Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 142 Entries. Wednesday, March 4 View Page We had a nice white Christmas this year and the snow stayed on the ground in the hills of North Vancouver for almost 2 months...very rare for these parts. We get snow in the city every year but it is usually gone in a day or two. Wednesday, March 4 View Page Crocus flowers in the front garden that was covered in snow for so long. Amazing how quickly things change in pre-spring. Wednesday, March 4 View Page Cover crop is un-frozen and growing again. Got a few sparce spots where the birds had a good feeding. Going to till it in before it gets too tall...take another soil sample and send it off to A&L for final analysis for 09' in a few weeks. Planting is only 8 weeks away!! Saturday, March 7 View Page While talking recently with one of the Boyz, he sent me this great set of pictures. When we can move from the big city back to the Island, this is the kind of set-up that I'd love to have. Saturday, March 7 View Page Nice watering system. Saturday, March 7 View Page I'm going to build my hoophouse more to this scale this year. Keep those squirrels out for awhile longer. Sunday, March 8 View Page Comon, March 8th in British Columbia and we have another snow storm. White out conditions right now with heavy accumulations expected...what a wild ride. Monday, March 9 View Page Not far up the hill from our home is one of our 3 local ski mountains. This is the gondola that takes you up to Grouse mountain. Bet the local high schools have alot of kids "sick" today as they head up to hit the powder. We got 6 inches to a foot of fresh powder over almost the whole city. Sunday, April 5 View Page Last picture of the cover crop before the tiller comes out and the new hoophouse goes up. I'm going with a much larger hoophouse this year and will be setting the squirrel traps soon and re-starting the annual free swimming lessons for them. Monday, April 6 View Page Another sure sign of Spring are the hummingbirds vying for the best spot on the feeders. Here is a male rufous just wating for his mate to show up. Tuesday, April 7 View Page Today was tilling day. I rented a mid-tine tiller this year with a sub-soil/depth guage attachment for the rear. I made a couple of quick passes to chop up and till under the winter rye, then attached the rear attachment and gave it a slower and deeper till....good work-out!! Tuesday, April 7 View Page Here is a shot of the adjustable rear attachment. After the first pass, I lowered it all the way down which was about 5" lower than the tines of the tiller....wow...what a differance it made. I'm pleased with the soil report and have added K-Mag, granular humic acid, gypsum and kelp meal as advised with the last passing of the tiller. Now the hoophouse will get put up and start warming the soil. Friday, April 10 View Page Put up the bones of the new hoophouse today. I used a simple 2x4 frame and then attached that to 4x4 fence post holders pounded into the ground, then screwed the frame to the 4x4 posts. It is 12' long x 16' wide and about 6' tall. Now I just need to put the poly on and let things start cooking in there. Wednesday, April 15 View Page Patch is tilled, hoop is up and soil is being solarized. Line-up is being finalized and so far looks like the 1255 van Kooten (thanks Jake) getting prime spot in my home patch and the 919 Richards (thanks Andy) getting the secondary spot in my home patch. The 898* Hester (thanks Brett) will see a new patch area at my home (first greenie for me)....biggest fattest seed I've ever seen. The 1536.5 van Kooten gets the ammended patch at my Uncle's house and the 783 Daletas will get the patch over at my buddies Steve's house. Of course, this may change in the next few weeks, but I have till April 25th or 26th to finalize things for sure. Thursday, April 16 View Page Wrapped, watered, wired and ready! The near corner will be my entry point and I will be able to roll down from the top during the day for ventilation. The other end is sealed and also has a roll down vent from the top. At noon today under cloudy condions it is 87 degrees inside the hoop while the outside temp is 61 degrees. I've also got my remote temperature/humidity sensor inside so that once I've planted I can monitor the overnight temps and adjust the heater as desired. Last gadget is a clamp-on fan that I picked up and installed on the top beam of the hoophouse to assist with venting during hotter days. Thanks to my buddy Kent for the help with wrapping and cutting the poly to fit and to my buddy Steve who got me the poly from his jobsite for free....unbelievable how much waste there is on a high-rise construction project in the core of the city....oh well lucky me. Used and assortment of left over copper pipe from my recent bathroom reno, rebar and broken ski poles from over the years as legs to secure the ribs of the structure into the ground. Thursday, April 23 View Page A sure sign for me that planting day is just around the corner are the tulips in a shady part of the back yard near the strawberry bed. It the yearly Boyz fishing derby on a nearby lake where a buddies family enjoys 3 cabins on a boat/plane access only lake. Great fishing and always a good time. Steve is coming over to pick up his bag of supplies for his final patch prep. Once he saw the new hoophouse at my house....he built a new one too...was fun to see the expression on his wife's face as it was put up!! His patch looks great and only needed some minor ammendments so he is ready to go too. I started an early 1536.5 van Kooten for my Uncle Chris and will loan him my old smaller hoophouse this year to give him a headstart. The 1536.5 was the first to come up and so far, is a nice growing seedling and very impressive. Monday, April 27 View Page Back from the Boyz fishing weekend (biggest fish trophy back at my house) and my wife tended the