Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 325 Entries. Tuesday, March 11 View Page Afternoon, just a note today that yes, there is something out in the end of the Panhandle... tossed the peatpots in to soak up so I can plant my genuine pedigreed seed and chew nails off because I have to go in front of the Fair Board tonight and finish selling them on a Giant Pumpkin Weigh In. Pictures to come. Wednesday, March 12 View Page One of my accidental planted too early off the seedrack Dill's Atlantic Giant babies. Broke ground last night and just kicked the skin. That's a 20 oz cup. Wednesday, March 12 View Page A couple more of the same batch, in 20 oz cups, slightly smaller leaf but just as happy, unfurled this morning after breaking ground yesterday afternoon. Thursday, March 13 View Page The ones on the 12th are of some Jahrrdale and Sugar-pie pumpkins, I have five cucurbit flats out there... one of zukes, one of other melons and gourds, one of cukes and gourds, and two of pumpkins. THIS is a luscous Dill Atlantic Giant that did spit the seed case on the 11th and unfurled yesterday the 12th... Thursday, March 13 View Page This is my house queen, crawled in for a family snooze, Tabber (Tabitha or Tabber-kay) is just about 14. She came home with us at 10 days, born over my mom's milk barn. She found and claimed a spot between us, and you can't see the dog down past my feet (she's just to the left of me). Thursday, March 13 View Page This is me planting give away tomatos for the Giant Tomato and Huge Pumpkin Weigh In kickoff the end of May. These little buggers are already up and working on serious leaf. I bought a thousand seed from a wholesale to trade seed place for $4.95.... THEN I decided I needed to add the axlebreaking pumpkins and that's the REST of the story... Friday, March 14 View Page The same darling from yesterday starting to hoist that first real leaf! They look SO *INNOCENT* at this stage... ohman Friday, March 14 View Page Same flat, there are 9 cups and two are still napping or something, and one more is doing that momentuous hoist the first leaves... of course the big ol' one is in the lower right (these are Dill's Atlantic Giant bought off the seedrack at the store) Saturday, March 15 View Page This is one of my two yardcats, Copernicus (Cusscuss because he's a "Talker") who takes care of rodent control for me, and quite well too. He's having supper, but if something live was around he'd go catch it first. Last fall for about two weeks he and brother Newton didn't want to eat anything... as the mice and voles tried to move in house crawlspace and garage. They do an excellent job! Saturday, March 15 View Page One view of my tiny ramshackle 8x10' greenhouse that is far too small, the sheathing is too expensive to replace, and it takes like 8 sheets every spring after the ringed hail zaps it a few times. This is being replaced by my 4 season dream greenhouse next year! Saturday, March 15 View Page A better view of how crammed it is, and within the week I have to start going to 4" square pots x 15 flats asst x 90-100 plants a flat. I still don't have the geraniums in yet. The floor is creative sneaking as it has 14" deck pots clogging it. I wire the fluorescents under the bench on the right in a few days to expand my growspace. Oh, and the cuttings aren't all out of the house yet either. Hoop house is out of question just because... that is a next year major build for pond plants... sigh. Saturday, March 15 View Page Five flats plus two rows of various cucurbitaceae, this one holds 9 Dill's Atlantic Giants of 'seed rack store bought' lineage, and two 'Vegetable Squash' (front bottom left two). One Atlantic Giant is still sleeping (center row back) and one Veggie Squash is still deciding as well. Saturday, March 15 View Page And this is the star of the 13th and 14th. Fat Fred hoisted that leaf, and is making like the whole place belongs to 'him'. Tomorrow I'm going to ease Fred into a gallon nursery pot that I've lined with newspaper to be a) biodegradeable and b) allow me to cut the pot off without mussing roots. The other 7 will follow within the next few days. I'm also debating when to serve the first serving of quarter strength 'road apple tea', Fat Fred seems to be smacking chops over it... Sunday, March 16 View Page Fat Fred, today. The siblings are catching up but it's still biggest by a fraction. The next couple of pictures are what floor me... Remember, broke dirt the 11th and started to unfurl the 12th... Sunday, March 16 View Page Roots. That little finger sticking up was a root trying to go out the drainage hole (one of 4) stuck in with a heavy safety pin. All the rest have to be put into breakaway pots tomorrow. yiiii I will have no greenhouse space left Sunday, March 16 View Page Down in bottom you can see root traceries in the cup! Sunday, March 16 View Page At home in new lerio BP5 nursery pot, that I brought in and scrubbed up in the kitchen sink, then cut into 'breakaway' and taped back together with the expensive sticks in extreme condition expensive red duct tape. I have to make 7 more tomorrow. Monday, March 17 View Page Here is yesterday's Darwin award winner. Came up through the seed case and didn't spit it off like usual. Needed surgery to cut the case open and off, it had point down and burst, and top burst. It's sitting in front of sewing machine next to keyboard and monitor, before successful surgery. Monday, March 17 View Page Know your cucurbitaceae AND LABEL YOUR SPROUTS!!! Left is a Dark Zucchini, up is a Hale's Jumbo cantelope, and to the right is a Dill's Atlantic Giant. The Zuke was up 3 days before the Atlantic Giant and the Hale's cracked ground the 13th. I learned my lesson last year with the major 'is it a pepper or is it a 4'O'clock' mixup... <blush> Monday, March 17 View Page Another what is it? The one lower right is a 'vegetable squash' and it looks IDENTICAL at this point to the Atlantic Giants... I DOA'ed one of the pumpkins, the seed had sort of not sprouted when I rooted for it and pulled it open. Identifiable parts but it sort of was ewww. That made seven other than Fat Fred and... I had eight. One was masquerading. I only had 9 AG seed... Monday, March 17 View Page Fat Fred in the 3.5 gallon 'breakaway' pot. A few are catching up in size but this one was way out front, and might make a chance to outcross to bring in new lunker genes or color. I'll find out this year If I can keep it going. Yes I will be backing off on pics soon, I just love my baby sprout pics :) Tuesday, March 18 View Page Fat Fred is one week up. It's going to need it's own area code by next week! That pot is slightly smaller in diameter than a 5 gallon pail, so. Tomorrow I may measure again. It's astounding to me how this one is growing. And a testament to that starting medium.... Wednesday, March 19 View Page Fat Fred's 8 day babypic with ruler. I marked the other side because that's vineside... after I took the pic. Bouncing baby it is! Tomorrow I do have the stuff on hand, I am going to scrape away the boneyard to the west of the greenhouse and run up a hoop house. I am at MUST start repotting starter flats into 4" and I do not have enough room to walk in there now. Not a big'un, and not fancy. Just enough to keep stuff alive and move one heater and one temperature probe out there. Wednesday, March 19 View Page I tried, but this is about the best I got, with the old hand hoe, and my mule, getting something plowed. AS it is my scheduled rototill got pushed back about ten days.. I stressed it HAS to happen. And I asked in January/reserved.(also remember this is our county sheriff who does yard tilling and thatching as a part time... so don't get him too mad, eh?) Wednesday, March 19 View Page My hand hoe, I can't do much shovel work 'cause of the feet, so this is often how I mine holes. I get some good upper body strength... this thing is my bestest friend when gardening or weeding. Last year I peeled two flower beds out of the front bermuda, and fight the frontline battle against that stuff forever... this hoe is the best ten bucks I ever spent. Wednesday, March 19 View Page To the north off the west side of my back deck. I know the fate of those leaves I [too lazy to rake...ahem] left for windscald protection last fall... I'll take them off in about another ten days. Wednesday, March 19 View Page Found these... by serendipity. I did wet measure and the small spoons are roughly 1/12th, 1/16th, and 1/24th of a teaspoon. I need to run them through dishwasher and then try dry measure volume. We also raise fancy fish and various meds and that, need such portioning... Wednesday, March 19 View Page The other set I found, to the 1/8th off the other set, they are 1/8th, 1/16, 1/24, 1/48, and 1/64 of a teaspoon. The last two wouldn't really release water... so have to redo as dry... Just the right thing for concocting those secret pumpkin elixirs to feed or spray on your lunker. Thursday, March 20 View Page Today I got the nerve, one of this batch had sort of funny seeder leaves and not hoisted a primary yet (it was the darwin award one) so I pulled it, then continued to cull. I left two, took the others to the dumpster, then came back and took the other one because it wasn't near this size. Fat Fred is the only one left, at 10 days since broke ground and 9 since it started to open a leaf. It has hoisted real leaf one and you can see leaf 2 there, ready to hoist and start vining. I put my hand under the leaf... I feel sad but it also needed to be done, just that these are such a large scale--on tomatoes they would be weeks and weeks old. Siigh. Now just to wait for the next two days ick then it gets warm again. 82F today anyone? :) (tomorrow 52...forecast...) Oh yeah the ones I culled also had seriously branched off from the rootball already and made themselves part of the bigger pot full of same mix. Friday, March 21 View Page Fat Fred, showing leaf #2 and #3 forming. It had the slightest case of wilts when I went to work in the greenhouse but a quart of H2O got everything chipper again. It had hit 94 in there before I started venting... and I need to take soldering iron tomorrow and work over the fan control circuit... Friday, March 21 View Page Size of that fat first leaf! I'm hoping there's a lunker lurking in this one's genes anyway, and yeah if the weather was cooperating and it was in the ground it'd be bigger... probably. Tomorrow going to concoct some tea makings to give it the first slurp of brew probably Monday. Friday, March 21 View Page My other yardcat, out by the holding pond (the temporary move pond). He and his brother keep my yard free of various pests and varmits. Monday, March 24 View Page Fat Fred, yes I missed the 22nd. The camera and batteries didn't cooperate and I was nearly out of light so. I went and got some new rechargeables, the others are not holding anymore and I've gotten my $ out of them. I need another week I figure, so it's riding the rim on keeping it inside. Monday, March 24 View Page Later this morning... taken yesterday as is the one above. My spread hand can span 8 1/2" so this gives you an idea. Adding one 500 watt halogen allowed the heat to get ahead of the wind hitting the greenhouse straight on last night... I was losing temp and so glad I didn't have to put more out there. I also figured my electric bill for this month-EEEP. We have three days of mid seventies to 80F forecast so we're going to take some sheeting OFF that greenhouse and replace it with double layer sheet plastic. And cobble up two more bays on it. I need the space so bad it hurts. Hubby came to see and looked in door and went WOW over Fat Fred and all the plants crammed in there in general.... dream greenhouse next year, he promises. Now out to shift a bunch of things to get ready to do the quick expando. Monday, March 24 View Page The set after my 'artiste' Performing Art performance... otherwise known as I was removing stuff from under the bench back corner, and killed several little orb spiders, then had one go down my collar and my crumb catcher catched it... my smart alec neighbor had to holler over some criticism and found out that soggy peatmoss will hold together for 45 feet! I treated the bite with my antivenom kit and I went back and fogged all this from upwind with half a can of green raid and the greenhouse got the rest! Most of it's now shovelled up, cleaned, and pots filled with transplants. No plants got hurt in this unless they have eardrums in which case the ENTIRE greenhouse and half the yard is permanently deaf. No other performances are scheduled. Monday, March 24 View Page Greenhouse after rearranging and right after the performance (oh, a cold brewski patched it up with the neighbor btw, he learned I have aim) and before I potted the middle flat of tomatoes up. Monday, March 24 View Page The other side of the greenhouse... btw, the door is east end. Under where Fat Fred resides there in the lovely zip-pot, is where I was cleaning out. Monday, March 24 View Page Fat Fred, 13 days since breaking and 12 since first leaf furl. I figure I have another week at outside, and I will get ahold of the gal with the plot about getting together and tilling in and setting up. I've selected her a 275 Holmes which is the 934 Young selfed, and will probably cross it to the 1018 Langevin. (she wants to grow one, and is giving me space for four) Another 'convert' has surfaced, so. I'm hoping to get a lot of seed in this year. Monday, March 24 View Page Fat Fred main leaf with a ruler under it. Tea should be ready tomorrow so first teabath after lunch. Monday, March 24 View Page View of what I managed to eject with during my performance. I didn't bust myself or a single pot, which was totally amazing. Tuesday, March 25 View Page Fat Fred is about as far as it can go I think in pot, I have to try to get ahold of the land gal tomorrow and the fertilizer gal and get over there to plow a chunk. Tuesday, March 25 View Page Makin Vine! Tea is deemed not ready yet, tomorrow is der tag. Tuesday, March 25 View Page Just part of 'even more crammed' and I have a couple of tomato flats to go. We don't mention the peppers (two) or the marigolds or.... and the buckwheat is about to bloom! Wednesday, March 26 View Page Fat Fred enjoying the sun. Starting to take trips outside for hardening off. This weekend I get to get smelly and sit on a tractor and work up the plot. I also set some starting pots to soak and tomorrow will seed the three other picks for me and the one for my 'landlady'. Thursday, March 27 View Page I think Fat Fred liked the tea yesterday.... Thursday, March 27 View Page Look at how this thing is being a brazen hussy and working on becoming a PUMPKIN VINE... (praying I beat it to the punch by Sunday... my date with a tractor and 5 tons of manure compost is Saturday...)