Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 391 Entries. Saturday, March 29 View Page It was a beautiful spring day like most spring days in the Pacific Northwest, except the sun was out and you could see the sky. . . Sunday, March 30 View Page I was admiring the lush dense covercrop planted last fall. . . Sunday, March 30 View Page It was like a forest, and I was questioning whether or not I'd ever be able to hack down and till in this winter rye in time for planting. . . Sunday, March 30 View Page When suddenly. . . . ! Sunday, April 13 View Page I was abducted by aliens! Saturday, April 19 View Page It has only been until now that I am able to share my story. . . Saturday, April 19 View Page I suppose I knew I was in for something when I was dining at a chinese restaurant and received a strange warning. Saturday, April 19 View Page It was shortly thereafter that the abduction occurred, leaving poor Edgar to order and calculate the soil amendments. Saturday, April 19 View Page (Edgar hates math) Saturday, April 19 View Page Meanwhile the swift abduction took me to a strange a far away place they called "Cucurbita". Saturday, April 19 View Page Here a picture of the actual abduction. (Note the one in the background saying. . ."Get 'er!") Saturday, April 19 View Page They were an interesting people coming in all shapes and sizes, with wild and amazing stories to tell. Saturday, April 19 View Page Here is one of the native women dressed in her finest Cucurbita jewels. Saturday, April 19 View Page I believe she was adorning her self in preparation for the evening festiviites where many imbibe in the juice of enlightenment. Saturday, April 19 View Page Here is a picture of the one they call "Hester" applying his zombie paralysis technique on a younger one called "Noel". (Note the background where even the youngest Curcurbilings practice their technniques on parents desiring their retirement) Saturday, April 19 View Page These three appeared much scarier than they actually were. Saturday, April 19 View Page After touring their planet, I could understand why they chose to inhabit our beautiful earth and live among us. Saturday, April 19 View Page There's just not enough growing space for a decent sized Cucurbit. Saturday, April 19 View Page So after having my image captured by my two guides, I was returned safely to Sequim. Saturday, April 19 View Page I gleaned much wisdom from the Cucurbitites and will putting it to great use this growing season. Saturday, April 19 View Page As soon as I master my Zombie paralysis technique. Saturday, April 19 View Page Let it be known, that during my abduction no medical experiments or tests were performed on me, and I was never prodded or probed. Saturday, April 19 View Page Upon return I was happy to see that Edgar had made great progress on the patch prep. Saturday, April 19 View Page Thank goodness I remembered to attach the "Edgarcam" to his collar prior to my abduction. Saturday, April 19 View Page Heck, he even remembered to turn the compost pile! Saturday, April 19 View Page I returned in just in time to get my first tractor lesson! Saturday, April 19 View Page What color bus to you get to ride to Remedial Tractor School? Saturday, April 19 View Page While surveying the patch for weeds I found what I believe to be one of my giant carrots from last year. Saturday, April 19 View Page The patch was ready. Saturday, April 19 View Page Now it was time to finally decide what seeds to start. Saturday, April 19 View Page While walking back to the house, I felt a terrible searing pain upon my palm. Saturday, April 19 View Page I ran into the house and tore off my filthy garden glove to find this . . . .! Saturday, April 19 View Page The letter "M" marked upon my palm. . . Saturday, April 19 View Page Or was it a "W"? Saturday, April 19 View Page It was hard to tell with such blurry pictures. Saturday, April 19 View Page I decided that it was a sign from the Cucurbitites, Werner, McKie, Martin and MacKenzie. Saturday, April 19 View Page So after some serious begging and pleading, I obtained the necessary seeds to fulfill the message of the prophetic palm. Saturday, April 19 View Page Here lie the seed choices for the '08 Huff growing season. 904 Stelts, 1041.5 McKie, 1092 Martin, 985 Werner, 961.5 Urena, 1126 Sherwood, 670 Daigle, 848* MacKenzie, 1129* Blalock, and 600* Huff, with the 1290 Bowles and the 793 Huff for back-ups. Saturday, April 19 View Page The greehouses were almost complete. They just needed tie downs and doors. Saturday, April 19 View Page The soaking devices were labeled and readied. Saturday, April 19 View Page nothing like a nice sterile urine cup to soak a seed in. Saturday, April 19 View Page Uh oh. . . maybe they did perform medical experiments on me. . . Wednesday, April 23 View Page The seeds were planted in a high tech seed incubation device called an ice chest with hot water bottles. Wednesday, April 23 View Page which reminds me. . . Wednesday, April 23 View Page ice chest. . . snow. . . greenhouses. . . April 20th. . . Wednesday, April 23 View Page I believe in Global Warming. Wednesday, April 23 View Page You may have noticed the black box on the edge of the patch. That's called "electricity". I learned about it from the Cucurbitites. They said "It will help you when the weather won't". Wednesday, April 23 View Page This is how it works. . . Wednesday, April 23 View Page You put an extra breaker thingie in the breaker box. This one is 40 amps and a 220 dohicky Wednesday, April 23 View Page you run the big expensive 8 gauge wire under the house to this on the patchside of the house. (It still needs some screws to hold the outlet box in place) Wednesday, April 23 View Page Then the big expensive wire is run through