intended second main plant (2907) and a backup (2332). Mav will hopefully be out of the soil in the morning, but I didn't set up my heating pad when I went out of town so she's been a bit slower than expected (didn't want her to dry out). Will start a backup Mav if is she looks odd.   Tuesday, April 16 View Page My 2907 was likely a dud as it hasn't germinated :(. 2332 is getting elevated to main patch. Need a backup now and elected to try the 1955.5 Werner. It's not been very grown but it was the 1885 werners pollinator so it has some rock solid genetics behind it.   Sunday, April 21 View Page Maverick is in the dirt! Wanted to get her transplanted earlier, but we had a cold spell at the end of last week and ended up getting some snow showers. New plan for the grow this year is to NOT grow back to back. I elected to put Maverick in the North tent. Close to the lake, there's somewhat shallower substrate here. Nonetheless, a couple of small plants exceeded expectations when grown in this area (including my PB), and I like that her main vine will be heading south. 150 plant will be just west of her, but even with the neighbor she'll likely have a somewhat larger area to grow (1000 sq ft ballpark). The Paton plant is getting her first true leaf, my 1955 germinated and isn't up yet. Plan to transplant outside on Thursday.   Thursday, April 25 View Page Last start of the season! 150 sq ft plant is an oldie, but grew 2x 2000 lb fruits in 2015 and 2016. Hope to introduce some maverick genes in the ultimate cross.   Thursday, April 25 View Page 2332 Paton planted out today! Hasn't been properly hardened but rain over the next few days should help.   Tuesday, April 30 View Page It's vine envy season! Despite an earlier start than ever, my vines not 6 ft long yet. I've clearly a lot of room to improve the indoor grow and I have a few ideas to try over the winter (better controlled temp for sure). Nonetheless, here's Maverick! She's starting to get a vine to her. Last year I was still indoors, so I'm well ahead on both main plants. 10 year old seed for the 150 competition popped, have the 1955 in a 2 gallon pot so she'll be a happy backup for a while yet.   Thursday, May 2 View Page I've always wanted a Doastron but been too cheap and have been trying to make due with an Easy flow injector system. Decided to split the difference this year and try a Newtry. Should be a lot easier to mix at a minimum.   Saturday, May 4 View Page Maverick is the patch star so far, but she's got a good headstart. Growing too vertical yet, need to settle down ASAP. Kickstand leaf has been removed.   Monday, May 6 View Page 1585.5 Werner is up! The 10-year old seed isn't much of a looker yet, but we'll see if she can perk up before she gets planted out! Otherwise I still have my 1955 backup.   Thursday, May 9 View Page Off to the races   Friday, May 10 View Page The rye before the till. Didn't get it in quite early enough to get germination before winter, but a warm spring has it about 12" now. Took out my riding mower cutting it down.   Sunday, May 12 View Page First pass tilling done. Will take my time finishing over the week and hopefully get the drip down and 150 plant in. Tents should be done on Wed.   Sunday, May 12 View Page Mav gets a lot of love since she's a bit ahead, but the 2332 paton is a vine now. Little cobra to her, but she's pushing well!   Monday, May 13 View Page First load of vine burying mix. Deviating from the local norm and not using total garden blend. I worry it's a little hot with the slow release ferts in it. Trying premium garden blend instead. Burried my first few nodes today.   Wednesday, May 15 View Page Temps look favorable for the coming week and I'm running out of space in the hoop house so Mav is free. Paton will follow this weekend, hope to get everything else set up on Saturday.   Thursday, May 16 View Page 2332 paton tent down. Thing kinked as the vine came down. Just would not sit down for me. Probably should have given it a few more days. Oh well, will roll with it.   Thursday, May 16 View Page 150 sq ft patch. 25' x 6'. Planted out the 1955 Werner. Starting to vine, healthy looking seedling. 1585 werner is alive but first few true leaves are off. Will see if it grows out of it.   Thursday, May 16 View Page 25'x6'   Thursday, May 16 View Page 25'x6'   Saturday, May 18 View Page Trying new drip line this year. 8 mil rather than heaver stuff. Figure it doesn't store well so I'll treat it as disposable. That said it's really delicate stuff.   Saturday, May 18 View Page 2nd pass with the tiller done, drip down though still need a few things before it's active. Plants took a bit of a beating yesterday as there was a surprise storm. Need wind protection up asap.   Thursday, May 23 View Page 150 patch. 1585 werner is looking better so it went out today!   Thursday, May 23 View Page Paton plant has been beat up. Lots of rain of late, plus wind shields weren't well installed until today. Mav definitely has the more protected part of the patch. Still, secondaries are kicking off.   