Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 312 Entries. Tuesday, March 8 View Page *crackle crackle*….testes one two…testes one two….   Tuesday, March 8 View Page “WHO IS Salad DOUG!!! ??”……?….!!!..?…. ” wHO IS SaL—aAD DOUG!!!!????”…..?….. “ who is sal—ad Doug….UK?…..?” How the hell do I NOT get points for that?!!!!…Seriously…saladdoug?…I freekin KNOW THE GUY!!….the missus wasn’t budging….no points for me…and she said “tomato”…..what a crock of shit…that’s not even how the game works. Pfffft….tOmAto. WhUUUTTTeEVVERrr….sucks. And now we’re watching jeopardy. Good thing giant pumpkins are a thing. Spring is right around the corner.   Tuesday, March 8 View Page Yuuuup… I missed the whole dam season last year…..total suckfest, and a broken hip was the least of it…I’m just gonna chalk it up to another shitty year on the porkchop plantation. But I’m back for the season, fired up and ready to go. Henry is counting down to the start, looks like the Pumpkin wars on YouTube have started, journals are firing off, the GPC convention is this weekend…I mean…wtf….let’s go BaBY!!!!!! 2000 pounders for everyone!!!!!   Tuesday, March 8 View Page A few pics to finish out last years journal though …   Tuesday, March 8 View Page Despite the early setbacks, the missus was doing great with the pumpkin…not so much the tomato’s…too many early mistakes, and the game is won or lost at the start when growing outdoors in my opinion. Lots of bLT’s though… so she had that goin for us.   Tuesday, March 8 View Page She busted ass all season…hand mixing… hand watering…gave her a good look over right before the Vermont weighoff and the pumpkin was looking stellar but she was really disappointed when I told her vtjohn said “he didn’t want us there”. So another week on the vine it was….   Tuesday, March 8 View Page And she didn’t stop….weeding, primping, staking…checking vines… dang Mama…you made it…picking day for Saratoga next!!! What a stunner!!!!!!!!!!!   Tuesday, March 8 View Page They do say a Picture says a thousand words.   Tuesday, March 8 View Page A soft spot…I found it. That was a tough moment for me to be in. To watch how hard she worked all season only to have to deliver that news.   Tuesday, March 8 View Page The funeral was nice…it lasted two straight days. She stayed up there with the pumpkin the whole time….I didn’t hold back either…I pointed out ALL the ways she messed up early with pumpkin positioning and how you have to move them early and not roll them when they get 100 pounds. Two straight days I just shook my head at her and said “ whuuut a Screw-UP!!!”…   Tuesday, March 8 View Page LOL!!!!…. Do you have any idea how much trouble I would actually get in if I said something like that!!!??…yikes!!!… that’s terrible you’d think I’d say that to lambchop …truth be told, yes we had a soft spot, but No, neither of us were too disappointed, not our first gut punch of the year… We decided to weigh her at home after finding the soft spot and were thrilled to unofficially weigh “our” second biggest pumpkin at 1586. Look how happy she was to see the weight!! The pic where I told her to sit by the pumpkin and play hide and seek?…fake news… and nooooooo vtjohn did not say don’t come to Vermont. Lol (sorry John…couldn’t resist…I’m just realizing that my emails have not been actually sending now for quite some time , and after a long call with tech support, have ended up in an outbox that has been deleted while trying to correct the problem …ooooops… problem is solved now but there’s no way I can go back and retrieve my sent emails. Uuuuuugh….I’ll be in touch)   Tuesday, March 8 View Page The best part of our season -the 2021 “money shot”…dam…back in the day, the woman couldn’t grow an air fern to save her life. Look at her now!!..just amazing… A huge thanks to RoN Wallace and the folks over at Wallace WoW for the awesome products and for helping us further to understand what it takes to grow these enormous pumpkins!!!!!   Tuesday, March 8 View Page Awww …she even let me get in on a pic.   Tuesday, March 8 View Page Lots of friends came for pics…most all of mine thought the garden was extra “girly” this year…I kinda agree..too many flowers   Tuesday, March 8 View Page Ima try and fix that for this season….mmmmm….roooocckks….but other than that…   Tuesday, March 8 View Page We did have fun cutting her open and she was uniform except for that one lobe on the right that I really do think was from rolling the fruit early…   Tuesday, March 8 View Page Dang. That did suck. Only stunk a little bit. Oh well…saved a few seeds.   Tuesday, March 8 View Page The fall was absolutely stunning and we we’re watering flowers right up until thanksgiving…but Jack Frost took us over eventually…prick….Winter is mostly over now, and like I said earlier, my email situation is working so I’ll be in touch this week with quite a few of you…   Tuesday, March 8 View Page We have unfinished business to take care of…and new business to start. Stay tuned.   Thursday, March 24 View Page Yay spring…   Thursday, March 24 View Page Dam, I missed the freekin seminar. Not all of it. I got to listen to Cindy, Jay and the Ansems for awhile before heading back out to plow more snow…man, I coulda listened to them bullshit for hours. That was really neat. Hope to find the replay somewhere.   Thursday, March 24 View Page The tomato category!!!…look at it. Seriously look at it…..LOOK!!…look look look…those are my tomato BUDDIES!!!! Jack , farmer brown, materdoc!!!!….Aiight let’s keep it real…I’ve been in this hobby/ on this site for a decade now. If I told you my first day here, that the top three tomatoes in the world would weigh what that pic says, I think I woulda been laughed right outta here.That’s remarkable. Congrats guys. That’s really freekin awesome. When I tell folks we have the coolest giant tomato contest with some of the best growers in the world?…that’s no bullshit. So without further a-doooo…   Thursday, March 24 View Page JaCK Larue retains The CUP for another year!!!…congrats Jack!!…can’t wait to see pics!!!…annnnd….   Thursday, March 24 View Page Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Team Tomato Challenge !!! Jack led the way for team ToMMaTO with Cindy Tobeck and Scott hulob to capture the top spot in our OPen division with an astonishing 38.65 lbs!!!!!!!!…..WHUuuuT!!!???……   Thursday, March 24 View Page Yup… you read that right…thirty eight point six five freaking pounds!?…thats two tomatoes…each person. Total of six. What a bunch a cheaters…lol…(kidding of course)…whatever you guys are doing out that way, keep it going. It’s truly inspiring. And we Gotta give an honorable mention to “We the North” with an incredible 32.17 lbs. Great to see the PB’s getting knocked off up north. Chris, Todd…hell yea.   