Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 79 Entries. Wednesday, January 1 View Page Today is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.   Wednesday, January 1 View Page 2014 will be my 7th year growing giant pumpkins. Here is a list of my biggest pumpkin from each year. 2008: 212 lbs. 2009: 1326 lbs. DMG. (grown by my neighbors and me, the one that got away!) 2010: 222 lbs. 2011: 409 lbs. 2012: Lost all plants. 2013: 506 lbs. (shown in picture) 2014: ???   Saturday, January 4 View Page Eddy's $1800 bid. Pumpkin growers are amazing people...   Monday, January 6 View Page Brrrrrrrrr......   Monday, January 6 View Page Somebody up north left the freezer door open...   Wednesday, January 8 View Page Lineup so far: 1495 Stelts. Backup: 1614 Watson 1602 Glasier. Backup: 1608.5 Brady. 1121 Kuhn. Backup: 222 Abbate. Squash: 757 Hudson. (150 sq plant)   Wednesday, January 8 View Page Summer starts in 13997940 seconds...   Wednesday, January 8 View Page It has been a very mild winter here so far, not very much snow and the temperature has been steady around 0C. Here is a picture I took in Peachland on November 24th.   Wednesday, January 8 View Page Just for the record, I successfully grafted an AG onto a watermelon rootstock and vise versa. I'm considering giving watermelons a go this year. I think they'd do well in a sunny, sandy area that we have.   Thursday, January 9 View Page Looks like the polar vortex is running back to canada.   Thursday, January 9 View Page Warming up here in BC.   Thursday, January 9 View Page I might do some patch prep this week if things continue to warm up. Its expected to hit 8C (46F) by monday.   Thursday, January 9 View Page I successfully germinated a 916 Barenie 2003 seed. It was not stored in the freezer. What should I do with the plant now??   Thursday, January 9 View Page 916 Barenie. looking good. I don't have the heart to pull it, so I'll do some other tests with it.   Thursday, January 9 View Page Doing some more seed sprouting practice...   Thursday, January 9 View Page Seed, moist paper towel, and a heating pad works pretty good.   Thursday, January 9 View Page Seed, bowl of water, heating pad, 36 hours and then into dirt. also works well.   Friday, January 10 View Page Sometimes, everything comes together at once. And, at that very moment, you happen to have a camera in your hands. The sun rise this morning...   Friday, January 10 View Page 916 Barenie 2003, developing some weird looking starting leaves.   Friday, January 10 View Page Back side. I wonder why they do this sometimes?   Friday, January 10 View Page Snowy sadness...   Friday, January 10 View Page I tried to do this advanced style of seed starting yesterday. I started by removing the seeds shell.   Friday, January 10 View Page I then placed the seed in a bowl of water on top of a heating pad.   Friday, January 10 View Page 24 hours later, the starting leaves opened up.   Friday, January 10 View Page I then placed the root tip into moist soil. Should be interesting to see what happens.   Saturday, January 11 View Page Temperature this morning, perfect day for snowboarding.   Saturday, January 11 View Page Sun. :)   Tuesday, January 21 View Page The valley cloud has arrived...and its here to stay...   Tuesday, January 21 View Page I can feel the cabin fever starting already...   Tuesday, January 21 View Page 409 Abbate test seedling. looking happy.   Tuesday, January 21 View Page Watermelons for this year. 167 Mailey 2012 (239 Leonard x 272 Peden) 206.5 Mailey 2011 (222 Hunt x Self)   Tuesday, January 21 View Page The back-up watermelons.   Tuesday, January 21 View Page Long gourd for this year. 80" Starr. I tried to grow this one in 2012 but a windstorm ruined the plant.   Tuesday, January 21 View Page Note to self: build long gourd trellis on the east side of the house to block windstorms.   Tuesday, January 21 View Page Main plant #1. 1602 Glasier 2012 (1409 Miller x 1807 Stelts)   Tuesday, January 21 View Page Back-up for the 1602, the 275 Van Hook. (my favourite seed) This seed has taught me what true patience is. I've grown it 4 times since 2008 and its spilt 3 out of 4 times. I still really like it because it does very good in hot weather.   Tuesday, January 21 View Page 1608.5 Brady. back-up for the 1495 Stelts which is currently hiding in the freezer.   Tuesday, January 21 View Page 150 sq ft plant. 757 Hudson.   Tuesday, January 21 View Page Back-up for the 757 Hudson squash.   Tuesday, January 21 View Page 409 Abbate 2011. I would like to grow this one but I don't think I'll have enough room. The 409 had a ridiculous 900 seeds in it. These are just the left overs that didn't make it into the seed packages. I also gave away 100 others.   Tuesday, January 21 View Page And then there is this...   Wednesday, January 22 View Page Wow, I wish I was in california right now.   Thursday, January 23 View Page I have decided to transplant the 409 Abbate test seedling into a larger container just for fun.   Thursday, January 23 View Page Cool to watch the roots grow.   Thursday, January 23 View Page Note to self: Never start seeds in a glass jar that has a smaller top than base!!!! I need to break the glass to get the plant out.   Thursday, January 23 View Page I filled the new container with a plastic bag to make it easier to remove the plant and dirt from the container later on.   Thursday, January 23 View Page Filled it with dirt...   Thursday, January 23 View Page Broke the glass...   Thursday, January 23 View Page Then planted the seedling and cleaned up the broken glass.   Thursday, January 23 View Page And then brought the plant back inside. its all good.   Sunday, January 26 View Page That moment when a certain seed arrives in the mail and you immediately know its the one you will grow...   Sunday, January 26 View Page Hmmmmmmm......   Sunday, January 26 View Page The weather has been like this for the past 2 months. really dull. its kinda driving me crazy.   Sunday, January 26 View Page We've had a grand total of 4 hours of sunshine during this entire month. valley cloud...?   Monday, January 27 View Page You need to drive up high to escape the valley cloud...   Monday, January 27 View Page Up to the mountain tops...   Monday, January 27 View Page Above the sea of clouds...   Monday, January 27 View Page Where the sun shines bright.   Monday, January 27 View Page Above the clouds...   Monday, January 27 View Page You grab a pair of skis...   Monday, January 27 View Page And ride down the mountain...   Monday, January 27 View Page And back below the valley cloud...   Tuesday, January 28 View Page Deep freeze in the deep south...   Saturday, February 1 View Page Had a totally different week of weather. its been sunny but cold. we got a pretty good amount of snow on wednesday.   Saturday, February 1 View Page The sun on tuesday in peachland.   Saturday, February 1 View Page More sun on Tuesday.   Saturday, February 1 View Page I like this one.   Saturday, February 1 View Page And then the snow began to fall...   Saturday, February 1 View Page I wonder what they think of the snow?   Saturday, February 1 View Page 409 Abbate seedling growing indoors.   Saturday, February 1 View Page Glorious sunset. Picture taken in Kelowna looking towards Peachland.   Saturday, February 1 View Page City behind the clouds.   Sunday, February 2 View Page Just watch that be the final score.   Sunday, February 23 View Page Go Canada!!   Friday, July 11 View Page It looks like it's going to be a bad fire season. Please pray for rain here in BC.   Saturday, July 12 View Page Too hot!!   Tuesday, July 22 View Page Empty garden this year. Kinda disappointing. I just never got around to planting anything.   Friday, July 25 View Page Thanks everyone for your kind words. We returned home on Wednesday. The fire is now 100% contained.   Monday, July 28 View Page Been a hot summer here...