Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 203 Entries. Tuesday, January 30 View Page My biggest patch problem; primarily the branches over patch area (upper left hand corner of picture) . I almost got my wish 5 years that a tornado would knock down the tree. A late season mid November F0 tornado touched down in the cul-de-sac where my sister lives. It made its way towards my house leaving a path of downed tree branches. It stopped 3 blocks from my house. The tornado could have been nice and went into my backyard and just ripped off the branches over the patch area and put them down nicely without damaging anything but more realistically would have torn off all the branches and most of them ending up on my neighbor's and mine garage and house. Be carefuI what you wish for.   Friday, March 9 View Page Traded some seeds that I wasn't going to be growing anytime soon for these Big Head and Tall Sunflower seeds that I will be growing.   Friday, March 30 View Page Started 16 Poblano pepper plants and 6 cherry tomato plants from seed.   Thursday, April 12 View Page Walked back to patch area to check up on it. Snow is all melted unless it gets covered again this weekend. Hopefully ground will thaw so I can take soil samples for analysis. Remembered how much sunlight hit each area of the patch with the big branch overhead. Realized that I was going to plant the 2002 Tobeck and 2118 Jutras plants in the worst spots of the patch. Rearranged my planting diagram to put those 2 plants is the best spots in my patch.   Wednesday, April 18 View Page My 2018 AG/Squash line up. The 1201 H/J will pollinate the Tobeck seeds. The 1564 Pugh will be pollinated with the 2118 Jutras to try to turn it back to a squash for 2019. I predict that the Tobeck 1836 pollinated by the 1201 H/J will be the heaviest AG in my patch because both of the were over 10% heavy.   Wednesday, April 18 View Page Other items I will be tentatively growing this year. Missing is the big head sunflowers and tall sunflowers. I bought the 5.63 tomatoes just to compete in the Gale Woods tomato weigh off.   Saturday, April 21 View Page Checked patch area after last week's blizzard. It was melted enough where I was able to collect a soil sample for testing. The ground was thawed only 4 inches down so It took a little effort to get the next 2 inches that I needed. Soil is now drying on a table. I can tell I have a heavy clay soil because I had to break apart a number of clumps of dirt and it felt like clay. It was not easy get the dirt out of the soil collector. I bought my soil collector on Amazon for $49.99 that went 6 inches down. There was on for 19.99 that went 36 inches down. When I read the product Q&A, it said it was not meant to be a soil sample collector. Because its length of 36 " depth, I could see myself striking an undocumented gas line, city sewar pipe, septic tank, live electrical wires, etc. Just like Wile Coyote.   Monday, April 23 View Page Patch soil sample almost ready to be sent off. Time to find out how bad my heavy clay soil is and if being covered with grass and weeds like creeping Charlie, dandelions, etc. all these years is going to make a difference.   Monday, April 23 View Page Wile Coyote Economy Green House #1. Proof of concept - A weed growing in the middle of the picture. My egress windows are located on the south side of the house.   Monday, April 23 View Page Wile Coyote Economy Green House #2. No weeds growing in here yet. Located on south side of my house.   Thursday, April 26 View Page Neighbor roto tilled the main area of my patch area today. I would have had him do more but there are areas that have big tree roots and lots of rocks in the ground. I didn't want him to wreck his roto tiller otherwise he would never do it for me again. It cost me 1 field pumpkin at Halloween time and refill his roto tiller gas tank. Afterwards he had to make his garden bigger than my patch area. He likes to compete against me in everything even though I don't ask him to. This year he's going to lose big time when it comes to pumpkins, watermelons, and tomatoes. It will blow him away when I show him the giant tomatoes I will be growing for the Gale Woods tomato competition. I am waiting for my soil report so I can add amendments. I am planning on May 1 to start the 2118, 2002, 1836, and 1526 seeds. I have an 1807 squash and another set of 2002, 1836, and 1526 seeds to start if my economy greenhouses fail. I will probably start my 1201 around May 15 since it is going to be my pollinator plant for the 2002, 1836, and 1526.   Friday, April 27 View Page Pheromone type pest traps I bought off of Amazon for about $20 each. I am not to keen about spraying pesticides into the environment. Hopefully these will work well. All I need now is an entomologist (like Gil Grissom from the tv show CSI) to develop an pheromone trap for squash bugs.   Sunday, April 29 View Page Western Labs soil report. Patch isn't as bad as I feared. Ordered potassium sulfate and manganese sulfate. 2 day shipping was way too expensive and free was way too late. Settled on standard shipping but it Is cutting it close. Plants might have to spend a few extra days in their pots so I can apply this to the patch. May 1st is when I start the 2118, 2002, 1836, and 1526.   