Thursday, March 24 View Page There’s farmer brown with the 9.06!!!…Daaaaam Boy. That’s how you do it!!…famer brown led “The RED KINGdom” ( these names guys…I’m dying…cage benders, f’n great.) …. Led “the Red KINGdoM to a win in our Draft Division along with teammates James heartly, and new grower Dan Greene. I think dans email was lost in my email debacle. I wrote Dan back..not sure if he’s on here but he really crushed it last year. California record could be tested.Hope he grows Domingos. Someone tell farmer brown to email me!!!……..   Thursday, March 24 View Page You have TROPHIES!!!…. Second PLace in our Draft Division… KERRY!!!…YOU CHEATIN FUuu….you weren’t even gonna grow last season!!!!…hahaha…right on brother!!..Curtis and lance carried you…lol…great job guys. Coming in third…VTJOHN, paul Harrington and Lmicheal! The Three Stewed DoMINGOs!!!…great job guys!!! Please email me Kerry and John!!   Thursday, March 24 View Page This one is special. I’m pretty sure I mentioned this before I took my tumble last spring. Our buddy greenbud’s (mike) SMash Award.!!!…I tell ya what…he would of loved this….this was right up his ally…a cool award, for a cool reason. To the grower who not only smashes their personal best, but shares on the fun along the way. (We need a drumroll…for greenbud)….and the winner is?….DRUMROLLLLLLLLLLLLlLLLLLLLLLL…..   Thursday, March 24 View Page MATERDOC!!!!…. Lol!!!!!!….congrats materdoc!!!….Im sure greenbud was lookin in on you last season!!!!..what a ride…thanks for always making it fun…yER gonna love this thing. I think it’s the coolest trophy ever…there were so many others that bested their personal best last year too…unreal. What a great effort by all. Huge thanks to Ned for sponsering this category!!!! Shoot me an email materdoc..and congrats again on an amazing year… can’t wait to see what you guys do this season!!!   Thursday, March 24 View Page Oh yea…. And we’re gonna do it again..the greatest tomato contest with some of the greatest growers in the world. Lending some advice, sharing a laugh, havin some fun. Official Sign- up for the 2022 team contest coming soon…we’re not on other social media so help us spread the word..tell ‘em where the big boys and girls ride. Let’s go baby…10 pounders all AroUNd!!!!!   Saturday, April 2 View Page Found some pics on the interweb of an old display we put together at the apple farm….I like how the reporter says “as you can see”…lol.   Saturday, April 2 View Page Woohooo!!!…Ron Wallace really likes our contest…thanks for the swag Ron!…congrats again to last years winners!!…hope to get everything out this week!!…the season is so close.   Saturday, May 7 View Page Wow…my first woody of the year and it’s not even June yet!! High noon today.   Saturday, May 7 View Page There’s no way I’m the only one that’s barley got started…   Saturday, May 7 View Page Meh… I’ll get to it.   Saturday, May 7 View Page What a mess out here… early April was really nice this year. Got the hoops into the garden to try and keep the planting areas dry.   Saturday, May 7 View Page “ in like lamb my ass”…bye bye hopes of an early start.   Saturday, May 7 View Page 12” of the wet heavy stuff for earth day..so much fun with all the branches down everywhere.   Saturday, May 7 View Page It melted quick… note to self…stop talkin shit about Mother Nature   Saturday, May 7 View Page One of the best parts of this hobby is the people you get to meet and share seeds with. Can anyone guess what seed this is?..we’ve never grown this one..or seen it for that matter. Guesses?   Saturday, May 7 View Page How bout now?… thanks for the seeds Wolfpack!!   Saturday, May 7 View Page That’s right!…it’s cotton..the seeds came up in about 4 days. They lookin good.   Saturday, May 7 View Page Very cool looking plant so far. We’re really trying to be smart about our gardening this season to maximize Our efforts and save money along the way. I will be saving all of our used kabob skewers this summer, breaking them in half and in the fall, making our own Qtip’s. Bam!.. huge savings and clean ears!   Saturday, May 7 View Page We’re up…about 10 days later then last year.   Saturday, May 7 View Page Hi little ones!   Saturday, May 7 View Page Tilling was wicked fun…a couple of doves stopped by during one of my many breaks.   Saturday, May 7 View Page So close… break time.   Saturday, May 7 View Page Done…plants will go in Sunday.   Saturday, May 7 View Page And we should know our tomato the line up by the end of the week. Time to get some. And if there’s anything I’ve learned in this sport is…if you WanT SomE…GEt SOme!! Hope to see a few of you in the chat today..I know it’s still early for a lot of us but no doubt spring has SpRUNg!!!…LETS GOOoO!!!!   Monday, May 9 View Page I swear I’m not slacking…26 acres by 9 am. Let’s GO!!!   Monday, May 9 View Page Oh lord…I write like a third grader..I miss Zeke.   Monday, May 9 View Page Thanks lambchop…that’s a little better. It’s draft day!   Monday, May 9 View Page Snipping up the names, folding and dividing up the categories…   Monday, May 9 View Page And here’s the team list!!!… I know, not as high tech as we are used to. I am working on it. Hope you can at least read the names until I can find a minute to type it up. Best of luck to all our teams this year!!   Monday, May 9 View Page Lots of eater maters and peppers…mmmm.   Monday, May 9 View Page Cockscomb… there should be a weight category for this flower. Love these.   Monday, June 6 View Page I agree with bigmoon… what a bunch a freekin cheaters this year…the patons?….cheatin, Jake and Scott?….cheatin…Ruben in the 150 nippin secondaries now?…cheater….hell, even Henry’s cheatin with a big ol plant this year . Andy wolf hasn’t posted pics but If I had to guess?…He’s cheatin. Y’all are cheatin…I love it.   Monday, June 6 View Page I can’t believe it’s already a week since Memorial Day…it was a hot one. Anyone Remember Memorial Day?…when regular gardeners used to start their gardens?…   Monday, June 6 View Page This last month has been a whirlwind of farming and gardening and landscaping and whatever else didn’t get done last season. Had a great stretch of weather to get the crops in. Thank god that’s over. The 4610 put a hurtin on this ol keister.   Monday, June 6 View Page I’ve been going sun up to sun down just about every day. Feels so good to be out and about again. Visiting a little garden I put in years ago…I call this photo “ Waiting to Make a Wish”.   Monday, June 6 View Page Here’s a funny one…this is my fathers “spray tractor”..it stays hooked for the season and gets used once a week to spray the orchard. A few weeks ago he said a bird kept following him while he was spraying the trees….lol…can u see it?