[lordhelp me I've never driven anything other than a John Deere, I hope I can mash the clutch on their blue whateveritis) Friday, March 28 View Page Yep, looking forward to planting this weekend! Fat Fred day 17 since broke ground. Friday, March 28 View Page Lookit all that nubbie and stuff forming. Yep, the things I'm going to do tomorrow for this plant... sigh. Friday, March 28 View Page The desolate blasted stretch that was supposed to be tilled already, for the tomatoes this year. Friday, March 28 View Page Yep, spring has sprung here. I'd both dance in happiness and rip my hair out to get 2" of snow on that. Friday, March 28 View Page Plum blooming, the one just barely in the neighbor's yard.... Friday, March 28 View Page My dilapidated greenhouse. I like the inside view better even if it IS crammed too full. The dream greenhouse will replace it, come back towards the camera about ten feet, and go another two towards the garage and five (or about that half invisible white painted redwood board pile)the other way. The door is on the far side. I'm standing in the desolate blasted looking area. Friday, March 28 View Page Tomato transplanting. These are my test varieties plus spares for the tomato bed. I went to the K-8 school today and got the 'come into the classroom and have the kids start their own Delicious tomato plant for the Weigh In' scheduled. Two classes are Monday and Friday I will be there all day. For a possible 109 kids. This is voluntary all the way around, most of the teachers are for it, I will be loaning a rack with fluorescent lights to the 4-8 science room so they have enough light... (one tiny window) and... I have two more that want to grow giant pumpkins (aka axlebreakers) and that makes it four plus me and climbing! I will be probably signing up more Tuesday at the Grower's Club meeting. [I will start plants for all those that sign up and help arrange pollinating, as most plants will be grown as only one...] I have to keep stressing that someone does NOT have to plant the tomatoes or pumpkins I brought in, but. I'm arranging for everyone to have the best CHANCE. :) Saturday, March 29 View Page Fat Fred dreaming of a verdant lush expanse of perfectly amended loam watered with my sweat and blood (it's not a project until you bleed on it, right?) and it's soon now. Saturday, March 29 View Page Makin' vine! Saturday, March 29 View Page The prep work for Monday's planting in the classroom. They were soaked up well and will get soaked again tomorrow. The downside to peat, it's waterproof until it finally soaks up. They're in the greenhouse because otherwise the yardcats will think it's a place to do business.... Sunday, March 30 View Page Fat Fred today, before I started the saga. Broke ground the 11th, and started doing the leaf bit on the 12th. So 18-19 days old depending on how you count it. Sunday, March 30 View Page The site. It will be plowed around it in the next week and that 'cage' where the strawberries are is being moved. This is west of my greenhouse and north of the blasted desolation. Sunday, March 30 View Page The water crystals. I'm holding the lenscap from the camera. Sunday, March 30 View Page Another reason FF was going to see dirt today and yes it almost killed me. Sunday, March 30 View Page My Delicious Tomatos, just days old. They need to be transpotted but they got put back until tomorrow. Sunday, March 30 View Page The sensor housing for one of the temperature sensors in the greenhouse. The wire runs to garage where a 'substation' processor reports via a cable to the computer in the house, and the software there displays the temp and does high, low, and warns to settable settings about too hot or too cold and will turn on the heater for me... Sunday, March 30 View Page Me. Yep. I am in shorts. It's about 53F and the wind is from the east north east... The white is the crystals and the black is some mulm I scooped out of the pond by hand. It holds together enough to be removeable! I was mistaken, there's only two inches in there, but. ULTRA fine and yep it's still eau de pond scumme, but not reeking of it. You have to repot waterlilies to get the nuances of that. Sunday, March 30 View Page Site, farther along, went to fetch Fat Fred. Sunday, March 30 View Page Fat Fred, I've unzipped the pot. It was held together with this hideously expensive, red colored, will stick to anything even brick, duct tape. I had newspaper lined this 3.5 gallon lerio pot.. Sunday, March 30 View Page Roots. First pic. That mound is a bag of steer manure, a bunch of older pot dirt recycled, some old composted grass and leaves, and some sharp sand that has sat and gotten dusty and muddy. It all got worked then watered, then the water crystals then the mulm poured and some dirt put on that, then... Fred! Sunday, March 30 View Page Second root peek. I took about the top half of the paper off, where it got to rooties I stopped. And I took some big multilayer gobs off. Looks like that may be the way to go, as the newspaper will finish dissolving and shouldn't stop the roots. Sunday, March 30 View Page Not really happy, just put in. I made a ridge around it after planting to catch water and carefully poured a gallon on a bit at a time. It is facing due south, the mound has a long nose slope to it to let it grow off towards the soon to be plowed and further amended promised land. *I*am*moving*my*clothesline* for this vine! Sunday, March 30 View Page My answer to WallOwater, three liter soda bottles. They fit over the end of the water spigot (male garden hose end) easily and fill quickly. I filled them about three fourths full and loosely put the cap on. Mostly if they tipped over I could catch them and to let the air out if they expand from freezing. I put dozens in there and ran out, have some two liter to fill (not as easy).. about a hundred more, to put in there tomorrow. Tonight is cloudy, tomorrow warmer but clear the next night... Sunday, March 30 View Page Fat Fred. Those are corroded old chrome display panels I used in my booth for years (doubled as trailer top cap to keep the load in) and it was quick to grab those and wire them together for the hotcap frame. I dug so they were all flat and fairly level, and put a piece of one at the end and a whole one over the top to help support the plastic. No serious construction, just some binding wire. Sunday, March 30 View Page Plastic, 4 mil sheet 12' wide and 100 foot long roll. Roll isn't too heavy but it slides around like greased snot. I had some real acrobatics to handle it by myself. The top and to the right, I buried the edge totally and pulled it. Before that I took that expensive duct tape and pad taped all corners and sharp spots... decades of tarping stuff, I know how fast something can rub through, and from laying pond liners, I got those two sides pulled square and flat and down, and buried them in. That corner is loaded with 3 liter bottles. Sunday, March 30 View Page Fat Fred. Already perked up and turned leaves to the sun. The plastic mostly nailed down the warmth and humidity rose, and the water had soaked in, and is settling in. I still had close to an hour to finish stuffing some more water in there and taping friction points and sealing it for the night..... Sunday, March 30 View Page Tucked. I can still get it open and the bottom end can be 'opened' like a gate at the left so I can still get in it to work, water, etc. I put blankets over it, and was waiting for sunset to put the last one on. I ended up needing two to cover that, but. I also have to make my yardcats leave it alone... Monday, March 31 View Page Fat Fred in Kustom Kingsized Kross between a wallOwater (somebody's TM) and a Hotkap (somebody else's TM) late this afternoon, mostly over a slight bit of morning pouties. Weather Channel seriously lied about the low after downgrading it (43F est at 9 pm, 39F at 11 pm) and it hit 31 about 35 min before dawn. I had about a third of the water in there but had covered it with blankets over the plastic... just waiting now for it to green up as it tickles/tastes that manure compost. Monday, March 31 View Page Last pic also shows the 250 watt halogen light I put in in case... tonight they're forcasting still, clear and 32, so I expect hard freeze. I also added about 80 more soda bottles, you can see them along the far side and the corner that's got the plastic buried; not openable. I need to stuff a few more in there yet. The ones in there were pretty cold this morning but warmed up fast. Monday, March 31 View Page I took the label off to enhance their chance of absorbing heat. If I had the time and enough krylon fusion black, I would've sprayed them black first. I might do that next time. I saved those for months btw! Tuesday, April 1 View Page Four thirty a-m and I fired up the auxillary heater...a 250 watt halogen. FF lives better than I do... someone to slave over it and get up and spend half the night up because it might hard freeze... all I need now to do is subscribe to XM or something and pipe music out there. Tuesday, April 1 View Page Quick check tonight and knocked a bit of water on the leaves while trying to get the pail up there. Fat Fred seems to like it in the palatial digs. All it needs is satellite TV... Wednesday, April 2 View Page Fat Fred, looking good... that's it's job. Wednesday, April 2 View Page All is not good. BUGGIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Got out my favorite bugdeath and gave a treatment. Shows the most on this leaf, a tiny bit on another. Anyone can ID I'd appreciate. Wednesday, April 2 View Page Found this on top the hotkap plastic, it died about a second after this picture. Should I worry about this one? I am still getting used to this growzone and the buggies and the beasties... I do have an underside pic too. Wednesday, April 2 View Page Pail of first batch of secret juice. Fat Fred should like it. Should green it up, I'd like it to be a little darker than it is... should be nitrogen but not strong, for some greening and growing boost, and a few traces. Wednesday, April 2 View Page Our Keeshond Kess and yardcat Newton. She has treed raccoons at the last place, and she patrols her yard and announces things. Newton is rodent and such control and he does his job... Both are in bad need of a spring cleaning, her for a coat raking and him for mat snipping. Thursday, April 3 View Page No pics today. Fat Fred seems to have taken the bugdeath in stride and nothing else seems to be happening. It did get the corner of a leaf onto the light and get a small patch of crispy about the size of a nickel. Tomorrow I have to take the enclosure apart and raise it six inches. In other news I have eight noobs signed up to grow an axlebreaker and two more to confirm, so a possibility of fourteen plants to start Sunday the 6th so far... and a second start on the 11th. Our fair is causing us to have to plant early...it is about a month too early for the real harvest around here. The chosen eight are prepping patch and will get plants on the 14th at the next meeting.. just call me busy figuring out crosses. Friday, April 4 View Page Another no pic night. Spent day working in greenhouse to catch up with overdue potting, have to run Monday and get some more potmix, two more bales ought to tide me over; and. After doing the third grade and recruiting one more and a possible two more, I have to go Monday and give the spiel and let the special ed kids plant tomatoes. One of them through their mom is growing a pumpkin already, I picked one special that has great potential if selfed (or so I think) so. I hope hers goes a thousand pounds. The new fellow has an old chicken pen to use this year for a patch so he ought to have a GREAT chance. And I have the tomato bed and Fat Fred's growing field staked and cleaned up for tilling tomorrow with various additives. Saturday, April 5 View Page Plowing the south forty... my tomato patch got expanded and the Fat Fred Ranch... and the satellite garden that's detached. He's a bit late but at least the tiller guy showed. Saturday, April 5 View Page Here he is, Tiller Guy (his wife is in the garden club with me) on his nice little toy, a JD 140 with an IH tiller, chewing up the turf. I'm standing next to Fat Fred's enclosure, and it got tilled around. It can come off it's hill onto the expanse to take over the yard! Pretty reasonable to have him come over, $35 and one hour for all three chunks, about 2000 square feet. He went E-W then N-S too and got it nicely churned! And I don't have to be sore for four days after <thumbs up!> Sunday, April 6 View Page Long day today. Opening with a Sugar (pie) pumpkin planted same day as Fat Fred (5 Mar) and came up four days after. In same 20 oz cup size that FF's baby pictures were in. The Sugar will produce 8-12 pound pumpkins.... it is still in the greenhouse that FF was born in. Puts what we do with AG's in perspective??? (FF is getting to be known around town now, too) Sunday, April 6 View Page If you page back a ways I posted a shot of this spot on the diary. This was FOUR yardbags (39 gallon) of leaves! I found a child's rake about the size of my hand with fingers curved to rake cr... leaves... out of the iris. It is very 'light' in touch and fits very well, and was on a full length but dowellike handle. Those leaves just met the pile for this fall's compost dressing... ;) Sunday, April 6 View Page The first nine for the Grower's club, and I had to go nip back and do a tenth, I forgot somebody. I'm doing the landlady's and my four on Wednesday, and a backup round will be planted on the 12th or 13th for the Grower's club if needed. They're on alert, to get those patches ready for first delivery on the 14th! I need to scrounge up hotkap making materials and I told them to get ahold of some 2 and 3 liter soda bottles! Sunday, April 6 View Page My preferred starting potmix. 