seedlings for me. What a differance over 3 days!! As you can see the plants are under lights and even though the conditions are the same, one of the plants is a little more leggy than the others. I went only 3 for 5 with seeds this year so I will need to re-start 2 plants. On the left is the 919 Richards, to the right in the back is the 895* Hester and on the right at front is the 1536.5 van Kooten. The 1255 van Kooten and the 783 Daletas did not germinate for me so I have re-started another 1255 (thanks alot Jake) and have a 904 Northrup for my buddy Steve. Will plant the 919 and 895* in the next day or 2 and turn the heat on for overnight in the hoophouse....here we go!! Monday, April 27 View Page Got a new fan this year, a Vornado 580 which has some kind of special technology that circulates the flow of air to maximize cooling effect. Wish I had known about this manufacturer before as they make really nice heaters also with remote sensor units to localize your heating needs. More info on the website is at; http://www.vornado.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ISC_Category=Heavy+Duty+580# Monday, April 27 View Page A side view of the Vornado 580 that shows the nice clamp on system...very easy to move around. Placed at one end of the hoophouse near the bottom (where the cooler air) it bounces of the other closed end of the hoophouse and circulates air in a Vortex around and then up and back out the open end of the hoophouse. If you need a new fan, have a birthday or anniversary coming up soon...put this on your wish list. http://www.vornado.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ISC_Category=Heavy+Duty+580# Monday, April 27 View Page Needed the new fan today as I could not wait for the weekend and put the 919 Richards in the hoophouse today. Roots were all the way down near the bottom of the 7" deep pot. Got a bunch of requests for seedlings from others that are wanting to try their hand at growing a giant and I am always happy to oblige and start some extra seeds. Thursday, April 30 View Page A view from the middle at Eric's cottage. There is another one to the right and one to the left. Both other cottages are much lower and closer to the water. This lake is about 8 miles long and 3/4 mile wide in the largest spot....great for waterskiing...as you can see! Thursday, April 30 View Page Caught this 16" Cutthroat Trout that weighed in a 1 ll. 5 oz. We thought we were going to get a bunch bigger....but this was the largest for the weekend. With our coastal lakes, you have to time fishing with the weather and the hatches of flys....hard to get it right. There were a few other fish caught, but this one will get me the honours again this year. Thursday, April 30 View Page So, after the first day of fishing...we gathered on the dock after getting skunked in all boats...not a fish landed. We pondered our choices and plotted our charts....mainly thinking about how many beers to take with us and what time we were cooking dinner....don't we look serious!! Thursday, April 30 View Page Weather was perfect for the Boyz long weekend fishing adventure. With every competition, there must be a winner. We all hoped that Don, (second from the left) would catch a fish this year and claim the trophy....it was not to be. The rest of us have owned the trophy, at one time...just not Don! It is the first time, however, that there is a repeat winner...yup....the guy on the end. Always fun, great food, lots of beer, good wine, awesome setting, hilarious conversations and most of all....look forward to it every year. Only 6 of us this year...usually a few more....we really missed Big Pauly this year!! Saturday, May 9 View Page The 919 Richards got its first watering today after being set out in the hoophouse 10 days ago. The 1255 van Kooten is about 1 week behind this one but is also liking its spot in the hoophouse. It has not needed watering yet and is most likely sending out deeper roots looking for moisture anyways. Good weather is in the forcast so things should start to pick up nicely. Monday, May 18 View Page The 919 Richards has safely layed down its vine and the first couple of secondaries are forming. Saturday, May 23 View Page Have not seen any squirrels around till today....was thinking that there must have been a plague or a healthy population of owls taking care of them for me....either way...something must be done. I feel the need to place my offering in full sight of the warning sign and have done my utmost to ward off these evil patch invaders....swimming lessons begin this weekend!! Wednesday, May 27 View Page The 919 is really starting to grow now and has been in the ground for about a month. Wednesday, May 27 View Page I needed to cut off the second true leaf as the 1255 vine started to lower down. Always hard to do when they are this size, but as you can see at the bottom from where the leaf was cut, it has lowered way down and in a day or two will be happily looking for more room. Wednesday, May 27 View Page At the far end of the patch, is a 40 year old or better rhoto bush, that has been trimmed significantly to accomodate secondaries to grow underneath. Weather is real nice now and everyones' plants here seem to be doing pretty good, however, my Uncle Chris had an early "mishap" with his plant and was crying a bit about it last time I talked to him. I am sure it will be fine...I hope to check soon after we go salmon fishing!! Friday, May 29 View Page Where the $2 coin is ($1.80 US) is where the 2nd true leaf was only 2 days ago on the 1255 plant. It has lowered down nicely and we could not ask for better weather right now on the West Coast. Saturday, May 30 View Page The 919 Richards plant already has the girls showing up for the party! Secondaries are starting to grow well and this little beauty is at the 5' mark so will be taken off while we wait for one of her sisters to show up further down