Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 123 Entries. Wednesday, January 22 View Page I was doing some research about saving seeds from bushel gourds and I found out that certain types of squash dry better when they are allowed to ferment some. They also continue to mature and it also helps to destroy molds and diseases. In a way it helps to sterilize the seed. I did not ferment the 187 seeds and because of that, it was difficult to get all the moist flesh off of them. I did however ferment the 175 est and 165 est. These two were not weighed or measured and it was a toss up for which of my three biggest I should bring to the Durham Fair. The two gourds that I did not bring were assigned a weight so that we would know what we were planting. Anyone who would like some of these seeds is more than welcome to them. I am running low on the 187 but I have plenty 175 and 165 left. The 165 and 175 seeds look all around better to me than the 187. Just e-mail me and send me a bubble and I will get them out to you.   Sunday, April 27 View Page I did the free soil test from the CT agriculture experiment station. It isn't as detailed as some soil tests but it is a good starting point for a grower like me.   Sunday, April 27 View Page 1766.5 Debacco is in the closer cold frame and the 1067.5 Kent is in back. The seeds were started April 5th and were put in the garden yesterday. If you look closely you can see a cover crop of field peas starting to come up. They were planted on about the same day the Atlantic giants were. On the hill above that you can see a large row cover. I have sweet corn growing under that. It was planted on the eighth of April and is a couple inches tall under the cover! The variety is 'Sweet Chorus' from Harris seeds. That variety will germinate very well in cool soil.(The best I have seen) In fact the corn was snowed on soon after it was planted and it went through several nights in the 20's! Yet it still sprouted.   Sunday, April 27 View Page The 1602 Glasier is on the right and the 400 Zunino is on the left. These are my big and orange hopefuls for this year. I had no plans on growing the 1602 but by good fortune I won the seed from WWGG and I planted it. Well long story short, the seedling was the most gorgeous I have ever had and had was extremely vigorous. So I had to plant it. How does a 400 Zunino x 1602 Glasier sound for a monster big and orange cross.   Sunday, April 27 View Page This is the 454 LaRiviere in it's spot. I really hope we are through the worst of this weather. As these spots are unheated and I can only throw sheets on top to protect these plants. That should get us through temps in the upper twenties. BUT the way it has been who knows if that will be enough.   Sunday, April 27 View Page The 454 in it's spot. This is the spot where the bushel gourd was last year. Really nice soil here.   Sunday, April 27 View Page 1224 Steil in it's cold frame. This is a new spot I am trying this year. Lots of manure was put down. I am thinking that it will break down the rest of the way as it gets tilled a couple of times. Unfortunately I lost my 1734.5 Steil earlier in the year as it was put out to soon and it got frozen when a cold front unexpectedly came through overnight. My fault.   Sunday, April 27 View Page In this shot I am hoping you can see all the rocks. This is where the 400 Zunino and 1602 glasier are located. Last year I york raked up all the small rocks from the garden below and left them in a wind row. I covered it with compost and tilled it in. The soil is excessively drained here to say the least. It reminds me of Andy Wolf's patch. That's not a bad thing.   Tuesday, April 29 View Page This plant is from this years giant veggie exchange. My guess is that it is in the nightshade family. It seems to have a large thick tuber forming as part of the root system. If anyone knows what this plant is, please let me know. I will post another picture in my next entry.   Tuesday, April 29 View Page Another shot of the mystery plant.   Tuesday, April 29 View Page A tray of Brian Moore's giant amaranth from the giant veggie exchange. I wish I had waited longer to start these. It has been growing really fast. I already have taken a bunch of cuttings off the fastest growing ones. I really don't want to have to transplant them into 4" pots. I am out of space!   Tuesday, April 29 View Page Tomato and pepper transplants looking good. I am still waiting for spring to start, so they will remain in the greenhouse for the time being.   