some flexible tubing which is then run across the yard, under the driveway and hooked up to. . Wednesday, April 23 View Page This! Wednesday, April 23 View Page (Edgar was so excited he could hardly contain himself) Wednesday, April 23 View Page Inside I have all these other important breaker gizmos Monday, May 26 View Page Hmm. . . well I need to make some diary entries but this whole story line is messing me up, so. . I'm just going to forget the whole alien abduction thing for now. Monday, May 26 View Page This is the 1041 on May 23. It's got some serious sidevine action going on now and is growing amazingly fast. (For one of MY plants. . .) Monday, May 26 View Page Wrong wrong wrong. THIS is the 1041! Monday, May 26 View Page Even with the cool temperatures yesterday and today, it still managed to grow 4 inches or so overnite. Monday, May 26 View Page my husband insists that it was more like 6 or eight inches, but he tends to exaggerate. Monday, May 26 View Page Next time I'll use a ruler. Monday, May 26 View Page the other night the sun was going down and shining through the greenhouses and they let lose with some serious aura-licious glow factor. Monday, May 26 View Page I'm not sure if it was "good aura" or "bad aura" though, since the next day the plants on the two big hoops on the left started doing this Monday, May 26 View Page If it wasn't the actual aura, these are the other possibilities I'm considering: Too hot (was very hard to keep the greenhouses cool enough the day before) Too wet (I ran sprinklers for about 20 minutes in each greenhouse to wet down the soil to help keep it cool) Too much Phosphorus (I added some hydroponic variety liquid bone meal to the tea I drenched the plant root zones with on Saturday) Monday, May 26 View Page This is my other concern that showed up on the 1290 Bowles at the same time. Monday, May 26 View Page Here's another leaf on the same plant. Monday, May 26 View Page My first thought was mosaic virus, but I honestly can say, the only insects I've seen in the hoop houses have been ants, teeny tiny gnats and sow bugs. No cuke beetles. Monday, May 26 View Page This has only affected the plants in the two greenhouses with the 1290 Bowles, 1126 Sherwood, 793 Huff and 1092 Martin. Monday, May 26 View Page Oh, and no need to worry about the 985 Werner and the 670. I killed the right off the bat. Monday, May 26 View Page THEM, I killed THEM, not the. Sheesh Monday, May 26 View Page There has been one other item that has crossed my mind as a factor in why the leaves are mutating. . . Monday, May 26 View Page And that would be the radioactive isotopes I've been adding to the worm tea. Monday, May 26 View Page Seemed like a good idea at the time. . . Monday, May 26 View Page You've probably noticed the "dirt clods". . . the soil is clay based, and even though it looks beautiful and fluffy after its first spring tilling, it tends to clod up like this after the first good rain. With all the manure I've added this year, it's improved over last year. Hopefully next year it will be even better. Sunday, June 8 View Page Well, it seems that those two leaves on the Bowles plant were the least of my problems. The new leaves on the Bowles, 1092, 793 and the 1126 began to do this cupping thing. This is the worst one. The Bowles is beginning to come out of it, but. . . Sunday, June 8 View Page how would you like your plants to look like this? Sunday, June 8 View Page Looks like something from Deadliest Catch or a Tim Burton movie. Sunday, June 8 View Page I hope you noticed that nice big juicy footprint? Sunday, June 8 View Page My inexpert theory is that there was too high a sodium content in the manure. The spring manure was supposedly "aged" but I am now doubtful of that. When I got the soil test results back I ran a sprinkler in the two affected hoops for 3 hours. Today I plan on finally burying those vines with some homegrown compost with hopes that it will help and then I'll run the sprinkler again. Sunday, June 8 View Page I really hate being stupid. Sunday, June 8 View Page But fortunately there is a bright side. Sunday, June 8 View Page This is my 961 Urena in the front with my 1041 McKie in the back Sunday, June 8 View Page The 1041 has a female on at 12' and the 961 is at about 9'. It's kind of early to pollinate, but. . .I'll do it anyway. Sunday, June 8 View Page I like to live life on the edge. Sunday, June 8 View Page My sister and her husband came to visit for about 10 days and helped me take care of a lot projects. Eric built me these two great compost screens. Sunday, June 8 View Page and rigged up my dosatron for me (look familiar Sam?) Sunday, June 8 View Page He also built me some boardwalks out of some old pallets and the 2 x 3's (TWO BY THREES) from last years ineffective wind fence. And. . . he put together my unloader thingie for the pick-up and the leaf/lawn sweeper we got for the mower. Sunday, June 8 View Page and he put together a shelf unit for the garage, unclogged the bathtub and moved a towel bar. Sunday, June 8 View Page My sister installed two drip lines and was going to put together my germinator for next year, but we decided to take mom shopping instead. Sunday, June 8 View Page I love it when they come to visit. Sunday, June 8 View Page My 600* is doubling. Surgery is on the menu today. Sunday, June 8 View Page The 848* Sunday, June 8 View Page The 904 Stelts in the back, and the other 904 Stelts that I grasped from the jaws of death in the front. That Stelts may be returned to the jaws of death since it's the same age as the McKie and Urena plant. Sunday, June 8 View Page THIS JUST IN! Houston we have a diagnosis! Sunday, June 8 View Page It's 2-4-D poisoning. The day before the plants got sick I sprayed Crossbow on mare's tail