the main vine. My plan is to have a pumpkin set at between 13-17' on this plant so it has plenty of growing to do yet. Saturday, June 6 View Page The 1255 van Kooten after some vine burying with myco and re-positioning of secondaries. It sits at around 6' on the main vine and lots of secondaries growing in as well. The 919 Richards is at about 10'on the main and has some 4' secondaries as is also ripping along at a great pace with all this awesome weather in our region right now. Friday, June 19 View Page Front view of the 1255 van Kooten after the hoophouse was taken down, overhead watering system installed and vines buried with myco and a pinch of humic acid. Getting quite wide and has first female at 11' on the main. Friday, June 19 View Page And a side view of the 1255. Secondaries will be terminated at around 13' so it won't be long till I will need to terminate the first few sets on either side. Females are showing up on all vines now so pollination time should be within a couple of weeks. Saturday, June 20 View Page This is a 4 day old self pollinated baby at 11' on the main of our 919 Richards plant. I would much rather go with the next one out....but.... Saturday, June 20 View Page ....even with the tendril cut, the secondary cut....it still is sitting on top of the leaf and gives me loss of sleep....as it will open in a day or 2 and it sits in a perfect spot in the patch at 15' on the main. Any advice from the seasoned grower that has had this happen? In the years that I've grown, I've never had a leaf be under the stem of the fruit. Saturday, June 27 View Page 10 day old fruit on the 919 Richards. Measures in at 18" so I will keep it and compare to the one further out at the same 10 days. Tuesday, June 30 View Page The 919 Richards has one at 11' then at 14' and another waiting to be tickled in the next day or 2. Looks like the 1st pollinated is winning the race, but that is not uncommon this eary. Tuesday, June 30 View Page This is the third on the 919...ready in a day or 2. Tuesday, June 30 View Page Side view of part of the 1255 van Kooten. Under the basket is a flower at 12' ready to open in a day or 2 so the timing is good. There is another on the main further out that will get a rub and tickle too when it is ready. Thursday, July 2 View Page Our 1255 van Kooten has this nicely placed football shaped baby ready to pollinate in the next day or 2 which is good time for me. The s-turns have been made and it has great vine placement with alot of plant behind it...all systems seem ready to go. Thursday, July 2 View Page First official beer companion photo for what appears to be the keeper on our 919 Richards. I had 3 on the main vine and culled one yesterday. As is someetimes the case, the one I culled was the one I thought would be my keeper, however was just not growing as quickly when compared to the others. I will make my final cut in the next week and go from there. This one is now growing 3-4 inches in circ. every day and will get mill fabric underneath and a few leaves trimmed for easier access into the patch. Friday, July 3 View Page Went over to Steve's house last night as he was setting up his cage to protect his 904 Northrup baby from birds/squirrels. Got up early this morning and pollinated our 1255 van Kooten with the 919 Richards. Then proceeded over to Steve's and pollinated his 904 also with the 919. His plant is filling in nicely and is ahead of previous years as well. Will be interesting if they are both keepers as they are pollinated on the same day. No whining and crying from Steve that I am a few days ahead of him. Monday, July 6 View Page 919 Richards on day 20 today and measured in at a moderate 45" in circ. So far is winning the beauty contest in the home patch. Pollination on the 1255 van Kooten looks to be a success, but there is another one further out that will get the ole rub and tickle in a day or two. Steve's 904 Northrup x 919 Richards also looks to be set and growing...we have a couple of days of drizzle and cooler temperatures right now...will get better in a few days. Wonder how the Island Boyz are doing and that spud farmer in the valley Chad, that has no diary yet...must be a reason. Wednesday, July 8 View Page A couple of cool and rainy days have not slowed down the 919. Still growing at about 3-4 inches in circumferance every day...have even started taking OTT measurements now. I pollinated another female for Steve on his 904 Northrup today and then came home and decided that today was the day to cull the remaining fruit further out on the 919 at our home patch. Even though it was further out, the growth numbers were not anywhere near the keeper. Wednesday, July 8 View Page Front end of the 1255 van Kooten with one under a basket at 5 days, a big bend in the vine and then another fruit that hopefully will open in a day or two. Wednesday, July 8 View Page Side view of the 1255 with the 919 flag pattern plant with pumpkin set on it behind it. With my limited space of 25x35, I need to be creative to grow two plants. The 1255 is getting the lions share of the patch with secondaries on both sides at 12', and the 919 gets to have a 25' main with secondaries stopped at 15'. Wednesday, July 8 View Page And the flag pattern 919 Richards with pumpkin, big bend in the vine and secondaries starting to fill out. Even with our wet and cool weather in the past three days, the plants are filling out nicely and I will be full soon. I may just let the 1255 spill over onto the grass which my wife has advised me can get tilled in next year (I could fit a minimum of 2 more nice large plants in the rest of the yard) as long as we can build a new deck/bbq area....sounds like a done deal to me!! Friday, July 10 View Page The 919 this morning. It is plugging along at a moderate pace, which is usual for my patch but I am OK with that. This fruit is at day 24 and has put on 8 lbs per day for the