Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 518 Entries. Sunday, March 5 View Page Spring is on its way! An orange start to the year with my first round of Chrysanthemums. I was in a nursery on a school trip last fall trying to buy these as our bus was loading to leave and the credit card machine was broken. A woman in line saw me set them down sadly, realizing I couldn't hold the class up for the purchase, and told me if I took them and learned from them, she would pay cash for them as a gift to my education. So here is my promise kept, exhibition style, grown as dis-buds over the winter. Front pots are 7" x 7", back pots are 9" x 9".   Sunday, March 5 View Page This round wasn't for any show, more just to learn the growth characteristics and timing of the blooms. The variety is 'Coral Cavalier' football mum, and while not the largest out there, should be respectable once fully open. These were grown under a 240w G8 LED (full spectrum) for the duration, and so far I'm very happy with the quality of this light. Next part of learning is in the sun, which presents challenges of rain and UV damage to blooms, as well as pests, but as with most show quality horticulture, overcoming those challenges is part of the allure for me. I hope everyone is gearing up for a personal best this year and good luck to it!   Thursday, March 9 View Page Topped out at 4 1/2 inches across for my first try at it. The color on this one got washed out a bit from light intensity, so I'll have to look into how to 'bag the blooms' for my outdoor flowers.   Thursday, March 9 View Page Three blooms is the standard for judging so I put together this vase to see how they compare in uniformity. All in all, a beautiful orange start to my growing season. Good luck to all this year, hope to see you at the scales!   Thursday, March 9 View Page So as a veteran, I appreciate my benefits as well as my fellow veterans. Our Welcome Home center got a grant for a high tunnel as part of a community teaching/gardening project, so I decided to join the crew and volunteer to help build it. A soggy day full of rain but as the old saying goes 'if it ain't raining, you ain't training!'   Thursday, March 9 View Page Today was full of sunshine, though the wind was fighting us this time. I don't like heights to begin with, so a windy day on a ladder was no fun, but I like to challenge myself to do the uncomfortable. Made good progress while on Spring Break this week and should be ready for plastic soon!   Sunday, March 19 View Page Picture didn't post   Sunday, March 19 View Page Got to help set up a hot air ballon while we were there. Pretty cool experience! It was tethered for rides, but the wind kicked up right after setup, so we stayed on the ground, but still pretty fun.   Sunday, March 19 View Page 7th place overall in Hardscape installation. 2 hours to build a fire pit and patio.   Sunday, March 19 View Page 13th overall in wood construction. 2 hours to deconstruct a blueprint and build a planter box. Relatively math based as you have minimal scrap and little time to figure it out.   Sunday, March 19 View Page Rounding out my day was 1st place in truck and trailer operation! I like to practice safe pumpkin hauling.   Sunday, March 19 View Page Even thought we saw Bart in Utah with his new truck!   Sunday, March 19 View Page Lol, don't even think he's this old! I love people with a sense of humor.   Thursday, March 23 View Page My wife supports me a great deal, so I try to be a good husband and support her as well, even if it means going to law school events like tonight's charity auction. Was a ton of fun and I haven't eaten that much since Thanksgiving! WVU LAW puts on a Great show!   Thursday, March 23 View Page Even tripped across the most random silent auction item, so I HAD to have it! Money went to support public interest attorneys. My new 100 lb scale :)   Wednesday, March 29 View Page A few end panels and I'll be all set! Thanks Team-Pumpkin, great info you guys are putting together! Won't be long now...   Thursday, March 30 View Page All snugged up! One with cables, one without. Hope it pays off.   Monday, April 3 View Page If there is one thing that life has taught me, it's how to dig a good hole... took a beating this weekend, but got this project knocked out just in time for the season to ramp up.   Monday, April 3 View Page All set to divert 3 gutters worth of rainwater to the yard instead of our gravel driveway. Bring on the Spring Storms, I'm ready to test it out!   Monday, April 10 View Page Decided to change things around a bit after soil tests came back. This is the new patch I started prepping last fall... the one where I popped myself in the lip. As you can see just from what I dug out of the soil cable area, there's lots more work to be done yet, but this will make things easier for the wife and I this year. Every garden has its challenges.   Thursday, April 20 View Page Looks like it's go time here...   Thursday, April 20 View Page 296.5 Barber in front, 290.5 Terry in back, will keep one of each.   Sunday, April 23 View Page 1912 Carter in the ground. Thanks for the bubble Danny, let's see what happens!   Sunday, April 23 View Page 2106 Schmit in my other larger spot. Time to fear the beard!   Sunday, April 23 View Page I went with my own 631 from last year for my 150 patch. This one had the most uniform walls of all my pumpkins last year, and was growing fast until the staple got it. This is the first of my own seeds that I have ever planted, so I'm excited to see what happens. I have some of my 982's in towels for a 20 x 20 patch as well.   Monday, April 24 View Page Lol! Same watering can Ron Wallace uses... SURE to hit 2500 this year!   Tuesday, April 25 View Page Panax quinquefolius or American Ginseng :)   Tuesday, April 25 View Page I didn't get all the seeds planted before frost, so I threw some in trays under the lights I already had going to overwinter a few tropical plants. Ended up getting some nice starts out of them. The bud at the stem end is where next year's growth will come from and is also how you are able to measure the age of the roots.   Tuesday, April 25 View Page A lot of chatter has been going on about "club root" since it is seed starting season, so I thought I would share this pic. I did some searching but wasn't able to find any pictures of it, so hopefully this is an accurate representation. It has been said that the club root talked about here is not the same as the disease caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae. The radicals formed 2 days after placing in paper towels but were barely showing, so we're left just a bit longer. After 4 days in towels, they looked like this. The tap roots have either died off forcing the branching or were stunted in some other way.   Wednesday, April 26 View Page Watermelons are going ok, Barbers are starting to fatten up a bit. The Other melons in the back don't wanna get in gear, so I might just swing one of the front plants around to the back.   Wednesday, April 26 View Page Doing 5 carrots this year just to see what happens. My best is 5 lbs so that is what I'm trying to beat this year.   Wednesday, April 26 View Page Have a couple nice ones so far. Thank you for the seeds Peter, cucumbers are next!   Friday, May 12 View Page Here goes the 2106. She's trying to stretch out, but mostly reaching for the sky early on.   Friday, May 12 View Page Better view of the profile so far. Trying to gradually help her lean, but no wind inside the hoop, so also just letting her do her thing.   Friday, May 12 View Page 1912 is starting to stretch out. Last year I wasn't at this point until last week of May, so just slightly ahead as far as starting the season goes.   Friday, May 12 View Page 631 Trychta is up next in the 150 spot.   Friday, May 12 View Page Not doing the icosagon thing here, just a good ol' fashioned rectangle will suit me fine.   Friday, May 12 View Page And the length. Raised bed type of plot about 4" above grade, same exact spot the 631 grew last year.   Friday, May 12 View Page A view from afar, 150 is in top left with the hoop. 2 x field kin plots, also 150 each, to the right of that.   Friday, May 12 View Page Barber melons up front, Terry melons in back. Back two were pouty until about a week ago, but starting to at least show some movement now. Front two starting to head in opposite directions.   Friday, May 12 View Page Some Yellow Icebox melons that were a hit last year. To the right with the tires is where I'll plant my lopes when they're ready.   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Carrots are asking for a bit more room   Tuesday, May 16 View Page These were in 3 gallon pots. Hopefully some of these roots start to fatten up a bit.   Tuesday, May 16 View Page I have these bags that are made for insulating food in the mail. They're made of bubble wrap with a reflective layer on the outside. Didn't think they'd be strong enough to use as grow bags themselves, so I sunk a couple 10 gallon pots and a 15 gallon into them to try to cool the soil a bit. The lip on the pot created a nice air pocket between the bags and the pot, so we'll see what happens.   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Best 3 got the bigger pots, other 2 will go in a raised bed. Little bigger than a half dollar right now. Really helped putting a twist tie around the tops for transplanting.   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Best 3 after tucking in.   Tuesday, May 16 View Page An idea of the soil I'm trying to work with here. This is where the 671 grew last year. Couldn't tell you how many wheelbarrows full of rocks came out, but it's over 20 so far. Every one out is another full of good topsoil in though, so it'll be sorted out soon enough.   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Decided to pull out the equipment for the new patch. This is the patch I busted my lip in last year, so I decided to get a good deep till with the backhoe before going back in with the tiller. Spot is behind the 2106 and should have a squash soon.   Tuesday, May 16 View Page As you can see from what came out of a 20 x 20 spot, I'll need to keep going for the rest of the patches. Went through the top 12" or so before finding a boulder, so that's good enough for this corner. Time to get busy, weather is picking up!   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Got it :)   Friday, May 19 View Page Did some careful digging around the 2106 today, about 2800 of 3000 sf dug out now.   Friday, May 19 View Page A view from the rock pit... err I mean cockpit.   Friday, May 19 View Page So my mom insisted on a day of garden help today. Boy did she pick the WRONG day to come garden at MY house! Lol! Yes, I did in fact enlist her in rock picking duties and got a good sized haul out. Whatever it takes, right? :) surface rocks and tiller busters should all be done by tomorrow, hope to be finished planting this weekend.   Friday, May 19 View Page LMAO! Orange with sandbags... oh how true it is...   Sunday, May 21 View Page Oh what a difference a week has made in the patch! Starting to look and feel like a decent garden.   Sunday, May 21 View Page Mike has a sharp eye, noticed it trying to ribbon about a week ago. Tip seems to have pulled out of it, hopefully I just get some extra roots out of it.   Sunday, May 21 View Page Unfortunately the wind caught it today in a nasty burst. More just a kink than a snap so going to try to save her. There was a heavy leaf just on the far side of the bend that probably was the culprit, happened just past the triple root node.   Sunday, May 21 View Page 1912 is pushing out well. Won't keep this one, but nice to see it's ready to go.   Monday, May 22 View Page Caught this crazy woodpecker pecking my front post again. He was after carpenter bees last year, so they must be back.   Monday, May 22 View Page Having same kind of trouble with my 631 as I am the 2106. This one is actually trying to go backwards. Very stiff too, not able to move it much with stakes.   Monday, May 22 View Page Other than the tip looking at me, it looks ok.   Monday, May 22 View Page Couple 982 Trychta in my last spot. Was gonna leave this spot open, but couldn't not grow this one myself.   Monday, May 22 View Page Field kins went in today, first up are the 189 Crews (that wierdo mutant one). I like fasciated fruit, I think they're neat, so this one caught my eye last year as soon as I saw that He kept it. Thanks for the seeds Don!   Monday, May 22 View Page 188 MacKinnon gets the other spot. A little ahead of the Crews sprouts, but not by much.   