that was beginning to take over the hoops. I was careful only to get it on the mare's tail, but I'm told that it gasses off and can affect other plants when in an enclosed hoop. The doors and heaters are now removed from those two hoops and maybe they'll perk up a bit. Sunday, June 8 View Page I really hate being stupid Sunday, June 8 View Page Well, at least the mare's tail's dead. Sunday, June 8 View Page When I was in the patch removing doors and heaters I caught these two ladybugs "doing it". Sunday, June 8 View Page Now. . if they're both lady bugs, then. . . ? Sunday, June 8 View Page Now if killing 4 plants isn't enough, I now have these little fuzzies on my plants. I think they're mealy bugs. Any suggestions as to how to kill them without killing my vine tips would be appreciated. Friday, June 13 View Page Seems I've acquired so much pumpkin paraphernalia that I've convinced my husband I need a separate venue to keep it in. That's my lumber and the guy that's going to build this amazing facility. Friday, June 13 View Page Whoops, that's not the guy that's going to build it. That guy is the truck driver waiting for his money. Friday, June 13 View Page I guess Edgar didn't scare him. Friday, June 13 View Page Speaking of scaring. . . last night I was checking on my son's spider (which lives in my office .. . ) and I went to where I always look in it's hidey place. It wasn't there, and I thought hmmm .. . and approached the spidey hidey closer for a better look and still didn't see it. THEN, I glanced to the left and it was. . . Friday, June 13 View Page RIGHT THERE! Friday, June 13 View Page Until yesterday, I don't think I've ever uttered the work "EEK!" before. Friday, June 13 View Page See how calm and relaxed I look? Friday, June 13 View Page Stinkin' spider aged me 15 years. . . I'm actually only 36. Friday, June 13 View Page Here lies my 1041.5 McKie with the 961.5 Urena in the background. The side vines have no room to go now, so I'll be removing the plastic and putting up a wind perimeter as soon as I can find someone to help me with the plastic. (The men folk are gone for the weekend) Friday, June 13 View Page Yay! Friday, June 13 View Page And heeeeeeerrrrreeeeeeeeee she is! Friday, June 13 View Page She's at 12' on the 1041.5 vine and looks like she'll be opening tomorrow. Wish me luck! Saturday, June 14 View Page After pollination this morning. Not perfect, but she'll do. Saturday, June 14 View Page That's the 1041.5 McKie X 961.5 Urena (only 2 male flowers) Saturday, June 14 View Page Here's my 600* '07. It was doubling and then split, but only after developing a kink in the double. I cut off one of the mains and propped up the main with compost. Saturday, June 14 View Page not sure if that showed up, so here it is again Saturday, June 14 View Page The 848* McKenzie Saturday, June 14 View Page 904 Stelts (2nd attempt) Saturday, June 14 View Page The other 904 is behind it. older but smaller. Saturday, June 14 View Page The 1041.5 unveiled. I was actually able to remove the plastic by myself. Saturday, June 14 View Page Heck, I even folded it! Saturday, June 14 View Page The 1290 Bowles was the only plant I felt was salvagable out of the 4 affected my the "Crossbow Event". Today, I set it free and in an attempt to breathe new life into it, buried the vines with my first batch of homemade compost. Saturday, June 14 View Page I hated doing it, but I pulled the 1126 Sherwood and the 1192 Martin. I really wanted to grow that pretty Sherwood seed. Saturday, June 14 View Page And in case you're wondering, I didn't put them in my compost pile. The went "over the fence". The 793 Opilio (thank you for that one Mr. Andrews) will be joining them tomorrow. Saturday, June 14 View Page Here's a look at my compost after the first screening. Saturday, June 14 View Page The Pumpkin Parahernailia Palace is making headway. Saturday, June 14 View Page And this is how I spent the best day Washington's had all June. Saturday, June 14 View Page boy I really butchered that paraphernalia spelling. . . Saturday, June 14 View Page That just goes to show you what an alien abuduction can do to your spelling. Sunday, June 15 View Page Seems Bowles thinks he's got one up on everybody with his snowshoes, but he hasn't seen these little beauties. . . Sunday, June 15 View Page Yep these are the Horto Lawn Breather Sandals. Sunday, June 15 View Page "Why what's a Horto Lawn Breather Sandal?", you ask. Look closely. . . Sunday, June 15 View Page They are plastic thingies you strap to your existing patch shoes with dangerous spikes on the bottom. Sunday, June 15 View Page And when you walk in the patch, this is the foot print you leave! Sunday, June 15 View Page Not so good on the hardwood floor though. Sunday, June 15 View Page And they're not made in China. Sunday, June 15 View Page Dang, for all that Horto ought to send me a free pair or at least give me my $14 back. . . Sunday, June 15 View Page So today was another beautiful day reaching the 70's and so I got out the wee tiller I got for Mother's Day and got it running with no help from a boy. Sunday, June 15 View Page Did some walk board rearranging. . Think those hoop ribs are going to have to stay up for a while, at least on the McKie and Urena. I'd need 8 people to lift it off the rebar and move it and I'd rather not have that many people at once walking around my vines. Sunday, June 15 View Page It's a personal thing. Tuesday, June 17 View Page It's 10:35 p.m. (on the 16th PST) and it's screen rattling windy outside. Hope all my plants are okay. . . Tuesday, June 17 View Page Last night was not kind to my 961 Urena. It's beautiful leaves have been smote by the wind. Tuesday, June 17 View Page And my even more beautifuller 1041 was damaged as well. Tuesday, June 17 View Page The plastic patio table I put over the 6/14 pollination didn't blow away or over thankfully. Tuesday, June 17 View Page Today my son doesn't have to work so I will employ him. . . Tuesday, June 17 View Page I about killed myself yesterday while reinforcing my fence and using my shiney red metal stake pounder. Kevin can repay that delicious Egg McMuffin breakfast I fed him this morning. Tuesday, June 17 View Page These two plants aren't giving me a lick of trouble anymore. Sigh................ Tuesday, June 17 View Page The Palace is coming along. . . (It's going to be soooo cute!) Tuesday, June 17 View Page So we put an additional layer of silt fencing up to see if that might fend off the wind a bit. Tuesday, June 17 View Page They say if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well I say, if you live where it's windy. . . Tuesday, June 17 View Page put yourself up some wind blowy thingies. Tuesday, June 17 View Page Annnndddd, look what the poor mail carrier had to lug all the way from her electric car to the front porch?! Tuesday, June 17 View Page I'm really glad it's orange Marv, and. . . I really hope I need it. . . Saturday, June 21 View Page More progress on the. . . I don't really like "palace". .. it's so "last year". . . Not sure what I should call it. Maybe a storage cottage. Saturday, June 21 View Page Yesterday this funky female was pollinated at about 13 feet. Saturday, June 21 View Page Forgot to bring something to close her back up with, so I went old school. Kinda like it. . . Saturday, June 21 View Page With all that chunky soil, think I'll put some sand under her in the next few days. Saturday, June 21 View Page That was a 1041.5 x self (only 2 males AGAIN) Saturday, June 21 View Page It was supposed to be "hot" yesterday (in the 70's!!!!) so after pollinating I covered it with a foam cooler with some ice packs on either side of the vine. Saturday, June 21 View Page I don't think the first pollination set and it was warm the day it was pollinated, so I decided to play it safe with the cooler business. Saturday, June 21 View Page Soooo. . . . while I was burying vines on the 1041.5 McKie today I noticed this lovely splint on the main vine~~~~~~~ Saturday, June 21 View Page It was right at about 10 - 11' Saturday, June 21 View Page For those of you who were wondering if there were any advantages for a pumpkin grower to be married to a foot doctor. . . I now have the answer. . . Saturday, June 21 View Page Bandaging stuff. Saturday, June 21 View Page After loading it with Captan I bandaged it. Saturday, June 21 View Page Since the 4th of July is coming up, I added a bit of flair Saturday, June 21 View Page Then I prayed. Saturday, June 21 View Page Actually, that was my husband's attempt at humor, which. . . I thought was pretty funny. Saturday, June 21 View Page Butt, who am I to decide what's funny? Saturday, June 21 View Page Oh yeah, and I'm doing the thing with the terteriaries of the first secondaries. . . .Oy. . . should have left more room between the plants. Monday, June 30 View Page Well yesterday it seems I let a blossom on the 961 Urena open. . . without my supervision Monday, June 30 View Page I really hate it when I'm stupid. Monday, June 30 View Page The 961 Urena plant and the 1041.5 McKie behind it. These plants have both taken a beating from the wind and the taller leaves in the center I've removed because they weren't pretty anymore. I've begun to terminate side vines on both these plants. (yay!) Monday, June 30 View Page Today I removed the plastic covering the 904 Stelts I and the 904 Stelts II. This is the II in front with the I behind it. Now that they're not protected I hope the wind doesn't trash these like it did the 1041.5 and 961.5 Monday, June 30 View Page Hee hee. . . here's the 1290 Opilio (it there one or two "l"'s in Opilio/Opillio?) It continues to grow, and if those leaves were the size they should be, It'd be a pretty awesome plant. Sorry Dan. Monday, June 30 View Page So let this be a lesson to those who don't know what 2-4D can do in a greenhouse. Monday, June 30 View Page . . .and the 1290 was the lucky one. Monday, June 30 View Page Here is the 848* with the 600* in the background. I wanted to take the plastic off over the weekend, but Western Washington actually got into the 80's making it almost 100 in the patch. I decided to wait until it cooled down so I didn't fry their tender leaves. Hopefully that sidevine crawling up the edge won't snap in the meantime. Monday, June 30 View Page Okay, so here's a problem. I'm seeing a few leaves like this here and there on three of my plants. Mostly on the 961.5 Urena. Keep in mind these leaves are rubbing on the green stakes in the wind causing the damage on the edges of the leaves. I'm concerned with the yellowing. Could this be a magnesium deficiency? I know nutrients can get tied up in clay soil. . . and I'm learing of just trying something without being sure it'll help, especially since I'm pollinating on these plants right now. Monday, June 30 View Page "learing". . . I meant leary. . .Hmm. . . wonder if that was Freudian. . . Monday, June 30 View Page Today was "Bring Your Hobby to Work Day". I asked my boss if I could bring my "sport" and since I'm the boss of me, of course it was okay. Monday, June 30 View Page Sometimes the only thing males are good for is looking at. Monday, July 7 View Page Okay, so I decided to finally get off my butt and put together this 55 gal tea brewer.. . . Monday, July 7 View Page I've had "issues" with PVC in the past and have been trying to avoid it, but found this pretty new blue pvc glue which gave me my much needed motivation. Monday, July 7 View Page That and Bowles,"You'll never know what could have