past 4 days. I'm a little worried about bend in the main vine after the pumpkin and hope it does not give me any worries later on. Friday, July 10 View Page Once I have my pumpkins set and the protective baskets are no longer of use to cover them, I then clear up the stump/basel crown/planting spot of old leaves, any tertiary growth and cover with my little protective baskets with a rock on top....works for me. I do overhead water and we get lots of rain usually, so having the stump covered keeps everything exposed dry and I don't need to go into that area of the patch anymore. Amazing how many people will ask, "what are those little baskets for?" Sunday, July 12 View Page We were at Steve and Jose's house for a BBQ last night so I figured I'd update his part of the diary. Steve is king of the big pumpkins in a small space. Here is the back 1/2 of his plant with his secondaries trained behind the planting area. He is able to get alot done in a small space but he gets er' done every year. Sunday, July 12 View Page Here is the most likely keeper on the main of Steve's 904 Northrup, pollinated with our 919 Richards. This one is at about 12' and he has 1 further out and another 3 on secondaries that he will cull down in a week or 2. Sunday, July 12 View Page Our 919 fruit has now picked it up to 11 lbs per day after a few at 8-9 lbs per day. Got some great advice and was able to adjust the vine gently away from the fruit. I was fortunate that a few secondaries after the fruit were not anchored too deeply with roots and I was able to pull the gently away from the shoulders of the fruit and adjust the angle of the main away from the shoulders of the pumpkin. Have also added some vine support and did my best to get the stem and blossum end equidistant from the ground. Thanks again for the great advice from the mentors that I emailed...much appreciated and helped alot!! Thursday, July 16 View Page This morning at day 30 for the 919 Richards. Been gaining 15 lbs per day for 2 days and then picked up 16 lbs yesterday....hopefully that is an increasing trend. Thursday, July 16 View Page Here is the pumpkin on the main of the 1255 that we have aptly named "monkey butt" for obvious reasons. You can see the deformed lobe where there were seeds in the blossom at pollination. This one is 12 days old and growing great, however there is another on further down that at pollinaton did not have any defects. What to do? Email me if you've had this before....now I am worried about culling past the 10 day period after Tom Beachy posted something about pumpkins further out aborting. Advisors?? Thursday, July 16 View Page And here is the one further out on the 1255 plant. This one was pollinated on July 11th so is within reasonalbe pollination date and is at about 17'. Wondering why it has not yet settled to the ground? This one was a nice 5 lobes and was pollinated with Steve's 904. Sunday, July 19 View Page The 919 enjoying this great West Coast weather we have been blessed with so far. 2 days in a row with gains of 19 lbs. Keeping up with my spray program and have started with a little Cal-Mag mixed with water soluable humic acid. Day 33 with an OTT of 208". Sunday, July 19 View Page Monkey Butt pumpkin on the 1255 has been putting on the inches at a really good pace since having average day 20 measurements. It has been adjusted to 90 degrees to the main vine and had pulp mill belting placed underneath with the help of my lovely wife. Sunday, July 19 View Page Meant to say "average day 10 measurements" not day 20 measurements on the previous entry. This pumpkin is at 17' on the 1255 main vine which has been terminated after the fruit. Early numbers on this one are good too and it quite likely will surpass monkey butt at the 10 day mark. I'm going to let both of them grow for about 1 more week to compare the daily numbers before I make the final cut and chop. I've got the feeling that this 1255 plant could support 2 nice big pumpkins as it is a healthy and large plant but both of these are on the main and I'm really gunning for a new PB so one of them will get the chop....just don't know which one yet but a few more days will help me with my decision. Tuesday, July 21 View Page Day 18 for the 1255 pumpkin comes in at 47" in circ. 20 day numbers look to be very decent while the one further out on the main continues to pack on the inches as well. 10 day circ. on the second fruit is at a modest 20" which is now slightly behind the pace that #1 was setting at the same time. I'm going to give them both a few more days on the vine and make my choice. Pumpkin on the 919 Richards put on 20 lbs in the past 24 hours...getting very wide. Tuesday, July 21 View Page 919 Richards on day 35. Getting very wide and tall now...won't be long till it is taller than the leaves in the patch. Getting close to 100" in circ so I'm OK with that!! Tuesday, July 21 View Page Stem shot from inside the patch...wish I had been able to adjust the main vine a bit higher and away from the fruit....but it is what it is now and I am working slowly to adjust something that should have been done 20 days ago. Since I did not think that this one would be the keeper, I was not as vigilant as I should have been early on. There is lots of slack in the main vine, so I have carefully been moving the main away from the shoulders with the use of some re-bar padded with foam and moving the main about 1/4" per day...has been working fine and I'm almost done. Thanks again for the earlier advice from some mentors that implored me to get more slack in the main vine...thanks again!! Tuesday, July 21 View Page ...and finally a shot of the blossom end through the greenery of the patch.....ain't she purdy!! Thursday, July 23 View Page Top view of the 919 Richards. It gained 22 lbs yesterday and now sits at 234 OTT. Thursday, July 23 View Page Looking past the fruit on the 919 and under my high-tech