Thursday, May 23 View Page And the patch princess, Mav. Really spreading her wings, though some of the leaves could be in better shape. Not sure if it's sun scald or a nutrient defficiency. Couple of females on the main vine, looking early June to have one set??   Sunday, May 26 View Page Memorial weekend update. Much cooler this weekend than the last few years. Temps have been consistently in the 65 to 75 degree window, with overnights between 50 and 55. The plants would really benefit if it were about 5-10 degrees warmer, though it's hard to complain about the temps as ideal as they are for spending time outside. It's been the wettest spring since 2019 here. The lake is very full. Trying to read the leaves suggests they need a little something, probably nitrogen. Wouldn't be surprised if the soluble nutrients are just flushed right out of the soil right now. Path prep work is essentially done. Drip system is active but has been only used once to try and seed some microbes throughout the patch and confirm that it is working. Privacy screen/wind break is also up, though I need to put the finishing touches on it for the entrances. Vine burying has started but the secondaries aren't pushing too much yet. First male flowers on Maverick opened this weekend. She is probably 10 days out from option 1 being available for pollination and is looking very strong. Paton plant has gotten kicked around by the wind. Looks like the internodal density is a little more spaced than on the Mav and it's wind breaks have been less effective. 150 plants are in and chugging along. Will make a final decision as to who to go with in a few weeks.   Sunday, May 26 View Page Got to share a male from Mav with a friend in need. Figured big kins like milk so the container was appropriate.   Monday, May 27 View Page Surprise thunderstorms today. Half inch of rain after heavy downpour. Pea size hail, some leaf damage. Mav has a second in the tip that's probably 2 weeks out, May be my favorite given it'll have more plant behind it.   Thursday, May 30 View Page Was going to leave this flower to open but it looked like it was maturing unevenly so I snipped her off. Yikes. I feel like my first flowers on the main have often been odd ducks like this. Oh well, didn't have enough plant behind her to be an option (off Maverick). More rain forcast is making it challenging to control weeds, but temps are trending up as we head into June.   Saturday, June 1 View Page June 1 patch   Tuesday, June 4 View Page 2560 Gienger X 2332 Paton. 2nd female on the main and first option, though I'd like a little more plant behind her. 2nd male to open on the pollinator so the timing was good. Next option will probably be this weekend.   Friday, June 7 View Page Mav's second option was a 4 lober pollinated with 4 flowers (self). Doing a bit more vine training here. Only had one male open on the 2332 so sent the self. Don't like all the females to get pollinated by the same plant anyway. Earlier pollination looks OK, hasn't kicked into gear yet.   Sunday, June 9 View Page June has been cool, and secondary growth reflects that. Several are somewhat stunted. Nights consistently around 60 would be appreciated, but we're still having a few around 50. 2 pollinations done on Mav, not clear whether either has taken yet. There's another female on the tip that would be a 3rd option mid-week. 2332 will have its first pollination on Monday. Number of secondaries is in line, but wish the plant were more mature. It takes a lot more abuse from the wind being on the south end of the patch, which is reflected in leaf condition. 150 plants are both vining now but the older is just barely starting secondaries. Lack of heated start shows. Bought a leaf burner and quickly learned it's not compatable with 8ml drip.   Tuesday, June 11 View Page Perfect 5 lobe flower on the 2332, pollinated with Mav. Plant has enough secondaries, just wish they were more filled out. Next flower will hopefully be the keeper.   Tuesday, June 11 View Page Perfect bouquet of Maverick   Saturday, June 15 View Page 2332 X 2560, 2nd option on the plant.   Saturday, June 15 View Page 2560 X 2332 3rd option but likely not viable due to bad lobes/seeds in blossom.   Saturday, June 15 View Page 1st pollination on the 2560, 12 DAP X 2332.   Saturday, June 15 View Page 2nd selfed flower on the 2560, 9 DAP.   Saturday, June 15 View Page State of the patch: Weedy.   Sunday, June 16 View Page Made serious progress with weed problem. Folded up about half my drip tape and broke out the torch.   Sunday, June 16 View Page Said goodbye to option 1 on Mav. Healthy little fruit but a 3 lobe flower and in a sub-optimal vine position. Always hard to cut them off. Growth rates not great.   Sunday, June 16 View Page Set up for the chosen on Mav (selfed 4 lobe from June 7). Rate of growth isn't impressing anyone at this point, but plants need heat and Nitrogen to really kick into gear. Hoping the week isn't a washout as forecast as we got an inch and a half on Saturday.   