3.8 cubic feet or 107 liters it says, and it fluffs into TWO 'sweetlix' tubs and a couple of rounds with garden hose to soak it up. I always feel like I'm taking screenings and making chicken feed when I do this stuff. I had four bales when I started, this was the first one in the tubs and #2 waiting. This is 80% peat, perlite, vermiculite, and some dolomite to help buffer PH. Once it's soaked it's a very good mix and I have NOT had damping off problems since I started using it last year. Sunday, April 6 View Page I got donations of more smaller 4" pots, and dug out all my one gallons from my pot boneyard, and tossed them in front of the greenhouse. The tubs were in front of the garage, and it was about 15 feet to fetch pots and give them the raid treatment (green RAID) for any interlopers before pulling apart, cleaning, and filling. I also emptied the back of my car (no back seat, OLD boat) of my flat run and was plasticing and filling flats with pots as needed. Sunday, April 6 View Page I dug this out of a flowerbed, on left and compared it to a brand new one on the right. This is why I don't use peat pots. Other than the left one was dried out before I took the pic, that's the way it survived last year. No wonder that perennial salvia croaked on me. If you look, I found that lining Fat Fred's big cutaway pot with newspaper seemed to protect the roots, and I did that with the gallon starters. Sunday, April 6 View Page The reason I needed to pull the greenhouse today, water and fertilize, finish transplanting flats, and all that. I can rehouse some plants with the Garden Club's plant swap on the 9th, and the Grower's Club will take some too, on the 14th. We're estimating our 'past most chances of frost' to be 2-3 weeks... but keep those blankets handy. Sunday, April 6 View Page Fat Fred this morning before I fully uncovered the hotkap and lifted the ceiling panel higher. The 2 liter soda bottle on the right is at the same distance back as FF so it shows how big it is. It is greening up nice, likes the 'secret squeezings' I'm feeding it, and needs to quit growing UP and vine. See all the little bits coming up fine on the main stem? Sunday, April 6 View Page The previous picture, that's a THREE liter bottle. Much fatter. This is the blasted desolate ruin of earlier this year. Still needs a few more amendments and a second tilling. I'm standing by the tomato bed portion, and the big chunk farther back is Fat Fred's new turf. One SPOILED SPROUT!!!! Monday, April 7 View Page Today was churn through the next bag of potmix and upsize some of the 20oz cups and 4" pots to one gallon. The little red rake is a kid toy but the perfect size for hooking leaves out of my iris beds. And it's rather dull and soft on tines so it doesn't beat the plants up. Monday, April 7 View Page It ebbs and flows, I didn't clean up totally after the performance, and just decided it'll clean up when I use up the pots. I'm trying hard to do that right now. Monday, April 7 View Page This is AFTER I took four flats of mixed cucurbitaceae out and uppotted them. And they did not return. Tomato flats are still being processed and are going to push it as well as a needed next round planting for the Weigh In handouts. Monday, April 7 View Page Fat Fred has roomies. I need coldframe for a few days until the Garden Club plant swap, so I uppotted things like my cantalope and watermelon and put them in to room with FF for a few days. Yes that one leaf got a bit crisp but I'd check clearance and close things up and next morning find a bit more crisped. I wish it'd start going 'over' instead of 'UP'. I can't lift the enclosure much higher. The grassy looking things are my Job's Tears which will be bog plants this summer in my ponds. Monday, April 7 View Page I bought these at Electronic Goldmine for $1.95 each plus shipping. They are a ONE LED light with a small clip. They sell one with a finger strap and clip for about twice that much, or these for not much. They do take 3 AG3 batteries which are not cheap, but they come WITH batteries. These are really really handy! Monday, April 7 View Page This is under my desk, in fairly dark. It gives enough to be able to stagger through the shifting maze of my backyard after dark to tend to things that need tending, and can be carefully held in my teeth if needed. I bought four different LED flashlight type things and this is the brightest by double of the single LED ones I bought. I have been using it for after dark gallevants to greenhouse or Fat Fred's enclosure for about two weeks and it's still burning bright. I don't know how long the batteries last but I find this a very GOOD investment for the emergency go fix things stumble after dark. I bought a dozen of them for making display spotlights and I think they work GREAT for a lot of light...considering the size! When they sell out of them though, they will be out, Electronic Goldmine is a surplus Geeky Nerdy place. Tuesday, April 8 View Page Day before the plant swap, and Fat Fred's hotkap is FULL. Something is bothering it so bug death will be trotted out again. Everything that went in was clean, I'm sure it came in when the cap was opened for it to enjoy fresh air and sunshine. Tuesday, April 8 View Page SCREAM, this was in the bugtrap in there, my thumbnail is 1/2" long from edge to quick for scale. It has a sort of delicate yellow like the nav bars on this site, it doesn't show well. The other bands are black. WHAT IS IT!!!!???? Yes I'm in a panic. Tuesday, April 8 View Page Best pic I got of it. What is this buggie???? And what bugdeath is best if it's what I fear it to be???? Wednesday, April 9 View Page No pic tonight, hubby has my batteries. Got rid of almost half of the plants I needed to move at the Garden Club Plant Swap. It was so cold and my back complaineth that I'm no longer twenty, that I hauled only 24 of the assorted gallon pots in, and got rid of 9. I have to find the little pumpkins (Jahrdale and Sugar/pie) and deliver those. It rained tonight as I tried to fill pots outside and cram in my greenhouse to continue the great repot. I think I seen dirt moved so maybe morning I will have sproutlets and more AG's will have awakened... and go to their new owners Monday. I will see. Thursday, April 10 View Page Another NoPic night because of cold and my batteries are on maneuvers yet. *I* paid $22 with tax for those they are MINE. Sigh. With all the school visits over, Chamber of Commerce Meeting, Garden Club Meeting (and plant swap) and the Fair Board meeting, I'm meetinged out. Elsewhere Fat Fred's light has a problem with connectivity but I think I taped that up to both code and waterproofed and it'll stay on now. I have to look in a few after sun sets (you can just see part of the hotkap out my kitchen window) and see if it's lit. We actually got some RAIN today (Thurs) and paper reported Wed that we had 51 consecutive days with less than .10 inch rain and 197 consecutive with less than .25 inch (that is including our snow yield melted). DRY year. Tomorrow is supposed to be cold so comb up and do more fundraising. The $100 barrier has been broken for first prize for all four categories, that is astounding compared to the fair prizes; the higher it goes the more interest. I want to break $1000 so all the area pumpkin growers come. Anybody want to come and bring a platform scale with them? AAugh... Friday, April 11 View Page Another no pic night, TGIF. Car acted up and doing transmission fluid to get it to shift into gear... long story, cold day, but raised some more prize $ for the Weigh In. In Pumpkin Junior and Senior and Tomato Junior and Senior it's $100 first, $50 second and $25 third. I'm aiming for at least $1000 for the pumpkins so I have a ways to go yet. And I have been promised additional funds for the tomato junior (but not collected yet) and two savings bonds, $50 each, for the junior pumpkin and junior tomato. Blows the fair offers away. I might have tracked a scale, if not someone will see if they can pull a string and import one from Dumas for me. I will still have to get the other fellow who knows the Ag guy to come out and certify it for me. Sigh. All the hurdles are being tripped over as I go here. Heh. Fat Fred is doing okay, tomorrow is in the 70's they promise and I will take the enclosure totally apart, rebuild it and replastic it, and raise it. And do something to get FF to quit growing UP and lay that vine OUT. I have offered if anyone donates $5000 to the cause I will name the Weigh In after them (ex, XIT Ford Giant Pumpkin and Tomato Weigh-In)and it costs $200 or more to get on the official's teeshirts.. (have two so far!) Tomorrow I also thoroughly clean greenhouse and rearrange, need to start more flats, and inquire neighbor about an offered donation of materials... never ends. See y'all in Boise City in September! Saturday, April 12 View Page Fat Fred and the roomies. 31 of them go to the grower's club on Monday, and the few that are left will probably bunk for another few weeks until second till is done on the satellite garden.... Saturday, April 12 View Page The leaf edge looks yellow because of sun. And this is just before Fat Fred got two gallons of Special Secret Sauce brewed by me. Doing vinestuff. Just have to convince it to go DOWN and not UP some more. Light color will improve, it was three days of heavy socked in and rain and just the nightlight (250 watt halogen) to keep it warm. Saturday, April 12 View Page Fat Fred from the south. I think it'll be happier out in the sunshine with no more nights where Weather Channel is off by 8-10 degrees on the forecast low! (always colder) Monday, April 14 View Page Sunday the 13th. I was barely mobile, it was still going UP. Beautiful day of sunny not much wind and 70's and I had both legs blown up from salt so bad I could barely stand up and balance. I added a new 'no way in bleep' food to the salt verboten list. Fat Fred is doing well... and needed a spraying. Monday, April 14 View Page Today, Fat Fred is taking over the UNIVERSE.... Monday, April 14 View Page Don Young established a mental link with Fat Fred and convinced it to do chinups! It put all that growth on between 11 am and 7 pm... and grabbed on very well. No wonder it's not going down the hill! (LuvyaDon despite all that :) ) Monday, April 14 View Page This little piggy went to Market, This little piggy stayed Home, this little tendril... Me convincing Fat Fred tendril by tendril to let go. Oh by the way it hit 86 today and gorgeously sunny. Monday, April 14 View Page Fat Fred making like VINE and a pumpkin brooder... it is now being convinced to come down the GENTLE slope to the SW where it will be gently ramped to the flat, then curved gracefully and be shown how to grow across the patch to fill it up with a zillion leaves. Monday, April 14 View Page Rhinish Pickle Cuke blooming. I also have tomatos starting to bloom. Sigh. Spring has more than sprung. I get to crawl the yard tomorrow afternoon after sogging it in the morning with the sprinkler, and dig the dandelions. At least the neighbor finally showed and dropped the elms in back, SUNSHINE across the patch now! Tuesday, April 15 View Page Nopic night. Tired and went to well after dark. Legs acted up and it soared over 90 today and 40mph wind. I arranged some windbreak but it still gave Fat Fred a bit of a rough time and it is going to have a overstressed leaf amputated in the morning. The rest came back very well with some TLC and two gallons of water. It is going down it's ramp very well now to the SSW to learn the big curve it's going to make across the patch and drop that axlebreaker right about there! The tree debris was removed, the three elms came out yesterday; and it's going to be truely blazing hot and sunny now in the new patch. Grower Club member came tonight and relieved me of a lot of my extras so I have greenhouse space and the hotkap emptied out! I can't wait now for the pumpkin seeds to come up, 4 days to go!!! Wednesday, April 16 View Page This is actually the night of the 14th, the seeds laid out for the Grower's Club. Right before they met their gallon breakaway pots. Wednesday, April 16 View Page Things are not boding well for Fat Fred. This is the ones that got nailed the 15th in 91F, 40 mph wind and despite sunshade... these are also the ones that got burned by accident with the 250 watt halogen and sprayed with that one bugdeath... which also caused problems with some of my other cucurbits. I have switched bugdeath du jour. Wednesday, April 16 View Page I am switching tactics, though I think the rest of it looks clean... otherwise I am going to do some sterilizing and replant with a Langevin 1018... Wednesday, April 16 View Page Some of this is heat and chemical burn damage and some is sunfry crispy, but. I have about 8 days until a replacement is ready. Fat Fred has to fly right, and someone is picking me up several things in Amarillo Friday. Wednesday, April 16 View Page I wasn't kidding about brutal wind yesterday. That is an alley, the shed was to the right in the neighbor's yard! Wednesday, April 16 View Page Neighbor on next block has NICE fullsized toys. He lives in the house across the street behind that. He's been getting everything out and heading for the field as soon as the ick happens Thursday. Wednesday, April 16 View Page Fat Fred...these didn't get the spray the other day, and they look very nice. I will be keeping an eagle eye on the new stuff. It's sedately (at 4" a day) going down the gentle ramp now. Wednesday, April 16 View Page Stress blooms? Another tic mark on FF may be replaced by that Langevin... It's my pride, it's my joy, it can also be replaced now that I have seeds in the wings working on plumping and pumping up. Wednesday, April 16 View Page Someone wanted to know what pillbugs were. These are pillbugs. There were about 20% more, I turned the rock and ran to get the camera. We have these things EVERYWHERE. Wednesday, April 16 View Page Closerup, these are about 1/2-2/3 grown, they can reach about 1/2 inch long. Pillbugs. I hate them sneaking into the bottoms of my pots in greenhouse (when I'm forced to put stuff on that dirt floor) and munch roots. Wednesday, April 16 View Page DIY windbreak kit. This is what I scrounged, those steel fenceposts are supposed to be for staking tomatoes. The fencing was scrounged for trellis and such and was used for the Halloween front yard decorating I did (the fencing was staked in with rusty rebar with broken electric fence insulators on it, it lowered the property value which is JUST the look I was aiming for... hubby made me take it down the day after!) And the rusty iron thing is my whammer. Wednesday, April 16 View Page Before I started, looking south at where FF's enclosure is.. and where the elms got cut out. Sunny patch! Wednesday, April 16 View Page This is a chunk of iron pipe with a length of bar welded in the end. The steel post fits inside. You slide the pole into it and stand it up (I'm not THAT strong) and whang it down several times. It whaps the post right in for you. Easier than sledging them in or digging holes and tamping. Even I can put steel posts in with this as long as it's not dried and baked adobe! Wednesday, April 16 View Page Better view, whammer on post. When in as far as you want, lift up off post. These were 6' steel posts and I put them in about 18 inches. Wednesday, April 16 View Page The clouds are coming in on the west, I still have an hour to sunset. This is from the south looking north, at the Rebel Ramparts (pronounce name as RAE-bull). I had to dig one post out and reset. Took about 1.5 hours to get it to here, wire on the tarp, and bury the north edge to hold it down. Weather front is from North, with N, and WNW as it fades into Friday forecasted. The ramparts curve around more to protect the west side... as well as the north. Wednesday, April 16 View Page Light Check. Took out the 250 watt halogen and wired in a 500 watt. With a low Thurs night and Friday am of 30, and maybe some snow around; I wanted MORE heat. I have one wonky connection so I had to check that it was making contact after I taped things for waterproofing. Wednesday, April 16 View Page From the south looking northerly, Rebel Ramparts in place, light on, and the insulating outer cover on over the plastic and everything fastened and weighed down to prevent flapola. I'm at about twenty minutes to sunset, you can see how the clouds are starting to show... Wednesday, April 16 View Page The usual way I see it when I come to check on it, facing west. All snug, windbreak installed, and nightlight on. I can hear as I type about two hours later, the wind has picked up pretty stiffly. I will be heading out in a few to doublecheck that things are staying in place and the light is still on. Thursday, April 17 View Page Ugly cold leaden sky day, windy and it rattled hail as well as rain. Just before sunset, things broke and this came in my north window in my room/lair/office woman-cave. Seizing the moment I trotted out at about freezing to quickly do evening check of things... and appreciate the calm after 40 mph winds for a day and a half. Thursday, April 17 View Page Kess the Keeshond is perfectly fine, just she looked like dead discarded fur, sleeping in my sacred flowerbed. We have many discussions over the year about her keeping her heinie out of my flowers and garden... Thursday, April 17 View Page The Rebel Ramparts did fine. That wind howled hard and shook the house several times and drove me out a few times late last night and early this am over weird noises. It