Monday, April 30 View Page Started the 2118, 2002, 1836, and 1526 seeds. Curiosity on whether or not my 2118 seed is going to be a dud got the better of me so I started everything a day early. It's 80 degrees out today! Ordered soil heating cables today because I think my plants will out grow my economy greenhouses if this weather continues. I will be building some different economy greenhouses for use in the patch are when I end up planting these seeds.   Monday, April 30 View Page Started 3 Karkos 5.63 tomato seeds today. Goal is to get 2 plants.   Tuesday, May 1 View Page Grower error from last year. Hit it with the lawnmower when not paying attention to the grass I was cutting. Easy to forget those type of grower errors. Fixed with tape. Discovered it while getting everything organized for setting up watering to be on a timer that I bought at Costco last year.   Friday, May 4 View Page Soil heating cables came today. Time to gather up the electric cords I use for Christmas decorations in the front yard. No snow blower driver error this year. I wasn't planning on buying them this year but figured that I might as well otherwise I would be starting seeds way too late if they all died.   Saturday, May 5 View Page Several bags of Potassium Sulfate fertilier that I ordered arrived today.   Saturday, May 5 View Page 5 pound bag of Manganese Sulfate fertilizer arrived. I will be using a half of bag this year and the rest next year. After the bags of fertilizer arrived, my wife said to me "I thought you were only joking when you said you were going to grow a new world record pumpkin and squash. It looks like you're serious with all the fertilizers you bought and the soil heaters."   Wednesday, May 9 View Page 2002 looks like it finally is going to pop. Dug around surface on 2118, 1836, and 1526. They weren't even close to popping. Dug up 1526 and pushed gently on seed. Pus came out so threw it away. 1836 was still solid. 2118 looked like a root was barely starting to form. Put 1836 and 2118 seeds into their own Ziploc bag wrapped with a damp paper towel to germinate tried and true method. Hopefully I can get them to pop this way. Heating mat is at 85 degrees. Started 1201 pollinator and 1564 Pugh Squmpkin wrapped in damp paper towels in Ziploc bags. The 1564 was a selfed 1844 squash that didn't turn green. Plan to pollinate with 2118 if it pops. Otherwise I will start an 1807 squash if the 2118 doesn't pop. Put soil amendments in patch today. Rain will help soak in the amendments.   Thursday, May 10 View Page We almost have lift off on the Death Star.   Friday, May 11 View Page Death Star may be having problems launching. Hopefully it will grow out of it. 2118 and 1836 were thrown in trash yesterday. Took out of Ziploc bag, pushed gently and pus came out of both of them. Started 1807 as a replacement for 2118. Started another 1836 seed.   Saturday, May 12 View Page 2002 looks like a leaf will be coming up. Don't have to worry about plant not developing because of deformity. Checked on germination progress of the 1807 and 1836. They've germinated and they will be big enough to put in a pot in a few days. Waiting for 1201 and 1564 to germinate.   Sunday, May 13 View Page Tobeck 2002 basing in the sun. It was starting to get leggy being by the grow light.   Sunday, May 13 View Page Tobeck 1836 starting to germinate.   Sunday, May 13 View Page 1807 squash starting to germinate.   Monday, May 14 View Page 1807 Squash ready to be planted in a pot.   Monday, May 14 View Page Tobeck 1836 ready to be planted in a pot. All I need now is the 1201 H/J to germinate and I'm good to go.   Tuesday, May 15 View Page Things I bought to try to get giant tomatoes started in.   Tuesday, May 15 View Page Things I bought for my economy water system. Replacing a sprinkler hose that doesn't work tomorrow otherwise enough water pressure from the faucet to soak patch. Used over 100 garden staples to secure sprinkler hoses to the ground in the patch. I hope the timer is easy to set up.   Tuesday, May 15 View Page 1836 enjoying the sunshine. Looks like it may get its first true leaf before the 2002 despite being germinated a week later.   Tuesday, May 15 View Page Put 2002 in a larger pot to get rid of legginess of plant and to stop a root ball from forming.   Tuesday, May 15 View Page 1807 starting to open. Already seeing first true leaf forming.   Wednesday, May 16 View Page 5.63 Big Zac and 5.56 Meg Zac tomatoes I am trying to germinate.   Wednesday, May 16 View Page Economy Greenhouse #1 Weed in middle of picture is larger and several other weeds have germinated.   Wednesday, May 16 View Page Pumpkins and squash enjoying the sun. Note that the 2002 is in a bigger pot now.   Wednesday, May 16 View Page Economy watering system layout. Better than a lawn sprinkler. Waters using a mist instead of drops that can damage your plant. Have to be one continuous house to have enough water pressure to work. Used over 100 garden staples to secure sprinkler hoses to the ground. Had to attach hose to front of the house faucet to get enough water pressure - faucet is near where the city water pipe comes into my house. Still fine tuning to get all hose openings working properly.   Thursday, May 17 View Page Started 270.5 Neptune watermelon seeds today. Started 223 UOW House bushel gourd seeds today.   Saturday, May 19 View Page Moved the 1807and 1836 to larger pots.   Tuesday, May 22 View Page 2 of my Karkos 5.56 Mega Zac tomatoes finally germinated.   