…there was a couple eggs.   Monday, June 6 View Page Lol… I’ve never seen a morning dove nest before…too funny. This week he took the baby for a ride…he went easy on the bumps and the momma is back on the nest.   Monday, June 6 View Page Aiight… down to business. Prep….check.   Monday, June 6 View Page Plant- we are rolling with the 2138 Ceja this year.   Monday, June 6 View Page Great start with nice roots.   Monday, June 6 View Page We put in one of lamb chops seeds as a back up.   Monday, June 6 View Page We had really great stretch of warm sunny weather after the plants went in. We shaded the hoop most of the sunny days. It was a really nice month.   Monday, June 6 View Page Final till.   Monday, June 6 View Page The 2138 didn’t miss a beat when it went in. Very strong grower.   Monday, June 6 View Page Doesn’t look like much now but this garden is gonna be pimpin this season.   Monday, June 6 View Page Out of the hoop quick. Despite the 10 day later start I think we’ve caught up to last year in plant size.   Monday, June 6 View Page Time for us to start pushing them a little.   Monday, June 6 View Page Wanna know if you are a giant tomato grower?..search yer photos.   Monday, June 6 View Page Whuddya think saydee?…are we gonna let mommy wreck our tomatoes again this year?..   Monday, June 6 View Page We’re in!!… and no nonsense this year. No more frolicking through the flowers!..it’s marching down that line and getting it done for the canknuckleheads!!   Monday, June 6 View Page Ohhhh yea. me likey. Me likey Long time.   Monday, June 6 View Page And while we’re out here?… who wouldn’t want to be known as having the biggest “eggplant” . (Yukka yukka). Thanks for the seeds Wolfpack!   Monday, June 6 View Page And after four long years we finally got a bushel gourd to germ. Can’t remember off the top of my head the seed, but I think it’s farmer browns big one. Excited about this after years of watching pumpconn grow these. Let the season begin!!!!…fricken cheaters.   Wednesday, June 8 View Page It’s junk week!!…look at that score!!!..his and her stirrup hoes!..and a fire pit!! Can’t believe what people toss these days. Also scored a perfectly working old south bend drill press. I didn’t even know I needed one. Rolly cart and everything. Gonna be a good week.   Tuesday, June 21 View Page I pulled this old dead scots pine shrub out of a landscape I installed a few decades ago….I mean…if there IS such a thing as a pretty dead shrub?…this one’s it.   Tuesday, June 21 View Page We call it the “tree of life”…have had 7 different species of birds on it at one time. They don’t even mind when the dog is out here running around with us. If you feed and enjoy the birds you need a Tree of LiFE.!!!…might go broke buying suet though…uuugh.   Tuesday, June 21 View Page A few hot days last week got the 2138 Ceja moving along…no issues to speak of…other then the cooler then normal temps. Im not complaining.   Tuesday, June 21 View Page Patch is getting some new Digs…I eyeballed it too…I still got it.   Tuesday, June 21 View Page The plant didn’t mind the 60 degree temps this past weekend…we think we’ve found a keeper at 17’. Getting close to grow time.   Tuesday, June 21 View Page Maters are looking guud… will stake them soon. Then it’s on..   Tuesday, June 21 View Page We’ve made it this far..longest day of the year they say…(they still 24 hrs last time I checked)…lambchop will be out for the summer by the end of the week and we will garden the crap outta this place!!!..kudos to the rest of you, y’all are putting the work this year!!!!!! LETS GO!!!!   Tuesday, June 21 View Page (Musical note emoji)…, “ The Toouuuch…The feeeL oV COTttonn..The FaBriC of our LiiivEs”   Monday, July 4 View Page Happy 4th of July!   Saturday, July 9 View Page A little light on sulphur, a tad low in potassium ,Ooohhh yea baby…I think I’ve come up with…wait..scratch that… I KNOW I’ve come up with the best way to spread mid-season amendments. I did some figuring and cross multiplication, calculating burn rate with dispersal force and quite frankly, I nailed it.   Saturday, July 9 View Page One final cross reference with the soil calculator…I came up with 29 pounds of potassium nitrate and 8.7 pounds of sulphur. Sounds like alot but the math says otherwise. It was AWESOME. It went FLawLessLy!!!   Saturday, July 9 View Page Alright…I wouldn’t say flawlessly…but judging by the cardboard debris field the application was evenly dispersed.   Saturday, July 9 View Page The night started well… my sister in law snapped this photo while we were saying hello to friends and family gone by.. I sent up this red one. ( hey buddy)   Saturday, July 9 View Page Oh yea..   Saturday, July 9 View Page A little more sulphur…   Saturday, July 9 View Page Yeaaa!!!!   Saturday, July 9 View Page Oh YEA!!!!… it’s working!!!   Saturday, July 9 View Page Gorgeous!!!!!!   Saturday, July 9 View Page And now for the amendments…   Saturday, July 9 View Page Yup   Saturday, July 9 View Page FLaWLESS!!!…look at the tree of life!!!!!..Dang that was fun.   Sunday, August 7 View Page What a great plant maintenance tip. These Paton brothers man….good stuff…that’s why they’re 2400 pounds at day 60 and I still can’t figure out how to put the batteries in the friggin ec meter…uuugh…where was I with this journal thing anyhow?…oh yea…the fireworks…my buddy put the finale on tick tock if anyone wants to check it out. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRYKwJ14/?k=1 Imagine that going off over your patch lol. Anyhow…I gotta get caught up here on the journal one way or another…it’s been over a month..dang..I just counted..I have 54 photos to upload…I narrowed it down…my apologies…I’ll try to make it as painless as possible.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Maybe it’s 58 photos..this actually isn’t even giant veggie related but someone asked where I’ve been and I told them I’ve been gardening the crap out the city!..here’s a project from a few weeks back. Customer wants old foundation turned into landscaping near this big rock. I suggested a continuation of a dry river bed into a “reflection pool”…   Sunday, August 7 View Page Oh yea…I know there’s some rock guys out there…   Sunday, August 7 View Page Ta-DAAAA!!!… reflection pool!!   Sunday, August 7 View Page I Used blue slate pieces for the “water” and coated it with “wet look” paver sealer. I swear there’s no water but it will make you have to pee.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Ok enough of that…here we go…The tree of LIFe…it’s truly a thing a beauty…all of gods mammals congregate here.bunnies and squirrels and chippers and birds of all kinds. We all mostly live in harmony. There’s 3 downy woodpeckers that basically eat out of my hand when the suet runs low.