Friday, May 9 View Page See how the leaves are curled on this melon, I have figured out that it is caused by root rot. Also known as phytophtora or damping off. It is the same thing that will kill a newly sprouted seedling, but on an older plant a portion of the roots will turn brown while some will remain a healthy white color. As long as there are some white roots there is hope. When they are all brown the plant will wilt and die. Another symptom that I see with it is a narrowing of the stem at the point where it meets the soil. Root rot occurs under cool and wet soil conditions. I wind up causing this to happen on my plants every year. The plants usually recover from this and seem to do fine. But I sometimes wonder if this weakens the plant later in life. I will try hitting it with Agri-fos, on the label it states that it will control Phytophthora rots on cucurbits.   Friday, May 9 View Page Planted competition melons yesterday. Here is what went in; 350 Kent 316 Edwards 297 Kent (2 of them) And 7 Black Diamond/Mountain Hoosier competition plants from my own seed stock from last years melons.   Sunday, May 18 View Page My crop of Canadian field peas,coming in nicely. The plan is to work these into the soil once the plants start to vine out. My guess is around the middle of June. I want to let them build up as much biomass as possible before tilling them in.   Sunday, May 18 View Page 1067 Kent. My best plant so far. The cold frames are off and I am keeping them on standby just in case we get a cold night. I worked in some Chickety Doo into the soil before planting and since then I have used Piranha, Voodoo juice and Ancient earth. (They get used whenever I have to water.) So far I am very impressed.   Sunday, May 18 View Page My second best plant, the 1766.5 Debacco. This one is right up there with the 1067 Kent. I planned on growing a "Snowball" too, but I struck out on the germination. NO problems germinating the 1766 though.   Sunday, May 18 View Page 1224 Steil. A little behind. It does not receive as much sun as the other locations. I am still expecting big things though. It will be growing into the sun as the plant vines out. Still a really beautiful little plant.   Sunday, May 18 View Page 454 LaRiviere. A nice little plant. Starting to vine out. It has been really windy here the past couple of days. Notice the logs I used to support this plant. Hopefully the wind doesn't rip them apart too bad. Although I don't think it really matters that much, this early in the game. I just like it when my plants look pretty. Which they really do right now.   Sunday, May 18 View Page 297 Kent Plant A. You can see some disease issues on the older leaves. This happened when they were in the greenhouse. They really needed to get out where the sun and heat could dry them out a little. You can see they are recovering. Notice the water droplets on the leaves. I just hit them with some voodoo juice, ancient earth and tarantula.   Sunday, May 18 View Page 297 Kent plant b.   Sunday, May 18 View Page 350 Kent.   Sunday, May 18 View Page 316 Edwards. All my melons are on their own roots, no grafts this year, unless I lose one of these and need to insert a back up 133 Ciesielski on a C. ficifolia rootstock. I had tried to do a couple of grafts on a 350 and a 297 Kent this past winter. I lost them both. I was disgusted with myself for having wasted two great seeds, so I decided not to graft world class seeds again.   Sunday, May 18 View Page 400 Zunino. This is a very compact plant. My 1602 Glasier plant is right next to this plant and is also a compact low to the ground plant. (Sorry I forgot to take a picture of that one.) Maybe next time.   Sunday, May 18 View Page This is the early 'Sweet Chorus' sweet corn, that I started under row cover in early April. I don't think I will beat the sweet corn growers in the Connecticut river Valley. They pile up those extra degree days, here in the hills we don't get as warm as they do. Hopefully it will be ready in the first half of July.   Wednesday, May 21 View Page I saw some striped cucumber beetles yesterday. Also today I found a squash bug on one of my extra A.G. plants. I don't ever remember seeing squash bugs this early. Squash bugs hide much, much better than the cuke beetles. By the time you see the squash bugs you probably have a pretty big infestation already.   Sunday, June 1 View Page 454 LaRiviere. We are still waiting for some warm weather here. Things are just creeping along.   Sunday, June 1 View Page Two 297 Kent's Planted back to back. They look like they are starting to turn around. I have had the cold frames off now for a couple of weeks. Soon I will lay out some black mulch to help with the weeds.   Sunday, June 1 View Page 316 Edwards on the left, 350 Kent on the right.   Sunday, June 1 View Page The field peas are getting huge, about 2' tall.   