Monday, May 22 View Page Melons are looking good, will probably have the hoop down this week sometime.   Monday, May 22 View Page 1511.5 Haist squash   Monday, May 22 View Page 1060 Holub squash x 3... I fried a couple on the heat mat :(   Monday, May 22 View Page Lopes went in today, will keep two of these. 55 Vester coming at ya! Thanks for the seeds Danny! First try at these guys, so it'll more than likely be a personal best no matter what.   Monday, May 22 View Page Heavy cukes went in today as well. Not sure of the exact variety, seeds are from Peter Glazebrook. First try on these guys as well, thanks Peter!   Tuesday, May 23 View Page Did a little weeding today and found these :) German iris and Calla lily. I have a near black iris that I was trying to pair with these but the bloom time is a little off. I sure do LOVE orange! Alliums in the back of the vase.   Thursday, May 25 View Page Kelp meal bowl I used on Tuesday... been a steady light rain for about 48 hours now. That's my sidekick and patch protector Roxy getting some rainwater. Puddle water is her favorite. Doesn't look like it's drying out any time soon, but patch is draining well after the deep dig.   Sunday, May 28 View Page Da BEARD! This plant is a lot like a beard actually. Starts out, you really wanna grow it. Then, just like a new beard that gets to the itchy stage, it was a little aggravating and uncooperative. But it's just a little hump to get over and it hits its stride and straightens out. Buried main vine today, split is healing.   Sunday, May 28 View Page 1912 hit the end wall and was ready to come out today. Was a beautiful day today, nice break from all of the rain.   Sunday, May 28 View Page Did my first thinning of the glass gem corn, pretty good roots on these sprouts. Doing 100 sqft for decorations and crafts.   Wednesday, May 31 View Page Peek a boo :)   Friday, June 2 View Page 150 patch... seeing a lot of chatter, seems Bob and Tiger Girl are pretty confident. Running neck and neck with Bart though, sooo...   Friday, June 2 View Page Ok Bart, you show me yours, I'll show you mine ;) 631 Trychta in the 150 spot   Sunday, June 4 View Page 1912 with patch supervisor in the back.   Sunday, June 4 View Page 2106 with a couple 1060 Holubs in back.   Sunday, June 4 View Page 1511.5 Haist *   Sunday, June 4 View Page 189 Crews Large Side.   Sunday, June 4 View Page   Sunday, June 4 View Page 188 MacKinnon.   Sunday, June 4 View Page Down to 2 keeper melons, both 296.5 Barber, back to back.   Sunday, June 4 View Page 55 Vester x 2   Sunday, June 4 View Page 631 Trychta in 150.   Sunday, June 4 View Page 982 Trychta for a fundraiser.   Tuesday, June 6 View Page Somebody has been stepping in my patch...   Tuesday, June 6 View Page I suppose an electric fence may be necessary... a HEAVY DUTY one!   Tuesday, June 6 View Page They go all the way around both big plants in a circle, didn't go near my smaller plants. They must know it's almost GO TIME!   Tuesday, June 13 View Page Slow going but making progress. 1511 Haist Squash   Tuesday, June 13 View Page 1060 Holub is growing in circles after being gone for a few days. Sister showed yellow fruit, so this is my last one standing...   Tuesday, June 13 View Page Still way too small of a plant to set, but if I can get her straightened out, it looks like I might have gotten green with this one... fingers crossed!   Tuesday, June 13 View Page Monster Claws on the 631 Trychta in the 150 patch   Tuesday, June 13 View Page Plucked this from a 631 side vine, my first 6-lobe ever.   Tuesday, June 13 View Page Then I found another! In a few days we'll see if the keeper makes it a third :)   Tuesday, June 13 View Page 188 MacKinnon field pumpkins, will cull tomorrow.   Tuesday, June 13 View Page 189 Crews LS Field pumpkin   Tuesday, June 13 View Page 982 Trychta   Tuesday, June 13 View Page Down to one sunflower   Tuesday, June 13 View Page Heavy Cucumbers   Tuesday, June 13 View Page 55 Vester Heavy Cantaloupes   Tuesday, June 13 View Page 296 Barber x 2   Wednesday, June 14 View Page Heavy Carrots are doing well despite the recent heat wave.   Wednesday, June 14 View Page Poor little guys in front never made it to the raised bed, might be time to cull.   Monday, June 19 View Page 1912 Carter is all ready to go! My lead plant despite a number of missing or weak side vines.   Monday, June 19 View Page Got one set up with 2 backups close behind. Wasn't gonna take the first one but got a good couple day swell and nice shape so I pulled out the mill fabric early this year. Have a couple plants right on schedule, others WAY behind. Just having fun with it here :)   Monday, June 19 View Page Wife wants to cut sugar from our diets and to be honest, it's a really good idea. Problem is, I loathe black coffee... Bit the bullet this morning and went cold turkey.   Monday, June 19 View Page Turns out, I had something pretty sweet with my coffee after all! 631 Trychta x 2106 Schmit in the 150 patch. One set in front, one close behind in couple days just to be sure, can't be too careful in limited space.   Monday, June 19 View Page Pulled one of the runty carrots just to see what was going on and it's no wonder it wasn't happy in that 3 gal pot.   Monday, June 19 View Page All cleaned up it came to one pound even. Tasty carrot, super crunchy!   Monday, June 19 View Page 2106 has one set at 11' or so, short and chinky growth so far. Smaller in size than 1912, but better side vining and more leaves overall. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page 150 patch is all set, terminating vines and tucking them inside the borders.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Cross is 631 Trychta x 2106 Schmit, set 6-19. Small split in stem but that's just because it wants to beat Flat Norm real bad.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page My 982 is still stretching out a bit from a later planting. In the back is the glass gem corn and what is left of my big head sunflowers.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Seems not even walking up to these guys scares em off... new fence will be up this week.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page 55 Vester starting to gain some size.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Starting to set melons here, nothing really special yet though. 296.5 Barbers   Tuesday, June 27 View Page 188 MacKinnon   Tuesday, June 27 View Page 189 Crews LS   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Heavy cukes are taking off, will set soon   Tuesday, June 27 View Page 2106 looking good   Tuesday, June 27 View Page 1912 Carter is ready to settle in for the long haul.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Pollinated 6-15, 1912 x 2106 10 day cc was 21"   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Noticed this on the boulder I dug out, an unusual sight to see :)   Tuesday, June 27 View Page A pair of Imperial Moths mating. They only come above ground once to mate and are fairly succeptible to foraging raccoons... I'd imagine because they choose to lock up on the ground. Really cool when your bugs get super sized to fit the scale of the patch. Thankfully, their appetite isn't for cucurbits. Gnarly looking caterpillars as well, hope they made it to safety!   Sunday, July 2 View Page In an effort to make some room on the deck I sunk one of my carrots into the garden.   Sunday, July 2 View Page Doing ok so far, hard to tell really what's under there, but nice side rooting here.   Sunday, July 2 View Page 631 Trychta in the 150, bout 9 or 10 days old now.   Sunday, July 2 View Page Back end of 150 tucked in neatly.   Sunday, July 2 View Page 1912 Carter @ 16 DAP   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2106 Schmit is starting to put on some power. Was slow to get going, but she's in gear now!   Sunday, July 2 View Page 2106 @ 8 DAP   Sunday, July 2 View Page Number of people happen to be growing pineapples this year, here's mine just starting to bloom. This was grown from a cut top from a store bought pineapple, and is about 16 months old in a 30 liter pot. In February, an ethylene treatment was done and the spike began to show about 10 weeks later. Should take about 4 months for the fruit to mature, so right on time for the end of the season. Shame I saw pineapples for $3 the other day, but I'm sure this one will taste just like love. A good sign your pineapple is ready to go, are the pups at the base. If you look closely, it has already stated to split off for the new plants. These can be harvested and grown on, or left on the original roots.   Sunday, July 2 View Page 1060 Holub... first fruit was green at 7 feet from stump, rest have been yellow or striped. If it doesn't show green on the next fruit, I'll pull it.   Sunday, July 2 View Page 1511.5 Haist Squash   Sunday, July 2 View Page 188 MacKinnon   Sunday, July 2 View Page Monster blooms on this field pumpkin, really like this plant.   Sunday, July 2 View Page 5 days old   Sunday, July 2 View Page 189 Crews LS   Sunday, July 2 View Page 55 Vester starting to vine out   Sunday, July 2 View Page Giant cukes are looking good, prolly 5 or so set over the past week.   Sunday, July 2 View Page This one is 5 days old   Sunday, July 2 View Page 296.5 Barber has a good one started, little mis-shaped on top, but doing well.   Sunday, July 2 View Page My buddy Harrison was over to help get a few projects knocked off the list. Glad to finally have my new fertigation station set up. Just need to clean the tanks and I'm all set. Gravity feed for the front patch, will need pump for the back patch.   Sunday, July 2 View Page We have some gorgeous natural woods here, spent a few hours away from the patch yesterday to go hiking behind the house.   Sunday, July 2 View Page Lots of cliffs, boulder overhangs, and small caves like this one. It's no wonder we have bears with this kind of territory less than a mile into the woods. Also caught a fox on the trail cam the other night. Just need a bobcat now and we'll have the whole zoo out back.   Wednesday, July 5 View Page So I thought I'd share how I set my boards by myself when the wife's toenails are drying. I always dig mine level as I'm on a hill, so there's always a bit of room underneath until they get a bit bigger. The foam is a nice start, but once ready to commit, it's also a little shelf to hold your pumpkin while you have both hands on the board. Propped up by 2x4 chunks, gives you just enough room to get under, while also protecting the pumpkin from the edge of the board.   Wednesday, July 5 View Page In it goes! 2106 @ 22.5"cc 11 DAP   Wednesday, July 5 View Page If only I'd have protected her from myself... had some spray drift and tried to wipe it off, musta had dirt on my hand or something? She didn't like being touched and has a slight crack already, have a backup ready, just in case.   Thursday, July 6 View Page 631 Trychta @ 17 DAP   Thursday, July 6 View Page Happy with the shape so far, tough to keep the young skin blemish free though. Even the slightest contact leaves its evidence.   Thursday, July 6 View Page Starting to show her freckles already :)   Thursday, July 6 View Page This is my 982 in training. Trying to go big this year but I still love beautiful as well, so trying another show pumpkin here. I was happy with my Cinderella last year, but I find people have a hard time understanding giant pumpkins as it is, so having an upside down giant pumpkin is even harder to explain why you would want to...   Thursday, July 6 View Page So I'm back down the rabbit hole... I really wanted the shape of the pumpkin from last year (perfectly round and squat) but with the stem on top. This year I took a cross section from a log, and knocked a flat spot on it. The pumpkin just past the log will be the chosen child if pollination goes well. The main vine will be terminated after pollination takes, and I'll set the pumpkin upright at the front of a 4' x 4' platform so that I have room to slide it backwards as it grows. A similar foam ring to the "pumpcone " will be used to hold the blossom off of the board until the sides seat themselves around it. Hopefully I've left enough room in the vine for it to raise enough. Could be amazing, could be a lot of work for nothing, but I like to at least try different things.   Thursday, July 6 View Page Glazebrook 16 cucumber   Friday, July 7 View Page 1912 is starting to show a little color, decent shape so far. Should get a nice orange off of this one.   