been" comment. Monday, July 7 View Page I am such a sucker for guilt. Monday, July 7 View Page Okay, so with my shiney blue glue and and my new pvc cutter tool at hand, I carefully eyeballed the measurements of the soaker hose aerator holder downer device. Monday, July 7 View Page Excellent, I thought. That gives me an inch or two on either side of the cut pvc. Monday, July 7 View Page So with the square bottom part almost completed, I thought. . .hmmm. . . . that sure seems big. I wonder if it will fit. . . Monday, July 7 View Page NOOOOOOOOOOOooooo! Of course it doesn't fit! Monday, July 7 View Page I hate it when I'm stoopid. Monday, July 7 View Page So. . . I eyeballed again, cut and reglued. (Knowledge of my pvc track record must have led me to buy those extra elbows that my subconscious knew I would need.) It ain't pretty, but it fits. Monday, July 7 View Page Not to be undone by poor measuring again, I carefully took a piece of pvc and cut it to exactly where "I figured" the cross piece would go. Monday, July 7 View Page Somehow I managed not to take into account the height of the soaker hose at the bottom, and had to recut once more. Monday, July 7 View Page It was at that point or actually before that I had to drill the hole in the barrell for the other end of the cross bar to pass through. Monday, July 7 View Page I learned that the drill gets the job done a lot faster if it's in forward instead of reverse. Monday, July 7 View Page Who says you've got to let the glue cure? Heck, I need some instant gratification after all that. I'm fillin' 'er up! Monday, July 7 View Page Well, to be honest I wasn't really expecting this. .. Monday, July 7 View Page It actually works! Monday, July 7 View Page Another thing that had been holding me up from setting up the big brewer was that I new it had to be close to the patch, which meant the air compressor was going to have to be close to the patch too. When I hooked the compressor up in the garage, it was pretty loud and I was worried about the noise bothering my neighbors. Monday, July 7 View Page But when I got it going outside, it was pretty quiet. To protect it from moisture and to help make it quieter, I put it on a piece of foam insulation with a little ice chest on top of it. Seems to help. Tuesday, July 8 View Page It was a bad day for Boom today. She found an earwig in her glove, . . . the hard way. Tuesday, July 8 View Page And the new pump she bought was minus the hose adapter. Tuesday, July 8 View Page So she went back to the co-op to complain that there was no adapter and they gave her one. Tuesday, July 8 View Page Then she got back home and found the adapter in the box. Thursday, July 10 View Page Boom's in da hood. Thursday, July 10 View Page They've been mowing the fields nearby and the eagles are loving it. They like to watch from our group of three old cedar trees. Thursday, July 10 View Page Here are a pair of immature bald eagles just hanging out waiting for a snake or vole to make a bad decision. Thursday, July 10 View Page They don't get their white heads and tails until they're about 4 or 5 years old. Thursday, July 10 View Page A friend of mine had a couple yards of topsoil she wanted to get rid of, so I drug my son with me and we shoveled it into the back of the truck. Thursday, July 10 View Page I wanted to try out this "Easy Unloader" gizmo that I bought on Ebay Thursday, July 10 View Page If you have someone to crank the crank when you unload it, it works great. Thursday, July 10 View Page Of course, I couldn't budge it. Thursday, July 10 View Page Oh, and remember my three wind blowy thingies? Thursday, July 10 View Page The wind blew them to smithereens Thursday, July 10 View Page So I embiggered. Thursday, July 10 View Page Hmmm. . . it's been brought to my attention that my September 8th diary entry has already been taken care of. Thursday, July 10 View Page wonder what kind of stupid thing it's foretelling. . . Thursday, July 10 View Page Got on top of the Pumpkin shed today to try and get an overhead picture of the patch. I don't really like heights much. Thursday, July 10 View Page or really high places either. Thursday, July 10 View Page Edgar's not sure about Gertie's gift. . . Wednesday, July 16 View Page This is a recent pollination on the 600*. All the squash I've grown so far have nice long stems. Wednesday, July 16 View Page Unlike this set on my 904 Wednesday, July 16 View Page I'm in the process of training the main to get it at more of a right angle or er. . . "perpendicular" to the main as some would say. Wednesday, July 16 View Page . . .and yeah yeah yeah, I know the nearby leaves and vine need to go too, but I don't cut those until I'm fully committed. Wednesday, July 16 View Page Committed where, is anybody's guess. Wednesday, July 16 View Page Okay, I'm not proud of these vine positions. But I have to say it's n improvement from when the pumpkin was directly on top of the vine. Wednesday, July 16 View Page That last one was on the 1041.5, and this is the next one down the pike. Wednesday, July 16 View Page Something tells me stem stress is going to be a major concern for me this season. Tuesday, August 19 View Page Seeing as it's been about a month since my last entry, figure it's time for me to confess that I'm not really sandbagging. . . Tuesday, August 19 View Page Due to the cool summer temps (average temps in the 60's) and probably myself, the pumpkins never seemed to get off to a gallop, just sort of trotted along. While I was gone on vacation we had a few days of really warm weather and when I got back this is what they looked like (Aug. 17th) Tuesday, August 19 View Page The 848* X self pollinated on 7/11/08. 