Tuesday, May 22 View Page Pumpkins and squash taking in the sunlight. I finally can see the start of leaves on the 2002. They'll be going in the ground this weekend. Supposed to be 90 degrees this weekend. Started another 1526 Tobeck seed and a 1938 Zywiec (2230 Wallace X 2109 Zywiec) seed to fill out the patch. I'll be using the 1938 Zywiec as a pollinator. I'm also growing it because I'm having my doubts on how big of a pumpkin the 2002 will produce since it is growing at a snail's pace and I feel the 1938 is capable of producing a decent size pumpkin for a weigh off despite a late start. It's been 11 days trying to get the 1201 H/J and 1564 Pugh squmpkin started. I think these seeds are rotting.   Tuesday, May 22 View Page 270.5 Neptune watermelon seed germinated.   Tuesday, May 22 View Page Started 180.8 Horde (158.7 Horde X 158.6 MacKinnon) and 127 Harnica (211 MacKinnon X Self) field pumpkin seeds.   Wednesday, May 23 View Page Last night 2 of my Karkos 5.63 tomato seeds germinated. I figured they were dead after I tried to germinate them for 10 days using another method. Now I have 5 giant tomato plants; 3 Karkos 5.56 Megazac and 2 Karkos 5.63 Big Zac plants. One more Big Zac plant to germinate.   Wednesday, May 23 View Page Tomato cages I bought at Home Depot. Now I am going to have to buy at least 2 more when I go there again because of the 2 Big Zac tomatoes germinated.   Thursday, May 24 View Page Harnica 127 Field Pumpkin germinated. I now have 5 categories germinated for competing in GPC Master Gardner Award.   Thursday, May 24 View Page I know have 6 giant tomatoes germinated - 3 Karkos 5.63 Big Zac and 3 Karkos 5.56 Mega Zac   Friday, May 25 View Page 2002 now has its first true leaf. When I was in the garage looking in my germination chamber, I heard Messrs. Lawnmower, Weed Eater, and Gas Can talking about giving the 2002 a motivational talking to about growing a giant pumpkin. Mr. Weed Eater was ready to give the 2002 100 lashes as a reminder to grow a giant pumpkin.   Friday, May 25 View Page 1526 seed looks like it is germinating. If I don't get a pollinator germinated by next Friday, then I will use the 1836 as my pollinator plant. If the 2002 goes 7% heavy after being pollinated by the 1836, then we have another 2145 seed.   Friday, May 25 View Page 20 pound bag of Mykos arrived yesterday. Just in time for use this weekend when AG and squash plants go into the patch from pots.   Saturday, May 26 View Page This morning I saw my 2 127 Harnica field pumpkins had germinate. Checked germination chamber and saw 180 Horde Field pumpkin was starting to germinate. Planted 1836 in best place in my patch. 2002 went in 2nd best. 1807 went in 3rd best. Dug holes for 1526 and possible pollinator. If I can't get a pollinator to germinate by Wed., then I will use the 1836 to pollinate the 2002 and 1526. The 2002 will pollinate the 1836.   Sunday, May 27 View Page Snow in my front yard in 90+ degree weather? No it's all the cotton from my huge cottonwood tree in my back yard. My neighbors love me.   Sunday, May 27 View Page 127 Harnicas that germinated a couple of days ago. When my 180 Horde germinates, I will be giving one of my nephews 1 of these plants to grow. He's showing interest in this hobby.   Sunday, May 27 View Page 270.5 Neptune watermelon. I will be germinating some more seeds so I can give another plant to my nephew.   Sunday, May 27 View Page 1526 seed starting to germinate. I accidently cracked one of the sides of the seed shell when I was sanding the edges with a nail file. That's why the seed looked like it went through a wood chipper. Cots will probably look deformed because of the cracked shell.   Sunday, May 27 View Page 1807 doing well for 2nd day in ground and 90+ degree weather.   Sunday, May 27 View Page 1836 doing well on day 2 in the ground and 90+ degree weather.   Sunday, May 27 View Page 2002 day 2 in the ground with 90+ degree weather.   Monday, May 28 View Page 1526 germinated overnight. I wonder how badly the cots will be deformed when it opens up with the oops on sanding the side of the seed shell.   Monday, May 28 View Page 180 Horde almost germinated.   Monday, May 28 View Page Started tall sunflowers single head, tall sunflowers multiple heads, big head sunflowers, and 235.5 Neptune watermelon seeds. I hope to be able to give one of the watermelon plants to my nephew that's getting a field pumpkin plant.   Wednesday, May 30 View Page 1807 surviving its first heat wave and big rainfall   Wednesday, May 30 View Page 1836 after surviving its first heat wave and big rainstorm.   Wednesday, May 30 View Page 2002 after surviving its first heat wave and big rainstorm   Wednesday, May 30 View Page Found my hand fertilizer in my garage.   Friday, June 1 View Page 223 UOW House BG. I was surprised that one of the 3 seeds in my germination chamber actually germinated especially with all the germination problems I am having.   Friday, June 1 View Page 127 Harnica, 180 Horde, and 270.5 Neptune   Friday, June 1 View Page 235.5 Neptune just germinated   Friday, June 1 View Page 1807 Squash   Friday, June 1 View Page 1836   Friday, June 1 View Page 2002. It now has more leaves than the 1836 but the leaves are much smaller.   Friday, June 1 View Page SVB and Cucumber beetles traps are finally up. I didn't put them up before I put my plants in the ground because of all the cotton flying around from my cottonwood tree that would be sticking to those traps. I hope I'm not too late.   