Friday, July 7 View Page Side view   Friday, July 7 View Page 2106 also starting to show freckles just like Mama Beard :)   Saturday, July 8 View Page Certainly no shortage of male flowers on these cukes :)   Thursday, July 13 View Page Not too sure what the measurements of a heavy cuke should be, but she's pushing out for 13 days old. 22" long.   Thursday, July 13 View Page Finally got my 982 pollinated x sibling (plant pictured in Kirsha's diary).   Thursday, July 13 View Page 2106 @ 20 DAP, 68"cc   Thursday, July 13 View Page Split is doing ok so far, pumpkin is staring to pick it up a bit.   Thursday, July 13 View Page 1912 @ 28 DAP   Thursday, July 13 View Page Just a touch of the blocky shape that Shannon had last year. This one is showing more color by the day.   Thursday, July 13 View Page 631 @ 23 DAP... she's trying hard to pass the 1912 in size.   Thursday, July 13 View Page Beautiful pumpkin so far, can't wait to see how she turns out!   Thursday, July 13 View Page Something musta limped home this morning... hope it tells its friends to stay out. You can see the second wire up got yanked off, it's laying at the camera post.   Thursday, July 13 View Page Lol... haven't gotten one of these in... oh 11 1/2 months or so...   Saturday, July 15 View Page First 30 day measurements are in for the Trychta patch. Her name will be Petunia (1912 Carter x 2106 Schmit). 91.5" cc, 62ee, 67ss for 220.5 OTT.   Saturday, July 15 View Page Stem side of Petunia   Saturday, July 15 View Page She will be Pebbles (2106 Schmit x 1912 Carter, Anthesis treated). 80"cc @ 22DAP.   Saturday, July 15 View Page Stem side of Pebbles   Saturday, July 15 View Page Penelope is chugging along in the 150 patch (631 Trychta x 2106 Schmit, Anthesis treated) 87"cc @ 25 DAP   Saturday, July 15 View Page Stem side of Penelope   Saturday, July 15 View Page A late pollination on the 982 Trychta. That cucumber beetle in the bloom is only about the fourth one this year so far, but with 3 weeks of rain, it's been hard to keep up with spraying in between showers. He got smashed like the rest, sun this week so I will get back on track!   Saturday, July 15 View Page Vine is fairly secure, this next 10 days or so will take a lot of attention to get right, but I'm up for a challenge.   Saturday, July 15 View Page For you odd veggie lovers out there, this is off the Glazebrook '16 cucumbers, 9.5" cc, 22.5" long @ 15 DAP... might just hit the ground on this one!   Tuesday, July 18 View Page Lol Jay, student surpasses the teacher on stump covers, nice job!   Tuesday, July 18 View Page Been a few days since I got into the patch... also been a few hot dry days after about a month of rain. Plants looked a little witty, so I walked around to find this. I remember last year, at about this time, another grower saved my season by reminding me not to sit back and relax after the vines fill in. Weekly (if not more often) inspections are necessary from now to the end, and not JUST your plants either.   Tuesday, July 18 View Page Fed the turkey vultures   Tuesday, July 18 View Page 982 is just about vertical. Tomorrow she'll get her ring.   Tuesday, July 18 View Page I've left a little slack in the last side vines in case it needs to raise a little more than expected. What am I talking about, I don't really know what to expect with this at all? Super fancy top secret prototype vine lifters in place to start the fun.   Tuesday, July 18 View Page 1912 got some big britches... she's eventually going to close, probably sooner rather than later.   Tuesday, July 18 View Page A better look at the blossom. I was hoping to get into August before worrying about this, but I'd rather worry all season with a good one on the vine, than be waiting for it to eventually do something. If anyone has experience with this, I could use some advice on how to mitigate potential issues. Touching already. Should I remove, and fungicide powder, or leave well enough alone and hope for best? I believe it will eventually break off inside on its own if left.   Wednesday, July 19 View Page The new and improved "Pumpcone 2.0" ready to be deployed. Went with a single top piece this year as the pumpkin spread the 2-piece top ring from last year.   Wednesday, July 19 View Page Went 1 1/2" thick instead of 3" as well. It did well and touched the board last year, but the sooner it touches, the less room for shape change errors.   Wednesday, July 19 View Page Vine supports invented   Wednesday, July 19 View Page I believe I have her vertical enough to settle in. She'll need to be adjusted daily for a bit, but I like a challenge.   Wednesday, July 19 View Page Front view, fingers crossed for a beauty. 982 don't let me down!   Thursday, July 20 View Page Day 2 on the cone. I tried to cut a corner and use 1/2" plywood here as the 3/4" is hard to manage by myself while also supporting the pumpkin. As you can see, I'm warping just a bit as a result. At any rate, little left of center now because of a twist in the main at the top of the bend, soil underneath was flat and level so hopefully with a bit of size it'll settle down. That tomato cage in the middle has a volunteer sweet potato being trained upward. No idea where it came from but not allowed to stay on the ground, pulling a couple leaves down.   Friday, July 21 View Page There's been some surprising interest in this project, so for those of you who have contacted me with encouragement, thank you! It's difficult to push yourself to do better sometimes, but knowing that others are rooting for you makes it a bit easier. Here is a top view of the setup for a birds perspective of what's going on. I believe the cone is symmetrical enough (for a hand carving) as it doesn't show anymore and covered all in same night rather than over a couple days. Notice the wet mark on the board, this was the amount of adjustment made after sitting from about 9PM, through 7AM this morning. Roughly 12-hour re-adjusts until about 10-14 days on the cone and it should be ready to leave alone as regardless of the shape at that point, it will be in-correctable.   Friday, July 21 View Page The reason for me being off-center. So we all know how pumpkins sit straight up at pollination, then lay down as they get heavy. It is this critical time period that I believe determines your final pumpkin shape, more on this later. I propped the stem itself to straighten it out for the vertical set as the curved stem last year slightly affected the end shape. In doing this, the pumpkin itself must have been leaning slightly and twisted the main vine in order to help itself straighten. More of a twist straight than a lay opposite the curve. Also, if I have to be honest with myself, I can see she's not perfectly round looking at the 10 o'clock position.   Friday, July 21 View Page Modifications are already necessary... again... was hoping after last year I'd have it sorted out, but I think it's going to take me the rest of my life to perfect this style of growing. So I made the vine supports before I had her platform ready, and as you can see, they're meant to stick in the ground. No good for platform. I will use these next year to begin propping the vine earlier in the season, then use flat-bottomed stakes that can be fastened to the platform as it gets adjusted. Also, the platform will be set before the plant reaches it, and I may use a 4' x 6' board rather than 4x4.   Friday, July 21 View Page So let's talk shape for a few posts, please bear with me here, but there have been some recent questions around here about it so I thought I'd share what I've noticed about how it expresses itself. I'll try to post the best pictures I have for explanation purposes even if some are older. While talking shape, I want to be clear that I am not talking overall genetic expressions like color, innie vs outie, strong ribbing vs smooth round skin, these should all be taken into account when selecting a seed for exhibition. I will just discuss what can be done to affect shape once the seed is in the soil. Discussion and questions are open so just click the mail button and let me know what you think?   Friday, July 21 View Page I believe end shape is determined within the first 10 days following pollination and is very much related to how many lobes there are and how symmetrical they are as well as arranged. I feel the number of lobes has more to do with shape than it does overall end weight as lots of large pumpkins have been grown on 3 or 4 lobes, but just speculation, no data to prove. When I select a keeper, I look for symmetry on lobes, then vine positioning. Cross is usually not a concern when selecting as I only try to grow seeds I like, and any seed to any seed in my own patch is fine with me, as long as it sets well and I like the lobes.   Friday, July 21 View Page My 1912 at 4 days old. I liked this bloom and position from the start, so she is already elevated. The key to early positioning is getting the stem to blossom line parallel to the LEVEL board underneath. If your soil or board is out of level, gravity will ruin your efforts. A 5 lobe flower is what I like best and I will explain why.   Friday, July 21 View Page You can see here that as she went perpendicular to the vine, I was able to keep the center lobe on the bottom directly in the middle. This caused two wide lobes to sit either side and two stacked tight on top. I started to think about this as my pumpkin was getting the same blocky shape on the same seed that Shannon had last year. Sure enough, same thing on his.   Friday, July 21 View Page If you look closely, I believe you can make out the 5 lobes and how they are swelling. This setup with 5 lobes and one ending directly in the center on the bottom will give you a wide bottom pumpkin with good shape. Conversely, if your center lobe ends up on top, you will more than likely get a skinny bottom pumpkin with a heavy top that sags to the sides.   Friday, July 21 View Page You can see on my 2106 that I didn't get the lobe to center well. It is a little off to the left.   Friday, July 21 View Page Here, you can see the "shoulder" developing on the top left where two lobes meet. Had it been centered better, I believe gravity would help it smooth out a bit. Also just a slight dip on the right side near the 2:30 position. I would have preferred this section to be a little more on top, but she'll still be beautiful. If you watch these pumpkins, these minor imperfections will only get more pronounced, emphasizing how early and how discerning you have to be if you're looking for that "perfect" shape.   Friday, July 21 View Page Again, a 5 lobe set on my 631, and again just slightly missed when centering. Sometimes the twist of a vine or curve of a stem will keep you from getting it perfect, but that's just Mother Nature. Don't snap a good pumpkin off trying to manipulate it, just get it as close as you can. These adjustments are made once daily until it sits on a flat spot.   Friday, July 21 View Page Again you can see the top two lobes forcing out shoulders from the 11 o'clock to 2:30 position. I believe, had it been centered, this pumpkin would have the same square-ish shape as the 1912 puts out, rather than a rounded left and square right side.   Friday, July 21 View Page Will probably get in trouble for this one, but this is my wife Kirsha's 982. Nice symmetrical 6 lobe pumpkin and it set down well despite the bent blossom. 3 on top, 3 on bottom.   Friday, July 21 View Page At day 19 or so, the top 3 lobes are showing a bit, bottom 3 are holding well, but not as symmetrical as the top 3.   Friday, July 21 View Page I should have taken better care of her at the beginning of the season but got behind. When my wife propped her pumpkin, I only had small scraps of foam to support it to the stem/blossom level line. Her pumpkin grew to the edges too fast and we had to get it on the board before it sagged around the foam, so it ended up out of level as you can see by the veins running along the side. This was a big lesson in early shaping of pumpkins, make your leveling supports bigger than you'd expect to need, or you may end up with a nose dive over the blossom end, again gravity affecting the shape of the top mostly. Hopefully my wife forgives me for not getting a nice big new piece of foam in the first place for her.   Friday, July 21 View Page This brings us to the original pumpkin in question. This one is difficult to say the least. 