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Note to self…don’t run low on suet.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Everyone is sooo chill this year…some a little too chill…I almost got a high five from Pépe the red squirrel yesterday. I think it woulda been a high five anyway.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Ok…let’s start with the tomatoes..they went in the ground well…I think I already mentioned that earlier in the journal…Jesus this IS gonna be painful.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Only had one of these do anything special on a first truss so we went with it. I rarely have a good first truss set here in zone 4. Maybe because I let them go so dry in between waterings this time of year?..(usually we have more rain)   Sunday, August 7 View Page Man these took off this last month as I look at these pics.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Got them all staked up before the fireworks hit…and yes, I evened out her watering.   Sunday, August 7 View Page So far so good…   Sunday, August 7 View Page Here’s that first truss on the 5.30 butler.   Sunday, August 7 View Page It got off to a good start but I didn’t adjust any feeding as there’s another one higher up and there wasn’t any other fruit going.   Sunday, August 7 View Page The next round showed up around the middle of July…   Sunday, August 7 View Page I said look at me young man!…   Sunday, August 7 View Page A day later…haven’t really grown this shape before but it looks decent…   Sunday, August 7 View Page The petals popped off pretty quick so that’s a bonus…I’m goin w it.   Sunday, August 7 View Page This was from last Monday so maybe day 19?…still doing good.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Aww man, this one’s been like watching porn. And nope, the wife would NOT let me name her “Dolly”…or “Ms Parton “…. Couldn’t even name it “the Twins” so I went with “Fred”.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Oh yea Fred…lookin good last week…   Sunday, August 7 View Page Oh hell yea …Freds got a set a boobs on him!!!!!..   Sunday, August 7 View Page We’re cranking now…one or two more to show…weather has been great.   Sunday, August 7 View Page The pumpkin plant…I mean..we’re doing everything right..   Sunday, August 7 View Page Expanded the patch to 1200 square ft.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Did our dance with the panels as she grew…   Sunday, August 7 View Page Monkeying around with the shade panels over the tips…   Sunday, August 7 View Page What the heck…beautiful   Sunday, August 7 View Page Let the first one at 12 ft go on it’s own, opting for a bigger plant…aborted.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Tissue test was just a bit high in nitrogen…tried a few sides..aborted   Sunday, August 7 View Page Got our Keeper at 17’…ugly…stopped growing..plant looks great, tissue test spot on.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Into July and it was just set what we could get.   Sunday, August 7 View Page The plant looks so good…the blossom ends in the fruits are all jacked up. I think it’s just a bunk seed.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Finally managed to get one going…it’s not that pretty but the rest of the garden makes up for it.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Everything looks great this year.   Sunday, August 7 View Page The fruit has a full 1000 square ft of plant behind it so I guess we’ll see if she does anything this week.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Ugly prick doesn’t deserve to be in this photo. No more unproven seeds for us.   Sunday, August 7 View Page Was that 54 photos?… I feel like I skipped a few …whatever…I’m caught up!!…we picked our first of the year on the 5.30 butler…I would def plant this seed again.   Sunday, August 7 View Page The Cankunckleheads are on the board!!   Sunday, August 7 View Page And we’re almost done with the BOARD!!!!…woohooooo!!!… I will be posting updates and seaswampo has something in the works for us to help us track our stats!…let’s go people, of the first tomato’s weighed , half or more are personal bests!!!.. stay tuned for the leaderboard updates!!!   Sunday, August 7 View Page And while we’re at it?   Sunday, August 7 View Page Let’s watch a tomato grow…day 4 on the 9.06 brown.   Sunday, August 7 View Page A little extra shade on this last hot day. Let’s GrOW BABY!!!!!!!!   Monday, August 8 View Page The cockscomb are fire this year.   Monday, August 8 View Page Pretty sure this is the World record…still growing.   Monday, August 8 View Page And that’s got to be a world record tomatillo!!!…mmmmmm…greeeennn saaaallllsaaaaa   Monday, August 8 View Page Last night I had to pull the vine away in case this girl on the 9.06 brown started to swell over night from the warm temps we’ve been having.   Monday, August 8 View Page Oh she is moving…day 5…we could have a good one here. There’s a few bombs going in this garden…i guess I don’t hate tomatoes anymore.   Monday, August 8 View Page Almost the Last of the culls…we’re going all in.   Monday, August 8 View Page This would be just a waste if the garden wasn’t so dam nice to look at…and for the record , as per lambchop, her name is NOT DumDum….(day 30 for dumdum)   Tuesday, August 9 View Page More pics from today…   Tuesday, August 9 View Page The bruiser on the other 5.30 butler..day 29.   Tuesday, August 9 View Page Man..I wish I had more early pics of Fred…   Tuesday, August 9 View Page Hard to get a good pic because he’s tucked in pretty tight..   Tuesday, August 9 View Page I’m holding his right breast….can you see in there?… he fricken big. Handsome. Day 28   Tuesday, August 9 View Page Dumdum not so handsome…day 31..470…I hope it pops so I can throw it away.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page I know…it’s the same photo…clouds are different though..gardens are at peak. Stunning. Not Dumdum…the flowers.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page Wow..Carved out our own little Slice of heaven…hard to believe it’ll be snowing in 7 weeks.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page I’m tellin ya….that’s a world record cockscomb. If not, it’s the Town record 100%.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page The 5.30 butler still swelling.it’s day 30..hope I get more time.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page Starting to look familiar. Me likey.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page I still think Fred will be bigger. Day 29.   