Sunday, June 1 View Page 1766 DeBacco, my second best grower.   Sunday, June 1 View Page 1067 Kent, This plant has been the best grower since it sprouted.   Sunday, June 1 View Page 400 Zunino.   Sunday, June 1 View Page 1602 Glasier.   Sunday, June 1 View Page The spring crop of brassica's.   Sunday, June 1 View Page Aesculus x carnea 'Briotii'or Pink horsechestnut. One of my favorite flowering trees. They are not commonly seen around here. In my opinion this tree should get planted more.   Friday, July 25 View Page It has been quite some time since I have updated my diary. My last entry was June 1. The following entries will bring things up to date. In the photo are giant lilies, they are about 5' tall. Each year they grow a little bit taller. The fragrance from these is very strong.   Friday, July 25 View Page Bush Sugar baby watermelon. These are weird little plants that I am trialing this year. The leaves are crinkled and appear diseased to me. That is how they are supposed to look, I guess.   Friday, July 25 View Page 1067 Kent plant. My biggest healthiest plant.   Friday, July 25 View Page 1067 Kent pumpkin. It is also my biggest pumpkin so far. I have not measured yet. I may not measure this year. I think it would just discourage me anyway. They seem to be growing slowly.   Friday, July 25 View Page 1067 Kent blossom end. I like this pumpkin a lot. I saw Mark Clementz' 1067 last year and I loved the shape of it. I couldn't pass up the temptation to grow it for the WWGG contest.   Friday, July 25 View Page 1766 Debacco pumpkin. The 1766 plant looks crummy, but it sure does want to grow a big pumpkin for me. This one is neck and neck with the 1067.   Friday, July 25 View Page Side view of the 1766 pumpkin.   Friday, July 25 View Page 1229 Steil, A late comer, I love the shape of this pumpkin.   Friday, July 25 View Page My son Ethan's patch shot.   Friday, July 25 View Page Sweet corn patch.   Friday, July 25 View Page Tall corn is on the right 'Boones county white' from Sand Hill Preservation and 'Goliath' from my own seed line.   Friday, July 25 View Page My mistake tall corn is on the left, sweet potatoes are on the right.   Saturday, July 26 View Page 1602 Glasier looks like it will be long and orange. Hopefully that dill ring isn't going to cause it's demise.   Sunday, July 27 View Page 400 Zunino. I have had to chop off portions of this plant due to some sort of vine rot. It looks like this pumpkin will be a really pretty shape and hopefully a dark orange.   Sunday, July 27 View Page This is the 454 LaRiviere. A couple posts back I screwed up and said it was the 1766 DeBacco.   Sunday, July 27 View Page This is the 1766 DeBacco's blossom end shot.   Sunday, July 27 View Page This is the giant melon patch. They are doing terrible this year. I never have had luck with the black plastic. I do so much better when I grow on soil.   Saturday, August 2 View Page July is now in the books. It was one of the coolest July's I can ever remember. I read somewhere that it was the 7th coolest in Connecticut history. That helps me not to feel bad that my melons are once again filled with disease and insects. The cool weather is also causing the pumpkins to grow slow. Cool nights cause pumpkins to grow slow.   Friday, August 15 View Page I started picking summer squash and cukes in early July, remarkably I am still picking from the same early plantings. The only thing I can attribute this to is the cooler than normal summer. The hot days and nights make plants grow fast, but it also causes them to live and produce for a shorter period. With the cool nights it slows their metabolism way down and the plants grow for a much longer period. So I will keep plugging along hoping my AG's will continue longer than normal.   Friday, August 15 View Page This is a big fat melon grown off the 297 Kent. As you can see I have not let my plants get over-taken by disease and mites this year. Despite every adversity this plant faced it still managed to push out a pumpkin that has to be 100 pounds or so. I will eat this one.   Saturday, August 16 View Page A glance at the competition melon patch. A bunch of 75- 100 pounders not doing much.   Saturday, August 16 View Page This big fat one is on the 316 Edwards.   Saturday, August 16 View Page This is my only melon that didn't get the wilt. It is on a 133 Ciesielski (238 Holloway x open) with a C.ficifolia rootstock. My guess is it is around 125 pounds or so. This plant is in a row of eating melons not grown for competition, so it received no special care. Hmmm maybe next year I should just grow all my Carolina Cross melons the same way.   