stayed tucked and it seems it stayed above freezing. Tonight will be the challenge. As the sun set it was 31.2 F by our sensors, and I'd vouch for that. Thursday, April 17 View Page If you look careful you can just see a mark on the plastic. I missed padding a few rub marks with plastic wadding (grocery bags) to prevent that. It held up well considering the onslaught. Thursday, April 17 View Page Center back where I fastened one end down then fastened the other tarp end separately. This was the piece I thought would be the stressed one, but it wore well. Thursday, April 17 View Page That was banked totally against the plastic, it shows how much the wind moved things and worked it away. I took shovel and added a few more and filled that back in. Overall it worked very well, and I will use it in a sort of stepped interrupt to install along the south patch edge for windbreak. That one will be higher though... This one was very comfortable to duck down behind at the wide end of the enclosure but out at the nose I didn't like it so much... so I need a few more feet to be happy. As our summer progresses our sun climbs to where it is directly overhead at 'local noon' and you can stand on your shadow... so say a six foot fence will not do that much shade onto the patch. That means taller posts... and I may hurt myself using the whammer. If you build one of these fences, you will have to check it regularly for wear! Friday, April 18 View Page Morning work, Fat Fred survived. Grew some while it was hiding from the windstorm and the yuck. Friday, April 18 View Page See all the little boys? I think I need to put up pink bows and remind FF it's supposed to make big healthy vine and then it's gonna grow an 'Oklahoma Paperweight' for me. Friday, April 18 View Page The cost of one stump. Actually there's a smaller twin stump and this big one, and there's another twelvepack. I got the rest of the payment today and lugged it over. Closest that brewski will get to my patch unless I'm killing slugs. Heh. Tomorrow is dress off and plant the tomatoes out. I spent the day gridding the bed and laying in stepstones between it and Fat Fred's patch, and through the tomato bed on the five foot rows... Saturday, April 19 View Page How I started my day, hiking 7 blocks and getting this with this small ancient dolly of mine, to get some mound amendment to put with what I have, and four 3 liter bottles of caffiene in the bags on top. This was a long trip both ways. (my car is on the sicklist it's drooling tranny fluid, sigh) In sunny 55F with very little wind and 33% humidity I thought I was going to melt in a teeshirt! Saturday, April 19 View Page Taking apart the shell and bringing Fat Fred out into the real world of the patch. Oh, I had a brainstorm later in the afternoon, the patch is now officially '201-P North Ellis' ... The other things I thought up related to being broke, deranged, insane, should be committed, etc... Saturday, April 19 View Page Sweating off the pounds. About two cubic yards added and now starting to shape it. The full bed has not gotten all amendment yet which will make this mound half as tall... Saturday, April 19 View Page With pipe, still missing about 2-4 yards of slope and need to bury the soaker hose for the mound area yet. Saturday, April 19 View Page Just need to add some temp south and southwest windbarrier and a few staples to hold the vine down. Already had first overhead sprinkling during warmest part of day and seemed to like it. The staples were added, just have to go finish the windbreak Saturday, April 19 View Page Heading from the 'safe turf' corner from patch to tomato bed to move sprinkler, sank down past ankle in soft then hit the hardpan and SLID like it was ice and middle of winter. THAT is what ended the work, my back and legs did NOT take kindly to that big of acrobatics. I didn't have all the stepstones in yet.... Saturday, April 19 View Page About three pm, all the critters had staked out somewhere in the shade... this is Newton my yardcat doing that 'too warm to do anything but snooze' dead discarded fur pose. Wait until July when it hits 100 every day... Sunday, April 20 View Page The fiberglass rectangular pond thingy. Hubby was letting me know that I put up a fence in his way and other things. He was lying down, I put it on the four wheel platform dolly we have, lined it up, picked up my end and pushed. Oh the fencing was some lightweight wire flowerbed stuff, I took what I needed to down. He showed up after it moved... I'm not mad, but he better give me some slack about the iris bed prep. (where it used to be now houses an iris bed, I have to make a new one) Sunday, April 20 View Page Rebel swamp. I had to run the 'stuck' wave waterhead to keep Fat Fred cool and made so it would hit the cucurbitaceae waiting for their planting... and it got rather past soupy in that low spot. By Tuesday I should have a mister, imported from Amarillo, to keep FF happy. Oh, and it hit 87F today with 27mph wind, gusting to 37, and 3% humidity. Yep. Dropped from 85F and 22 with 28 gusts and 5%. Our winds suck the moisture out of everything. Where I watered lawn today it greened right up. Sunday, April 20 View Page Fat Fred is making vine, and needs to keep putting on leaf. I have one male flower about to open, so I'm going to go emasculate it tomorrow (remove the male flowers, that's all it put out it looks like, right now) and convince it to put more energy on getting bigger and toss enough vine to place that paperweight where I want it in the patch. Tomorrow is also finish adding about six wheelbarrow loads to the amended mound, and start fixing the trailer to go haul horse manure compost and bring the bed up to make the hill be not such an elevation. Despite rumors, that hill is NOT the highest elevation spot in Boise City! Sunday, April 20 View Page Apatosaurus stomped through here? No, me about spraining my entire body and pulling what didn't sprain yesterday in the soupbog I made out of the tomato patch yesterday. I have since rounded up more walk stones and pavers and fixed my dilemma. Sunday, April 20 View Page I did midwifery tonight, dug carefully through all the Grower Club pots and helped deliver stalled leaves on tiny plants. This is one of the seed cases I split off something. Sunday, April 20 View Page One of the two 1018 Langevin '07 that definitely bought the big one. This was NASTY and I did some 'selective breathing' too in case it smelled. This was slimy, that ugly blackish rotty color on the outside and the consistency was blegh. This picture is about five magnitudes nicer than being with the real thing. I had a Young 1009 that didn't look good and a few I have to check in another day. Most should green right up tomorrow. Sunday, April 20 View Page A picture of a few of the Grower's Club stuff. I am going to start some more tomorrow, out of 12 I had one definitely DOA, one maybe, two that need another day to be looked at again, and one (275 Holmes '07 which is the Don Young 934 selfed) that lost one cot leaf being birthed. I think that one will be okay but I am going to put one more in on the replant. I think I have another 1009 Young and am going to start one more of that one too. Monday, April 21 View Page Example of the great greenup today. Official count, 8, and the one leaf 275 Holmes (934 Young x self) is doing fine. I have declared the one of the 1018 Langevin and the 1009 Young DOA There is a 588 Young and and Est 400 Langevin that are still plump and working on it. Monday, April 21 View Page Fat Fred has wires crossed. That male is going to be amputated early morning as will most of the others. There is ONE female to the left there, and it's way way way too close to the stump. Surgery tomorrow. :( I assume most of this crop is from early stress. Vine is growing and the leaves past the first few here at the stump that haven't been stressed or bugdeath sprayed look gorgeous and got some square footage today. I think this one is a contender, the Langevin that can replace it is just up so it has about a week to show me it's got what it needs to. Tuesday, April 22 View Page A couple of the replacements soaked and popped into the sproutenator... made from an old FerroRocher candy box.. Tuesday, April 22 View Page Fat Fred bloomed. I removed this male flower and 7 others (all males)as they are too close to the main. I had a nice little chat with it about GROWVINED*MM*T and put on a female about out there.... Tuesday, April 22 View Page Shot of all that pollen. When I cut this a little beelike creature was in there and it nicely LEFT when I came to swipe the flower. Tuesday, April 22 View Page 14 of the tomatoes in, with their Golden Guardian marigolds to chase nematodes. Last year I just used 'french' and could see a difference so this year I'm using one of the ones bred for nematode busting. I still have several posts to set, then about 36 more plants to get in (some get cages some get stakes) Tuesday, April 22 View Page This is about the best looking one of the starts that were pot/dirt started, seeded the 14th. On Sunday the 20th I intervened, dug them all up and deseedcased anything viable and trying. I call this day two... Tuesday, April 22 View Page Just because his daddy asked, here is the Holmes 275 who lost a leaf in the decasing and is still doing fine. I thought it looked fine enough yesterday to start one more in the backup start. Wednesday, April 23 View Page No pic day, spent most of it on sick list, I did something to my legs. I hate spending day in bed. Out in greenhouse the eight sprouties are making more like pumpkins and I see the barest start of first true leaf on two of them. I'm hoping to get the soak/blotter start ones into pots tomorrow, c'mon and sprout! Fat Fred is making side vines, tomorrow it gets a pail of tea, and it should explode with leaves I hope. Thursday, April 24 View Page Busy day and going to be long... this is the sproutenator treasure this morning. The back six are the dubious texture and light Palcic 102's... the front four are raring enough to be tucked into dirt, though I still wonder about the 588 Young (The first one didn't take off, this is the round two replacement/backups) That 804 Carlson '02 is doing like a champ... (fat lower right) Thursday, April 24 View Page This one I deem ready to go to grower tomorrow, this is about the size I wanted on the bottom end. We have a cold Sat and Sun night predicted so most are being told to plant Monday, and I will hold them until then. They are in gallons and that will be about the latest I want this batch to be held! Thursday, April 24 View Page Biggest jumping spider I've ever seen and really bleeping early in the year! I am not exaggerating, 1.5 inch leg spread as it was sitting there (3.75cm). Really put a crimp on me wanting to work on the back half stuff that needed watering or stand at the bench where I started the pumpkins (the grower's club plants are all being held in the same area that Fat Fred was started in) Thursday, April 24 View Page This one had 'tude, best shot I could get, it looks JUST like someone telling someone else 'you're #1 you #2' in sign language with folded hand and everything... That is the extra 275 Holmes I started btw... (Rodger, I told you your babies had 'tude... must be something Don Young fed their mama, heh :) ) Thursday, April 24 View Page The DOA 1009 Young. There is a particular SMELL you miss with these, I say first whiff is like a faint bit of uncapping a brand new fat black marker... I've filed it in olfactory memory to mean 'funeral dirge, this one's toast' ... Saturday, April 26 View Page One of the Grower's Club first rounds. It was perfect for going into ground today except the wind has been trying to send us all to Texas and it's supposed to truely freeze tonight. It got close last night and tomorrow night might be close too. I have several coming to get theirs Monday and then plant same day... Saturday, April 26 View Page Second 275 Holmes (934 Young selfed) Those have been strong starters, and this is one of the second string starts aiming for next weekend planting. Saturday, April 26 View Page The other 275 Holmes that got midwifed on April 20th and replanted without the seedcase. It lost one leaf/cot in the decasing but the one that is there is doing the job just fine! The previous one got midwifed the 25th even though I did soak/germ/partly decase/plant... I had to go in after it anyway and help it the rest of the way. Saturday, April 26 View Page A little dark but that is the 694.5 Palcic and about the strongest of the batch... I'm leaning for this one if I replace Fat Fred on Monday. We'll see how FF tippytoes through the third night of freeze on Monday morning. For noname seed it's been doing better than expected, but with about two weeks to setting fruit target, it may not be big enough fast enough.... Monday, April 28 View Page No pic, and pass the beer and kleenix. I did cover and everything, and I lost my entire garden last night. I didn't have everything planted out, but. I lost two dozen beefsteak tomatoes, my okra, all my cukes and melons and Fat Fred. It's not 100% frozen but. I am going to see if I can salvage a clone or part of it to restart with... After the last few days of should I take it out or keep it, decided to keep it, and Mother Nature decided for me. I have to go out and clean up everything and start over... I do have seed of most everything but I'll lose some time here this spring I did NOT want to. One major bummer day! Monday, April 28 View Page One more nopic entry... Fat Fred lost most of the big leaves and the main. Secondaries are strong and furling so. It has had a bit of surgery and clean up. It gets that corner, I'm having more patch carved out of what's left of the yard over there, and putting in the contender in another corner. It can have that bit there, and if it puts out a halloween pumpkin it did the job. I have restarted some of my melons and cukes, and what tomatoes didn't survive. Mother Nature sometimes reminds growers where they rank. And I'm rank tonight... So Fat Fred JUNIOR (the pumpkin plant formerly known as 1018 Langevin '07) is now the lunker-to-be. Sunday, May 4 View Page One reason I do NOT like wandering around after dark with 40mph/65kph winds trying to batten down stuff that I thought was nailed... I have done much work after yesterday's stumble, to resecure the yard so I don't break my neck on 2 am checks because something sounds like it blew into the fence (a resin lawnchair launched by 62mph/100kph winds into a cedar picket fence is LOUD) Monday, May 5 View Page This is Fat Fred after that freeze and surviving three more days of freezing or close to it; you can see all the cheap solar BTU heatsinks (I have removed about half, and the plastic and blankets) and removed almost all the frozen leaves. It produced another male flower 3' from the stump, and the secondaries are now taking off. It is now in retirement, still being watered, fed tea, and going to be set with a halloween pumpkin in a month or so. I can use a 'pedigreed' to set it, but it's still just here to make something orange for me. No I won't pull it, but it's no longer primary vine. Monday, May 5 View Page Fat Fred JUNIOR aka a 1018 Langevin. Still not terribly happy about being planted out yet... and it is on a 3" hill if anyone wants to know. I have another round of topdressing the soil which should