Friday, August 12 View Page I knew it as soon as the words came out of my mouth. “Can you PLEASE put them back where they go?”…I looked for the Dam scissors and tomato tape for 20 minutes for crying out loud…she did not like that…”back where they go?” Back wherrrrr they gooo?”….”back where they go?”…the third time she said it was less of a question and more of a “look” while she said it. Then I went for it….” yEAH…BacK where they GOOOooo”….lol…I sounded just like her….so yeah, she blew her top..and I had to fold. I guess there wasn’t a spot for them and they didn’t “goooo” anywhere. Soooooo…lambchop 1-porkchop nil.   Friday, August 12 View Page Now she knows where they go. 1-1   Friday, August 12 View Page The heat wave is over!!!…lol…it only lasted a few days here…we’ve in been in the low 80’s all summer.   Friday, August 12 View Page Watering with the bigger tank and stronger pump has been a nice upgrade this year. Tissue tests weren’t all that bad the last round. The lab called and said we probably just had a dumb pumpkin. I concurred.   Friday, August 12 View Page   Friday, August 12 View Page I’m really hoping this 9.06 does something special…timing works out to bring her to a weighoff if she does what she’s told.   Friday, August 12 View Page Chris sent me some photos of the 9.06 when it was young and they look near identical. Thanks again for seeds farmer brown!!   Friday, August 12 View Page Still green on the 5.30 butler. I’m in slammer heaven again.   Friday, August 12 View Page This one is bigbig…I cant get a decent pic but if it’s green next week I may have to make the call..very exciting to even be thinking about it again.   Friday, August 12 View Page Nope…missed it   Friday, August 12 View Page There’s a pic…see?…bigbig…me likey long time.   Friday, August 12 View Page Day 35 tomrw   Sunday, August 14 View Page Another stellar day on tap here in the Mohawk Valley…day 36 for dumdum…she’s growing, just not enough to get me excited about putting a tape on her. We are not going easy on the plant this year. Eat, or else.stump and main look great.   Sunday, August 14 View Page Just stellar in the tomato patch too..The big ones are still green and growing. Got a few giant green beans going on the trellis. Will grow multiple.   Sunday, August 14 View Page Day 11 for “Rosanna” on the 9.06 brown. I know … a girls name…she’s that pretty.   Sunday, August 14 View Page A little sneak peek of something in the works.. huge thanks Dan…Tomato Growers are awesome.stay tuned.   Thursday, August 18 View Page Oh cool…night pics   Thursday, August 18 View Page Holy crap..got a new phone…this thing is slick.   Thursday, August 18 View Page I barley ever get a cool pic back here..this is where we keep the party going!!…partied like 35 min past dark last night.!!   Thursday, August 18 View Page We will be having a screening of SoCal’s documentary here next august after I receive my signed copy. Y’all are invited.   Thursday, August 18 View Page Slammerville USA. Pumpkin…not so much.   Thursday, August 18 View Page You’d think in a time of record worldwide inflation, this is a dam deal!!…had a party here Saturday for my mothers birthday and I didn’t make a dime!!!…growing…just not well.   Thursday, August 18 View Page Having much more fun in this garden! Look at the beans!!   Thursday, August 18 View Page Spelled with a J…glad you noticed. A friend of mine is bringing his wife over to peep the gardens. She’s definitely the type that likes to correct people. She’s gonna teach me spelling and I’m going to teach her about sitting back on the beans to crack them open, how to remove the kidney shaped four pound beans, shave them , boil them and grill them with olive oil. And of course she won’t come back to actually try it because I emphasize how bad you get gas with this variety. Who’s a dummy now!!??   Thursday, August 18 View Page Fred flashed this morn..I’m touching the bottom middle of the fruit. Gonna let go as ripe as I can. Big fat red heavy slob.   Thursday, August 18 View Page There’s the last of our blossoms for the year. Just growing fruit now.   Thursday, August 18 View Page Rosanna is also doing well. The plant is behaving and looks like it can go the distance.   Thursday, August 18 View Page This 5.30 butler plant has completely surrendered to my will. You will grow only fruit. It will flash within the next few days….soooooooooooooooo   Thursday, August 18 View Page Guess the weight!!!! And win a full set of 2022 porkchop seeds!!!!…no measurements , just eyeball…and keep in mind I have the hands of a seamstress. Good luck !!! http://www.bigpumpkins.com/MsgBoard/ViewThread.asp?b=33&p=720951   Monday, August 22 View Page I wanna be a pumpkin grower. I think we just need more plants. Learn quicker that way…but even in the bad years we always learn something…   Monday, August 22 View Page I’ve known that plants respond to singing..(it’s actually the water molecules that are responding)….   Monday, August 22 View Page Just didn’t realize they understand you when you mutter under yer breath. Day 45 …dumdum is still slugging around 18-20 a day. Boring.   Monday, August 22 View Page I guess it’s a tomato year. At least I get to watch a good pumpkin grow around the corner from me. We’re gonna start pulling tomato plants soon and just focus on the last of the good ones. Just about sick of BLTS but I’m doing my part.   Monday, August 22 View Page That’s probably the last we’ll see of Rosanna until She pops out of her panty ho.   Monday, August 22 View Page She’s lookin fine…I let her drop enough to get past the vine she’s was growing up against before tying her up.   Monday, August 22 View Page Panty ho…tying her up?…I think I’m just getting horny. Day 19…should start to really move soon if she’s gonna go.   Monday, August 22 View Page The 5.30 butler flashed…oh baby if I had even a few more days…   Monday, August 22 View Page Posing with a 4.84..maters are going heavy for their size this year. Must be all the sun.   Monday, August 22 View Page Tension feels ok…here’s its big side. Good luck guessing the weight!…it was 28” a week ago.   Monday, August 22 View Page I still think Fred may be bigger. Taping a pb..filling out them pantys nice…fingers crossed.   Tuesday, August 23 View Page Com on porkchop…don’t wuss out now…we got an inch of rain last night..checking fred every few hours..pick today?…another day?…eeeesh..so much pressure…I’m diggin it though. Let’s go FRED!!   Wednesday, August 24 View Page We picked fred this morning.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Lambchop was right..he wasn’t as big as I thought..off the vine, his smallest diameter was 19” instead of the 22 I thought I measured. Still a solid fruit. Man, her and I argued for weeks about which one would get named and get a guess the weight contest.