4 lobes and with a bent blossom just like Kirsha's. I believe the veins and the bent blossom are characteristics of this seed as several of the offspring all have the same thing going on so far. The blossom is touching the inside of the cone with me trying to keep it centered. I tried to get a large enough hole in the center for the bloom while keeping the ring small enough to catch the pumpkin early. Perhaps next year will be a hanging pumpkin until it's just a touch bigger so I have more room for blossom maneuvering. If all goes well, the goal is to get all 4 lobes to hit the edge of the ring at the same time so that gravity pulls them all equally here. Didn't choose a 4 lobe, was only main set I could get on a late planting so I went with it.   Friday, July 21 View Page Back to some old news just for fun! If you have the ability to zoom, notice the 5-lobe setup on the 982 from last year. Center lobe on bottom, flanked by two set wide, and two squeezed on top. If you get the point of those top two just right, you can get the center hump without having it lean to one side or the other. Good luck out there, and take a look in your own patch to see if this all checks out. We'll talk soon about the nose dive...   Friday, July 21 View Page Back to the 631 for "Vine Line" explanation. In a way, I prefer the hillside method. Yes, it's a little more work, but you get extra room for the height of the pumpkin. This gives an idea of the slope of my front patch, note the board cut into the hillside for the base, and how young the pumpkin is at time of setup.   Friday, July 21 View Page Please pardon my gimpy finger in this shot, but you can see that there was about 4-5" of soil cut away on the top side of the hill, leaving a gap between the pumpkin and the level base. If you leave this, nose dive for sure!   Friday, July 21 View Page Here I have it leveled with foam boards, several layers that will be taken away one at a time as the pumpkin swells... or will they?   Friday, July 21 View Page This is the critical placement age, as it sets down and you position away from vine. Easier to do when vine is young and can create S curve, but in the 150 patch I took what I could squeeze into the corner.   Friday, July 21 View Page At 9 days later, the flat spot has formed and your lobes are already set in place, but you can see that there is still some foam underneath keeping it level. I got lucky and was on the last layer here, and also caught it the day it started to sag over the edges which would leave a concave bottom and risk of transport splitting. Another demonstration of why to use larger bases than expected to need, sometimes they swell out before they swell up.   Friday, July 21 View Page A final example of the "Vine Line" I was talking about with the 2106. Level from stem to blossom. If you plan on growing large ones, this becomes more difficult as you need to prop the main vine up as the pumpkin grows, as well as slide it away from the main vine periodically in order to maintain level throughout the season.   Friday, July 21 View Page An early picture from my 631 from last year with the Vine Line just starting to get out of whack. This is when I started to learn about sliding the pumpkin forward as it grows. It'll go on it's own for a bit, but then gets too heavy and friction takes over. If this is not adjusted periodically, you will more often than not get a forward lean to your pumpkin.   Friday, July 21 View Page A clear example of how you will lose shape even with sand and mill fabric if your pumpkin is not manually adjusted from time to time. This was about two weeks after my neighbor broke the blossom off when I asked him to help me adjust it because it was getting too heavy to move myself (500ish). I got gunshy about adjusting it again, and it was still growing so had no choice but to swell over the top since it can't slide on its own. It never ended up a problem as I only hit 631 lbs, but you can imagine how quickly this gets exaggerated when you're able to gain 400 lbs in a month. I believe if you used two strips of mill fabric from the halfway point of the pumpkin past the blossom end, and also on top of a full sheet of mill fabric, the pumpkin would grab the two strips and push them out and apart, allowing for some movement, or at least an easier time sliding it forward... if I could only find some more mill fabric to try it out!   Friday, July 21 View Page The simple man's guide to lobe placement! Step one, prop up on piece of garden hose... just don't forget and go yanking the end of it.   Friday, July 21 View Page Step 2, jab sticks in ground and use tendril as support to turn lobes straight as it lays down. Step 3, grab a chilly beverage and hope you're not in Q-tip's patch, otherwise you got no chance of going pretty =p   Saturday, July 22 View Page Same old story here this year. Gonna be some soggy updates today, but I'll have extra inside time to work on a better support.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Morning coffee, tuck in for the evening. Twice a day. 4 DAC (day after cone) and she's leaning a bit. I noticed this on day one and have been re-correcting the lean ever since. It is due to a bent blossom that is touching the inside of the cone, perhaps from malformation in the baby pumpkin initially? My wife's 982 has same bent blossom, might just be how my seeds run?   Saturday, July 22 View Page A look inside after 3 days, and several things concern me so far. First, you can see where the blossom is touching the ring inside. Second, the contact is holding moisture on the bloom, making it a bit soggy. Third, judging by the wet mark every time I move the cone, the base needs less contact in order to trap less moisture overall.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Glen, what a great idea! Your bucket idea gave me the perfect babysitter whilst I make some modifications to the Pumpcone. Filled a big ol' tub with loose coco fiber and she tucked in comfortably. Additionally, this may be how I get a larger pumpkin next year before needing the cone. Dry coco, and keep it dry, and the blossom can push out into the coco for a bit. Great to know the discussion is already working.   Saturday, July 22 View Page A look from underneath, neeeeed moooore roooom...   Saturday, July 22 View Page One of my best qualities in life, but also a drawback sometimes, is I will not give up. I refuse to give up. So back to the drawing board as they say. Beveled out the bottom side of the upper layer of the cone.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Then I took a ring off of the inside of the lower level of the cone. Note the side marks for re-alignment, and the shaded area on top from about 6 o'clock to 9:30 position. This is where the marks from the bloom were on the inside of the ring, so that when I place her back, the blossom will be in similar relation to the cone as it was before.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Worked through a variety of shims to try to fix this lean a bit.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Settled on this style. Tapered at both ends, probably 3/16" thick at center.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Also tapered off the back for a smoother drop, rather than a bump.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Here she is with shim inserted left side. If you couldn't see the lean before, try looking at the line where the stem connects to the pumpkin now that the shim is in. This is your level point to keep, and try to let the sides melt into the hollow spots until she grabs the ring enough to stay put, and you are comfortable you won't be able to adjust anymore. My advice, never stop the adjustments until you can't make them anymore.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Last round of flowers pollinated and swelling on the pineapple. This was one of the hummingbirds' favorites this year.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Side view after 8 hours of no stem support, stem is bending from straight again. No big deal as I like a girl with a few curves anyways. Needed to be supported though, so during the last few hours of rain, I went to work inside and came up with something.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Bout to go Bruce Lee on this crazy vine! Inspired by the Salmon Ladder from American Ninja Warrior, a double support with incremental adjustment for the remainder of needing it. The supports are attached to the base with only one screw each so they can move independently, and the base is screwed to the platform with room to move back if necessary.   Saturday, July 22 View Page Side view after setup. I also moved the board about 8" to the left to re-center the pumpkin on the platform.   Saturday, July 22 View Page And a better view of the supports. Needed something with the same diameter for the rods (bamboo would have the knuckles on it) but not a bolt or allthread or anything that would scratch, so I used the fiberglass rod from an old driveway reflector that got run over for the cross bars. So far I'm happy with how they worked and the fact that I won't have to figure it out again tomorrow. Keeee YAAAH with the G I Joe kung fu grip baby!   Sunday, July 23 View Page 982 Trychta, 10 days old, 5 DOC, her name will be Patience. Something I'm trying to have more of in life. Ring on the board shows the adjustment made, again leftward to keep correcting the lean despite shim insertion. Having the support firmly attached to the base is proving useful for opposite pressure on the vine to help with leans, notice it it touching the left support, but not fixed. This allows it to move and bend as it wants rather than being tied to something. She is 29" in cc, and starting to get heavy enough to hold an edge of the cone rather than just slipping into the divot because of size.   Sunday, July 23 View Page At 10 days old, the 4 lobes are beginning to express themselves. You'll never have a perfectly round pumpkin, there will always be a distinction of lobes. Some will swell more symmetrically than others, but in the end, there is no control over genetic expression, or how those specific blooms formed in early stages. you just have to look at the specific pumpkin you are working with and make decisions based on what it is telling you it will do.   Sunday, July 23 View Page Petunia is proving to be uncooperative. From the stem to blossom, she is stuck and won't stretch lengthwise, so is swelling outward pretty hard. Still super skinny vines on this one too, main looks more like side vine size.   Sunday, July 23 View Page Closing fairly fast on the blossom end as well. Still ok in there, but I'll only be sure of that for a little while longer.   Sunday, July 23 View Page A new leader in the Trychta patch. Took her a month to catch up, but Pebbles has staked her claim! These numbers are all behind pace of my pumpkins last year, but I also didn't hit my first day 30 until about August 1st last year. Additionally, we've had one of the wettest years I can remember, so that affects things as well. People always like to compare to others, so I thought I would share mine. I would consider these numbers to be average across the board, not great (on pace to win anything) but not terrible (a respectable showing at the weigh off). Numbers for 631 are of Penelope in the 150 patch for those of you in the contest. No sandbags here, this is where I'm at.   Monday, July 24 View Page Hillside growing has its challenges, and as always, I'm out of room about a month into growing. One of these years I'll learn to set the board in further, I always have this problem because I try to save the roots at the pumpkin for as long as I can.   Monday, July 24 View Page Slid her forward and took some more soil away. Always hurts cutting things after a kin is growing well, but you gotta do what you gotta do.   Monday, July 24 View Page Also started pulling the far side of the vine. Didn't think it through all that well on the 150 patch, and ended up with a tight vine to keep the pumpkin I wanted, so using the trick Larry Checkon taught me last year for this issue.   Monday, July 24 View Page 6 DOC and a taller shim (about 1/4") replaced the original shim, same style just thicker. Starting to express herself and will soon start her descent down the mountain. Keep winning battles, but not too sure how the war will turn out yet.   Monday, July 24 View Page I love all of the shiny basketballs this time of year for size comparison. Still fairly round, let's see what she got!   Tuesday, July 25 View Page Petunia at 40 DAP. 115 cc, 73 ee, 82 ss for 270 total. Was only at 25 DAP last year today, so as Norm Gansert would say, life is good!   Tuesday, July 25 View Page Had a field kin with a blossom issue stop growing on me, so I suppose I had my first official harvest of the season today.   