Saturday, August 16 View Page A black diamond x Carolina Cross hybrid with the wilt.   Saturday, August 16 View Page Black diamond x Carolina Cross with some wilt. I love the rinds on these.   Saturday, August 16 View Page I should have plenty of seed for melon rootstock. This is my Cucurbita ficifolia plant almost two weeks ago. It is way bigger now. These grow rampantly. Much like a bushel gourd. I dare say that these seem to grow even bigger than the bushel gourd.   Saturday, August 16 View Page It has been a good year for tomatoes, these pictured are between two and three pounds would be my guess. They sure taste good. I am not sure of the genetics here but if you donated tomatoes to the Giant Veggie exchange, these could be from you.   Saturday, August 16 View Page Boone's county white Corn. The tallest I have ever grown for sure. I am hoping 15' or more.   Saturday, August 16 View Page Some late summer squash and beans planted July 28. I have never planted summer squash that date before. So it I can pull off a crop this year. I know it can be done. With bush beans I usually keep planting up until the first week of August.   Saturday, August 16 View Page Tall sunflowers, We waited until mid June to plant this year. They seem to be stretching out really nicely. 14' is the height to beat for my daughter and I.   Saturday, August 16 View Page 'Goddess' muskmelon a real early one worth trying for all you melon heads. This picture was taken at the very end of July. They were grown under row cover up until about the last part of June. It really pushed them.   Sunday, August 17 View Page 1224 Steil pumpkin. I love this little plant. It is growing in part shade.   Sunday, August 17 View Page 1224 Steil pumpkin. I love surprises. I grew this one for size only, and I get a beauty. It has some little dots on the skin which I think is from a cuke beetle punching holes in it when the pumpkin was young. If it wasn't for the little spots, this pumpkin would have been on track to be one of the nicest looking pumpkins I have ever grown. Even with the little imperfections this pumpkin still makes me really happy.   Sunday, August 17 View Page 1224 Steil pumpkin. I saw the tell tale signs of borer damage on the pumpkin, so I excised it. It's all healed now and it has stopped gelling. It's on the bottom so, it will not really affect the appearance of the pumpkin. By the way last week this was my fastest grower. Doing 16 pounds a day. It is also by far my youngest pumpkin, so that would explain why it is the fastest grower.   Sunday, August 17 View Page This is the 1602 Glasier. I have the sheets left on as I am trying to promote pumpkin modesty. (actually I was just too lazy to remove the sheets.) Here is a hint on this one. It is a nice orange.   Sunday, August 17 View Page 400 Zunino, as expected this one is going to be a looker. This plant has two other pumpkins growing on it. I decided to let it grow a couple on opposite ends of the plant, after seeing that I was not going to be breaking any records with the pumpkin on the main. I will enjoy having a couple extra 2-300 pound perfect shaped and colored pumpkins though.   Sunday, August 17 View Page A picture of the 1067 Kent plant. Still very healthy and vigorous. I decided to stop letting it grow vines and leaves in mid July and I planted some cukes and squash where I was planning on having late season A.G growth. Garden space is in high demand here, like NYC real estate. One thing comes out and another thing goes in.   Sunday, August 17 View Page 454 LaRiviere. This plant hasn't grown an inch since mid July. As soon as the pumpkin started to grow, the vine growth stopped. I didn't pinch any tertiaries this year and this plant has not pushed even one tertiary out! A low maintenance plant. Maybe this is the way of the future. A pumpkin plant that requires zero vine maintenance from pollination on. The leaves are small and so are the vines, yet it still is growing a decent pumpkin. It is a very slow grower but the fruit looks very young, considering the pollination was done on June 26th. It seens like it will be growing for quite some time. No virus or disease infestation as far as I can tell.   Sunday, August 31 View Page This is the 1067 Kent right before harvest. This pumpkin has a really nice looking shape to it. Plus it thumps like a rock. It will be brought to the Goshen fair.   Sunday, August 31 View Page 1067 Kent. This pumpkin was very easy to grow and just look at the stem,it's perfect. I had no problems with stem rot.   Sunday, August 31 View Page 1067 Kent blossom end, nice and square.   Sunday, August 31 View Page It won first place and weighed 858 pounds. A new fair record too.   