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Fred is our second biggest ever! Would grow the 7.66 Larue again. And will grow this seed for sure.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Ummm…uhhh…I was uh…nevermind. Musta been the names lambchop called me when I said Fred was bigger then her “pick” on the 5.30 butler. Told ya plants could hear us.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Fred made me want to really check over the butler fruit for any issues..we had a couple plants tip over last night.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page I took a real good look and applied some preventative sulphur powder on the seams..I couldn’t resist and put a tape on it..hot dam lambchop was right…this one IS bigger… a few inches bigger…wow…but more importantly I was WRONG. I’m gonna have to kiss and make -up.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Mmmuaahh!!…I’m sorry you didn’t get a name you sweet sweet thing!!   Friday, August 26 View Page YouTube video more day I think.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Star date -august 27th.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Well…. At least you can see the pumpkin now.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Bad news is you can see the pumpkin..cracking, splitting , oozing…yuk.   Saturday, August 27 View Page The patch is gorgeous though. I think this is what I envisioned “Candy land “ would look like when I played that game as a kid. Some of the red amaranth volunteers are over 10’.   Saturday, August 27 View Page The weather though?..it’s been absolutely stellar this year and I can’t help but wonder how many monsters will come out of the northeast this season. Hi saydee!!   Saturday, August 27 View Page I think today is the day to pick the 5.30 butler fruit.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Had some plants tip over during the one breezy “storm” we had this season. There’s Rosanna on the hook.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Haven’t put a tape on her but she seems to be growing well.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Day 24…com on girl.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Here’s another 7.66 Larue plant. I really like this seed as it seems to push out really fat lobed fruit. Not crazy megabloom-ish but some big beefy singles and doubles. Get a triple on this seed and it could go 10 pounds or more.   Saturday, August 27 View Page We cut out a few plants including Freds plant. (The 8.40)… he was definitely grown with a lot of love.   Saturday, August 27 View Page I stripped off all the leaf branches so you can see how the plant was pruned..the branch with the tomato tape is where the fruit was hanging.. it had another 18” of branch past the fruit but it got lost when we picked him. I topped the plant at day 8 , Kept up with all the suckers during fruit growth and I don’t think I plucked one that was more than 10” long.   Saturday, August 27 View Page I think we got a real shot at a PB here. Big thanks to Ron Wallace for sending me the extra large bag of Wallace wow starter packs!!!!..lol..Will check after lunch to see if we let it go one more day. In the meantime could everyone just think “heavy” for us today?!!.. let’s go Canknuckleheads!!!   Saturday, August 27 View Page Aiight, we’re just dickin around today I guess…takin pictures of people takin pictures..if anybody wants cockscomb seeds send me an email..they stay like this until frost hits. A stunner in the garden.   Saturday, August 27 View Page The beans are going mad..cut out a bunch with the sour tip…still a bunch growing in there. These are a crowd favorite for the new folks that visit our patch.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Maybe I do just have small hands….which by the way, I miss the last guy I knew of with small hands. What the hell are we doing people!!??   Saturday, August 27 View Page Well.. even reddening..the other side is a tad less red..I looked it over with the missus, said a prayer and asked Zeke to put in a good word for us. We’re going one more day. Starting to wonder if I should have called someone..(nervous face emoji-with the teeth). But if you want to a bear?..be a Grizzly.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Com on buddy…helps us out.   Sunday, August 28 View Page Raise yer hand if you said the F word when you read about the Patons big fruit.   Sunday, August 28 View Page That sucks to lose the good ones so I won’t be joking around on here today....the 5.30 went light to weigh 8.64. Our second biggest..Super stoked..more would have been nice, but stoked. A chance to do a little better with the 9.06 brown still not out of the question.   Sunday, August 28 View Page I DID however, get a chance to mess with a few of you this morning…gotcha SUCKERS!!!!!…my favorite was Mobymike congratulations until he said “ Oh…I see yer finger on the scale” . Except he didn’t say finger….lol….sorry guys…couldnt resist.   Sunday, August 28 View Page The 8.64 porkchop from the 5.30 Butler.   Sunday, August 28 View Page Day 50 for Dumdum!!   Monday, August 29 View Page When those flowers pop off there quick…   Monday, August 29 View Page It’s gonna be a BIG tomato!!   Monday, August 29 View Page The ol man really liked this bruiser off the 9.06 brown. These seeds will be saved.   Monday, August 29 View Page Hot dam John..huge congrats to my fellow canknucklehead!!…that is a true monster of a tomato!!…we talked this spring about the power we had on our side this season. We’re doing good. Oh..and pssst…mums the word.   Wednesday, August 31 View Page The hummingbirds are all over the lions ear. 8-9’ this season.   Wednesday, August 31 View Page Stump and main look good.   Wednesday, August 31 View Page Unfortunately the petunias are bigger than the fruit this year.   Wednesday, August 31 View Page It is still growing. I should be happy with that.   Wednesday, August 31 View Page Having more fun with the tomato’s this year. Cockscomb row is on fire!!   Wednesday, August 31 View Page Giant.   Wednesday, August 31 View Page “Rosanna” is still headed in the right direction.   Wednesday, August 31 View Page Some early blight on the plant but I think there’s enough to keep her growing until the end. She’s filling in nice.   Wednesday, August 31 View Page She Got some junk in the trunk…   Wednesday, August 31 View Page And here on Day 28…I’ll say 27.5” …do it like the patons and keep some up my sleeve.   Saturday, September 3 View Page Happy Labor Day everyone…hope you are taking a break this weekend…y’all deserve it!!!   