Wednesday, June 19 View Page 2332 Paton X 1585.5 Werner 2014. Fun little polination, lucky it was a holiday. Female wasn't open by 9 due to the cool and cloudy morning, but popped by 10 when I got back from getting some work done on my truck. Had one male from the 1585 that was opening today so I shipped it. Small flower, not a ton of pollen. 1st set on the plant looks solid so it may not come to much, though I need to see if the vine patterning is good to go.   Wednesday, June 19 View Page Vine burying looks to be going well, advantage of all the rain I suppose. Have been lazy and just toping with plaisteds premium garden mix without extras. Opted against total garden blend since I don't like the slow release ferts that are included, but Travis said you can get it without.   Friday, June 21 View Page 14 DAP on 2560 keeper. Nub had to get cut, will do the rest of the kins tomorrow. Too dang wet out for them to dry out proper. While the southern half of the state has been getting torrential rain we seem to have dodged the bullet today. Fingers crossed for some drying over the weekend and into next week.   Saturday, June 22 View Page First tent up! Got through yesterday with just 0.75". Things are saturated but it could be worse! Nubs off and daconil on the other kins. Will need to make some decisions about the 2332 soon. Trying to train the 150 plant, clearly behind the competition but it's also a breeding project.   Thursday, June 27 View Page 20 DAP on the 2560X Self. First few secondaries have been terminated, growth is still kind of uneven (mostly on the first few secondaries with their tertiaries for back filling).   Saturday, June 29 View Page Reflecting on the past month as it wraps. 1 is 2560 Gienger, 2 is 2332 Paton, and 3 is 1585 Werner (150 sq ft). It's been incredibly wet; lake is flooding the street by the neighbors' homes. Vegetative growth has been slow. Picks up as it dries out only to get more rain. I'm sure the mobile nutrients like nitrogen are getting constantly flushed out of the soil as the organic matter breaks down. Have been essentially only able to foliar feed for weeks. Still, probably among the biggest plants I've had for the month and 2 of 3 fruit sets picked.   Monday, July 1 View Page 14 DAP on the 2332 Paton X 2560.   Saturday, July 6 View Page 2332X2560. DAP 20. Numbers won't impress anyone, but the plant is growing better than Mav. Weather forecast looks better going into next week. 150 sw ft plant is finally taking off, just need some females on the main.   Sunday, July 7 View Page DAP 30 on the 2560. She's going to be a looker. Gains aren't anything to write home about yet. Big feed today, lots of Old Age Grow and Cal-Mag for the patch. For the first time in weeks the very top soil doesn't look damp. Big hopes for the next week!   Wednesday, July 17 View Page Kind of late for pollination pictures, but have a perfect opportunity on my 150 plant. Off the now 10 year-old 1585.5 Werner 2014, this is as much a genetics project as a competition fruit. One of the first multi-2000lb producers crossed with the 2560 Gienger, which is producing a beautiful orange fruit right now. The plant was slow out the gate, probably because of poor seed quality, and didn’t get enough heat support early-season but has taken off now. Plant has about 2/3 of the allowed area filled and is growing about a foot a day. Fruit set should fill much of the remaining space and was the 3rd female on the main (assuming she takes).   Wednesday, July 17 View Page Gosling DAP 41.   Wednesday, July 17 View Page Loonlet DAP 31   Wednesday, July 17 View Page Duckling DAP 0   Tuesday, July 23 View Page 1585 Werner, Duckling, at DAP 6. Why can't my big planta grow like my small plants? Need to straighten her out but the shape and stem could not be nicer   Saturday, July 27 View Page 2560Xself "Gosling" at 50 DAP. Largest, oldest, and prettiest in the patch right now, but the plant is the smaller of the two big plants.   Saturday, July 27 View Page 2332 X 2560 "Loonlet" at 41 DAP. Faster growing of the two larger fruits and likely will be bigger assuming the end doesn't give out on me.   Saturday, July 27 View Page 1585 X 2560 "Duckling" at 10DAP. The plant is the healthiest of the bunch and the fruit is amazing for its age. Needs to fill out a little bit more, but I have big hopes for this one.   Saturday, July 27 View Page 150 sq ft plant has just a little bit more to fill in. Probably would be filled if it weren't for a rabbit that recently developed a taste for pumpkin vines. The offender has been rehomed.   Wednesday, July 31 View Page 1585 "Duckling" at 14 DAP. 150 sq. ft. plant. Probably the fastest out the gate I've ever grown.   Sunday, August 4 View Page Took down the pumpkin tents today as the girls were outgrowing them. Raided goodwill and got a nice set of sheets to cover up!   