shade device (broken golf umbrella inside pvc shaft) is the 20 day old pumpkin on the 1255 van Kooten plant. The 919 plant has 3 secondaries left that have not yet been terminated but will be soon as they have almost reached the fence. The 1255 plant has 3 secondaries on each side that have not yet reached full length but will also do so in a few more days. Thursday, July 23 View Page Day 20 today for the keeper on the 1255 van Kooten. It is 55" in circ and 129 OTT. The other one further out could not keep up the pace and will get eliminated over a few days. Friday, July 24 View Page Steve's 904 Northrup yesterday at day 20 came in at 50" and now has the mill belting underneath and some support in place for the vine. We are going to have to pull the vine away slightly after the fruit to provide some additional clearance, but Steve did a fine job turning the vine away after the fruit so it should not pose a problem later. Very nice round pumpkin with a nice long stem...this one should be a real orange beauty!! Friday, July 24 View Page Poor thing...Steve named it Monkey Butt and well...rightly so I guess. You can see the deformity on the blossom end that I was crying about has toughened up now....still would like to know what it is and if anyone has seen this before. I got great advice from an earlier post that varied vastly from; "cull it" to "just snip the bad part off" to "I cant see anything wrong with it" "its gonna split" and "just let it grow" and "since you have another on the main, let them both grow and decide later" and "this one has a great pollination date and good placement on the vine All great advice and much appreciated. It continues to grow at a torrid pace (for me) and I thought that the 919 was growing awesome (well it is too) so I have decided not to decide and let the plant do the thinking for me..... Monday, July 27 View Page Just a few blocks up the hill from our house, I spotted these signs. Even though we are in a very large city, on the North Shore where I live, you are never far away from pristine wilderness and it is not uncommon for wildlife to stray into the area. This is the time of the year when mother cats kick the kids out of the house, and the yearlings and two year olds usually find themselves in trouble if they cannot find a territory and food quickly. And I wondered why there were no squirrels this year!! Monday, July 27 View Page I had to clear up some more leaves from the 919 area as it was getting hard to measure and put the sheet back on without leaves getting in the way. Getting near 400 lbs now and is still packing on the weight. I know the eastern growers don't want to hear it, but the West Coast (especially all of BC) is in an extended hot and dry period with no rain in sight for weeks, a huge ridge of high pressure off our coast and hotter than normal conditions. Monday, July 27 View Page Gonna have to put down some more mill belting under the pumpkin to keep it off the soil...going away camping on the upcoming weekend so got some work to do before we leave. Wednesday, July 29 View Page The 1255 continues to be long, wide and low. Has steadily increasing daily weight gains. Getting a bit lumpy on top which concerns me for later on.... The 919 put on 24 lbs in the past 24 hours which is a new high for my patch. Wednesday, July 29 View Page The 1255 showing the lumpy section on the top. I've still been concerned about the big monkey butt and have not yet culled the second fruit which will reach day 20 at the end of the month. I was kind of hoping that the plant would decide for me, however both fruit are growing at a good pace. Wednesday, July 29 View Page The 919 got a bit more mill fabric for down below as I think I may name this beauty Jaylo Wednesday, July 29 View Page ....dang....hit submit too soon!! I propped the shoulders up abit with the help of my wife and some shaped foam to try and relieve some vine/stem stress...it has worked for now. Looks like the blossom end down below is filling in really nicely...glad I put down some more mill belting. Now I looked it up....she is actually J. Lo....either way....I like it!! Wednesday, July 29 View Page From the roof (I could not help it) is the 919 on the left and part of the 1255 plant to the right. Under the umbrella is MB...growing well now and will also be poking out from under the leaves soon. Can you believe this is July in the Pacific Northwest? I wonder what the serious growers in our areqa have in the patch right now?? Should be interesting to see that is for sure!!! Monday, August 3 View Page 3 days away at the lake and....I come home to this!! The 1255 has swelled up sideways so much that I needed to cut away a secondary before and after the pumpkin....I don't like to do that...but it was necessary big time!! Monkey Butt has gained 24 lbs per day for the past 3 or 4 days and so has the 919... Steve is away for a full week and has empowered me to water and take care of his pumpkin....he is down to only 1 fruit on his 904 plant and it is also gaining at an alarming rate for these "backyard growers"..... Steve and I are both "all in" with our plants and are down to 1 fruit per plant....no "oh crap" backup pumpkin.....a first time for us!! Tuesday, August 4 View Page The 919 continues to put on steady gains and now the colour is starting to really deepen. I keep it covered with a white sheet and so far the skin is still nice and smooth and shiny. Sunday, August 9 View Page Clearly, my two best friends in the patch! Our largest pumpkin so far this year, out measures anything, by the tape that we have grown so far. Most pumpkins from our garden grow heavy to the charts like these from 2003; http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=15577 Lots of time yet still....this one is at day 52 and is at 300 OTT or 572 lbs est. Still gaining at around 18-20 lbs per day....very exciting!! Monday, August 10 View Page