bring it almost flat. It gets most of the enlarged patch now, growing from a corner across... Wednesday, May 7 View Page Fat Fred, and we got over a quarter inch of rain since last night. From 1 Jan to 6 May we had .53 inches; or so far under normal that it was aiming to break the low recorded in the last century... everything turned so GREEN out there. I am emptying those bottles, a few every day, to water it. Wednesday, May 7 View Page Fat Fred JUNIOR, aka a 1018 Langevin. Going to get first slurp of tea tomorrow, I think the batch will be ready. FF is staying mostly on the hill area where it was planted, and that end of the patch, to grow a halloween pumpkin. This is going to be one of my paperweight growers planted in the far corner and getting all the patch it can claim... Wednesday, May 7 View Page Frederica, aka 1009 (John)Young ... last one planted, across the patch from Junior. On to grow that axlebreaking 'Oklahoma Paperweight'!!! Thursday, May 8 View Page Fat Fred Junior not terribly happy but remounded. I listened to their Unka Don and buried the stem a little deeper and gave them another layer of secret yummies and topped it with patch dirt. Wind shifted so after this I moved the portable windbreak to protect from the angle I took the shot from. (1018 Langevin, btw) Thursday, May 8 View Page Frederica, also remounded and not too happy at the moment about the wind. I erected a temp barrier after this shot. This one is being sent towards Junior, from the opposite corner of the patch. Fat Fred is about 60 degrees to the right yet and off the patch edge. It gets that sorta corner up there, to have enough space to give me that halloween pumpkin. Frederica here, (1009 (John) Young) is to fertilize the Langevin. Thursday, May 8 View Page Fat Fred, about 58 days old, and coming back well. See the bottles are leaving... I know it should have taken over the world. It's duty is to give me a female flower someday (it has given me ten male so far) and put out that orange thing for my deck for halloween. It has survived and earned a corner to do as it wants, and it gets fed tea along with the other ones. Thursday, May 8 View Page Secondaries, it is full of them. Fat Fred has blazed a way and is now a retired mascot of the grower's club. Lay off, please, I'm not pulling it, see Junior and Frederica for the contenders (and why I plowed more backyard and my hubby gets to mow with a weedeater now-as in there's no weedpatch (ahem, lawn) left) Sunday, May 11 View Page Nopic morning. I was seancing the next two weeks with the Weather Channel online stuff... looking very good; I started some serious patch and garden work. I RESET 14 steel posts that were meant to be tomato stakes, and. Saturday the 10th I check again like I have been for long enough to trust things are going to hold... 37F? Sudden downgrade. I have just gotten in because the temp drop is 'under glidepath' for their hourly estimation and at 2:43 am I have covered everything to the best of my ability. I just *SO* love stumbling about in the pitch black with a microlight in my teeth covering stuff. Of course all three vines get tucked in if I think it's going under forty farenheit... my sensors say 31, I say it's about 34 by feel, and Weather Channel says 39 and heading for 35. Sigh. Monday, May 19 View Page I've had some health woes so I've been laid out; between that and 90's lately, trying to keep up with the patch has been all I could manage. Here is one of the 275 Holmes that got left in the sproutenator and I went to clean it up on the 17th or about 5 days after I took the 265 Palcic out... and found this monster. I helped the seedcase off a little and it is up vigorously and going to a home tomorrow... Monday, May 19 View Page Fat Fred tonight, the 19th, showing a female after 14 males... there are three males a tiny bit smaller. I'm going to do the whole routine and bag this and the other and give it a try. After all this is just a halloween paperweight maker now... Now with the heat, FF is doing swimmingly as long as it's well watered, the other two need their shade cloth. I figure when Junior and Frederica make 6' of vine they'll be a lot more robust too... Wednesday, May 21 View Page Fat Fred is making such vine, it laid two over the main, here it is sorted and stapled and one of my hubby's soda cans to show how big... tomorrow is add about fifteen wheelbarrow loads of dirt and the female can be seen bagged. Wednesday, May 21 View Page Boy on other side just showing me what color it is, will open tomorrow. As of the 21st, is 77 days old. I think it recovered well for being frosted, and the secondaries, it is now going all over. I need to amend and raise things and make it a place to sprawl now that it is. Wednesday, May 21 View Page Girl, all dressed up for the morning. Okay, I was lazy and the beaded organza bags were all I could get quickly... Whether or not this one takes I'm going to probably take it off because it's wayyy too close, just want to see if I can get a hand pollinate to set. Wednesday, May 21 View Page Frederica, the 1009 Don Young. We have had h*ll for wind, heat, cold, and no rain, so a lot of that is sunburn. New shadecloth covers are finally done and will get installed tomorrow. My tomatoes look worse. :( Not a good spring, we went from faking winter to hot summer in a week. Wednesday, May 21 View Page FF Junior, aka 1018 Langevin. Showing a bit of sun and wind burn, but now starting to take off. Tomorrow the new shade goes in and it should be a happier plant. It has been a rough tough season this year. Friday, May 23 View Page Fat Fred's girl, opened today and such a perfect five lobe! I harvested the boy yesterday and refrigerated it because they just HAD to be out of synch. Friday, May 23 View Page Male flower looks fresh enough yet, so I went ahead. Friday, May 23 View Page Deed done and a bit of bindweed vine to tie it... I have no shortage of weeds this year! Sort of anticlimatic, two minutes and either I have a pumpkin or not, will know in two days. I went in the house and killed the last of the good chocolate (ferrero rocher) in the 'afterglow'. My right for playing 'matchmaker' AND 'bee'. Heh. I also installed a lawnchair over it for shade to give it a chance to set... the vine and leaves are too thick to think of me getting anything in there to chill the bloom down... it's had enough of frost this year IMHO. Wednesday, June 4 View Page More pics to come... Fat Fred is giving me lots of practice in how to bag and set fruit (been doing so and removing the close in females, has a nice one ready to bloom in a few days at 11', that one it gets to keep) and currently adding 18" a day. Fat Fred Junior (the 1018 Langevin) is full of small male flowerets and laid down and starting to stretch for that way... Frederica (1009 Young) is also laid finally and starting to go the other way. They may be the largest 'grower club' plants, we have meeting the 9th and I'll find out. Also scored some Merit-cousin, IN town, in bag. Have to determine now what to do and how to do it, concentration is a little less but it is the correct 'chemical' to kill with... SVB date is the 10th... Monday the 2nd was 105F with 5% humidity and wind at 37 gusting to 57 mph... it was a trial to keep everything from flash drying. FF flagged a touch, Junior did, and Frederica did NOT (I promptly put on the drizzle to cool them and all bounced back). Still goin' and growin' in the panhandle! Thursday, June 5 View Page I'm hit and going down... I caught something that looked like an SVB next to this just now, but it was solid black. My chemicals have just been shipped. Damn. I am certainly letting all those that are in the club know tonight, and I am even more going to let the county extension AND the U know they're WAY OFF. Tonight is a drinking night. :( Thursday, June 5 View Page Fat Fred... who's slated for a massive makeover tomorrow after everyone got a good laugh at my freakout. It was a truely justified freakout, and I admit, I'd hand out the brewski and laugh with you while you laughed at me. Phew. <blush> okay noted, rootnodes... Thursday, June 5 View Page This one is for the big black "M" on chat, Matt... hope you copied my address down, that one is the paperweight to be. Thursday, June 5 View Page Frederica... needs stapling tomorrow. (1009 Young) Thursday, June 5 View Page Fat Fred Junior, aka 1018 Langevin. Also 99% staying down and needs to be stapled tomorrow... Monday, June 9 View Page This one's for you, Matt. 99# to go... Fat Fred is doing Mommy rather well. Monday, June 9 View Page Fat Fred halfways through the Max Factor. Tomorrow part of the festivities is fetching the wormcastings dirt and fixing this mound, and redoing that windbreak. Monday, June 9 View Page Fat Fred Junior (1018 Langevin) starting to do the 'grow' bit decently. Sounds like it may be the one of the longest of the grower club plants (I'm NOT afraid to water it) Monday, June 9 View Page Silly vine, it is doing 'shaddup' or something to it's own flowerbud... Tuesday, June 10 View Page Pictureless, though FF's pumpkin is much fatter today. I had to suit up, bought a brand new sprayer for the task, and mixed the chemicals the way VTJon told me to, and went around and sprayed club member's patches. The club bought the chemicals and the members are paying for the spraying for cost of chemicals this year. One patch, one small vine, the SVB crawled up the leaf and I smushed her d*mn*d little rear with my rubber chemical glove. Then got a small paring knife and removed her two contributions. PRICELESS, oh yeah! Disgusting, yes they have our address. Our official day is now the 10th so next year a potluck and round robin trip to go do everyone's patch (one mix gluck and everyone does their own spray)on the 8th. I sprayed too close to dark, morning means I get to see what's left of my three AND look for signs of SVB's. I hope I didn't just toast them, they are ALL looking so nice.... sigh... Wednesday, June 11 View Page Yahyah overkill, but the first official measure of the pumpkin Matt needs to fear. :) That fin is mine dude... Fat Fred is makin' punkin... Thursday, June 12 View Page First, the baby after moving. The tertiary to the left was removed, about 4' of it, and the two anchor node rootsets were cut off so the vine could be moved as well as the fruit. The fruit bearing secondary is now at a nice curve with the fruit angled off for lots of room then well beyond it a curve back for stress relief after it's buried. Blossom to stem=7", side to side=11", and circumference (tape just below blossom and just above stem to make it as even as possible)=16" Estimated 3 pounds. Tomorrow will be packing it's growshelf and putting sand down. It has a resin lawnchair until vine work is done then the shelter will be put on. Thursday, June 12 View Page Post 'Max Factor Makover' round I. Vines were untangled and draped other directions. Some need to right so are gently propped up. All 'unplanned pregnancies' were trimmed off. A few tertiaries in the wrong place were trimmed. (four between 3 and 4' long came off). Oh, the vines do cause me to have to take antihistimines... they are itch causers. My Beloved Hubby came out to help me move one vine too big to manipulate by myself. Tomorrow will be staking, final shifting, more dirt fill and bury nodes. This is one huge plant and getting huger by the minute.... Thursday, June 12 View Page Junior, being a perfect vine. No trimming, no untangling and no moving required. It got a close weeding and later I will unleash weedmayhem (saladmania) on the rest of the green carpet. At least my patch hasn't blown into Kansas yet because of it. Thursday, June 12 View Page Frederica, needed untangling and repositioning and has a split in the stump. If it gets worse, I just have to get this one to produce pollen, my hopes are pinned on Junior, the 1018 Langevin. (1018 Langevin x 1009 Young cross) Thursday, June 12 View Page This chapter is over. It was decided to take this one off and set on a better stronger vine (next one over) and further out. That will be in about three days. Postmortem: Blossom to stem=7" even Side to Side=11" even Circumference, under the blossom knob to just over the stem to even it out... =16" even. Estimated 2-3 pounds. By Post Office Scale, tared and reweighed twice, with 1" trim= 1 pound 12.4 oz Next shows the inside... Thursday, June 12 View Page Cut to show seeds and wall thickness. Thicker at blossom and stem ends, center has seeds and is sort of custard firm/soft. Smells like a zucchini, drier inside than expected. Stem did weep. Thursday, June 12 View Page Good view of the thickness at stem end, cavity was pretty solid all the way through with the custardy stuff. Next pumpkin pic in about five weeks. Next vine over is getting the honors and is better placed. Vines rolled back up after being moved after about 4 hours, so more work in rearranging possible. I think I can SEE it growing with more sun and air.... I bag the female in three days. Heh. Tuesday, June 17 View Page Three pm and three red tags on weather channel... one severe storms... severe thunderstorm watch and warning... golfball sized hail reported, and you animate the radar and big ugly intense red patches are bearing down on you. I took my tarp collection and a roll of 12 gauge electric fence wire, and the last three steel fenceposts and I rigged up some hailshields... this is FatFred with the queenvine and the backup gently rolled back up, and Frederica to the right with her own tarp. Oh, I set FF this morning too, the chosen female about 12' out. I did these two, Junior, and the front deck in just over an hour as the rain started. THAT mess split and went south and north but we could still get nasties. Tuesday, June 17 View Page This one shows the far corner with Junior also covered. The closest one is Frederica (1009 Young) and Junior is the 1018 Langevin (who has started making male flowers) and Fat Fred off there, rolled up to sorta huddle under my 10x12.... I will have serious redos in the next few days to hold shadecloth and 'quickie tarping' if needed and build the first pumpkin shader... sigh. Tuesday, June 17 View Page Monday's pick. Boys. Fat Fred. This is a daily amputate. I let it bloom them instead of taking off the buds. It's in the mood. Yes that's my front deck and in front of my front door. Wednesday, June 18 View Page Pics to come. Fat Fred has three vines at 15-17 feet, and taking out 'spaces' not filled in, is estimated at 400 square feet now. Two vines have 'contenders' set and have been placed out to a nice curve to drop onto the patch. Ran out of potmix on today's 'stake and bury' session, more soaking. Fat Fred Junior, the 1018 Langevin is at 7' and sassy, some strong secondaries also staked and buried now for taking charge of the patch; and about 3-4 dozen baby male flowers removed. It bloomed two I didn't catch, and had them all over the place. Frederica the 1009 Young is also at 6-7' and has one strong secondary almost as long. No blooms but was trimmed of all buds for now and unfortunately has a split at the stump; it will probably be only asked to grow some male flowers to pollinate the 1018. It is hot, it is weedy and I have the cool off sprinkling going right now too. At least our local paper will take some plant/patch pictures, to show where all the growers are at. Next SVB spray is on Friday-I will take my nice camera