Tuesday, July 25 View Page A little earlier and a little lighter than I expected, but a beautiful pumpkin nonetheless. Grown on the 188 MacKinnon, final measurements are 59 cc, 39 ee, 37 ss for 135 total, 28 DAP.   Tuesday, July 25 View Page Even found this little guy underneath :) It seems frogs don't need a pond when it rains every day.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page For you older folks out there... FEEEED ME SEYMORE! :)   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Starting to look pretty sketchy in there, so I had a heart to heart with her just like I did With Belle when she started splitting last year. Whatever happens happens, it'll be a learning experience. In hindsight, I believe I should have taken the blossom off a week ago when I saw it would close initially. I believe it would have had time to heal and dry, as well as not leaving a hard object inside to press on the skin like it is. I believe if I took it now, it will close before fully healed and dry, which would be certain death, so she'll be left as is and I'll simply watch the measurements after I can no longer see it.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Please bear with me for a few more days here, I am aware of and also sorry for the fact that I'm hogging the top of the diary page, but I skipped one day of pictures on her and got asked how she was doing, so it seems a lot are rooting for this to happen. This is by no means a manual for how to do it, simply the start of one and my thoughts as they come. I like to put my thoughts out there right or wrong, because I get feedback on them rather than trying to figure it out completely by myself. Lots of people try experiments like this behind closed doors in case of a failure, but I believe in myself and am not afraid to fail in public. This is a project I would like everyone to benefit from and get their own ideas from, and I believe we will all learn something together here. The daily posts are mainly because for this to work best, daily pictures are necessary at this young age to see the types of adjustments being made, how often, and how they immediately affect change. You can certainly use a similar and less intensive approach if you wish, but for my own standards, this is my starting point and I will adjust from there. With that said, let's get back to Patience...   Wednesday, July 26 View Page 8 DOC, and no adjustment was made yesterday, morning or evening. This was for several reasons. First, as a teaching tool to those who question touching it and babysitting it for the first couple weeks, I wanted to show how much change is affected in one day, at a week old. I believe this is 'considerable' lean for a short period of time, which is why I adjust twice daily. The initial couple days are less important than say 5-10 on the cone. She is 13 days old in total now and beginning the push, so each 12 hour period now will have greater change. By the morning light, you can see that I do this as soon as I get my coffee sorted out.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page From a front view, at 6 DOC I moved her left of center on the cone and placed the thicker shim underneath. This has several thoughts behind it. It is the second reason that no adjustment was made yesterday. The thin side needs to catch up in girth, but won't do so until it hits the board and equal pressure is supporting the bottom, until then gravity is king and the heavy side will win. I believe this is a natural thing for pumpkins to develop more to one side than the other, so just working with Mother Nature here. By setting left for one day, the pumpkin has gripped the shim by sagging a little over top, and is now essentially stuck in place rather than being pushed out as it grows.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Side view, bottom. Still centered front to back, just left of center from front.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Side view, top. Getting difficult to show both in same picture. Remember, I am growing on a hillside, so don't let the log in the back fool you, trying to keep level stem line still.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Advice for all Howard Dill hopefuls out there, beware touching your pumpkins too much and with dirty hands or gloves. I have scratched many young pumpkins with the slightest touch (see Pebbles) and as a result have changed my handling practices this year. I only ever handle my pumpkins with bare hands as I feel you get a better grip with more sensitivity than gloves, but only if my hands are clean. I have also started using a soft bristle paintbrush to remove the rain splash, and it seems to be leaving less scratches overall. Flap the bristles on your hand or leg every couple wipes to knock out any debris that may have worked it's way into the bristles.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page A dangerous peek underneath, I know, but this is what everyone wants to see anyways. Still ok under there, but got cleaned and a light dusting of precautionary Captan around the blossom. Ideally, this would have been done around day 5 or so and with help, but the schedule didn't dictate that, so better late than never. Tried to pick her up and regretted it immediately, so just leaned, cleaned, and replaced the shim. You KNOW you enjoyed the peek underneath ;)   Wednesday, July 26 View Page She is starting her retreat on the platform now, back and to the right a little this time.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page I think I'm going to like this support system. You can see here that it only got me a few days before needing adjusted, so a support stake at a specific height just won't cut it. Now, just pull a pin and put it back in.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Now that the shim is "gripped" she's been slid to the right side of the cone. If you can get it to drop perfectly, you've done an amazing job, I have yet to do this. The shape is pretty much set now, and again I think the heavy side will keep winning until opposite forces change that. The focus now that it is getting heavier and larger overall is to make contact with the board with the swollen side while still maintaining the level top. I believe the round shape will hold well, and once the large side hits, it will be heavy enough to hold itself and let gravity fill the void on the opposite side.This is the main reason I made a shorter cone this year, as the longer it sits in the air, the more chance there is of becoming mis -shapen. Again, all speculation based on what I have observed in my own garden, and an experimental idea at best. Why not just grow on a board with a hole in it you ask? The cone will allow enough of a depression that it will hold the blossom up once the walls start their flat spots, allowing me an easier time of moving and displaying without further worry it will break. Conversely, the taller cone last year kept the rounded side walls going without the top sagging, so the shorter cone may induce a blocker shape after hitting the board rather than floating... time will tell. Another reason for shifting back to the right was to allow a little more room on that bent blossom.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Those of you who plant bulbs in the garden (tulips, daffodils, alliums) will know why I regretted picking her up. It was the same as when you put a shovel into your soil and it sounds like you chopped through an apple, only realizing you forgot about one of your favorite bulbs after the foliage has died back. SNAP! Luckily, it seems to have only been the basal stalk tissue left from the leaf at the pumpkin, the solid vine part of the tissue is ok. This is on the far side of the bend from the stump, and is what signaled I needed to raise the incline of the vine to keep the vertical stem from stressing. Perhaps a slight backward bend would have been beneficial, but would be hard to keep while maintaining level... maybe more of the day without supports as long as it's not windy to let the weight of the vine slowly bend without being too heavy to pull the pumpkin?   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Other side of split. You can see a bit of brown on the bottom which is usually a sign of bad things coming if you don't address it early, so I went to work cleaning it and dressing the wound after a trim.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Don't tell Kirsha, but I use one of her favorite tools for vine surgery. Stiff, and comes to fine point, but not razor sharp. It allows you to scrape difficult areas clean before applying powders. Also, for any vine termination or cutting necessary, I use a box knife with a fresh blade. Buy the cheap ones and replace them often, one day in patchlooks like poor end of blade, so I usually get 2 days per blade of trimming. Both tools wiped in alcohol before use and in between plants.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Late July is a common time people start asking how to address rot and or vine issues, so this is how I do it when necessary. Use the wine opener (blade end) to scrape away any undesirable tissue, slime, color, get down to the healthy tissue without damaging it. This is why you don't want razor sharp for this stage.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Trimmed with razor to take off the "stalk hood" that was overhanging and got down to just the vine itself. More care will be done next year to complete this the first time I cut away, so the pumpkin doesn't have to heal twice. I like just a dusting of powder versus the paste and packing that some use. Applied in jabbing motion to get deep into nooks and crannies. If you look close, you can see fluid pushing through the powder, I will touch up with more jabs until it stops bleeding through, then apply a fan. I should have waited until the evening to do this just as positioning vines after heat stress so less snapping occurs, but sometimes you forget your own advice until you see it and remember you didn't want to keep doing that...   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Nice walls on the field kin, but blossom issue was all the way through   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Hoping this will be my only one of these this year...   Wednesday, July 26 View Page AHHH! SHE GOT ME! SHE GOT ME! Seriously, this thing is pretty deep. Not able to make a fist in there, so fingers are outstretched.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Got in there the best I could, not exactly an easy cut. Thanks for the advice guys, I'll take it early next time. Gotta say though, I'm loving the color already!   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Playing fan jockey today it seems, all set up though so back to the grind!   Thursday, July 27 View Page Patience wept through the night, time to touch up the powder again and tell her everything will be ok. Looking closely, you can see the point where two lobes meet sort of squaring off the back corner behind the stem. I'm ok with this, as again, Mother Mature's gonna do what she does.   Thursday, July 27 View Page The shape is now pretty much set, so no more daily updates for this girl. Minor adjusting will be done if possible, but I'm past the babysitting stage and waiting for the first bit to touch the board now.   Thursday, July 27 View Page Compared to the picture from yesterday, you can see at the front of the cone that the pumpkin will begin to sag fairly quickly once it reaches the top edge of the cone. Let's hope that move to the right pays off!   Thursday, July 27 View Page Helluva guy, helluva seed...   Thursday, July 27 View Page My buddy Jay stopped by today to check out the patch, had a nice visit. Even let him shoot a video of me and Petunia :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7SkrYF8lCU   Friday, July 28 View Page I ask for a lot of advice around here because I feel different opinions are the best way to figure out your own sometimes. While sometimes hard to sort through what is truth and what is speculation at best, when respected growers approach me with unsolicited advice I most often take it, as it is normally coming from a sincere place, and previous experience. Last night I received some of that advice regarding Patience.   