Day 38 for the 1255 pumpkin, need some more mill belting underneath this one too. Sits at 259 OTT or est of 373 lbs and gaining at 18-20 lbs per day. Has cooled down in these parts for about a week, and we've had our first couple of days of real rain since March. A day or 2 more of cool/rain and then back to great weather again on the coast. Thursday, August 13 View Page In between wicked thunderstorms, I took this shot of the 2 pumpkins. The 1255 van Kooten to the right, has slowed down some in our latest cool/wet weather and after the downpours today, I won't need to water for quite awhile. The 919 continues to look pretty and growing still as well. Thursday, August 13 View Page The 919 plant has been nice to grow, low leaves and easy to manage. The 1255 plant in the foreground, is a much taller leaf canopy but was also easy to tame, direct and bury vines. Going to be vigilant with the fungicide program from now on.... Monday, August 17 View Page Some minor surgery on the blossom end of the 1255 today. Where the growth nub was next the the blossom end, I noticed that it was wet for the past few days but I figured that it was just from the few days of rain that we had today. Upon closer inspection, it burst like a zit when I applied a little pressure. Out came the pruning knife and a small spoon and I cleared away all the mush, cleaned the area and then applied dry sulphur poweder till it was all covered. There is now a fan on it 24/7 and I am hoping that it will just scab up over the wound. There was not too much mush, so I am not overly concerned at this point. With these plants, if it is not one thing...it is another!! Monday, August 17 View Page The 1255 enjoying the fan and a cold bud after surgery. Time will tell with this one....I've got a good feeling about it and with the better weater now, it has picked up on growth and back to better daily gains. Monday, August 17 View Page Our patch buddy Cole doing his duty in the patch. He likes to hang out in the canopy of the leaves on the cool soil during the heat of the day. Monday, August 17 View Page Its been a week since I was tending Steve's patch for him and I must say that his 904 Northrup plant is doing well for him this year. It is 106-72-71 for 249 OTT or 333 lb estimate at day 42. Plugging along for him at 10 lbs per day after doing quite abit more during the 28-38 day growth days. Steve's PB is 470 lbs from a few years ago, we hope he has 500 in his sights for this year...that would be nice!! Monday, August 17 View Page So after being over at Steve's place, his awesome daughter Charlotte came over to our patch cause she wanted to see what a real big pumpkin looks like..... Monday, August 17 View Page I think she is practicing her her scary pumpkin face here...either way....so cute!! Monday, August 17 View Page ooops wrong picture....here she is doing the crazy face thing!! Wednesday, August 19 View Page Day 64 for our 919 Richards...I was concerned about the early pollination but it continues to chug along kind of like expected for a fruit this age. Wednesday, August 19 View Page Our local newspaper came over yesterday for some pumpkin pictures for the weekend edition. My little buddy Charlotte and a friend Veronica came over to be in the pictures. I did not want to....and my daughter and her buddies (17 years old now)....did not want to either....can't wait to see the newspaper!! Sunday, August 23 View Page Top view of the 1255 van Kooten at day 50 today. Sits at 288 OTT or est of 507 lbs and still gaining daily. Canteloped really early on during day 30-40 so its not gaining as quickly now as it did during those 10 days. Sunday, August 23 View Page The sun shining and the fan circulating on the blossom end about a week after some minor surgery. All is healed and scabbing over nicely. The blossom end and the stem end both show some nice orange colour...the rest of the pumpkin looks like the 1142 van Kooten pollinator which grew Jake's record pumpkin from last year. Monday, August 24 View Page I thought this pic was funny! Laundry in my garden and laundry hanging in my neighbours backyard.... Now, when you build a new house in our town, you can't have a cloths drying line in your backyard....in the older areas like mine (built in 1954) it is a grandfathered right/tradition to have a cloths line for spring and summer use. Monday, August 24 View Page Mine was dry so I took it off for awhile....then quickly put it back on before the afternoon sunshine. Monday, August 24 View Page ....and here is the last leaf on the terminated first secondary on our 1255 plant. Huge and healthy....the further out vines and leaves are in pretty good shape too. Gotta make these plants last another 6 weeks till there are any weigh-offs in my area...what a fun ride!! Thursday, August 27 View Page RATS!! While inspecting the nice canteloping and stretching that the 1255 pumpkin was doing, I figured I'd take my daily look at the blossom end. Right inside the surgery area that is all now dried up and healed, a nasty little vertical crack!! Just when the weather had come back to real nice and the daily gains were steady at 16.5 lbs per day.....oh well!! Have sealed it up and now hope to limp along till a weigh-off so I can at least get an exhibition weighed pumpkin. Thanks Chad Gilmore for the advice and counsel, hope mine seals up like yours did and goes heavy too!! Thursday, August 27 View Page ...and all sealed up (for now). Day 56 for this one and tapes out at 299 OTT or est of 566 lbs. Gonna leave it plugged in as long as I can and hope that the crack does not get any bigger. I got to it and sealed it in quick time....we'll see now!! Saturday, August 29 View Page Yesterdays front page news on the North Shore!! This picture was taken 8 days ago and quotes the pumpkin as 660 lbs....not any more!! Monday, August 31 View Page Both pumpkins still growing and plants are healthy enough