228 OTT Tuesday, August 19 View Page The 600* x 848* pollinated on 7/14/08 at 182 OTT. Tuesday, August 19 View Page Would've been nice if I'd managed to put a mat under it before I left, but as fate would have it, it's still small enough I could get one under there with help. Tuesday, August 19 View Page What a lame squash. Who grew that 600* anyway? Tuesday, August 19 View Page Me being totally impressed with Edinburgh castle. Tuesday, August 19 View Page Castle Schmastle. Tuesday, August 19 View Page The 904 Stelts x 961.5 Urena. Pollinated on 7/9/08. 221 OTT. Still hanging on with that short stubby stem. Tuesday, August 19 View Page The 1041 McKie X 961.5 Urena. Pollinated on 7/1/08. 253 OTT. Another member of the short stubby stem club. Tuesday, August 19 View Page Sir Walter Scott monument. Tuesday, August 19 View Page No idea what it's OTT is. Tuesday, August 19 View Page Looks like something from a Batman movie. Tuesday, August 19 View Page The 961.5 Urena X 904 Stelts. Pollinated on 7/7/08. 227 OTT. Tuesday, August 19 View Page This is on the other 904 plant that I decided to keep. I had given it up for dead as a seedling but put it in the ground anyway. It lagged behind all along and bore me this bonnie beauty. Tuesday, August 19 View Page And that is why we try to avoid pollinating misshapened blossoms. Tuesday, August 19 View Page My answer to the "carriage house". Tuesday, August 19 View Page Bet Ron Wallace doesn't have a pumpkin weather vane. Tuesday, August 19 View Page Yeah, the guy tells me he should have the door and the ramp done today. Tuesday, August 19 View Page And we started this project when? Tuesday, August 19 View Page Actually, I think I have no complaints about how long it took. It gave me that much more time to hold off on staining it. Tuesday, August 19 View Page Me at the Guiness Brewery. Tuesday, August 19 View Page I finally look happy Tuesday, August 19 View Page Enjoying our fish n'chips and mushy peas at a restaurant in Howth, a fishing village in Ireland. Tuesday, August 19 View Page Some fishing memorial to those who were pickled at sea. Tuesday, August 19 View Page Powerscourt Gardens in Ireland Tuesday, August 19 View Page The obligatory fountain imitation Tuesday, August 19 View Page Glendalach (I may have spelled that wrong) Tuesday, August 19 View Page Didn't see any dead people, but I sure saw where they're hanging out. Tuesday, August 19 View Page I figure a leprechaun was murdered here. Tuesday, August 19 View Page The view from our hotel window was of a graveyard and of the dumpsters. Tuesday, August 19 View Page I thought this was complicated. If Freddy and his wives made it to heaven, there was going to be some explaining to do. Tuesday, August 19 View Page The patch in all it's glory Tuesday, August 19 View Page one more Friday, September 5 View Page It's "Mom in the Grower Diary Day" at my house. Friday, September 5 View Page That was Mom with the 904 Friday, September 5 View Page Me and the 904 Friday, September 5 View Page I like the 904 Friday, September 5 View Page Edgar and the 1041.5 Friday, September 5 View Page It's a wide pumpkin with nice color. . measures at about 600 lbs. Monday, September 8 View Page She really hates it when she's stupid. Sunday, September 14 View Page Here's my green and shiney 600*. It's at about 500#'s right now, but with that blossom end split, it's hard to say how long she'll hold. This squash is donated to Safeway for their Breast cancer awareness promotion. They're going to have a guess the weight contest and proceeds will go to Susan G. Koman Foundation. I just need to figure out how to get it weighed before the contest. Sunday, September 14 View Page If it's splits before it's plucked, I guess I'll have to come up with another one. Sunday, September 14 View Page Eat your heart out Tom Privitera. Look at these beauties! Sunday, September 14 View Page Gives you an idea of how cool our summer's been, when you don't pick any tomatoes until Sept. 13th. . . Sheesh. Sunday, September 14 View Page Our blackberry vines were loaded so I decided I'd make a bit of jam to send to my daughter. She loves the seeds. . . Sunday, September 14 View Page I had so many berries I decided to make a pie. Sunday, September 14 View Page I am the worst pie crust maker in the world (truly)... however. . . I ran into this woman from Kentucky and for some reason she started talking about pie crust and told me how she made it. . . . Sunday, September 14 View Page Okay, so the bottom crust didn't turn out so well. Sunday, September 14 View Page so I added a bit more water for the top crust and it held together a bit better. . . at least I got it on the pie. . . Sunday, September 14 View Page Here is the pumpkin related portion of these entries. . note the "1K" ? Oh that one goes really really heavy this year and I hit the mark. Sunday, September 14 View Page The 904 taped at 804 est yesterday. Sunday, September 14 View Page Edgar likes pie Wednesday, September 17 View Page Seems I've received a bit of grief over my pitiful pie skills. Wednesday, September 17 View Page So. . . after Remedial Pie Crust 100 class, I picked some more berries Wednesday, September 17 View Page and rolled out this piece of work. Wednesday, September 17 View Page While I was mixing the filling and rolling out the top crust I kept glancing at the bottom crust and laughing in disbelief. How can that be MY pie crust? It's all in one piece. . Wednesday, September 17 View Page Yet, it happened again. Surely, this is all some sort of dream and I'll wake up and it will be gone. Wednesday, September 17 View Page And it did ooze a bit. I put almost twice as much filling as it called for. . well. . y'know. . there's never enough. Wednesday, September 17 View Page And the secret was using ize water (and enough of it) Wednesday, September 