Friday, June 1 View Page Weekly fertilizer treatment   Saturday, June 2 View Page Started 7 Gantner 5.19 ? tomato seeds. Don't know how well they are going to germinate after emailing Bnot. Started 3 3.64 Karkos tomato seeds. They are F2 of the 5.63 Karkos seeds that I have growing. Resigned myself to only having 3 plants in the patch: 1807 squash, 1836 Tobeck, and 2002 Tobeck. The 1201 H/J and 1938 Zyweic seeds both rotted out on me. Tired of trying to germinate AG seeds. I have a deformed 1526 plant with 2 stems. If one/both starts germinating a vine, then I will split the stems and seed, and plant them in my patch for genetics.   Saturday, June 2 View Page Started 7 Gantner 5.19 ? tomato seeds. Don't know how well they are going to germinate after emailing Bnot. Started 3 3.64 Karkos tomato seeds. They are F2 of the 5.63 Karkos seeds that I have growing. Resigned myself to only having 3 plants in the patch: 1807 squash, 1836 Tobeck, and 2002 Tobeck. The 1201 H/J and 1938 Zyweic seeds both rotted out on me. Tired of trying to germinate AG seeds. I have a deformed 1526 plant with 2 stems. If one/both starts germinating a vine, then I will split the stems and seed, and plant them in my patch for genetics.   Monday, June 11 View Page Upsized pots for 235.5 Neptune watermelon, 233 House bushel gourd, 2 5.56 Karkos tomatoes, and 5.63 Karkos tomato. Plants are now outside.   Monday, June 11 View Page Deformed 1526 Tobeck plant before surgery.   Monday, June 11 View Page 1526 plant out of the pot. Stems are not joined so I can separate them.   Monday, June 11 View Page 1526 stems now separated and now have identical twin plants from the same seed. Both stems have some roots despite my bad knife skills. Plants have been planted in separate larger pots and kept inside for a week under the grow light to heal and build a new root system. I've cloned a plant!   Tuesday, June 12 View Page 1526 plants doing well after the stems were separated. Both are upright and reaching for the grow light. Wile Coyote experiment working well in patch to address lack of sunlight issue. Plants are looking much better than before the experiment. It's made me rethink plant placement (provided I don't burn the plants to the ground with this experiment or start a fire in the patch) for next year. Tomato plants continue to germinate. Today I saw another 4.54 Martin germinate. I am waiting for it to get bigger before bringing into the house. This weekend I will be shutting down the germination chamber. I found the best way to get seeds to germinate is tell someone they're duds and then they will germinate.   Saturday, June 16 View Page Met with Bnot for tomato plant swap in the Ecogarden parking lot. I gave him 3 5.19 Gantner s , a 4.54 Martin and a 3.64 Karkos. I received 2 5.24 Megamuts, 1 3.02 something, a 4.38 something, and Brutus Magnum Plant.   Monday, June 18 View Page 2 Ganter 5.19 and 1 4.54 Martin Tomato plant.   Monday, June 18 View Page Tomato plants I acquired from Bnot in a trade. I traded him 3 Ganter 5.19, a Martin 4.54, and a Karkos 3.64 plant for 2 5.24 Borgers Megamutt D, 6.17 Zappa Brutus Magnum, 3.02 Borgers Wisom Slammer, and a 4.38 Borgers. I had an oops with one of the 5.24 plants on the way home from trading with Bnot.   Monday, June 18 View Page 127 Harnica and 180.8 Horde Field pumpkins. Both are ready for transplanting.   Monday, June 18 View Page 223 House Bushel Gourd   Monday, June 18 View Page Karkos Tomato plants. 2 3.64, 2 5.56, and a 5.63.   Monday, June 18 View Page 270.5 Neptune and 235.5 Neptune Watermelon plants.   Friday, June 22 View Page 5.19 and 4.54 Tomatoes The 4.54 Martin is a 7.45 Martin X Open The 5.19 Gantner is a descendent of the 7.18 Harp according to Bnot.   Friday, June 22 View Page 1526 plants doing well after being separated. Hopefully still get a decent pumpkin out of them. Straightened out 1807 and 1836 vines to get them into more sunshine in the patch. 2002 has a foot to grow before its in the best area of sunshine in my shade filled patch. Hopefully it sees it and charges at it the next few days. I want the 2002 to be putting out at least male flowers by mid July so I can use them to pollinate the 1836 plant. The 1807 has a female flower developing on the main but the main isn't long enough yet to consider a pollination.   Friday, June 22 View Page Bnot's tomato plants that he traded me. Have to replant one of the 5.24 Mega Mutts that I had an oops on the way home from the trade. Your plants are pretty good hands Bnot.   Friday, June 22 View Page I looked down at the strip of grass between my driveway and the fence. I saw 9 tomato plants were growing there and harvested them. Apparently some of the cherry tomatoes that my neighbor was growing had fallen to the ground and the seeds from the tomatoes germinated. I gave 2 plants to each neighbor along side me. It's funny that the cherry tomatoes plants I started in the house all died before I could move them outside.   Friday, June 22 View Page I looked down at the strip of grass between my driveway and the fence. I saw 9 tomato plants were growing there and harvested them. Apparently some of the cherry tomatoes that my neighbor was growing had fallen to the ground and the seeds from the tomatoes germinated. I gave 2 plants to each neighbor along side me. It's funny that the cherry tomatoes plants I started in the house all died before I could move them outside.   Saturday, June 23 View Page 127 Harnica field pumpkin before transplanting   Saturday, June 23 View Page 180.8 Horde Field pumpkin before transplanting   Monday, June 25 View Page 4.54 Martin and 5.19 tomato plants. I think that a 5.19 plant away from here has revived itself and I left for dead because it looked like it was dead. It was given water when I watered everything else.   