Friday, July 28 View Page Thank you Rick, I'll be darned if you weren't right! My previous wound cleaning wasn't thorough enough and the wound went deeper than initially thought. It was advised to actually use the razor to remove thin slices until no more brown showed whether slimy or not, and re-dress wound with powder and fan. While nervous to do so, it does look better now and I will do this in the future to all brown tissue. Yes, stem looks crazy right now but you'd be surprised at what I've seen make it to the weigh off, better to go down swinging than sitting back pouting. Besides, what part of this project hasn't been crazy?! :)   Friday, July 28 View Page Based on the continued splitting and stem stress in the previous picture, back and to the right to increase the incline. Now that she is heavy enough to hold herself in place, she was rotated about 90 degrees counter clockwise to start to un-twist the vine from when it layed down.   Friday, July 28 View Page I will probably have to move the support soon, but you can see at the back how much the vine has started to raise in the first 10 days or so after going upright. Top pin moved about the same and has already been reinserted.   Friday, July 28 View Page Still looks good from my house, how about yours? Thank you all for following and for your support, sorry about the ever increasing scroll down the page to get here!   Friday, July 28 View Page Trying to find a fan at Wally World in January is like trying to find Sasquatch. August 1st, near a University, you can certainly count on them to cater to dormitory life with a plethora of cheap crap to get you by, foot soldiers ready to be deployed!   Friday, July 28 View Page I suppose if you're going to be caught in the rain, it helps to have good company. Just taking a beating here with this wet weather. Harder I work, harder it rains...   Friday, July 28 View Page Top view... I'm sorry scroll up I lost count DOC... 10 or 11 ish. Man, this shot really got my gears going on how the 4 lobes are coming out. Japanese watermelons, all I'm sayin!   Friday, July 28 View Page This would be the back left corner as looking at it from the front. The support has been re-positioned, vine raised on both pegs about 4" each, and pumpkin slid the distance from the sulfur ring where it sat before, almost center of 4x4 platform now. You can't do much when it's small or it will tilt with vine pressure, but once a couple weeks old, it "should" be heavy enough to sit anywhere you put it without rocking or tilting.   Friday, July 28 View Page Please excuse the rain splash here, it's been hard on this one. Haven't been covering with blanket, just a shade tarp, as I didn't want to have anything other than myself and gravity influencing the vine. At any rate, modified base with 8 x 3/8" holes to the center hollow point of the cone. If the cone is wet every time I move it, do something about the moisture or get rot, right?   Friday, July 28 View Page Hopefully this will do the trick for, oh, at least until Monday when I get back from a long weekend. A larger 6 x 6 shade tarp and a bit of leaf litter near the platform to help control splash. Fan on top, fan on bottom, powder everywhere it seems :) Going down swingin on this one!   Friday, July 28 View Page MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN! Had these yellow petite melons next to my 296.5 Barbers and this little guy wanted to run with the big girls. Rain really beat me up this week...   Friday, July 28 View Page Good thing we got a couple boats on the ready! Petunia on far left, Pebbles on far right, Kirsha looking after Presley in the middle.   Friday, July 28 View Page After 4 failed attempts to self, started leaving the 1511.5 Haist squash open to try to get something going. As you can see by the two in the picture, nothing yet.   Friday, July 28 View Page 1511, out of room and just about ready to order some fresh cover crop seed. Always a shame to pull a healthy plant, but what are you gonna do?   Sunday, July 30 View Page Last 36 hours while I was away... add it to the July total I suppose. At least we had gorgeous weather for the Ohio Valley patch tour today. Today was more for learning than comparison, but it was nice to see where I'm at, and am proud of my patch this year.   Sunday, July 30 View Page Having some fun with these crazy cucumbers!   Sunday, July 30 View Page Half liter bottle (15.9 oz) Hard to get a comparison on theee but I figured the bottle was little bigger than average slicing cucumber.   Sunday, July 30 View Page Little behind on my melons, but I'm glad I culled the other one. This is the new set on the left plant. 14 days old.   Sunday, July 30 View Page Just a perfect shape on this one so far :)   Sunday, July 30 View Page And the right plant, both 296.5 Barber, a little older and just a slight divot, but otherwise going ok. 25 days old.   Sunday, July 30 View Page 189 Crews LS @ 10 days. Sorry, correction to this post, no kin on this plant before, bad spot, liked shape but got culled for new one.   Sunday, July 30 View Page 188 MacKinnon. I was only going to keep this plant for a pollinator but it was out-pacing the other pumpkin so I kept it. Just in the grass, not much plant behind it. 26 days old.   Sunday, July 30 View Page 55 Vester Lopes x 2   Sunday, July 30 View Page Got a few around this age now.   Monday, July 31 View Page Ok, decided to get a better idea this morning while measuring everything else.   Monday, July 31 View Page Cucumber is 29 days old and growing much better than a sister plant @ 31 days old.   Monday, July 31 View Page Penelope (631 Trychta) in the 150 patch at 41 days old, 274.5 OTT.   Monday, July 31 View Page Stem end of Penelope 41 DAP.   Monday, July 31 View Page Petunia pouted for a day or two after the surgery, but is back on same pace as Penelope at least. You can see here where I slipped with the paring knife a few times trying to trim the blossom as tight as I could... stopped after the third one I believe :( still dry in there, so I guess I'll just assume everything is ok as long as the numbers keep moving.   Monday, July 31 View Page Left side is closed, right isn't far behind. Now at 46 DAP. Thanks again Gary, you got me back on track with this one!   Monday, July 31 View Page 18 DAP, 13 DOC, 57" cc. I don't really take an OTT on my cinderellas until they're touching the board completely, and it is simply for my own pace records, not weight estimation. I believe this style of growing will fudge the numbers a bit from normal growth, so not concerned with weight, just wanna know where she's at. Glass Gem corn casting a shadow on her, got a little taller than expected this year.   Monday, July 31 View Page Original front view, now right side shot. The front view shows a level top, but you can see here the effect that the subtle right shift had on pulling towards the heavy end.   Monday, July 31 View Page Sorry to disappoint you Glenna, but not too much more fussing around to be done here anymore :( Other side, this would be the left side as looking from the front. Again, a tilt backwards, but I feel the perfect amount. While it may seem I have lost control of her, the goal is to get that back edge to sit and push just enough for the top to re-level itself while the front is catching up. If I've nailed it, she will be level both ways, if not, she will still be level left to right from the display front, which I feel is more important than front to back. A slight tilt backwards is better than forwards, as it will just bulge the front a bit, but I DO NOT want the large part of it on the perceived "back" of the pumpkin based on stem curve. More shimming and adjusting can be done until the flat spot is formed, but I'm happy enough at this point to leave it up to Mother Nature.   Monday, July 31 View Page I'm starting to think 5 lobes would be a good choice for this shape. 4 lobes on this one and it is forming a blocky square shape. This may even out over time, but looking back at the fresh bloom from July 13, if I had to be honest with my own eyes, 3 of the 4 look very symmetrical but one has a slight "opening" that is different. I believe this lobe with the opening is the small lobe at the front left of the pumpkin from about 5:30 to 9:00 position.   Tuesday, August 1 View Page Being born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, touchdowns come as no surprise anymore :)   Tuesday, August 1 View Page Right side shot, entire back of pumpkin touched today, hopefully the sides will have caught up by tomorrow, allowing a solid base until the front divot fills. I would have preferred the divot to be the back of the pumpkin, but again my vine got a little twisted when laying down.   Wednesday, August 2 View Page Pebbles on day 40   Wednesday, August 2 View Page Starting to orange up just a bit, still no issues at all with this plant, very sturdy so far.   Wednesday, August 2 View Page 20 days old today and hopefully she'll be done touching tomorrow. You can see a nice sized divot forming at the top of the stem, more worried about this than anything else right now.   Wednesday, August 2 View Page Trying to get her to dry up. Re-cleaned and re-powdered. Rain has finally stopped, so might be able to gain some ground soon.   Thursday, August 3 View Page First cucumber comes in juuust shy of 8 lbs. 33 days old, 12.5" cc at base (top half before the club end was 11.5) and 29" long from stem to blossom.   Thursday, August 3 View Page Lol, either my cucumbers are big, or I'm just a tiny dude. Roughly same size as leg from foot to knee. Plant is about 4' tall x 2' wide, new cuke set at terminal tip 2 days ago.   Thursday, August 3 View Page Nice uniformity inside. Looks like there should be a million seeds in there but the top half is just jelly sacs, almost like if it had more time to pollinate it would fill up better.   Thursday, August 3 View Page Lot of immature seeds, will probably leave the other cukes on a bit even after they stop growing just to ripen them a little more.   Friday, August 4 View Page Well folks, I've finally realized something... a scratched pumpkin is way better than a rotten one. If the fan isn't drying it, move the fan closer. Looked better this morning than the last few, and rain has finally let up, so I'm hoping to still get it under control.   Friday, August 4 View Page Left side view, support has been moved to the back of the platform. Centered the pumpkin on the platform and I'm happy with the amount of vine lift, may have to remove the block behind and support from above next. Mis-judged the lean by a day or so, but otherwise happy with the touchdown and shape so far. At 24 days old, she is 43" from platform to platform in 3 different directions, so I can't ask for better than that :)   Sunday, August 6 View Page Finally got her dried up here, a big thank you if we've spoken recently about her. Fan was only moved for picture, right back on top when I was done inspecting today. Very pleased with the shape, and other than possible moisture issues, I'm confident the walls are sturdy enough now to support the bottom and lessen the chance of cracking at the thin point of the blossom. The weight now is on the walls, not the "floor" of the pumpkin, which was aided by the shorter cone. Just need to keep the plant healthy and watch that stem stress now.   Sunday, August 6 View Page Another happy harvest today, still working on growing em too heavy to hold. Only moved half inch in last couple days, gonna try to get another one set for October.   Sunday, August 6 View Page Didn't get a board under this one but it held up really well. 188 MacKinnon plant #2, 34 days ending at 149 OTT.   Sunday, August 6 View Page Side view. Two beautiful fruit off of this seed so far, hope I can squeeze two more in time.   Sunday, August 6 View Page 4 lobes, this blossom held better than her sister.   Wednesday, August 9 View Page A view from Petunia's lair... Pebbles becoming a sight to see for sure!   Wednesday, August 9 View Page Petunia is just a saucy girl!   Wednesday, August 9 View Page Acting up on the business end but BOY are those bulges beautiful!   Wednesday, August 9 View Page Every one of those bulges are solid. Starting to develop a bit of an overhang on both sides, no sag to speak of at all.   Wednesday, August 9 View Page Penelope sitting pretty in the 150 patch.   Wednesday, August 9 View Page 50 DAP - 133cc, 78ee, 84ss for 295 OTT.   Wednesday, August 9 View Page Another thought for all Howard Dill hopefulls out there. Last year I opened a discussion about whether or not to cover your pumpkin. The general consensus was ONLY uncover for pictures. While you do need to keep direct light off of the skin to avoid splitting, I believe some amount of sun is necessary for true potential in color. I was asked many times how I got the color on my 982, and while genetics are the most important factor in color, it is not the only factor. I believe that better color can be brought out of already orange pumpkins. This is my first uncovered pumpkin from start to finish. Note the position of the towel that has been in place for about 5 days now.   