17 View Page (That was for Wiz, Biz and Eddy. . .) Wednesday, September 17 View Page Edgar has calculated the value of pie. Monday, September 22 View Page These "stretch marks" on the 904 make me nervous. I want the pumpkin to make it to 1000, but am afraid it might pop if it stays on the vine until the Central Market weigh-off mid October. The white stuff in the cracks is Captan that I painted on there when I first saw them. Any helpful advice on these cracks would be appreciated. Monday, September 22 View Page Here's that teeny stem I've been dealing with on the 904. Monday, September 22 View Page The 904 taped at 900#'s est. (350 OTT) a few days ago. Monday, September 22 View Page YAY! Monday, September 22 View Page Haven't posted a pic of the 848* for a while. Here's on of it lurking in the patch. Monday, September 22 View Page Last time I measured it was on the 19th and it was estimated at 673#'s Monday, September 22 View Page Another shot showing it's hearty stem. Monday, September 22 View Page The 961.5 Urena. This has been somewhat disappointing. Last time I meaured it, it was est. at 377 #'s on Sept. 1st. Now the blossom end has cracks galore and I really can't see it holding together. It is supposed to go to Central Market for carving, but I predict that I may have to substitute my pretty shiney green 600 instead. Monday, September 22 View Page I plucked my first Cinderella pumpkin today. I've really enjoyed growing these. Think I'll grow them again next year. Monday, September 22 View Page And the other thing I did today???? Monday, September 22 View Page I made a tuffet for the pallet so my pumpkin will look even prettier and be comfier on it's journey to the weigh-off. Monday, September 22 View Page It's 4 ' X 4 ' with 5" foam inside. Monday, September 22 View Page It was a real pain in the butt to make Thursday, September 25 View Page I had to do some fancy measuring but I managed to eek out another 3". . .353 OTT. Just need 10 more inches! Thursday, September 25 View Page sorry, no picture here either G. . . Tuesday, October 7 View Page Guess the weight of the pumpkin, not me. Tuesday, October 7 View Page That is the pumpkin I grew off of the 1041.5 McKie. If anyone comes nosing around BP wanting to know how much it weighed, please tell them it weighed in between 15 and 1500 lbs. Friday, October 10 View Page Since I can't show the pictues of the Sept. 28th weigh-off until after the guess the weight contest is over, I'll post these. . . Friday, October 10 View Page Remember that 1290 Bowles aka the 1290 Opillio? Well, it eventually recovered so. . . I just let it grow to see what a plant would do if it was unchecked. It had a bunch of pumpkins from 20#'s to 250#'s so. . . . Friday, October 10 View Page So I called the Olympic Game Farm to see if they wanted the pumpkins to feed the buffalo. Friday, October 10 View Page They said YES! And today came and picked up all the Opillio's. Friday, October 10 View Page That was just the first load. . . Friday, October 10 View Page They decided they wanted the other 904 that had the split in the stem end waaaay into the cavity so they used my lifting ring incorrectly with a winch and drug it into their trailor. Friday, October 10 View Page It pretty much worked. Friday, October 10 View Page This guy's face wasn't red before he lifted the pumpkin. Friday, October 10 View Page And that was pretty much the 2nd load. Doesn't the guy on the right remind you of Norm? Friday, October 10 View Page I think these should take care of the buffalo for a while. Friday, October 10 View Page A few hours later my friends, Chuck and Mike brought their boom truck over to help load the fruit from the 904 and 848*. Friday, October 10 View Page Edgar supervised. Friday, October 10 View Page Glenn, we practiced on the squash first. Friday, October 10 View Page Then it was time for the pumpkin. The guy from the Sequim Gazette was there to take pictures and get in mine. Friday, October 10 View Page They lifted it from the patch, over the boom truck and into my truck bed where I guided the placement of the pumpkin onto the tuffet (with tassels). Friday, October 10 View Page Edgar was pleased with the job. Friday, October 10 View Page Both rigs ready for departure in the early a.m. Friday, October 10 View Page I am thankful for the beautiful sunny and clear fall day today. Mostly because yesterday really sucked. Saturday, October 11 View Page Most of the line up for the Central Market weigh-off today. Saturday, October 11 View Page I believe that was MY pumpkin they were all admiring. Saturday, October 11 View Page There weren't very many squash there, however, I would personally like to thank the GPC for their new definition of squash, because this one would've beat me. Saturday, October 11 View Page Why lookie there! Erin's squash went heavy! Saturday, October 11 View Page Darrell Roulst and I had a little side bet going since our pumpkins were so close in size. I put my money up front. Saturday, October 11 View Page Well, his weighed 1002 lbs. . . dang! Saturday, October 11 View Page But mine weighed more! Saturday, October 11 View Page That was me saying, "Yay! I won a dollar!" Saturday, October 11 View Page Brad and Walt Perham broke Jack LaRue's WA state record of 1420 with their 1467 ! Saturday, October 11 View Page Final results. Dang that name and weight poster person needs to work on their penmanship or something. Saturday, October 11 View Page Oh wait, that was me. . . Sunday, October 12 View Page Snagged this picture from the Seattle Times online thingie. Can ya tell I'm just a little bit happy? Sunday, October 12 View Page Edgar of course, is thrilled beyond measure. Sunday, October 12 View Page During half-time of the Stupid Seahawks game I drug