Monday, June 25 View Page 1526 plants. Neighbor that roto tilled my patch this spring came over to check out my experiment going on in my patch. He noticed how well the 1807 squash and 1836 pumpkin were doing. When it came to the 2002 plant that wasn't responding very well, I said the plant had retarded growth syndrome. 2 days later the plant had grown 2 feet. It's entered the best area of sunlight in my shade laden patch. I hope it will continue to prove me wrong and produce male flowers for me in mid July.   Monday, June 25 View Page 223 UOW House bushel gourd.   Monday, June 25 View Page Bnot tomato plants. 5.24’s are from the 5.24 Borgers 2017 variety MegaMutt D BM is from the 6.17 Zappa 2017 variety Brutus Magnum 3.02 is from the 3.02 Borgers 2017 variety Wixom Slammer, which was a cross of 5.75 Porkchop Domingo x 7.05 Porkchop Big Zac 4.38 is from a seed grown from the 4.38 Borgers 2017.   Monday, June 25 View Page Karkos tomatoes. 5.56, 3.64, 5.63.   Monday, June 25 View Page 270.5 Neptune and 235.5 Neptune watermelon plants.   Monday, June 25 View Page 270.5 Neptune and 235.5 Neptune watermelon plants.   Monday, July 2 View Page Female flower on 1807 squash. Hoping to self itself this weekend. Waiting for my Tobeck 1836 plant to start putting out females. Its longer than the 1807. Male flowers are starting to grow. Probably will have to get some Tobeck 2002 flowers from someone to make this cross. My Tobeck 2002 is what it is … not growing fast enough to be a pollinator for the Tobeck 1836. My deformed Tobeck 1526 plant that I split into 2 plants is ready to be transplanted and should catch up to the Tobeck 2002 in a few weeks.   Wednesday, July 4 View Page 1836 female flower appeared today.   Saturday, July 7 View Page Plant 1 of separated deformed Tobeck 1526 plant before transplanting. Ready to start growing with main vine forming.   Saturday, July 7 View Page Tobeck 1526 plant 2 from deformed plant. Ready to start growing.   Saturday, July 7 View Page The 1526 Tobeck plants have been transplanted. Start the songs from the Rocky movies Gonna Fly Now and Eye of the Tiger for these plants. I've given them lots of TLC. I want them to make me proud of them by giving me a pollination by the end of the month instead of throwing them in the trash when they germinated deformed. Plant 1 has been transplanted into the new best spot in my patch; better than the 1807 squash. Plant 2 has been transplanted into a spot better than the 1836 Tobeck.   Monday, July 9 View Page 223 House UOW Bushel Gourd before I transplanted it.   Monday, July 9 View Page Neptune 270.5 watermelon plant before transplanting it.   Tuesday, July 10 View Page Bought several companion plants for plants I am growing. My idea for a companion plant is a plant that 1. Encourages beneficial bugs to come to your patch. By beneficial I mean a bug that will pollinate or eat bad bugs in your patch. 2. Deters a pest from companion into your patch. I bought from memory and forgot a few or weren't available. 1. Nasturtium -Wards off fungal diseases. Attracts aphids away from other plants. Also trap other insects such as whiteflies, squash bugs, cucumber beetles and cabbage worms. 2. Lavender - Deter Moths, rabbits, deer 3. Fennel - aphids, attracts ladybugs. Don't plant next to tomatoes. 4. Daffodils- Deter moles Plant in fall around patch and mark so you don't till it in the spring. 5. Basil - makes tomatoes grow better. 1. There are beneficial plants I won't put into my patch because they are indiscriminate on what they kill. 1.   Tuesday, July 10 View Page Fix of a previous post. Couldn't fix it at the time. Bought several companion plants for plants I am growing. My idea for a companion plant is a plant that 1. Encourages beneficial bugs to come to your patch. By beneficial I mean a bug that will pollinate or eat bad bugs in your patch. 2. Deters a pest from coming into your patch. 3. Causes another plant to grow better. I bought from memory and forgot a few or they weren't available. 1. Nasturtium -Wards off fungal diseases. Attracts aphids away from other plants. Also trap other insects such as whiteflies, squash bugs, cucumber beetles and cabbage worms. 2. Lavender - Deter Moths, rabbits, deer 3. Fennel - aphids, attracts ladybugs. Don't plant next to tomatoes. 4. Daffodils- Deter moles Plant in fall around patch and mark so you don't till it in the spring. 5. Basil - makes tomatoes grow better. There are plants that could be considered beneficial but I won't put into my patch because they are indiscriminate on what they kill. 1. Chrysanthemums - produce six forms of Pyrethrum; an ingredient in many insecticides. 2. Venus Fly Traps 3. Pitcher plants. My plants that I bought will follow this post.   Tuesday, July 10 View Page Companion plant Dill- Deters Aphids, Squash bugs, Tomato Hornworms, attracts ladybugs honeybees, hoverflies, Ichneumonid wasps and other wasps. Take away from to tomato plants when mature. Will stunt tomato plant growth.   Tuesday, July 10 View Page Companion Plant Chives -Deters aphids, beetles, cabbage worms, Japanese beetles and slugs. Confuses bugs with its aroma. Attracts Ladybugs.   Tuesday, July 10 View Page Companion Plant Marigolds - Deters aphids, squash bugs, Japanese Beetles Attracts Ladybugs and pollinators.   Tuesday, July 10 View Page Companion Plant Oregano - deters Squash Bugs, Cucumber Beetles and other pests.   Tuesday, July 10 View Page Companion Plant Petunias - Repels aphids, tomato worms, squash bugs and other garden pests.   