then and get some to show off our potential... Wednesday, June 18 View Page Junior, aka the 1018 Langevin, with a makeover and 7' of main and every male bloom I could find taken off. It was prolific! Those are feed tubs I use them for auxillary wind shields...and I move them daily now. Wednesday, June 18 View Page Fat Fred partly redone, and the weeds mostly finished. Early AM I will finish that bit and the feed tub of potmix will finish off the vine and node burial. One 5 gallon pail won't do one vine... I am handpulling the weeds to make sure I get the roots. The two vines right up front at the bow, the one on the left is 17' and the one on the right is 15', the left has a pumpkin at 14' and the right at 12'. One gets the clear area to finish growing. Wednesday, June 18 View Page Only one I took of the 1009 Young, it has a main just under 7' and the secondary coming around to the right is almost as long. This one has a split at the stump, but just has to produce pollen for the 1018 and a few other grower's vines. Yes, I still have serious weed abatement around this one. Thursday, June 19 View Page Fat Fred, some more vines buried, and another 3' of weeds evicted. No joy in my patch, to the left I picked up a stepping rock and seen an SVB crawl. I did lay chemical and do the stomp and I hope that one is smeared! Tomorrow is day 10 and a full sprayday. FF has hit 20 feet on one vine... and tomorrow before spray I have a couple of far side vines to deal with, they decided to grow into the windbreak fence (and my pond is 3' on the other side, I can't let it go that way... ) Merit/Bifen during the twilight hours....sigh. Thursday, June 19 View Page 1018 Langevin aka Junior... looking fine. Grew at least another 8" today if not more, did not tape it. Chair is regular adult sized resin lawnchair... Thursday, June 19 View Page 1009, all the stalks are this color. Leaves look good and not too dark and not sicky color either. I'm wondering about if a bit too much stuff got concentrated during tilling in this spot. I'm going to try a few days of let it dry out in that corner, I got it a bit boggy wet yesterday so that tomorrow night spraying would be about right if we had a day in the 90's (which we did not today). I am going to try to dig a drain trench as near there is a low spot. Anyone else have an idea, please let me know... Friday, June 20 View Page Just melting like usual, we have over 50% humidity at 10:30 am and 73F, I feel like I am going to puddle in my shoes. Last pic: Talking to VTJohn, he says all his 1009's come up yellow... and throw a nice ORANGE pumpkin. So another one to file away. Humidity should burn off in a few more hours and I will be able to stand it... wind is at a good enough clip the vines shouldn't have issues either, don't need fans here! The picture is for Bohica (Tom), this is a yesterday's shot, both pumpkins I set on FF look like this which is what the one I cut off looked like at this stage. I think FF is into nice oblong ovaly ones... all the others I cut off at this stage, about 9/10 took and look like this, I've only found two aborts. That plant takes awhile to sort through, so I've missed some... I've got a nice curve on the vine on both of the contenders... it'd down to which one grows faster. IF I can keep up on the 987 blooms this thing starts every day! Monday, June 23 View Page Me and Fat Fred on Sunday the 22nd, just before I sprayed a gallon of *DIE*SVB*DIE* on it. Not all of it is in the picture. I had earlier weeded and pared off all the unplanned pregnancies and all the female blossoms-to-be that I could find... those stems cut like custard, so gentle was the operating word. All the fruits I cut off are showing a nice perfect ovally shape so that seems the tendency of this vine. This picture's going in our paper on Wednesday if there's room... I took pictures of everyone's plants in town; and am forwarding them to the paper as asked. Oh, I'm standing right about where I smashed that little b*tch two days before as well.. As for the other plants, Junior (1018 Langevin) is starting to show females, I will be paring those now as they set farther out the main which is over 8' and still going; and Frederica (1009 Young) also showed a female at about 8'. It looks good for placement in another week to let one grow up and blossom right on schedule for fertilization 5-10 July for the Weigh-In. Two other grower vines will be a little short but have females in time I think; we will see. Tuesday, June 24 View Page Not any great shakes, estimated one pound, and one week since pollen swished. This is the one Matt has to worry about, all it has to do is 100#. So it's not a basketball and swelling that fast... but. It is looking nice and doing better than the one I carved off earlier. Thursday, June 26 View Page Two days and 2# gain. Yes this is only ancient FF, and the fruit should be basketball sized instead, but. 11.5" S-S, 9" stem to blossom and 18" circumference. Estimated three pounds. If it picks up in the next few days (which I hope it will) then I have a chance of making Matt pay up. Heh. Thursday, June 26 View Page Foursome, mostly (L to R) an abort well after two days after fert-notice half of it near blossom end changes color and has a dull appearance; a misform like one lobe didn't fertilize and it's starting to abort; a nice round BIG'ol bloom (pedigreed, this was a real sneak) and a FF oval fruit bloom (also a sneak). The last two show the difference in what your fruit is going to form like... BigNroundNsolid versus oval and longish. Thursday, June 26 View Page The leftmost one, the one that aborted late, a close up. I set three pumpkins and this was the one I wanted because of placement so of course this is the one that aborted. There is one at about 2# and the one pictured at 3# left, I'm trying to get every other female before they bloom now. Before they show yellow petals even. Before they're as long as my thumb. In another few days I will probably take that other off... Friday, June 27 View Page FF, again. Since yesterday 11.5 to 13" side to side, 9 to 10" end to end, and 18.75 to 22.25" No, not vatloads for the age but. Growing well considering and I'd say the big black M (Matt) should worry. That is if I get past skunks, tree rats, hail, and other things. It's still amazing to ME to be able to tape it and definitely have some change. Junior (1018 Langevin) is looking GOOD and both females are at 11' on the main and 8.5 on a good strong secondary; about thumb length and right on schedule for the attempt to set in early July. Frederica (1009 Young) has just one, but it's about 11' out on the secondary (trust me, the main is about 8' and I cut the female off it, I swear this secondary must be doing something when I'm not looking) and about the same age, right on time for a chance. I am looking for the main to hopefully present when the tip cluster that's there stretches in the next two days. When they look close I will wade FF and pare off EVERY bloom so no chance of sneaky bees then bag these two fair pumpkins... It's 100 and the patch is still soggy. There's a touch of flag in FF but I am letting patch dry out and when the sun gets around a bit of relief sprinkle only. Relief promised this weekend, mixed bag, days in the high eighties and chances of ugly thunderstorms. pbbht Saturday, June 28 View Page Nopic night. FF is really making pumpkin, despite her age. 25 June, 27, 28 June. Side to Side 11.5, 13, 16 inches End to End 9, 10, 12 inches Circumference 18.75, 22.25, 27.5 inches It's starting to GROW! Now barring varmits and weather, estimated at 5#... even my hubby is coming out to look at it! The others are looking GOOD and right on the groove for next week. Oh yeah, and getting car to run on Monday for next round of SVB spraying. blech Sunday, June 29 View Page A set of bloom pics to help out. This was on FF on Saturday the 28th, male to left, female on right, and pop can for size. First few blooms on this plant were much smaller, a good sized plant will put out bigger flowers. If you hunt on my diary you will find one of FF's first male flowers and you can see how much smaller it was. Next ones show ready to bloom male and female... Sunday, June 29 View Page Male on the 1018 Langevin. If you look you can see two knobby tips or lips, just barely separated. It has also turned a few shades lighter than the green of leaves still curled in a growing tip. If you look you also can see the straight thinner stalk. (this glarfed on submitting, I may have to wait to find out if the female picture posted before this) Sunday, June 29 View Page A different female on the 1018 Langevin. By size, I'd say another day or two, even though the top has 'opened' because of size AND the color of the future petal part (still too green) Sunday, June 29 View Page Freddie, or Fat Fred's pumpkin. Being able to put the soda can on TOP the pumpkin to pose.... the first time.... priceless. Sunday, June 29 View Page Repost of the female on the 1009 Young that did not work (something fouled up). If you look at the very tip you can see it starting to separate. This was taken about 5:30 pm and I noticed it about 3:30 pm (subtract two hours for local noon, we are too far west in time zone and it's daylight savings). The bloom is also a little less green than the leaves still furled in the growing tip, another clue it's getting ready to bloom. The vine is normal, VTJohn confirmed his 1009 produces that YELLOW, and the leaves are normal healthy 'pumpkin plant leaf green'. I bagged, unbagged to take the pic and rebagged. Monday, June 30 View Page Female in bag, she was closed and I sort of lifted the end of the bag and she popped right open. Young 1009 right on schedule. Monday, June 30 View Page Male, 1018 Langevin, again I let some of the slight pressure off by lifting the bag end and it popped right open. Monday, June 30 View Page Male, if you look carefully the pollen is on the middle none spilled on the petals. Ready to go. Monday, June 30 View Page Male with petals removed and loaded with pollen, perfect for using.... Monday, June 30 View Page Same male after, note the pollen is GONE... Monday, June 30 View Page Female after, you can see pollen everywhere. I also found a female on the 1018 Langevin and crossed it to the 1009 Young, so both have one on. Tomorrow the Langevin will have the second one set, and it'll be a few days yet before the Young will be ready with the second set on that. Tuesday, July 1 View Page Der Zepplin! Freddie is 21.75" side to side, 17" end to end and 37.5" circumference, at 14 days since I swished the pollen. I gave up on my grand pyramid I was going to put 'cover the pumpkin with tarps against hail' wires on and just went for quick (surprising how 95F/35C and BLAZING sun tends to make you want to go in!) And. The chunk of mill fabric I ordered was more than big enough to give me enough to grow a few hundred pounds of pumpkin on so I installed that too. Yesterday to today was 4" of circumference, so it must be getting SOME poundage. It is also being tweaked over a fraction a day to give vine/shoulder clearance; I've made about 10 degrees improvement so far. As it gets bigger I doubt I'm going to get much more... it should still make it to the target. When growth tapers off... I'll sever and lug to scale. I'm gonna win!!!! (barring varmits and hail of course, as well as blowing it) Yeah I have discovered, do not touch except with padded cotton balls, it has a few scars. Skin is EXTREMELY fragile. Pretty doesn't matter, it's tonnage! FF only shows age where I got a little too much antiSVB spray on old leaves near the stump (going around the plant and spraying), she's pretty spry and got lots of shiny lovely cupshaped leaves yet. I also had to rebury a few moved vines that had just started to put in roots, and severed a few tertiaries (remember FF is all secondaries) in bad spots. She lost about 10' of vine and doubt it'll even notice. Set second on the Langevin 1018 today and the next one on the Young 1009 is showing on tip, so they are both right in the 'window' for setting for fair. The two I set yesterday look good, (one on each, crossing them to each other) can't WAIT for them to start outdoing Freddie. Thursday, July 3 View Page Freddie, one more day and it'll be 'on the tape'. Tonight's vitals are 26" ott, 21" end to end, and 45.5" circumference for a grand total of 92.5". Considering age of fruit, no great shakes, considering age of 'generic vine' AG, wonderful, and I figure in 7-14 days it'll be more than big enough to win the bet. It's starting to flatten like a big fruit, so even if it's the chihuahua in the pack it at least is acting like a pumpkin. The Young 1009 at three days looks like it took (crossed with 1018 Langevin) and tomorrow I will sever a leaf and prepare it a place to land and re-arrange the vine for it. It has a lawn chair shade for the day.... Both of the 1018 Langevins look good (crossed with 1009 Young) at 2 and 3 days, and also need some leaf trim and vine arranging. The other 1009 is a few days from bagging yet, I'm setting two per plant then will trim at ten days and toes crossed I'm past abort then. The three day old are bigger than tennis balls quite handily and just starting to 'drop'. The two day old is between golf and tennis ball and still up. Also put in one more bale of potmix to soak and got more humis. Two soon to be spoiled vines coming up. Oh, and last night we got rain, enough for officially "trace". I actually could dump some rain out of the gauge. Saturday, July 5 View Page Almost six inches across and perfectly formed... a dream flower... culled because of where it was. On Fat Fred... One version says Freddie is 33# and another 46#... so. Another two weeks should finish the bet. Vitals OTT-107.5, SS 30.5", EE 24.5" and Cir 52.5" ... The others are looking good... waiting for 10 days... and one I'm waiting to set yet on the 1009 Young. I've pared off one on the Young, set two on the 1018 Langevin (4 and 3 days) and set one on the Young this morning. The Langevin I will probably remove one tomorrow. Monday, July 7 View Page A keeper on the 1018 Langevin at 5 days. Leaf pruned to let it finish the fall, and need to coax it around and build it a punkinhilton. I just pollenated one on this and have another at 4 days that is going to be removed because of how it's 'parked' and shape/form. The 1009 Young has a 5 day old similar size, possible keeper, pollinated one this morning, and a two day old selfed on the other side that is looking wonky and going to come off. (I did it to demonstrate to someone). Freddie is at 120" OTT and at 58" circumference this morning will definitely 'fill out a tape' (60") by tonight. It also is at the end of the first column of the Stellflug OTT Chart. Happiness is filling a tape and needing to go to the next column. Ectasy and kegger party is when you fill that 18' tape! Day 20, should be enormous but should be done in two weeks. THEN that vine has to leave, I need the room. 124 days and doesn't look a day over 70... heh. Monday, July 7 View Page Digging around, and resettling stuff near Freddie, look between tarp and leaves and lookit the little unplanned pregnancy three feet from Freddie. In the ONE spot in the patch impossible to see between punkinhilton, stand for sprinkler, and all that other stuff. Taped to 56" OTT and estimated by Freddie's numbers to be 11-12 days old. I prowl that vine daily for sneakies but this one takes the cake. Freddie ended tonight with SS 35", EE 28" and Cir 60"!!! It filled a tape! It graduates to the Langevin 18' now. Critical OTT, 123 or 48.6# heh Raining right now, light bits, and seen three tiny hailstones before it cooled off... a bit of rain would be wonderful. Tuesday, July 8 View Page Females? 