my husband, the hoosier, outside to help me harvest the corn. Sunday, October 12 View Page Have to admit I was somewhat disappointed. Sunday, October 12 View Page The other 50 or so ears were immature. Does anyone believe me yet about the crummy summer weather yet? Friday, October 17 View Page This is my friend, Grace. She helped me put together this display for my 1027. Friday, October 17 View Page Grace is just like Martha Stewart only she's nice and not as rich. Friday, October 17 View Page After some tweaking, this is the finished product. All ready for the Peninsula Daily News to come for their interview. Friday, October 17 View Page Took them long enough to find out that there's a crazy pumpkin lady in Sequim. Monday, October 27 View Page This picture is for my niece, Elaina who thought I really really needed this Party Princess Pumpkin set up. Monday, October 27 View Page She's right. I did really really need it. Monday, October 27 View Page Sink full of Purple and Orange carrots. Monday, October 27 View Page Sink full of Purple and Orange carrots. Monday, October 27 View Page Go Clemson! Monday, October 27 View Page Here's some Lion's Ear that volunteered this summer. Kinda cool. Monday, October 27 View Page Growing a pumpkin over 1,000 lbs in Sequim will make you [kind of] famous. On Friday, Oct.17th, I was on the front page of the Sequim Gazette and the Peninsula Daily News. The next week I was on the 9 and 10:00 fox news. My mom stayed up until 11:30 p.m. to see me on TV. What a good mommy she is. This is the picture from the Peninsula Daily News. Monday, October 27 View Page I guess this is pretty much it fame-wise for me unless I can manage to grow a pumpkin in the shape of Barak Obama's head. Monday, October 27 View Page Actually, Sarah Palin's would be harder. She has glasses and an up-do. Tuesday, October 28 View Page Today I decided to "carve" the 1027. I think next time I will cut a hole and get the seeds out before I try and carve the face. Tuesday, October 28 View Page Oh. . . and why am I using a hand saw when I have a shiney new DeWalt reciprocating saw? Tuesday, October 28 View Page Seems my hiney new reciprocating saw doesn't hold a charge for too long, that's why. Tuesday, October 28 View Page and yes. I charged the battery before I used it. Tuesday, October 28 View Page The seeds can be hard to get out of this bigger pumpkins when there's only a teeny hole to get them out of. Tuesday, October 28 View Page This one was particularly hard to get the seeds out of. Tuesday, October 28 View Page It was kinda cool in there. Thursday, October 30 View Page Finished product. I need to practice with that spider web stuff. Looks kinda cheesey. Thursday, October 30 View Page Patch is pre-prepped for the 72 yds of manure coming tomorrow. Tuesday, November 4 View Page Finally pictures of the weigh off of the 1041.5 fruit! Finally got a picture of Gary, my tractor guy after we got the pumpkin loaded. Tuesday, November 4 View Page Loaded and ready Tuesday, November 4 View Page Walt assisting with the placement of my pumpkin on the scales as the hot sexy woman in the pumpkin hat looked on. Tuesday, November 4 View Page Wait, wait, wait, Walt. . . you can't weigh my pumpkin LIKE THAT! Tuesday, November 4 View Page Let me show you how to do it. . . See? Ya gotta put the pretty stem end facing out. Tuesday, November 4 View Page See now Rollie, if you clap three times and click the heels of your orange shoes together the weight will continue to increase. Tuesday, November 4 View Page Then you put your thumbs up when the weight gets above the estimate. Tuesday, November 4 View Page Jake Van Kooten and his 1255 Tuesday, November 4 View Page Jake grows 'em heavy and is a world class pumpkin thumper. Tuesday, November 4 View Page Joel Holland and his 1190 Tuesday, November 4 View Page Walt and Brad Perham with one of their "smaller" pumpkins Tuesday, November 4 View Page Mike Popp and his 1031. Tuesday, November 4 View Page That's it for pictures of "The Farm" weigh off in Snohomish. Tuesday, November 4 View Page Today I hit Safeway for seed retrieval from the 783 which has been parked in their produce section for a guess the weight contest. Tuesday, November 4 View Page Alas, the passers by have not treated my 783 with the respect that it deserves. Tuesday, November 4 View Page I didn't think it would scar over like this once it had been off the vine. Tuesday, November 4 View Page Thank you Heather, Claire, Jessica and the rest of the dispumpkinrespecting fingernail pokers. Tuesday, November 4 View Page Okay, so enough whining. . . (for now). I opened her up right there in the store Tuesday, November 4 View Page Needless to say, I was somewhat disappointed with the harvest. Tuesday, November 4 View Page There were no big clumps of seeds, just immature small white "seedlets". Tuesday, November 4 View Page So. . . since I'm supposed to give 20% of my seeds to PNWGPG to collect my prize money, How many should I send of this rare species? Tuesday, November 4 View Page Oh, and good news! The seeds to the 605* Green and Shiney as well as the 782* are on their way to me. Thanks again Walt! Tuesday, November 4 View Page More good news! The manager of the Safeway store estimated that the guess the weight contest raised $1200-2000 for Breast Cancer research. Wednesday, November 12 View Page The fruit from the 961.5 Urena after being carved by Russ Leno. Wednesday, November 12 View Page Russ almost carves a pumpkin as good as me. Friday, November 28 View Page Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Tuesday, December 2 View Page There's a new grower in chat named "pickle" thought this would be the perfect fruit for him to grow! Tuesday, December 2 View Page That's a really big dill!