Saturday, September 3 View Page Nothing too exciting other than “Rosanna”on the farmer brown tomato plant. And this thing!!!..bout fricken time. These bushel gourds are a challenge.. and they stink. Pretty cool though. A favorite for the bunnies and woodchucks….the volunteer amaranth at about 11 ft.   Saturday, September 3 View Page There’s my girl…cue the music…”HELloooo bAaayBY!…..”   Saturday, September 3 View Page “Chantilly lace, and a pretty face…”…..   Saturday, September 3 View Page “And a pony TaiLL, Just a hangin dOWN…”…..EDDDyyYyYyYY!!!!!   Saturday, September 3 View Page Day 31….(channeling my inner Henry…LETS FN GOOoooooO!!!)   Sunday, September 4 View Page Hey salad Doug- I tried to pump some frank Sinatra right into her soul, but these wouldn’t fit..the bones will be here Tuesday. I’ll just sing…   Sunday, September 4 View Page “fLY MeTO thE MOOoonnn…Let Me daaanCE aMoUng tHe STaRSs…Lets Go see WhuT sPring iS LikE OOnnn…Jupiter and marrrss…” Growgrowgrowgrowgrowgrowgrowgrowgrowgrow!   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Good seed count in the 8.64. Looks like I’ll have a great seed pack for the clubs this year.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Amazing what these Domingos can do in 30 days time. You can slice it up, you can slice it down. You can slice it on the diagonal, or slice it right down the middle…   Tuesday, September 6 View Page But any way ya slice it…that’s a big fricken tomato. Day 34…big.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Almost beer ball big.   Friday, September 9 View Page TGIF… what a long week..the final stretch is here…keep up the great work!..there’s some great pumpkins this year!!…for the tomato fans-here’s Rossana at day 37…lol..this sucker is huge!!…here’s a 15 sec video. YouTube video   Friday, September 9 View Page Next time I do a full mater garden it would be full of these 9.06 brown seeds. This one will do you proud farmer brown!!   Sunday, September 11 View Page Stupid mountain time…..LETsGOOOOo!!!! …so much sandbaggin this year even the guess the weight contests get sandbagged!!…..lol…congrats to Ian and Stu..this is one of those leaps on top of leaps. Truly remarkable fruit. If I win, Is there any way I can get a signed autograph of both twins IN the pumpkin?   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Yup…Rosanna is cut loose. I know of at least a couple of you that have been really pulling for her and I appreciate the messages of encouragement. Had I been a wee bit earlier in my experience with the giant maters, I could have really lost my mind on this website after taping a couple of these fruits the few times I did. I mean, 32x31x 26?..no call to the GPC?…lol..at least my eyes still work.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Yup..found the problem. The tomatoes did not go light this year. Lambchop just missed the concept of “fixing” the torn tape measure last season.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Still a big tomato…not ashamed to admit I fell in love with her…so did a few others…soooo…why not drag it out a little further?..this is a pumpkin website after all.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Every stinking fruit on this plant has been a disaster…   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Every one…every fruit, every blossom end had a problem…re-dickless.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Even more so, I think this thing will make it to the weigh-off..stem half popped off, cracks on this end…all healed..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page And to top it off?..not AS ugly as I thought she would have been. We haven’t taken care to measure, but eyeballing?…it might make a 1000 pounds. So what to think of a season like this?..it’s the plants fault, right?..it couldn’t be us could it?..we work hard..and I believe in what we’re doing here. I’ve been taught by the best for crying out loud!!!..there would be no way to disseminate any information about this years grow, other than the not so “off” tissue test results. At least not watching our fruit grow. I would like to introduce you to friend of mine though… he’s new…he pretty much had the same test results.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page This is Todd…poor bastard…it’s his first time…look how stressed out he is..I’ve been trying to get him to grow a pumpkin these last few years as he has gotten into “gardening” since the scamdemic of 2019. He came to me last season for advice on his vegetable garden in late June. I don’t remember the exact issue but at the time just suggested triple 10 at a pound per 100 square ft. We’ll, that got the plants moving in a better direction and he ended up with “good” results. And by “good results”, I mean , I had to hear about his 8 pound watermelon ALL winter!!..holy crap that was rough. Either way, it was enough to get him hooked and agreed to let me mentor him throughout the giant pumpkin season.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Step one..send soil samples and build a hoophouse. I built it for him. I’m awesome.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Hey- and btw..these zip walls worked out ok for an easy hoop house door..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Ok..his soil test indicated nearly identical soil as ours. Or at least close enough that he could just do exactly what we’re doing this season. And let’s see…how bout a nice orange one for this rookie friend of Mine…lets go with the 839 Sandercock…a great cross of the 1885 Werner and the 1665 Macdonald…the 1665 is the seed that the missus grew last year.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page We set the hoop in place after he buried the heating cables..time for wind and critter protection..I found this heavy duty snow fence at a garage sale for 30 bucks!!..what a great start!!   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Then I showed up to teach him the planting process..I didn’t get any pics because I was a bit discouraged that he bought the 18” heating cables that just pulled out when we went to put the plants in..he was so nervous about it that I had to plant it for him..lol. Here’s the 839 out of the hoop a few weeks later.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Lookin good!..we talked about the watering situation and how pumps and hose make life a bit easier but he decided the ol’ fashioned way was good enough for him. So two watering cans it was…”have fun with that”, I said.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page He didn’t quite grasp the concept of pollination when it needed to happen and kept asking “ when will the flowers open again?”