for the end of August and the ride till October. Both plants have PBs on the vine for me this year so anything else that happens between then and now is a bonus! The 919 is estimating at 743 lbs and the 1255 at 589 lbs. I guess I am going to have to put up some rain protection soon as we get some pretty mixed weather in the PNW in September and October. Tuesday, September 8 View Page I was talking to my buddy Chad Gilmore today, and after a slow start...he is talking some smack now with a little over a month till the Nanaimo weighoff. Tuesday, September 8 View Page I suspect that our 1255 van Kooten might be able to best ole Chad at the scales...this one is my sleeper. Jake, notice how this one filled in on the top where it had a flat area before. http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=115296 Either way, Chad was mentioning something about a side bet.....bring it on!! We should unlock our seed vault and settle this on the Island. Saturday, September 12 View Page Both the 919 and 1255 basking in the sun during this glorious run of nice weather. They are both plodding along at 3-4 lbs per day while my buddy Chad the spud farmer claims his is still steam-rolling along at 20 lbs per day. Saturday, September 12 View Page The 1255 fruit is starting to show some of the nice colour from the 1689 that I was hoping would show up and I'm praying will show the beastly heaviness of the 1142 when it hits the scale. Monday, September 21 View Page Still a pumpkin related posting as you can see the 919 basking in the sun in the background. This is a Devil's Trumpet plant also known as Datura or Brugmansia which I am surprised that more giant pumpkin growers don't have in thier gardens or around the decks in the summer time. I take cuttings from these every year (they don't last our mild winters) and grow them under grow lights till they can go outside again in the spring. They grow from a small cutting to 8 foot tall small tree over the course of the spring and flower like this for all of summer and fall. Monday, September 21 View Page Another shot showing all the flowers and buds on it!! Monday, September 21 View Page Back to pumpkins. Here is the 1255 van Kooten that we harvested yesterday for display at a friends business as part of Harvest Festival in our neighbourhood area called Edgemont Village. They shut the streets down for the day and have concerts, face-painting, food, entertainment for the kids and this year had some stunt riders doing tricks on bikes that were amazing. Here it is resting in the trailer before transport. The past couple of weeks of sun, and leaving the blankets off during the day have turned this pumpkin into quite a nice shade of orange. Monday, September 21 View Page There was a line-up almost all day for the "Guess the Weight" contest. Our friend offered a gift certificate to her store. Now it has to last till the Nanaimo Weighoff to get an official weight!! Tuesday, September 22 View Page After clearing out the vines from my new PB of 313 OTT or est of 647 lbs. I am able to get into the patch to take shots that I could not before. Here is the 919 from the back again enjoying this PNW weather we have right now. I am going to give another treatment for aphids and PM today and then maybe one more before weighoff time. This time of the year for our area, we get hit by aphids big time. Not that the plant is doing much...but still looks pretty! Tuesday, September 22 View Page Shot from the far side. You can see the fan that I have on 24/7.....I do that now each year just for Preventative Maintenance if there are signs of cracks or splits no matter how small they are. Tuesday, September 22 View Page And from the front. The top is still so smooth and shiny...I was expecting it to leather up kind of like the back and sides did...but that never happened. I wish the spud farmer from high in the mountains of Pemberton, would make an effort to post a picture or update his diary. His bragging has now turned to silence which is either a really good thing or a bad thing for him....Chad has been known to sandbag quite a bit...but he always seems to best me at the scales...time will tell. Tuesday, September 22 View Page A nice day today!! Sunday, September 27 View Page Monkey Butt started to leak a foul smelling liquid, and I consulted my lovely wife as to what we should do. Every scenario ran through my brain at one time... Then I recalled my buddy Chad who gave me encouragement to seal up a minor blossom end crack with a "Super Elastomeric" silicone (that is actually a real term) and hope for the best. The 1255 fruit continued to gain weight till we harvested last week. Sunday, September 27 View Page I removed the silicone from the area that I filled in earlier on August 18th..here it the picture; http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=117276 The blossom end around the deformity (the big zit) also rotted away and that is what created the foul smell. After removing the sealant and cleaning up the area with a small spoon, all I found was solid pumpkin meat!! I used some bleach and water, then the fan to dry it out. After it was dry, we probed it to double check, I declared it a pumpkin miracle.... Chad was right, sometimes if you catch it early enough the pumpkin may heal itself by continuing to grow on the inside. Sunday, September 27 View Page Fixed....now we just have to wait till the GPC Weighoff in Nanaimo on October 10th. Tuesday, September 29 View Page Well, if there was any doubt before, I am sure that now my neighbours think that I must be totally goofy! Now that I took off the smelly blossom end cleaned it up and put the fan on....we had a torrential downpour like we often get here in the Rainforest region....I needed to put up the umbrella to protect the fan. We got over 2 inches of rain in a few hours that included some pretty good hail. We are all looking forward to the