Sunday, August 31 View Page This is the second place entry.   Sunday, August 31 View Page This is my son's third place entry.   Sunday, August 31 View Page A telephone wire loaded up with swallows. I love to watch them dive and swoop. This picture was taken in the morning, they hadn't gone to work yet. They were just planning their day.   Saturday, September 6 View Page 454 LaRiviere, it is still nice and young looking. Even though it was pollinated way back on June 26th. It is a wheel but it sounds solid as a rock.   Saturday, September 6 View Page 1224 Steil, I really love this plant. I would love another shot to grow this seed next year and give it the best spot in the patch.   Saturday, September 6 View Page A shot of the tiny plant the 1224 Steil is on. It receives quite a bit of shade here too.   Saturday, September 6 View Page 1602 Glasier, a long orange beast.   Saturday, September 6 View Page 1602 Glasier, from the blossom end. I love orange pumpkins. Wait until you see the beauty in my next entry.   Saturday, September 6 View Page 400 Zunino She's a beauty.   Saturday, September 6 View Page 400 Zunino from the stem end.   Saturday, September 6 View Page 400 Zunino pumpkin on a side vine, maybe 2-300 pounds now.   Saturday, September 6 View Page 400 Zunino on another side vine. So from the one plant I have three beautiful pumpkins!   Saturday, September 6 View Page 316 Edwards melon. This melon is obese! Maybe 125 pounds or so. Plant is dead.   Saturday, September 6 View Page The plant that ate the yard. A single Cucurbita ficifolia seed produced this plant that has to be at least 50'x50'! It keeps growing. No diseases seem to bother it. Kind of like the bushel gourd but even more vigorous. I keep weed whacking it back in sections, but that doesn't slow it down one bit. Melon grafters, I will have lots of seed to share.   Saturday, September 6 View Page This photo shows another side of the C. ficifolia plant. I will have a truckload of fruit to harvest. Anyone know if you can eat them?   Saturday, September 6 View Page Getting ready to harvest the 1766 DeBacco for the Bethlehem fair. This thing looks like it will go heavy but it doesn't thump really hard like the 1067 Kent. This is taping in the mid 800 pound range as of a week ago. My biggest pumpkin in OTT measurement. I would be ecstatic to have it go heavy. I have not had one break 1,000 pounds since the 2010 Marshfield fair.   Saturday, September 6 View Page Blossom end shot of the 1766.5 DeBacco beast. She aint purty but It's not a beauty contest. This pumpkin is actually almost half green. Please go heavy, please go heavy!   Saturday, September 6 View Page 1766.5 DeBacco. Now the 788 Ciesielski. Well you can't have all of them go heavy. It sure looks heavy though doesn't it? I swear I could see my truck squat harder. I saw the lifting ropes stretch more than normal. Go figure.   Saturday, September 6 View Page 788 Ciesielski off the 1766.5 DeBacco. Finally after 8 years of trying I take first place at the Bethlehem Fair. It is a bittersweet victory though. As nobody else brought even a single pumpkin!!!! I'll take the victory any way I can get it! I always thought it would take 1200 pounds for me to win at Bethlehem and I did it with 788! I am wondering if there aren't many pumpkins out there in the CT,MA,RI area. As Bethlehem is usually a stop for heavy hitter's to weigh their "small" pumpkins.   Saturday, September 20 View Page I caught this largemouth today. Not my best, but in the top three. Probably in the 6 pound range.   Saturday, September 20 View Page Another picture of the largemouth bass.   Saturday, September 20 View Page A shot of the 1224 Steil from the top. You can see the cuke beetle damage on the skin. This pumpkin would be a real nice looking pumpkin with out the spots.   Saturday, September 20 View Page 400 Zunino from about 8' up. This pumpkin is shaped like a giant 'Cinderella'   Sunday, September 28 View Page 1602 Glasier getting it loaded for the Durham Fair.   Sunday, September 28 View Page 1602 Glasier. A nice orange and long pumpkin. I didn't know if this would make it because of the Dill ring. But it thumps like a rock and I am guessing is pretty thick.   Sunday, September 28 View Page The 1602 Glasier weighed in at 753 pounds. It went about 75 Pounds heavy according to my measurements. That was a pleasant surprise for me.   Sunday, September 28 View Page 1224 Steil. Taping in the mid 600's. I think this one actually weighs in the 7's though. It thumps like a rock and most of mine are going heavy this year.   Sunday, September 28 View Page 1224 from the side. I love this pumpkin.   Sunday, September 28 View Page 1224 Steil   Sunday, September 28 View Page A side vine pumpkin on the 400 Zunino.   