Tuesday, August 6 View Page What madness is this? DAP 20 on 150 sq ft 1585 Werner clocking in at 197" estimating for about 180 lbs already. I wish my big plants performed like this. Back to wet, 2" rain last night, and cooler again. The bigs turned 60 and 51 DAP today and are slowing down but still putting on about 20 lbs/day.   Sunday, August 11 View Page 150 sq ft. 1585 Werner "Duckling" @ DAP 25. Still chugging along at a good pace, in the 240 lb range, ahead of my other '24 plants' pace for the day. Cool weather the last week has really undercut gains on all the fruit. Temps have been less than 80 for highs and often less than 60 overnight. Plants are generally healthy though. Had to remove a few leaves with PM on them, but we're still getting new growth. 150 sq ft plant isn't filled out yet as the fruits taking most of the energy.   Sunday, August 11 View Page 2332 Paton "Loonlet" at DAP 56.   Sunday, August 11 View Page 2560 "Gosling" at DAP 65. Will likely get passed by the younger 2332 this next week.   Saturday, August 24 View Page Visited the Minnesota State Fair and checked out the giant vegetable entries. Overall a sad year, unsurprising given how tough the weather was. Largest watermelon could have been purchased from the store. However, Joe Morgan stole the show with his record breaking, 1800lb plus fruit. I would have likely brought one of mine if I hadn't heard he was planning to win it, so I'm going to take a swing for the jacket, even if the odds look awfully long right now.   Sunday, August 25 View Page 2332 Paton @ 70 DAP is officially the biggest in the patch. 385", or 1275 lbs est. I think she's heavy, but making me nervous as all get out with the cantalouping and growth cracks at the stem end. Cut some tap roots on the main vine to relieve some stress on the vine.   Sunday, August 25 View Page 2560 at 79 DAP also has that old fruit look to her now. 382" OTT. 1248 lbs est. Both big fruit are likely doing 12-16 a day yet, with a good stretch of warm weather for the next week or so. PM has arrived in the patch despite the fungicide regimen, but most of the leaves look good if a little tired. I think there are a few vines on this plant that have a touch of something viral (mosaic?) or a nutrient deficiency is showing. At least by the tape I've broken my PB twice, with more than a month to grow. Really need both the 2560 and 2332 fruit to be 1600+ for a chance at the jacket, I think. 4000 would be much more manageable than 4300.   Sunday, August 25 View Page 1585 Werner at 39 DAP. 276" OTT or 485 lbs est. Doing about 16 a day. Hope she's able to pick up a little bit, given she's still young. Will try and extend the season as much as I can on this fruit and hope to bring her to Stillwater.   Saturday, August 31 View Page August is a wrap. All 3 pumpkins survived our trip to the Black Hills, despite three severe thunderstorms while we were gone and another 2+ inches of rain. The inevitable battle with PM is turning against me, will need to get more aggressive with fungicide in the next few weeks. The shown 2332 has slowed down quite a bit since I had to remove a major early secondary that had gone bad near the stump, but the gnarly growth splits tells me she's still growing. With a little luck I'll have my first 400"+ fruit before weigh off.   Saturday, September 7 View Page 2332 has really slowed in the last few weeks. Took off a big secondary before we went out of town because it was soft. Checked it tonight and the crown was shredded. Looks like a loss to borers. Cut off from the main where it looked good yet, but that took off another massive secondary. Probably a third of the plant is gone now. The tap roots on the vine I pulled looked top notch. Missed opportunity with this fruit; it looked like it was on track to be my largest despite having an early kink on the main. Still thumps solid, hopefully will put on a few more pounds before weigh off yet.   Sunday, September 15 View Page 100 DAP on the 2560XSelf today. Not putting on inches so much any more but the growth cracks and cantelouping tells me she's still chugging along and hopefully growing more internally. Thumping heavier every day. Hopefully she'll go heavy given that she'll be between 110 and 130 DAP at harvest.   Sunday, September 15 View Page 2332X2560 at DAP 91 should be the first to get harvested. Not quite as old as it's daddy, but has the looks of a heavy fruit if I've ever seen one. Will be the first to get pulled from the patch is everything goes as planned. She's got a few spots that make me nervous, but is still adding a little weight every day.   Sunday, September 15 View Page 1585X2560 at DAP 60. 150 sq ft plant. This one is hard as heck for me to measure. Growing over the blossom, funky ribbing, and derpy shoulder. I've probably cost myself some lbs on this fruit as it dried out over the last month and I didn't pay enough attention to soil moisture as I should have. Parts of the patch are perpetually soggy with moss growing but others likely have dried out as the water table dropped. Weed situation is embarrassing; hopefully during the rest year next season I can get a lot of the weed seeds germinated and killed.   