weather turning wet so that the local mountains will have heaps of snow for the 2010 Olympics...exciting year in our City, right in my backyard. Tuesday, October 6 View Page Only a couple of days now till we cut and move the last remaining pumpkins for weigh-off in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. This year the event is on the same weekend as a big high school field hockey tournament (daughter Sydney's team is last years champ and ranked 3rd in Province this year) and is also Canadian Thanksgiving weekend...so it is a nice long-weekend to get-away. After weighing off on Saturday we drive down the Island to Victoria and join the team for playoffs. Will be a fun few days for sure. Friday, October 9 View Page Bad news from my buddy Chad today...won't be seeing him in Nanaimo tomorrow. At least he gets a new PB but still we were looking forward to getting together....another time! Saturday, October 10 View Page We have already loaded the 919 fruit, and now we are wrestling the other one onto the trailer. We had lots of help thanks to friends and neighbours. Saturday, October 10 View Page Ready to Roll. Got Steve's Pumpkin in the back of the truck, and ours in the trailer. Official weights tomorrow. Monday, October 12 View Page The weight board from the GPC weighoff in Nanaimo, B.C. Our goal this year was obviously a new personal best, and we also wanted to try and get on the top ten board at the weighoff. We were able to accomplish this with both our pumpkins as the 1255 van Kooten gave me a new PB at 672 lbs and then a little later on, the 919 surpassed that with an increased PB of 728 lbs and completed the day with 8th and 9th spot on the board. What a great day!! Monday, October 12 View Page Here is my buddy Steve's pumpkin from the 904 Northrup X 919 Richards getting ready to be loaded onto the scale. Steve's goal this year was to finally break 500 lbs and to beat his PB of 470 lbs. Monday, October 12 View Page and....the scale reads out 467 lbs.... Monday, October 12 View Page While mildly disappointing for Steve, this is one beauty of a pumpkin that rivaled mine for the prettiest pumpkin!! This fruit went 3.5% heavy to the charts and for sure will grow nice orange and round fruit from it's seeds. Now officially the 467 Perrault. Monday, October 12 View Page And here is the 1255 van Kooten X 919 Richards that passed inspection and getting its official weight recorded now as the 672 Dixon and the first PB of the day for me. I look puzzled in the background as I struggle with the calculator and pleasantly find out that this pumpkin from Jake's 1255 seed came in at 12.5% heavy. We noticed that all the 1255 fruit are weighing in quite heavy this year. Monday, October 12 View Page And here is the 672 Dixon after being moved out of the way for bigger and better things. Monday, October 12 View Page Now comes the 919 Richards X self being led over by Jake to the scales. Does not matter what side you look at this fruit from...it is a real beauty!! Monday, October 12 View Page ...Jake revealing the weight... Monday, October 12 View Page ...Jake revealing the weight... Monday, October 12 View Page Now officially the 728 Dixon. As suspected, this pumpkin came in at 8% light as the nice orange ones sometimes do. Surpassing my personal best twice in one day felt kind of nice for a backyard grower with room for only 2 plants. Monday, October 12 View Page And here is the 728 Dixon. Not only a new PB but I was fortunate to win the Howard Dill award for prettiest pumpkin which I must admit is quite an honour for me to have. It was Howard Dill that sent us our first Atlantic Giant seeds many years ago with a cute little personal note attached that read "if you cannot grow a 250 lb pumpkin with these seeds...you are just a bad gardener." Well, that was challenge enough for me...thankyou Mr. Dill!! Monday, October 12 View Page The top 3 in Nanaimo this year. Jake in the middle with his 1135. Craig with his 1124. Erika with her 1013. Erika was the happiest person I saw all day!! Tuesday, October 13 View Page Jumping for joy!! Even before the weigh-off began, Jake van Kooten was caught skipping rope with Leslie Pley and Andrea Dixon!! What a great day!! Wednesday, October 14 View Page Awaiting their final destiny as jack-o-lanterns on the front lawn... Monday, October 19 View Page I could not resist this big bottle of Pumpkin Ale from one of our more famous smaller breweries here. Maybe this will be a yearly tradition...I have not had pumpkin beer yet. Thursday, October 22 View Page After the weighoff, my wife and I drove to a field hockey tournament that our daughter's high school team was playing in. Look at those faces....everyone likes a big pumpkin!! When I get asked, why do you grow them?? All it takes is to look at one of these types of photos....classic!! Thursday, October 29 View Page Lifted them up so we could carve them. Thursday, November 5 View Page My daughter and I drew the face on the 728 in front and started to cut away. We cut the mouth too big and when the final chunk was taken away, the face almost collapsed. I trimmed off a tooth and Sydney stuffed in those pumpkins to hold up the face...worked out great after all. Thursday, November 5 View Page 1400 lbs of jack-o-lanterns! 728 in the front and 672 in the back. Wednesday, November 18 View Page Lots of leaves were available for shredding and tilling. What a beauty this one was for a few days!! Wednesday, November 18 View Page Our pumpkin has seen better days but lastest quite nicely in the front yard since being picked over 5 weeks ago. The 672 lb pumpkin that we harvested early on September 20th was a beast at 12.5% heavy, even after sitting on display for 22 days before the weighoff on October 12th. After being carved on October 29th it still lasted on display till last weekend....and was really tough to cut up cause it was so thick all the way around.