..issue solved.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page 24 hrs later , I had to go remove the petals..he was too nervous. Not that he was showing it…I could just tell. Being a beginner is one of the best (or worst) feelings you can have with this sport.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Sooo…a little crooked with the mill fabric and positioning but look at him go!!!..and a full 1000 weeded and buried behind the fruit!!..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Not sure of the daps in any of these btw..I remember when Todd called me this winter and said he could commit to a spring, summer and fall, growing a giant pumpkin..I asked him what his goal was for the season…he said 800 pounds. I hung up on him…   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Right around day 30 ish I think he started to realize why I hung up on him..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Starting to peek over the canopy..up until this point , he was so mesmerized by the growth of plant that I don’t think he realized what the fruit was about to do.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page He started to get it pretty quick as it started to approach rapid growth phase.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page He minded all the P’s and q’s..vine checks, stump checks, stem checks…   Tuesday, September 20 View Page I even taught him how to squat a little bit to make them look bigger..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Couldn’t have asked for a better weather year..up to this point, Todd was handling himself well other than some “ newbie nerves”…   Tuesday, September 20 View Page I think this was the day that it sunk in for him that the pumpkin was not going to get any smaller..in fact the opposite…it was like a switch turned in him..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Maybe it was the hug?…I told him the importance of the hug..it was probably the hug..he started getting soooo nervous.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page I could tell by the way he moved soooo slow and gentle around the fruit…I mean, I’m sure I was that way my first year, but com on pal!..I aint got all day!..right around this time he was supposed to check on the fruit in the evening because one of our first small thunderstorms of the year was passing through..in the morning when I asked about the pumpkin he said he didn’t go and check. I asked, “what did you do instead!?”…he said “ I sat home on the couch and shook all night”…too funny…   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Then came the week he planned his vacation to Nashville…I told him All about the checklists for going away during the season…check this , check that, he really did a great job..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page He did So great , in fact, that he found the beginning of a foamer the night before he left.. holy cow , talk about a freak out…again..he was poised, but definitely freaking out. I told him not to worry, that he couldn’t have found it any earlier and that I would address it during his 5 days in Tennessee. Then, right in front of him, I shoved the hunting knife blade deep into the stump , very aggressively , and moaned as I cut out a huge section….”have a nice trip” I said….lol….oh , if you could have seen his face…And you bet yER ass I saved it..had to put the strong fan on it when it was still leaking at day 2.5 but got it all healed by the day he came rushing back to check in on his “baby.”   Tuesday, September 20 View Page When he got back after not seeing the fruit for a week , I couldn’t knock the smile off his face…   Tuesday, September 20 View Page He couldn’t believe it..and since his was doing so much better than ours, and the stump was healed…I started messin with him..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Taught him how to “check for heavy”…   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Taught him How to “get them more orange”…lol..so gullible..mentoring is fun…   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Nerves and pride..I love this sport.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page And she kept growing…I don’t think the grandkids quite get that it’s a real fruit…the little one was afraid of it.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Blossom end looked good throughout..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Only a few cool nights this summer.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Ned— this 839 seed is a great one..thanks again for sending me these..you’ve made a really happy camper here in central NY.!   Tuesday, September 20 View Page There’s a proper pumpkin hug!!..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page More orange!..more orange!!   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Mid September and she’s still growing…couldn’t be more proud of his effort this season…so what did i learn this year?..(besiiiiides that I think I would enjoy throwing someone off a bridge?..lol )…I learned that , what we have learned and are doing works..and could probably go another 4-600ppm higher throughout the last part of the season. So thanks for nuthin DumDum.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Don’t let the smile fool you…he’s a wreck…Looks like I’m driving the fruits to Saratoga ..Todd will drive them back…lol..noob!!…best of luck buddy!!..you crushed it this year!!..eh-hmm…Ned..I have mater seeds to trade for a couple more 839’s!!   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Oh yes…the maters…here’s Rosanna started to blush.. I think this will be my preferred method of hanging the big ones..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page After the whole tape measure debacle I debated wether to pick and store her for the Saratoga weighoff as I see vtjohn and Kerry are on a roll this season and will bring a bomb of a fruit…   Tuesday, September 20 View Page But I decided to go red and get what I could get to try and squeeze the canknuclkeheads a bit further ahead in the Zeke demars tomato team challenge..in case bombs start dropping out west as they always do this time of year..(good luck guys and gals!!)   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Here she is!..Wow..another 8+ ..this is nuts. What is going on in this hobby!!!..   Tuesday, September 20 View Page Just to keep John and Kerry honest, this one on the 6.54 porkchop went on ice Sunday..should store fine for the weighoff.   Tuesday, September 20 View Page And maybe I’ll bring this one..should grow well this week..don’t be nervous John…wink emoji guy!!!!.. can’t wait to see you all in Saratoga!!!