Sunday, September 28 View Page Another shot of the 400 Zunino side vine pumpkin.   Sunday, September 28 View Page 400 Zunino main vine pumpkin at around 500 pounds. She is a beauty!   Sunday, September 28 View Page A view from the side on the 400 Zunino. A true 'Cinderella' shaped pumpkin. I have never had one this shape before. It will be perfect to sit on it's blossom end for display   Sunday, September 28 View Page A blossom end shot of the 400 Zunino main vine pumpkin. It is definitely in the top 5 for prettiest I have grown.   Sunday, September 28 View Page From left to right. 1224 Steil, 400 Zunino main vine, 400 Zunino side vine fruit.   Sunday, September 28 View Page Another perspective of the same three.   Sunday, September 28 View Page 316 Edwards A "Husky" melon. I brought it to Durham, it weighed 121 pounds. Not bad, since the plants have been dead since mid August. Lloyd Blair gave me some growing tips on the melons and I am excited to try them out next year. He has got the melon growing figured out. I am still shooting for that 200 pound mark. I can't wait for next year.   Wednesday, October 22 View Page This is a picture of the Cucurbita ficifolia harvest. There are around 100 fruit in the pick-up truck's bed. All these are from one plant. Unbelievable!   Wednesday, October 22 View Page The C. ficifolia plant taking over the pasture. I thought 'Atlantic Giants' were big plants. This plant was much bigger than any cucurbit I have ever seen. It resists disease, insects and cool weather. It thrives growing over compacted soil and grass, why bother tilling a spot for it?   Wednesday, October 22 View Page All from one seed.   Wednesday, October 22 View Page One final picture. This plant amazed me this year.   Wednesday, December 3 View Page I took some soil samples yesterday. I wanted to get them before everything froze up. It is fun to get a soil test back in the winter. A few random thoughts on the future of giant pumpkin growing. I just read the interview with Beni Meier in the SNGPG newsletter. The main thing that struck me was that he is pretty much treating the pumpkin like a bedding plant. Testing for Electrical conductivity for the salt levels is just what greenhouse growers do to determine when it is time to fertilize. A greenhouse grower pretty much has a nonfertile sterile medium to grow in and therefore assumes he has to add everything. Which he does with his fertilization program. There are many fine greenhouse growers in the US and around the world with lots of knowledge on growing in an artificial growing media. If someone is trying to imitate Beni with the greenhouse, I feel it would really benefit them to study up on nutrient management with bedding plants.   Monday, December 22 View Page This is the Boone's County White corn I grew this year. It grew my personal best size of 16'6". I would love to grow a whole field of this type. People would think that I am growing some new genetically modified type, or that I am giving it hormones! The height has been bred out of all the modern corns, to make the stands more uniform and wind resistant. The stalks on these tall types are like wood! They resist our wind pretty well here. Not sure how well they would do in North Dakota though. I grew pole lima beans on the stalks and they produced a heavy late crop in October. Maybe the beans had something to do with my success?   Thursday, December 25 View Page A little trivia question. What kind of fish is this in the picture? A couple of hints- It was caught on the eastern shore of Virginia in October. It was also caught at night. The first person that guesses the correct answer, I will send them out a collection of bushel gourd seeds. It will include the 177 Westfall 2012 as well as the 187, 175, and 165 Ciesielski seeds from 2013. I will throw in some other random seeds for good measure. One guess per person please. Merry Christmas to everyone!   Friday, December 26 View Page And the Winner is...Cory Weibel! He was the first one to put in a guess at 7:00 a.m. this morning. Most people guessed that it was a barracuda. Which is a really good guess, I do believe barracuda's do often travel as far north as the Chesapeake. The fish is what is called a Ribbon fish or a Cutlass fish. They are a fish that seems to be most active at night. They are not a fish that people were angling for, although they are considered a delicacy in Asian cuisine. They have lots of bones, kind of like a pickerel. I was able to fillet them into strips. I then battered and deep fried them. They were good. Sometimes you got to try things for yourself, to decide if something is good or not.