Tuesday, July 10 View Page More tomato plants to harvest along the driveway. Coworkers will like all the tomatoes I will be bringing in.   Friday, July 13 View Page 1526 Plant 1. Female flower at 2 feet on end of vine. I hope to grow this plant out another 6 feet this week to do a pollination.   Friday, July 13 View Page Female flower on end of 1807 squash vine. Hopefully this will be the one I will be able pollinate.   Saturday, July 14 View Page All my competition tomato plants. I have an experiment of Fox Farms Ocean Forest Potting Soil VS Miracle Grow Potting Soil going on. When I have more than 1 plant of the same seed, it goes into both soils. I would think the plants in the Ocean Floor potting soil will do better. I have color coded the soils. Red tomato cage is Ocean Floor and Green is Miracle Grow.   Saturday, July 14 View Page Karkos 5.56 First bloomed blossom. I am not sure if this is a megabloom. I'm a rookie grower. Email me if it is.   Saturday, July 14 View Page Karkos 5.63 first blossom. I know this is not a megaboom.   Sunday, July 15 View Page 5.24 Borgers Megamutt D Mega Blossom opened today.   Monday, July 16 View Page Karkos 3.64 Megablossom bloomed. 3.64 is an F2 of 5.63.   Monday, July 16 View Page 2nd bloom on Karkos 5.56. Not sure if it is a megaboom. I will watch it grow.   Monday, July 16 View Page 5.19 Gantner Megablossom bloomed today.   Monday, July 16 View Page Put companion plants into different growing areas in my yard. Added Sage and Rosemary plants to my list. Going through normal frustration with my shad laden patch; waiting for secondaries to form on 20+ foot long main vines. Can't bury main vine on the 1807 and 1836 plants because secondaries need to come out. Lots of female flowers being produced on main vine and aborting before blooming. Historically I usually end up setting on a secondary around 18 feet. 2002 plant in a happy zone now. Growing like crazy since "pep" talk I had with the plant. Female flower aborted a few days after being born. 1526 plants growing well since transplant. Waiting for female flowers on field pumpkins to start. Main vines over 10 feet long. Looking forward to seeing giant deformed tomatoes growing now that I have some megablooms.   Tuesday, July 17 View Page Sent off tissue sample from my 1836 to figure try to figure out why I traditionally get very few secondary vines off of the main vine of my pumpkins. Is it because of lack/excess of nutrients, lack of sunlight, or both?   Wednesday, July 18 View Page 1836 female flower at 18 feet. Best looking female flower all season. Want it to finish ripening tomorrow so I can pollinate on Friday.   Wednesday, July 18 View Page 1836 Female flower at 20 feet. Hoping to be pollinating both of these the next couple of days. Saw a female flower starting to grow on a side vine at 16 feet. Saw a female flower starting to grow on a side vine at 14 feet on my 1807 squash. Perfect location where vine is headed - right between my sheds. 2002 putting out lots of male flowers. Waiting for female flowers. 1526 plants main vines 6 feet long now. Hope to have them at 8 feet by end of week.   Thursday, July 19 View Page 1516 Plant 1. Female flower at 6 feet. This plant seems bound and determined to reproduce. I broke off a female flower at 4 feet. I am going to let the plant have its way and let the female flower grow. If it sets, then I will start fertilizing the SH** out of it because of the short main vine and no secondary vines formed yet. It's in the best place in my patch for sunlight.   Thursday, July 19 View Page Weird looking female flower on my Tobeck 1836 plant. Thought it was dead so touched it. It was solid. Set up for a pollination tomorrow if it opens. Picked a Tobeck 2002 flower just incase the flower opens.   Saturday, July 21 View Page Pollinated 1807 Squash X Self at 20 feet. Plastic bag I put over it was a little small. The flower was just starting to open when I went to pollinate it. Accidently tore flower when finishing opening it and decided to just take it off. Used 2 male flowers from the plant. Saw lots of bees, wasps, a few ladybugs and flies in patch today. Must be companion plants attracting them.   Sunday, July 22 View Page Checked patch this morning and found a surprise. I looked at the female flower on the 1836 plant that was deformed. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at the next female flower. It looked like it was going to bloom tomorrow. I broke off the deformed female flower and took the plastic off it and set up the next female flower for a pollination tomorrow. When I was looking for a male flower from the 2002 plant, I found a female flower that was starting to grow at 7 feet on a secondary vine. I checked on the 1526 plants and plant 1's female flower was still growing. I am torn between which plant I am going to pollinate it with. I can see crossing with a 2002 plant and ending up with a plant that grows slowly and produces a small pumpkin instead of a fast growing plant that grows a big pumpkin. With a 1836 pollination I would get a normal plant that could go heavy.   Monday, July 23 View Page 2002 Female flower on secondary vine at 8 feet. Decided 1526 plant 2 is going to get pollinated by the 2002. Already starting to grow a secondary vine just like the 2002.   