Wednesday, August 9 View Page To my eyes, there is already a clear square pattern where all sun was blocked for just a few days. Patience is just 27 days old, and already the general treatment of her has altered her color. There will be a lot who disagree with the ability to influence color, but I go by what my own gardens tell me. This is my second year experimenting with this idea. Now we know we can manipulate shape as well as color... what else can be done for that beauty? Think about it and good luck bringing home the hardware!   Wednesday, August 9 View Page Regatta awards are in! Inaugural WVU Giant Pumpkin Regatta, October 21, 2017! The Horticulture club, captained by myself, will take on the WVU Men's Rowing Club in a battle for epic bragging rights. Wife Kirsha will be heading the Law School team, and we're continuing to support North Elementary's gardening program by having a fundraiser to "Put Your Teacher in a Pumpkin". Yes, you heard right! These elementary kids will raise money for the program and the top 4 earning classes will see their teacher climb inside one of my pumpkins, no ifs, ands, or buts about it! Bringing community together through gardening, what more could you ask for? We will be doing 4 person teams in a relay race since I am growing all of the pumpkins this year. I hope to have 5 teams total. If all pumpkins make it, we will add an "All Forces" team consisting of one student each from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Talk about stacking the deck against myself!   Thursday, August 10 View Page So... apparently Squmpkins are incompatible with the Pumpcone... seriously though, my system still has some drawbacks that I'll get ironed out over the next few years. I learned this year, this is what happens when you try to set it when too small and it gets stuck.   Thursday, August 10 View Page 1060 Holub x 1511.5 Haist. Were it not for my regatta project, this plant would have been pulled as I was looking for a squash, but it's now an insurance policy fruit for the race, seeds will not be kept unless there is specific interest from someone. Started a little lumpy, but might get a nice fruit in the end.   Thursday, August 10 View Page Another cloudy day here... just can't seem to get any sun even when it's not raining. Plus side I suppose, water management hasn't been all that difficult with 75 for the high. Mid 50's still for lows, should probably plug the cables back in on my melons.   Friday, August 11 View Page Sorry folks, Petunia just had too big of a heart.   Friday, August 11 View Page Nice clean bottom on her   Friday, August 11 View Page Call me crazy but I'm going to use her as a learning tool now. The university has graciously granted me emergency storage in a cooler until we talk to the powers that be to see if we can try to keep until October. Taking a Storage and Handling class this semester so it seems only natural to try. Worst case, they don't want it there and I can still dispose of. Best case, we all learn together how long they last.   Friday, August 11 View Page Ready for the ICU. Final measurements, 133 cc, 85 ee, 94 ss for total 312 OTT @ 57 days old. 665 lbs est by Team Pumpkin chart, 1912 Carter x 2106 Schmit.   Friday, August 11 View Page Clean shot of the stem end   Friday, August 11 View Page And a final top view. Will update if anything happens. Just didn't want to stretch out is all.   Saturday, August 12 View Page I put Petunia in the ICU this morning at the WVU greenhouse... I start the semester on Wednesday so will be able to look after her should she be allowed to stay. Caulking dried nicely overnight with the fan, and lots of air circulation in the cooler. My only worry is the temp at 33 degrees, I won't have the option of changing so I'm hoping for the best. Will continue to monitor and count the days so we can all benefit. If there is some other data you are interested, we may be able to do it, just email me.   Saturday, August 12 View Page At the mercy of the masses now, let's hope last year taught that they are in fact real and fragile despite their size.   Saturday, August 12 View Page Playing musical towel here, got another square forming. Love the color on this one so far. Just like her mom, by day 30 you want to be seeing the color change pretty well in the ribs at least if she's gonna shine.   Saturday, August 12 View Page Oops! Got carried away with petunia yesterday and missed moving this. Good news that she's bulging though.   Saturday, August 12 View Page 30 days old, 92 cc, 52 fb (front to back), 51 ss, for total 195 OTT. One inch difference is pretty good on symmetry for me since you can't help how they swell once they get the flat bottom. Still looks good, the kids will love her!   Saturday, August 12 View Page Big Beautiful Pebbles :)   Saturday, August 12 View Page Afraid of what this seed would do with some decent weather. 50 days old today, 159.5 cc, 89 ee, 102.5 ss, for total 351 OTT. 23 lbs per day over last 10.   Saturday, August 12 View Page Cold storage for everybody!   Saturday, August 12 View Page Did just a little better on the second try.   Saturday, August 12 View Page 29 1/4" long   Saturday, August 12 View Page 13 5/8 cc   Saturday, August 12 View Page Size reference   Tuesday, August 15 View Page All healed up and still stretching out nicely.   Tuesday, August 15 View Page :)   Tuesday, August 15 View Page 55 Vester Lope at 23 DAP   Tuesday, August 15 View Page This guy is keeping the local pest problem in check.   Tuesday, August 15 View Page Lee Zappa, you've been put on notice. Heading to Ohio with this monster!   Tuesday, August 15 View Page 150 patch compliance check :)   Tuesday, August 15 View Page Front side   Tuesday, August 15 View Page Right side   Tuesday, August 15 View Page Business end   Tuesday, August 15 View Page Some aging on the oldest leaves but still a steady swell.   Tuesday, August 15 View Page Penelope (631 Trychta x 2106 Schmit)   Saturday, August 19 View Page Ok folks, update day in the Trychta patch. First up is our old friend Petunia. Picture taken at 6 days in ICU, now at 8 days. Caulking is just a touch soft like it may not have fully cured, but appears to have adhered enough to the surface to keep the air out. Temp is a chilly 33 degrees, so she would need to warm up for a long time in order to re-cure caulking, defeating the purpose of fast storage, so I will leave it as is and continue to monitor rather than letting the respiration rate pick back up.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Cuke re-set on the first plant harvested.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Cuke re-set on the plant from the 10 pounder.   Saturday, August 19 View Page 2 cukes in the middle finishing first fruits, should both be in similar range of my other 2.   Saturday, August 19 View Page 188 MacKinnon, pollinator plant from 60 Trychta got pulled for powdery mildew. This is the other plant that had the blossom split early on, and held up a little better with no fruit on the vine. Heart trimmed, heavy duty round of spraying seems to have worked so far.   Saturday, August 19 View Page 188 re-set with good timing for the weigh off and cooler weather around the corner.   Saturday, August 19 View Page 189 Crews LS, again had no fruit so held up to disease pressure, got a trim, and a round of heavy duty.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Not crazy about the placement, but great shape so far. Been throwing double fruit all over the plant, but none of them joined for me. Will grow this one out.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Took another beating again last night. The steady rains coupled with heavy downpours all season is starting to add up to some nervous thoughts about September and October, but no quit in THIS kid!   Saturday, August 19 View Page Thankfully it was only the Glass Gem corn on this round that got hurt. A rather petite variety to begin with, I should have thinned the seeds one more time for a bit sturdier plants.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Most are not broken, but layed down because of how heavy they got and how soft the soil was. I believe a little wider spacing and they would be a little shorter and stalkier instead of reaching for the sun.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Got my bottom lope plant set with a good start. Slightest touch of PM, but got the heavy duty just the same.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Thanks for the advice Danny, top lope is rockin' and rollin'! 28 DAP (ish... hard to tell on these, they take a couple days to start moving) and measurements are: 43 cc, 28 ee, 23 ss for a total 94 OTT.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Watermelons just don't like me I suppose. 296.5 Barber at about 50 lbs, doing 1 a day or so. Not the seed, just the operator here =p   Saturday, August 19 View Page Her sister plant at about 45 lbs, maybe 1.5 a day or so. Hoping to top my PB of 67 this year, so still have a chance, lotta time left.   Saturday, August 19 View Page August is a magical month for the orange chasers. The glow comes on fast and hard this time of year if you get a good luck of the draw on your seed.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Penelope ( 631 Trychta x 2106 Schmit, Anthesis treated ) at 60 DAP. Slowing down a little, but still 49 days to go until harvest. 139 cc, 82.5 ee, 86.5 ss, for total 308 OTT. She'll be an old gal, but them Altoona boys better bring the sunglasses!   Saturday, August 19 View Page See? Start talkin smack and I screw up and don't post a picture :/   Saturday, August 19 View Page Gobbling up the room I gave her!   Saturday, August 19 View Page My dearest Patience at 37 days old, 104" cc. Front to back is now 2" different than side to side as the back half is going just a little harder than the front. We saw this express itself at a very early age, and continue to further exaggerate itself as the growth picks up. Still relatively level on top, stem is holding up well. Ran out of room on the 4 x 4 platform for the vine incliner so it was removed yesterday. This reaffirms that I want to use a longer platform next year. Idea to tie vine from above was borrowed from the original Cinderella man, Mr. Zunnio. Thank you sir for your diary, it was inspiring to say the least!   Saturday, August 19 View Page A right side shot (the original front before the 90 degree turn to untwist the vine. Hard to get a shot without a post in the way, sorry.   Saturday, August 19 View Page A left side shot shows how the back is just a little taller than the front now. Stretch marks near the bottom show a little stress, but steady gains are keeping me optimistic that everything is ok on the blossom. Ellie from last year showed the same light orange vertical stretch marks that come from the rapid stretch placed on the bottom end when grown like this.   Saturday, August 19 View Page A moment to talk about life... we all have our "embarrassments" in life, it's human nature to feel inadequate at times. I prefer however to look differently at "scars" as they are what make everyone unique. To some, this scar on Patience would be completely aggravating. To me, myself last year, it would have been aggravating. The woman in real life who this pumpkin is named after has helped me tremendously in the quest to calm a lot of emotional scarring, and I'm now able to see this blemish, not as a scar that I could have avoided, but a beauty mark that simply makes it unique. It is on the absolute back side of the pumpkin, in the least conspicuous place it could be,so it feels like she spoke to me this season and taught me a lot about myself without saying a word. Thank you real life Patience, this girl is for you!   Saturday, August 19 View Page 1060 Holub doing ok.   Saturday, August 19 View Page 1511.5 Haist starting to move. Plant is a little PM stressed, but we'll see what I can get out of it.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Watch the lobe setup and the center hump folks, this one is gonna be a looker! We have the flat spot formed, just need to keep the end slid out to prevent the nosedive.   Saturday, August 19 View Page Pebbles is holding up strong to the disease pressure around here. So strong that these storms are starting to add up on the blossom end. Everything is ok so far, but showing some swell stress.   