6" across and sassy-as-h*ll. Too bad it was 4' from the stump on my 1009 Young. Like going braaaappppph! with thumbs in ears waggling fingers. Why don't they look like that at 14' ? Tuesday, July 8 View Page Day 6. 1018 Langevin x 1009 Young. Vitals, 11" side to side, 6.5" stem to bloom, and 14.5" circumference. Swelling NICE and looks perfect. It got a new shelter and a piece of mill fabric, I found pillbugs near it and wanted to keep them (bleeps) away. 5x5' shelter, I could almost sleep under there except I'd slide too much on the mill fabric. Wednesday, July 9 View Page Nopic... Someone pointed out I'm measuring a bit wrong... so. Went and measured Freddie this morning... adjusted OTT of 147 and thus 77#. I can still compare circumference for my previous data but I was shorting my EE number. <blush> Means I'll be done in a few more days on clearing at least 100... today is day 21, btw. The first keeper on the 1018 Langevin is round and PLUMP and 7 days old. SS 12, EE, 12, circumference 16". Gained 1.5" at least (this is a morning measure I usually compare an evening measure) so this one is right on beam for keeper. Saturday, July 12 View Page Fat Fred's Freddie. Tonight by OTT and 2008 Stellflug chart, 161" or 99# It's slowing on gain and other signs that the vine may be ending and the fruit finishing. It's going to be taken to a trade certified scale in town instead of my bathroom scale, so an accurate weight can be done. Only 25 days but FF is 128 days and finally showing some age. The whole thing is it did it. 100# in sight. Saturday, July 12 View Page 1018 Langevin x 1009 Young, 10 days and 22.25" This is the secondary but took off very aggressively. I have an 8 day on the main at 18" even, so I might go for two on this one. This vine is really aggressively taking over the world right now and I think can do it. I trimmed the 1009 Young (x 1018 Langevin) down to 1 fruit only, on the main, and 18.25" tonight at day 10. I had two more but this one just isn't growing quite as fast. I mostly wanted a genetic and the nice orange color, so this one is pretty much set now except for some more training, burying and vine maintenance. Tuesday, July 15 View Page Nopic... Matt Winey and I have extended the bet to double or nothing and a 1427 seed... so Freddie goes about another ten days. He offered more but I need the patch space and... at 116# and 171 OTT today this looks possible. Plus I only have room for TWO vines... Wednesday, July 16 View Page Freddie, day 29, 47" ss 53" ee and 80" cir... OTT 180 and 134#. Gained 9# the last few days, each day. Made arrangements to weigh and paper wants pic, and the gal is also a notary so we will have official weight. One of the big sponsors of our weigh-OFF, is one of the banks, and they are going to display Freddie for a few days to a week after harvest. Guessing I will sacrifice on the 28th to make sure I'm over the mark yet we can still move it with 4 of my neighbors, hubby, and myself. Wednesday, July 16 View Page 1018 Langevin #2, the one I dinged with the chair shortly before I got stung the second time. 33.25" and now the keeper, it's I think 11 days ..still fixing a few wonky bits of my paperwork (1018 Langevin x 1009 Young) Will be paring the other one off in two stages tomorrow. Wednesday, July 16 View Page 1018 Langevin #1 (1018 Langevin x 1009 Young), with where the tarp collapsed and a leaf got in there too, rashburn and sunburn. It was a little ahead of #2. Day 14, 29.5" to be culled tomorrow. I will cap off the rebar with a bit of pvc pipe as I will NOT mine that out of there until I take the patch out. I will cull by half cut/half cut as Pap suggested so as not to blow the #2 (now called Ding) Wednesday, July 16 View Page 1009 Young #1 (1009 Young x 1018 Langevin) at day 14. Called Wart for obvious reasons. 31". This one had two set and I've already culled the other I put on the secondary as backup. It has not been as vigorous a grower so far as the 1018, but it is doing fairly well. No it is not touching anything and tomorrow I will finish my rearrange this vine and put up the shelter. Yesterday was a pretty bad session, and I took today off mostly to try to recuperate. Thursday, July 17 View Page Cull, day 15, 30.5" cir... gained an inch a day the last three... my 1018 Langevin #1. Solid bugger... it was showing full sized seeds at the stem, and a very thin wall on the blossom end... and more seedlet pips to come. My scale is ailing so I had no way to weigh it. Thursday, July 17 View Page From center to blossom end, and you can see the blossom end on pumpkin. This one may have a thin end later on too, I will watch the set one for this problem (1018 Langevin #2, this is the culled #1 set, at 15 days) Thursday, July 17 View Page This one shows pretty much how thick the stem end was to the blossom end... again I am going to have to watch this vine for blossom end problems. (1018 Langevin) Thursday, July 17 View Page Shows how the lobes cluster and toss the seed nibs, and how it resembles a watermelon or cucumber in the form in the fruit. I never guessed they were this solid for this long... (1018 Langevin, 15 days old) The #2 is 38" at 12 days!!!! or gained 5" since yesterday (circumference). The 1009 Young, at 35.5" cir today, or gained 4.5"... Freddie had a slow day, only 6# gain, versus two days at 9 and 1 at 10, and three at 8 for the last week.... I will see what the morning brings for that one. It is at 140# and 81" circumference tonight. Thursday, July 24 View Page Just for VTJohn... July 22, day 20, 1009 Young x 1018 Langevin (to be) on the 1009 Young. 54.5"cir, 132.25 OTT, and 58# est. It is oranging but it's hard to see under a blue lit up tarp. Going to be very pretty and round. The younger one on the 1018 Langevin is turning into a big blocky blob, but boy is it growing. This one is going to be my pretty pumpkin and is more a genetics cross. Friday, July 25 View Page Freddie did some incredible work, praying right now it isn't about to blow or that it did... it defined out like a weightlifter doing that 'huuungh' bit and flexing all the muscles. I crawled under here third and found I dumped water on it, so I whipped off the teeshirt and gently buffed every crack and crevice dry... (hubby had entirely too much mirth on that). Tonight 56.5" ss, 59.5" ee, and 91.5 cir... OTT 207.5 and by chart, 198.5# Wee.... Friday, July 25 View Page Endshot 1018 Langevin x 1009 Young... at day 20. Fat*ss it really has... it has the innie belly button bit too and rather pale. 42.75' ss 41" ee and 65" across the fattest part. Taking the artistic allowance for over the highest/widest bit... 148.75 OTT and 80# It is growing well despite it's blobbola shape. Friday, July 25 View Page Top view of the 1018 Langevin. This was the first one I slithered to and I didn't know where the soda can was so I put the pen on it... Friday, July 25 View Page Sideshot of the blobbo 1018 Langevin. Beauty is in the eye of the scale, as long as she doesn't blow... I posted these three for Dwight (eastkypumpkin) because he's also growing a 1018 this year... Friday, July 25 View Page The 1009 Young (x 1018 Langevin) My Cinderella pumpkin, it's a really pretty and round orange thing... I took measurements because I have to crawl through there to get from the 1018 over to Freddie... Day 23, 47" ss 44" ee and 66.25" cir, OTT 157.25 and 92#... gained 25# and 34# in three days... not bad at all! Friday, July 25 View Page Where is the pumpkin? Some of those leaves ARE 4' tall btw... Friday, July 25 View Page And you can only see a tiny bit. I had waded up to stand behind that fence post and bit of blue tarp on right, took a lemon sized just set/I missed pumpkin off the vine on that fence and looked down in there and seen it... I could touch and it was looking great. It was UNDER the vines and leaves, self shaded, and no stress and not touching the shoulders. I did clean out the weeds, spiders and hacked some vine so I can get there tomorrow and dig that post and pull that open and fix it up to be the backup for Matt's bet. If nothing else I promised a 6 year old grower in the club a pumpkin (turkeys trashed vine and softball hail two days later finished it--her mom was crying more than she did, I convinced both that that is what happens to even the big growers like the guy in the poster picture [Joe Jutras with the 1689] so they can try next year...) Saturday, July 26 View Page The picture is my two yardcats, usually only the front one (Copernicus or Cussuss the short haired) is there to have a running monologue while I am communing with the vines. I have an ERROR... Last night I reported Freddie at 207.5" OTT and 198.5#... which would have made a gain of 18.5# in one day which was far and above any growth per day it's ever shown. Apparently I had a tape twist or something on the SS measurement. Plus it was incredibly muddy and a real non-delight to go out there... so. Tonight it taped 53.75" ss 60" ee and 91.75" cir for 205.5" OTT and a total of 193# .. and for two days a gain of 13# is more in line with it's average gains. Phew. So Matt, have another day or two before it hits 208 OTT/200# and a few more for 217 OTT/225# which is what I'm aiming for in case it goes light. I DID get the far side windbreak fence peeled back and the nortside secondaries which have grown wild and free (four of them)cut back on that side, allowing me into the center of the patch and at the shelters more easily now... and a few more severed vines will allow a straight out carry of Freddie to the back gate and alley. I left those as they do provide late day sun shade to the shelter over Freddie. Sunday, August 10 View Page Freddie, Aug 10, morning, OTT 219.75, gained 2" in 6 days, was supposed to be harvested. Aiming for the 11th now. 234# est. Sunday, August 10 View Page 1009 Young, my 'on it's face' and currently the wunderpunkin... Day 39, OTT 233.25 and 276#. Only did 10 or a little more pounds for last 7 days but it was so blasted hot, I think it has had 15-20# days in there right after the rain. Sunday, August 10 View Page 1018 Langevin, day 37, the thing is a bell, a blobby bell. OTT 216" 222# est. This was outdoing the 1009 a week ago. Again, growth seems to be 9#, but I had three days of almost stall so guessing closer to 15. Hoping the increased kelp and another shot of humic will bring them along. Sunday, August 10 View Page Classic and perfect bend for the 1018 Langevin stem, the loop is in air and farther away it's blocked so it can fly. This vine has rubber in it, you can bend a young vine at blossom set extremely at 3 in the afternoon! Tuesday, August 12 View Page Nopic, those come later. Freddie was duly sacrificed, and lugged... Tape in patch before cut... OTT 220.5" est 235# On Scale, 211.4# Bottom was intact at time of lift and set on scale, all crevaces were inspected as well as all on underside. Underside had concaved and it may have lost weight by 'waiting' in patch since last week. No sign of break, split, munch or crack, no smell. 10% light Stem was carved to regulation length just before lift to scale. That cost me a suitcase of beer and $20... fact it went over, priceless. :D Thursday, August 14 View Page A few of the pictures that *I* have on the Freddie Finis... I am still waiting to get a copy of the paper gal's pics. This is me next to Freddie, I have just cut the vine on both sides and before we attempted to move it. You will see a digital bathroom scale in some of my pictures, I decided to do a weight in patch just in case. Yes I do have legs and I do have shorts, squatting like that makes me look rounder than I am. Top side of Freddie was carefully examined for any sign of soft spot or through cracking, we hadn't lifted it yet. Thursday, August 14 View Page Backside shot in patch. Being held up by 6' tall man behind it. This was also okay after I sponged the mud off it. We set it on scale three times to get weight, and got 217.2, 211.4, 215.8. I weighed 188.2, 188.2 and 188.8 on trying it myself. I did not take my camera for the rest so I have no pictures there. Their people scale showed me at a fraction over 188 (189 it went clonk, 188 it was above level). Three tries gave us 213, 215, 213... We winged the doorframe on the way out. Metal doorframe was fine. It went back to my place. Minor ding but enough with our heat that it wasn't going to last long. I took the lightest weight we got as official. Thursday, August 14 View Page I cut the mouth and extracted the seeds through it, the eyes I could put my fist through. It's night as the biggest jackolantern I've ever owned. Thursday, August 14 View Page During the cut up, a wedge showing the stem end. Bottom was similar, body was a solid three inches except where the dill cracks were. My hand is 3" at the knuckles/palm. Thursday, August 14 View Page A shot of the inside at a Dill Ring. Looks like a calcite formation in a cave crack to me. It had two sets of these. Monday, August 18 View Page Another exciting season of 'hideNseek Pumpkin' here. I have four on this vine, Fat Fred; two are visible here. I need to provide some for some of our junior growers that have lost vine or otherwise won't have one, as a halloween pumpkin only. You can see #3 and #6, (or the biggest and last one, respectively, #1 was culled and #2 was Freddie) here. I am really hunting for the last holdouts on this one, it's still trying to fill a roadside stand. Monday, August 18 View Page 1018 Langevin (x 1009 Young) in a break in the rain. Vitals, 61.5" ss, 64" ee, 103" cir for OTT 228.5 and est 261# on day 45. Dismal 5# day average but it's been cold and rainy for last several... emptying gauge every day, 18 Aug, 1.15", 17 Aug, 1.70", 16 Aug, .65", and 15 Aug, .65" for 5.15" or more rain since Sept '07 to 14 Aug. It is oranging a little now and not quite so bread dough color and showing a tiny bit of cantalope skin, so I still have hope on this one! Monday, August 18 View Page 1009 Young (x1018 Langevin) my on it's face wunderpunkin; day 47 and 70.5" ss, 67.5" ee, 112.5" cir, for OTT 250.5" and est 339. Not where I'd like this one to be, with average 8# gain but. Again I think it's the cooler weather and all the rain. It's looking good though and I retrenched today so this one stays dry... This one may be in the paper Wednesday with the Editor's granddaughter... Toes crossed between now and catastrophe OR another 300# and Oct 4th. My only real shot yet left for state record breaking... sigh. Going to be a long 6-7 weeks. Monday, August 18 View Page The other one on the 1009 Young also (x 1018 Langevin) that was an afterthought, been neglected, and taped est 211#today. That split is between stump and pumpkin, but. It will be harvested and hauled to the committment for the display pumpkin at the one sponsor. I am not worried about that split because the pumpkin is not a contender and leaving in the next day or two. Monday, August 18 View Page Here's to Pat Benner, the other OK grower trying to break the state record of 638#. The 460 Benner '08... nice looking even if it's a bit green :) I have some time yet but about 140# behind that... toes crossed. Friday, August 29 View Page Nopic. Season is ending. Growth has slowed, nights are getting iffy, Fat Fred & 1009 Young are losing leaves to age. 1018 Langevin is still going but. It backed off some time ago, eclipsed by the 1009 Young. No way am I going to make it to Oct 4th, so making plans to clean patch and remove pumpkins and start on fall work. Fat Fred, #3 est 250#, will be halloween pumpkin probably for myself. Is a 'pumpkiny' looking AG with good ribbing & nice dark orange color, but all fruits once they go over about 100# are showing dill rings. Seeds are being saved for handing out next season for those that want halloween pumpkins. #2 was the 211.4# that was selfed (Freddie), the 3,4,5, and 6, are open with possible for 1018 Langevin and 1009 Young as well. Healthy vine, got to be a huge plant, still trying to set fruit. 