Tuesday, July 24 View Page Tobeck 1836 at 20 feet ready to bloom tomorrow. Probably will pollinate X Self. The Tobeck 2002 flower I brought into the house looks 1 day away from blooming. I hope I am wrong. I brought a Tobeck 1836 flower into the house that will definitely bloom tomorrow. Have to do this set just to get something going. There is another female flower growing at 22 feet. Maybe a 2002 Tobeck male flower will be ready when pollination time occurs. There is also a female flower growing on a side vine that I can try to pollinate with a 2002 and have both growing. I'm not setting records this now. I can grow to set myself up with genetics for next year.   Tuesday, July 24 View Page Neptune 270.5 Watermelon X Open. Oops. Didn't look close enough at plant yesterday while inspecting. Only 1 Neptune 235.5 flower was open and several Neptune 270.5 flowers were open. Hopefully its a self.   Wednesday, July 25 View Page Tobeck 1836 Pumpkin tissue results. Looks like I will have to increase the frequency that I give the plants 20-20-20. I'll start with 3 times every 2 weeks instead of weekly.   Wednesday, July 25 View Page Pollinated Tobeck 1836 X Self. Wanted to pollinate with Tobeck 2002 but no male flowers available.   Thursday, July 26 View Page 1807 Squash - Set up for self pollination tomorrow. It looks like I could be setting up another pollination for my Tobeck 1836. I think I might have a male flower from the Tobeck 2002 plant to use. It looks like I could be setting up a pollination for Tobeck 1526 Plant 1 at 7 feet. I should find an 1836 male flower for it. A few more days and hopefully I will be setting up a pollination on my Tobeck 2002 plant.   Thursday, July 26 View Page Tobeck 1836 female possibly ready for pollination tommorow. Looks like it is starting to turn yellow to bloom. There were 4 male Tobeck 2002 flowers that looked ready to bloom tomorrow. Set up the 1836 flower for pollination. If the Tobeck 2002 flowers didn't look like they were going to bloom tomorrow, then I wouldn't have set the 1836 up for pollination. Have to 'read' what's going on in the patch.   Thursday, July 26 View Page Tobeck 1526 Plant 1 female flower at 7 feet set up for pollination with Tobeck 1836 male flowers. Not sure if it will bloom or even take but with all the plant hormones going on in the patch it wouldn't surprise me if this plant wanted in on the action.   Friday, July 27 View Page Pollinated 1807 squash X Self. Tobeck 1836 female flower did not open today. Should open tomorrow. No male tobeck 2002 flowers are available for pollination tomorrow with 1836 plant. Picked a Tobeck 1526 male flower to use. 1836 X Self pollination looks like it took. Tobeck 1526 female flower did not open. Going to skip this flower and wait for vine to get another one. Neptune watermelon 270.5 X Open pollination looks like it took. No tomato sets after all those megablooms. :-( No field pumpkin female flowers yet despite long main vines :-(   Saturday, July 28 View Page Moved tomato pots around to cut the grass and found this on the 5.24 Borgers plant. So much for being shut out with first round of mega blooms.   Saturday, July 28 View Page Karkos 5.56 Mega Zac Tomato.   Sunday, July 29 View Page Karkos 3.64   Sunday, July 29 View Page Neptune 235.5 X Open OOPs again. Mind focused on other things when looking at watermelon plants.   Sunday, July 29 View Page First female blossom on 127 Harnica Field pumpkin   Sunday, July 29 View Page First female flower on Horde 180.8 Field pumpkin.   Monday, July 30 View Page Neptune 270.5 X Open 5 DAP   Monday, July 30 View Page Gantner 5.19   Sunday, August 5 View Page 270.5 Neptune X Open 10 DAP   Tuesday, August 7 View Page Borgers 5.24 Megamutt D. I thought the set was much bigger when I was putting on the sling. It turned out that an apple sized tomato on each end of the set needed picking to make room for the set to have room to grow. I going to be making fried green tomatoes. :-D   Thursday, August 9 View Page 4.54 Martin ( 7.45 Martin X Open) 2nd truss Mega Bloom. I hope this grows big for you Weird Wint so I can send you some seeds from this tomato.   Thursday, August 9 View Page 4.54 Martin (7.45 Martin X Open) 1st truss tomato. I hope this grows big so I can give you some seeds Weird Wint.   Thursday, August 9 View Page 4.38 Borgers 2nd truss Mega Bloom   Monday, August 13 View Page 270.5 Neptune X Open. About 7 DAP. Discovered this growing about a week ago. I am too busy focusing on pumpkins and tomatoes. Definitely a keeper because it is the fastest growing melon I have.   Monday, August 13 View Page 270.5 X Open. Melon number 1. Since it is slowing growing, it will get eaten as soon as it is big enough.   Monday, August 13 View Page 270.5 Neptune X Open Melon 3. Its about 3 DAP. I've never had any luck with growing watermelons and this year I have 3 growing. Maybe its all the fertilizer they're getting this year plus better plants.   Monday, August 13 View Page 4.54 Mega Bloom 1   Monday, August 13 View Page 4.54 Martin Mega bloom 2. I like this flower and hope the bees do their thing.   Monday, August 13 View Page Big Head Sunflowers. About 10 Feet tall now. Put stakes in the ground alongside the plants after having to do an intervention to prevent flowers from tipping over. Have to tie them up before the wind tries to tip them over this year.   Monday, August 20 View Page Gave tomato plants a much needed pruning and added supports and sling to several plants. Measured my megamutt d. It's a 20 inch cube. No pictures due to camera falling into water and need to get a new one. My Tobeck 1836 will not be making it to the weigh offs. Too much recent damage. Shell starting to crack by stem. A critter has been feasting on the back end of the pumpkin. Put mouse traps to catch critter by the back end of the pumpkin. Put Gorilla tape on crack to hold it together so I can at least get seeds from this pumpkin. 