Saturday, September 28 View Page She's officially a personal best and the 1442 Bierle 2024. (2332 Paton X 2560 Gienger). Went to chart at 403" OTT and was good for 2nd at Nowthen Heritage Festival (missed first by less than 25 lbs). Not bad for the rough start to the season and for losing about a third of the plant a month ago. Two more to go, including one that tapes bigger!   Sunday, October 6 View Page Took 2nd at Anoka with a new personal best, the 1485 Bierle 2024 (2560 Gienger 2022 X Self). Just a hair under what she was taping. First place went for 1686 so it wasn't close this go around. 2925 combined weight so far with the 150 sq ft plant to weigh. Exhausting weekend. Took all of the day yesterday to tear down most everything except the 150 plant. Did a light till and threw down some winter rye. With the warm weather we've been having, I'm hoping we can get it established before the cold kicks in. Anoka weighoff was windy and cool but with the car show, flea market, and food trucks there was a really nice crowd. 15 AGs + two small squash were weighed.   Friday, October 11 View Page 150 sq ft plant was all that remained. Reasonably satisfied with the grow. Trained the vine in a flag pattern where I only grew every other secondary. Talking with the new WR holder it sounds like a higher vine density is key.   Sunday, October 13 View Page Wrapped up the season at Stillwater Harvest Fest: 837.5 Bierle 2024. 150 sq ft challenge fruit. Cross was 1585.5 Werner 2014 X 2560 Gienger 2022. Officially 10% heavy. That's probably an overestimate--I was taping her closer to 800 lbs, but the fruit's shape is kind of smashed in a way that made it really hard to tape. Still, 5% heavy by my measure. In this breeding project, I crossed one of the first seeds to grow a 2000 lb pumpkin with modern genetics. Turned out to be a decent orange X orange cross, too! (the father is the 1485 Bierle 2024). I plan to grow this seed in '26, assuming the seeds are sound. Total for my season is 3 fruit with a combined weight of 3,764 lbs. Reflecting on the season, I need to 1) do a better job with early-season heat support, 2) continue to improve with insecticide application (blow more Merit rather than drip), 3) use higher quality drip tape, 4) be more aggressive with early season nitrogen, especially if it's wet, and 5) continue to try and improve poor soil pH situation. I'm moving to an every-other year growing pattern. Growing in an urban area I don't want to test my luck with pathogen build up, and looking forward to some big vacations with the kiddos in the summer. I am also optimistic that only doing major additions in my off years will help reduce the number of weeds I have to deal with. Winter rye has been applied-we'll see how well it can germinate before it gets cold here. Will do a crop of mustard and possibly add 10 yards of something from Plaisted's and sulfur next spring--waiting to see how the fall soil test comes back.   Sunday, October 13 View Page Cleaning out the garage and yard, noticed that the majority of the winter rye that I planted 8 days ago had popped up already!   Tuesday, October 15 View Page Spring vs. Fall soil tests. I think I'm ending the season in a pretty good spot. OM is down below 10%, which makes me happy. pH is also down a good half point; still would like to work it down a bit. Phosphorous remains quite low. Hopefully a year of tweaks will result in a great start for '26.   Sunday, October 27 View Page Seed collection update! 1442 Bierle 2024. (2332 Paton X 2560 Gienger) TBD, waiting to hear from Robert Motzer. Getting dropped next weekend at his Pig Roast and Pumpkin Smash. Please go support the Chetek Food Shelf if you're looking for something to do! 1485 Bierle 2024 (2560 Gienger 2022 X Self) Great seed recovery! Seeds tend to be a little on the smaller side (think 1501 VW). Selfed orange Maverick--could be a great big and orange option! Could have been a HD contender but this fruit was OLD at harvest and had a lot of cantelouping plus an early leaf scar. 837.5 Bierle 2024 (1585.5 Werner 2014 X 2560 Gienger 2022). This one was my breeding project and--crossing one of the first 2000+ producers with a now multiple 2500+ producer. Bonus with two orange producing parents! Was grown on 150 sq ft and 10% heavy! I will be growing this as one of one of my main 2 in '26. Unfortunately, seed count was mediocre and there were a lot of white tips among the seeds that could be viable. If you're interested in any of these let me know. Some will be available through the clubs.   Saturday, November 2 View Page Officially done for the year. Thank goodness for the city's pumpkin drop. Had to make two loads this year and got some looks from folks chucking jack-o-lanterns.   Saturday, November 2 View Page 837 at 10% heavy had some nice and thick walls!   Thursday, November 14 View Page First packing done. After taking a few for germination testing, there were only 80 837.5s that looked viable. My plan is to grow this one in 2 years.