1018 Langevin x 1009 Young; this is fruit #2, 'Ding' (lawn chair clipped) that turned into pale blobby bell fruit with some cantalope texturing. Tonight at day 56, 69" ss, 66" ee, 112" cir, OTT 247" and est 325#. 4#/day for last 7. Vine still looks good though as do the leaves. 1009 Young x 1018 Langevin, day 58, 73" ss, 70.5" ee, 120" cir (FIRST one to grow INTO the 16' Langevin tape!) 263.5" OTT, 392#. 4#/day for last 7... This was supposed to be a genetics pumpkin. 1009 Young x 1018 Langevin #2, est 250#, this has the badly split vine above stem and is being 'stored on vine' for harvest the 7th or 8th. Backup, ended up being left on. Probably the prettiest one of the whole batch. I have crew rounded up, one young grower that is getting one for halloween, her dad and his buds are coming over to help tarp them out of the patch. They are going to the county fair, then most are being given to young growers that lost their vines and/or fruit from our grower's club. No orange jacket... and no state record... THIS year. Will post post mortem pics and final weights. Wednesday, September 3 View Page Nopic. Still getting 5# a day on the 1009 Young with almost nothing left of vine. Covered #1 (419# est) and #2 (unmeasured but probably a good 250#) and the 1018 Langevin (339#). Punkin Plucking scheduled for Mon the 8th, fellow's bringing his workbuddies after work because his daughter's going to get that #2 for halloween. (she's six) Punkin Lugging scheduled for morning of 9th, before the Tomato Weigh Off starts, live bodies to move the 1009 Young #1 and the 1018 Langevin in to the fair building as display/entries. Gag I have less than a week! Saturday, September 6 View Page Patch visit today, friend Gerry Snapp (has facilities our pumpkin weigh-off will be held at) with my 1009 Young #1, the #2 can be seen behind her. Ott 271.5" and est 426#. She came Thurs and couldn't take pictures, so I took some with my camera to share with her. She came back later that day with her hubby so he could see them too! Saturday, September 6 View Page Friend Gerry Snapp again with the 1018 Langevin. OTT 252" and Est 345# today. The 1009 Young #2 behind her in last shot... 223.5 OTT and Est 245#. That one goes to another grower's daughter who lost her vine, he and his work buds are coming over Monday to help lever all eight (found one more) out. FatFred vine #3 is est 250 taking 10% off, #4 130, #5 and 6, 70 each, #7, 35# Monday, September 8 View Page My better half contemplating the 1018 Langevin (left) and the 1009 Young #1 (closer to center) and the fact we had zero help show. Monday, September 8 View Page About what I look like somewhat combed up and no hat. Hubby didn't think I could sub a pumpkin for a bubble dance though. This is the 1009 Young (588 Young x 500 North) x 1018 Langevin (1450 Wallace x 1502 Wallace) that taped at 271.25 and still 426#. It sort of concaved belly so might go light. Monday, September 8 View Page Bottomside of the 1009 Young. It was solid all around and nothing hot. A few fissure lines at blossom end and the one you can see on the right, but nothing opened. If it was over 1000# they might have done so. Monday, September 8 View Page Me and the 1018 Langevin, taping 247.25 OTT, 326# Or about 100# less than the other one (Pumpkin Lite) I was trying to pose like my punkin babe and hubby had such an angle most of the shots looked obscene. Monday, September 8 View Page Backside of the 1018 Langevin. Poked and prodded, a funny dark crack was dutifully probed and found to be solid, near the stem. It also had a sink in the bottom, but that was not warm or mushy. Monday, September 8 View Page Me and the 1009 Young #2, est 253# (226.25") This is about the prettiest shaped and colored one in my patch. Not the brightest and really 'cinderella' like. Monday, September 8 View Page Hubby with the 1018 Langevin Left and the 1009 Young Right. He is a 6' and both pumpkins EACH weigh more than he does :) [they outweigh me too] Bet the fair in the morning won't be able to help me unload them... Monday, September 8 View Page Me with both, I'm 5'5" and there ya are, Glenn said I couldn't be a PunkinBabe unless I showed some leg. Furry left gam, thereya go. :) Wednesday, September 10 View Page Nopic. Pictures to come. County Fair, five entries, and 425 (taped 426 est) on the 1009 Young and 324 (taped 326 est) on the 1018 Langevin. They had to sit an extra day so they may have lost a bit but I'm still partying. I entered the Young and my hubby entered the Langevin. Young also got a blue and Grand Champion and the Langevin got a red (second). New PB! Saturday, September 13 View Page 425 Rebel, back on the trailer. (just emptied camera) 1009 Young (588 Young x 500 Northrup -finally got this right) x 1018 Langevin (1450 Wallace x 1502 Wallace)... for a genetics pumpkin this is nice size and had nice shape. Taped guesstimate off chart at 426# but sat two days. Thanks a LOT Glenn, okay, fine, I grow'em light. That close I don't quibble. :) Saturday, September 13 View Page 324 Rebel, the 1018 Langevin x 1009 Young. This one outgrew the other to about 35 days... the ribbons? First one was Blue and Grandchampion, blue only, paid $1.50. This one got Red or $1.00... I get bragging rights though and a lot of attention garnered for the P & T Grower's club and a lot of interest in growing next year. So, publicity and advertising=Priceless Saturday, September 13 View Page Pick of some of the Tomato Weigh-off entries on Sept 9th. One at the top was the 10.75 oz (305g) and bottom was the .25 (7g) entries... the postal scale could be seen at the top. The first three were the winning entries. Wednesday, October 1 View Page Nopic. I was going to wait, but I'll do this now and post our 11th weighoff stuff later. 1018 Langevin (1450x1502 Wallaces) x 1009 Young (588 Young x 500 Northrup) .. vine survived 105F and a lot of wind and didn't shut down as fruit was still in growth. Still going. Vine was VERY supple at blossom set, could easily manipulate into pretty severe curves to get away from fruit's future high shoulders. Fruit turned into pale blobby cantaloped bell thing. Growth backed off but everything in did at a point, looks like soil problem. This one did like to abort, it dropped the first fruit at about 35#, and a backup after this one at 8 days. Fruit had good wall thickness and smelled VERY fruity/cantalope and was very juicy, unlike most pumpkins. Taped 325# and weighed 324 two days after harvest and no vine enders to keep moisture in. Wall was good, seed production wasn't great and most sprouted! (especially sun side) from displaying for a few days. Was showing a few parallel to ground deep wall cracks inside (cauliflower/calcite knobby lined) at the blossom end. Would have probably split if it had grown aggressively, est 6-800 pound range. Would grow this seed (1018) again? No. Only fruit- 324 H. Rebel Wednesday, October 1 View Page Nopic. 1009 Young (588 Young x 500 Northrup) x 1018 Langevin (1450 x 1502 Wallaces). Second fruit again, first one wasn't growing well, and had a backup fruit left on vine (#3). Taped 426#, weighed 425# two days after with no enders. Vine grew well, had 'neon yellow' sickly color which grower said that line had, as long as leaves were looking okay (and they were great). Fairly supple, did have to take care to coax into curves. Fruit looks good, 'cinderella' with nice color and light ribbing, sort of a classic fatter than tall not quite wheel shape. Likes to go on it's nose and the blossom end will 'birdbath' a little. Good wall thickness, mine concaved slightly on the underside. Inside was 'sound' and reasonable seed production. Had some sprouting on the sun side. Was showing some fissuring especially one streak on one side parallel to ground but inside was solid. Good size for a genetics pumpkin with the est 250# growing on it as well. Downside is fruits like to go on nose, and the vine 'shut down' on me before season ended (weather was not cold or soggy enough) and leaves died off of natural causes (age) Would I plant the 1009 again? Yes. Very pretty pumpkin, well shaped, nice skin. If positioned right, would be a good chance of a Howard Dill Award. I'm definitely going to grow the 425 D. Rebel again, and after a long mull, debating if the 325 H. Rebel is worth dirt. The Wallace genes were crossed into the 1009, so I have more hope for that one; on skipping the end cracking. Monday, October 6 View Page This morning my house queen went to the vet for the big sleep. Mounting health and other issues and quality of life, it was time. She was with us for just a little more than fourteen years. She will be missed... I took this just before we gathered her up and took her in. Tuesday, October 7 View Page I got mad at my icky ol' hair and took a scissors to it, then got some sanity and went to friend hairdresser and had her buzz it even. I won't have to worry about fixing hair for awhile... next pics will be the weighoff, that had to be moved again. Final word is 18th October! Venue had an issue with the 11th... Saturday, October 18 View Page Post mortem, as my patch is awaiting further work for 09.. the P & T Grower Club based in Boise City and Cimarron County, Oklahoma... had their pumpkin weigh off. This was the heavy-hitter, the 228 Schwindt 08, grown by 11 year old Makenzie. Her dad is in the front end loader, and just about to remove the winner from the site. It is now on display a block and half away in front of his business. Grown on the 275 Holmes 07, which was the 934 Young 06, selfed. A great cool weather vine, it took off after our heat broke in August and went 'crazy'. (I didn't get any on scale pictures as I was running the scale, sorry) Saturday, October 18 View Page This was about 4' away from the 228 Schwindt, the 105 Smith. She owned the patch space, helped take care of the vine, and with permission entered this one. This was the senior division winner. The vine continued to try to set enough pumpkins to fill a semi, up to today. Saturday, October 18 View Page The rest of our participants, daughter and her mother grower, and all the other growers that entered. A big round of applause to everyone that tried despite the drought, wind, bugs, and other things this year. We all discussed how to get thousand pound plus next year... :) and that the '09 growing season began now... ! Saturday, October 18 View Page No pic and this might post before the pictures. I know I'm going to get flack about the two pumpkin entries off the same vine, but it was so muddled about who did the more work and who really should be grower, that we allowed under 'I have an extra you can take to Xweighoff' courtesies.... some things got changed so that won't happen again. Just my comment and I'm glad this year is in the can! C'mon 2009. Sunday, October 19 View Page Nopic, end of year. Club meeting results: Some rules adopted to prevent any more possible problems with pumpkin/vine growership/ownership and possible misunderstanding on class/category. Plan for merging with local garden club agreed on, both clubs could benefit the other, and worked up to present to the garden club next month. Patch visit round robin and soil sample bags passed out for an early week mass mail for starting on next year. Seedbank discussed as well as winter meeting schedule and possible fundraising activities for a better weigh off. Making trips to meet other growers and go to other weighoffs next year discussed. Meeting to be called when everyone's soil tests come back for what to do and how to do it, and a potluck. We're in '09 season! Been quite a ride and can't wait for next year! Good luck everyone. Friday, November 7 View Page Off my deck, "Pumpkin Row" for the approach for the candy. To the left, culls off of mostly Fat Fred that are 10-18 days old, and didn't get carved. I draped the 16' Langevin tape over them. To the right, two of Fat Fred's extras and the 241 Rebel off the 1009 Young x open, the #2 fruit. The 425 Rebel was the big sibling that was hand pollenated. Friday, November 7 View Page Better shot, the babies I got off Fat Fred after main patch harvest and cleanup, the yellow is the last hurrah of the 1009 Young after I took the 425 and the 241 off it and before I started full cleanup. The 1018 Langvin did one too but it cracked all over. Friday, November 7 View Page Center is the 241 Rebel off the 1009 Young (open). The other two are two of the Fat Fred vine laters, the #4 and #6. #3 had something eat into it after harvest and weigh, #5 and #7 were given to others. Monday, November 24 View Page Fully Legal AND Official, I'm now an Okie! This was a saga better not launched but. It even sorta matches the color of my car (Which is NOT rustoleum primer or Bondo!) Monday, November 24 View Page 241 Rebel off the 1009 Young x open that happened as a backup. I think this is proof that this vine is one that does the prettiest pumpkins. I had a cat jump up on it, you might see that, but. It was near dark today on the 24th then I covered it up, still need to sacrifice it and send it to punkinheaven. Tuesday, November 25 View Page I got these seeds, and look at the ends, one more pic follows of the backside. Are these going to germ? I tossed seeds like this off my own harvest.... Tuesday, November 25 View Page Other side of the seeds, in same order. I have one 'complete' one and four white ended ones... so the question is will these germ or not? I wasn't amused opening the pack and finding this, so asking if the four white ends are viable? Tuesday, November 25 View Page Nopic... three back I have a pic of my 241, the 1009 Young x open; and cut it today to find really great looking seeds, a solid fruit wall, and it kept superbly... And the pictures two back and one back, are seeds that I need opinion, will they germ..(they are from a different pumpkin)? I will not be saving the 241's for growing, just making seed jewelry.... Thursday, December 4 View Page Instead of rosette for our weighoff, winners get one of these lovely numbers, hand loomed, limited edition. Note the lovely tendrils and stem instead of pompom. This is third place, because the body of it is white..... as well as a certificate, and the prize moolah. Big rosette is nice, but this will keep winner warm during that early and late season patch work! We didn't manage to find a place for our banquet, so today is delivering these, prizes, travelling trophy, taking pictures... and delivering the certificates and thank yous to our sponsors. [some asked for pictures in chat, so here is one]