Sunday, August 20 View Page 900 sqft of Powerful Pebbles :)   Sunday, August 20 View Page Panerple!   Sunday, August 20 View Page Bunch of zinnias went down with the corn, so I brought a few in for the wife to lighten the load a bit.   Sunday, August 20 View Page I'm lying... :( I brought them in for myself...   Sunday, August 20 View Page MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN!   Sunday, August 20 View Page Guess we'll dig her up, down to 2 now, both of which have been deer salad a couple times already this year.   Sunday, August 20 View Page :)   Sunday, August 20 View Page Better than the last one.   Sunday, August 20 View Page 2 1/4 lbs this time   Sunday, August 20 View Page We'll keep working on it, happy with the coco so far, nice thick mat of feeder roots in it.   Monday, August 21 View Page 7.5 lbs on cuke number 3. This one was a little wonky from the start with the skinny blossom end. Pulled the plant to start easing the time spent spraying here.   Tuesday, August 22 View Page Little bit humid today to be spraying...   Tuesday, August 22 View Page Front side blowout on Patience again.   Tuesday, August 22 View Page Blowout on the backside as well.   Tuesday, August 22 View Page 11 days in the ICU, and a bruise from sliding in the truck is a little soft, but solid as a rock otherwise.   Tuesday, August 22 View Page I believe I should have waited one more day to fully cure and touch up the caulking. The left side didn't quite seal, and 2 little tiny beads of moisture formed last night in the dark triangle to the left side of the split. We've decided to sacrifice her for a test launch at our venue since it doesn't have an ideal launch. Still a learning tool, just a different kind of learning now.   Tuesday, August 22 View Page Yeah... I finally hit it :(   Tuesday, August 22 View Page Had larger issues to worry about tonight though, so just another beauty mark.   Tuesday, August 22 View Page Down to about half the stem now. Last attempt at fixing, she'll get harvested if it keeps up. Just can't keep up with the heavy rains this year. Getting dark early now, fall is on its way!   Wednesday, August 23 View Page Better scale, 2 pounds 6.8 oz.   Wednesday, August 23 View Page Had more length than expected   Wednesday, August 23 View Page 41" even from the tip of the crown.   Thursday, August 24 View Page Nother one down, couldn't hold the last storm.   Thursday, August 24 View Page 320 pounds, 37 days old. 1060 Holub Squmpkin.   Thursday, August 24 View Page She was splitting all over, this is bottom of stem side.   Thursday, August 24 View Page Shame... she was gonna put on some orange for me.   Saturday, August 26 View Page Picked up a sharp new suit for the regatta, gonna knock em dead!   Saturday, August 26 View Page 150 patch and friends :)   Saturday, August 26 View Page Penelope at 67 days old. Love this pumpkin, perfect shape so far.   Saturday, August 26 View Page Patience at 45 days old.   Saturday, August 26 View Page Pebbles at 64 days old.   Monday, August 28 View Page Trying to squeeze out a squash here, PM has had a grip on it for a little while now. When I left it open to get one set, it kinda got jumbled and it was a bit crowded. Little light compared to pebbles, but still gaining well.   Tuesday, August 29 View Page Penelope at 70 days old. 144 cc, 84.5 ee, 90 ss, for total 318.5 OTT.   Wednesday, August 30 View Page You girls just wanna have fun? I call this one... Cyndi Loper :)   Thursday, August 31 View Page Here goes Audrey on the 1511.5 Haist at 30 days, 222 OTT.   Thursday, August 31 View Page Still keeping her center hump, looking good so far.   Thursday, August 31 View Page Patience still moving along here at 50 days old, 243 OTT.   Thursday, August 31 View Page She put on some color between day 30 and day 50, starting to get the shine her mother had.   Thursday, August 31 View Page Pebbles at 69 days old, 42 more to go!   Thursday, August 31 View Page Little upset about the missing chunk here, really screwing up my numbers. 381 OTT   Thursday, August 31 View Page She's acting up just like the others, but hanging in there so far.   Thursday, August 31 View Page Been, oh a few weeks in the ICU now. Starting to lose some water and dimple slightly, but still pretty solid on the surface.   Thursday, August 31 View Page I guess she just doesn't like you looking from the side... nice tall hump on her, swelling fairly symmetrically despite the deformity underneath.   Friday, September 1 View Page After 20 days in the fridge, I decided to pull her out for a night to warm her up enough to re-caulk the end. Someone must have poked it and there was a split in the original patch.   Friday, September 1 View Page You can see in this picture and the last, she's showing a bit of chill damage. Took awhile to warm her up enough for the condensation to stop forming, re-caulked with a fan tonight to cure it and keep it dry.   Friday, September 1 View Page Got a late one going on the 189 Crews LS, 20 days old.   Friday, September 1 View Page 55 Vester @ 41 days old, 107 OTT.   Saturday, September 2 View Page Got some serious winds this morning. Been wanting rid of that branch, but one of Penelope's shade supports also snapped.   Saturday, September 2 View Page Sat there beating on her for a while. Every burst of wind lifted the tarp like a parachute and let the corner of the post jab in on the let down.   Saturday, September 2 View Page She was gorgeous just yesterday, but thankfully nothing worse than this yet. Hoping the storm keeps moving, wind chimes sound like church bells today.   Saturday, September 2 View Page And the zinnias are done for the season, thank you for the color ladies!   Monday, September 4 View Page She looks tiny from this side...   Monday, September 4 View Page But that's just because she's cut into the hillside :)   Monday, September 4 View Page Something wired on Pebbles today, looks like a glob of some sort of eggs?   Monday, September 4 View Page Patience wishes everyone a Happy Labor Day :)   Tuesday, September 5 View Page Petunia didn't survive the warmup. Fridge was a little too cold.   Tuesday, September 5 View Page I'll take a look inside when I get home from school today...   Tuesday, September 5 View Page Too bad she couldn't stretch out. 7.5" fillet knife for size reference.   Tuesday, September 5 View Page Other side   Tuesday, September 5 View Page Close shot of the split.   Tuesday, September 5 View Page The chill damage went pretty deep, I doubt she would have made it even without the warmup.   Tuesday, September 5 View Page 312 OTT @ 57 days old put her at 665 on the old chart, hit the high end of the Team Pumpkin chart at 711 pounds of compost.   Friday, September 8 View Page Look close to the left of the lope...   Friday, September 8 View Page Found a baby snapping turtle protecting the patch yesterday :)   Friday, September 8 View Page 55 Vester at 48 DAP, 111 OTT. Pretty slow going in the cool weather, but still moving. Disease pressure will have the harvest coming soon regardless of growth, the last month really stressed the plant.   Friday, September 8 View Page Wind knocked a bunch of the corn over so I started harvesting some of it.   Friday, September 8 View Page Some sharp colors coming out. A lot of them are right on the edge of maturity, but Mother Nature said it was time...   Saturday, September 9 View Page Weeds are blooming in Petunia's patch, so it was time to get cleaned up. Tiller was a little sluggish though after sitting for a bit.   Saturday, September 9 View Page Lol, no wonder! Quick little tune-up and she's ready to rumble!   Saturday, September 9 View Page At least it was UNDER the board...   Saturday, September 9 View Page All cleaned up. Can see the glow on Kirsha's pumpkin underneath the blue tarp on the left, Pebbles to the right.   Saturday, September 9 View Page Oh, I forgot! This is my new cow! Only about 550 lbs, gotta fatten her up a bit :)   Saturday, September 9 View Page Pretty girl...   Sunday, September 10 View Page 55 Vester lookin good :)   Sunday, September 10 View Page Patience lookin good :)   Sunday, September 10 View Page Penelope lookin good :)   Sunday, September 10 View Page Presley lookin good :)   Sunday, September 10 View Page Audrey lookin good :)   Sunday, September 10 View Page Pebbles lookin great! :)   Wednesday, September 20 View Page MUAHAHAAAA!   Saturday, September 23 View Page Could smell her today so I decided to harvest...   Saturday, September 23 View Page Had to get a quick size comparison with a regular lope...   Saturday, September 23 View Page Happy for my first try at em, goal to start the year was 40. Will definitely try these again next year, they were a lot of fun. Awesome seeds Danny!   Tuesday, September 26 View Page Delicious :)   Tuesday, September 26 View Page Pebbles still going strong at about 7 lbs per day, somewhere around 95 days old.   Tuesday, September 26 View Page Business end going green, but still a nice healthy stem.   Tuesday, September 26 View Page My first beauty over 400 OTT :)   Tuesday, September 26 View Page Our girl Patience has been laying low with a BANGED UP stem...   Tuesday, September 26 View Page You can see a few soft spots that were caught early enough to dry out. Still gaining well despite not being connected very well.   Tuesday, September 26 View Page Better bring the welding goggles to Ohio, she's putting on that special glow her mother had for sure!   Tuesday, September 26 View Page Yes, she's as thick as she looks. Absolutely love the veiny look she has! Thumps like a little tank, nice solid Cinderella here.   Tuesday, September 26 View Page A little backside action. If you're looking for some deep shiny color, go out and find a 982 Trychta this off season, she'll treat you right!   Thursday, September 28 View Page Like a giant piece of candy... I just want to take a big ol' bite!   Monday, October 2 View Page Finish strong!   Tuesday, October 3 View Page 150 Patch is just about finished, she gets harvested for Altoona on Friday :)   Tuesday, October 3 View Page She has good company until then. Both mothers grew in the same spots respectively last year. Didn’t plan it, just sort of happened. Just LOVE it when the yard looks like this!   Tuesday, October 3 View Page Class took a field trip to Kearneysville Research Station recently.   Tuesday, October 3 View Page Handsome apple harvester right there! :)   Tuesday, October 3 View Page I’m coming Pebs, 10 more days!   Thursday, October 5 View Page 7 days until harvest, 140 miles to Parks Garden Center... After this morning, nerves are officially SHOT! Picture to come when I get home from school...   Thursday, October 5 View Page Apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought it looked good enough to take a bite... shoulda done it myself :(   Friday, October 6 View Page Look, already fixed, no sweat! :)   Friday, October 6 View Page Great part about a Cinderella, you have a couple “fronts” to choose from :)   Monday, October 9 View Page Came in light on the 150 Patch but a nice pumpkin nonetheless.   Monday, October 9 View Page My squash got a little love at the scale though, first green plaque ever :)   Wednesday, October 11 View Page We all know what this means...   Wednesday, October 11 View Page Didn’t look great underneath but not terrible either. Perhaps a wider cone would relieve the kinks.   Wednesday, October 11 View Page Aaaaaaaand there it is...   Wednesday, October 11 View Page Sorry folks, tried hard on this one.   Wednesday, October 11 View Page Contrary to popular opinion, the trouble was on the stem end all along. Just couldn’t get it stopped in time.   Wednesday, October 11 View Page All is not lost however. After seeing the inner lobe expression left after the meat rotted off only strengthens my beliefs that lobes directly relate to overall shape.   Wednesday, October 11 View Page 2 lobes pointing backward equals 2 chubby chunks.   Friday, October 13 View Page Harvest day is here, good luck this weekend!   Friday, October 13 View Page Happy punkin grower right there!   Friday, October 13 View Page Super proud of this girl here :)   Friday, October 13 View Page Go time, let’s do this!   Saturday, October 14 View Page His and hers :)   Saturday, October 14 View Page Tuckered out after a long day :)   Saturday, October 14 View Page Still a little gas in the tank here though!   Sunday, October 15 View Page New PB by 355   Thursday, October 19 View Page She looked big on the Bobcat...   Thursday, October 19 View Page Pretty tiny in front of the Mountain Lair though. Lots of people enjoying it, so it's all good in this neighborhood.