1807 Squash is now bigger than anything I have ever grown.   Sunday, August 26 View Page My Borg tomato side to side measurement. Now that it is getting bigger, it is losing its cube shape.   Sunday, August 26 View Page Borg Tomato side circumference. I call this my Borg tomato because when it was smaller it was cubed shaped. When I would walk by it, it would say to me "I am the Borg tomato. I will win. Resistance is futile." I would tell it not to get ripe until October 8 or it will lose.   Sunday, August 26 View Page Neptune 270.5 X Open watermelon. This is my personal best growing. I've never been able to get a watermelon bigger than a softball.   Sunday, August 26 View Page $^%%$^% critters. Messed up my Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 2002 cross I was going to do today. I've been waiting all summer for the stars and planets to line up for this cross. The critter broke the 1836 flower off the vine. Fortunately I will be doing this on another side vine tomorrow on the 1836 plant if the critter stays away from my patch. It will have enough time to grow to produce seeds and take to Stillwater. I know the weight will be an embarrassment but the genetics are there for next year to try out along with the Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck 1836 I have growing. I stopped a critter from taking a bite out of my Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck 1836 cross by surrounding it with glue traps. When I checked on it, 1 glue trap was missing and another was a few feet from the pumpkin. I am going to put a section of screen and use yard staples to anchor it to the ground over the Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 2002 cross to try to prevent anymore critter attacks.   Monday, August 27 View Page Checked patch today for traps I set out. 2 snap traps were found several feet away from my 1836 X Self pumpkin. I found the glue trap about 20 feet away from where I set it. I hope that the critter(s) are getting the message that if you mess with my pumpkins, it's going to cause pain/problems or death. Removed the 2 other tomatoes that were growing on my mega mutt plant. Time for plant to focus on growing the borg tomato only. Examined my 4.54 Martin plant and found a large tomato in the middle of the plant from a first truss bloom. I took out the tomato next to it to give it room to grow. I will be measuring it. Severe thunderstorm watch for tonight. Surrounded the mega mutt plant with garbage bins and other thing to protect it.   Wednesday, August 29 View Page Culled Tobeck 1836 X Self because of critter damage. Set up Anti Critter cage over Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 2002 cross with traps around the cage. I haven't seen any squirrels the past few days so I am guessing that one or more of them got a dose of my snap and glue traps. Hoping that the Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck 1836 on the main vine doesn't abort again. Tobeck 2002 X Self on a secondary vine is growing well. Squash continues to grow big but it won't go to a weigh off because of 2 critter bites that total more than 3 inches of damage.   Friday, August 31 View Page More bad things happened in the patch. 1807 squash now a pumpkin. 1807 starting to abort. Almost pushed finger through the shell. 2002 Tobeck X 1836 Tobeck cross is in process of aborting. No male Tobeck 1836 flowers to use in a reset. Borg tomato starting to ripen early. I hope this is the year where all the bad things happen to me. Next year I will know how to prevent these things from happening. I know there will be new ones next year.   Sunday, September 2 View Page Measure Borg tomato today to see if it was still growing. Measured 22X20X22 X. 00048 = 4.65 pounds. It's still growing. Maybe the rain and overdose of new fertilizer changed the tomato pigmentation. Squash shell has collapsed where I poked it. Critters have been feasting on it. I'm not collecting any seeds since this squash turned into a pumpkin. Time to put in compost garbage bin along with the rest of the plant.   Thursday, September 6 View Page Received an unexpected gift from the pumpkin gods - a Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck 1836 cross. I found this flower about 9 feet down the vine from my 2002 X Self. I found a unexpected male flower on the 1836 to use. Hopefully this cross will take for seeds. I want to get a 2nd Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck 1836 cross going where one of them should make seeds. The 1836 has grown all sorts of secondary vines since I culled the damaged 1836 X Self pumpkin. I've got 2 Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 2002 crosses growing on the plant now. One should make it to where it creates seeds. I might try to add a Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 1526 cross to the plant. The 1526 plants seem to have run out of energy even though their getting fertilized. What's the point of growing a plant if you don't use the genetics? Measured Borg tomato today. 22 X 21 X 22.5 = 4.99 pounds.   Thursday, September 6 View Page Received an unexpected gift from the pumpkin gods - a Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck 1836 cross. I found this flower about 9 feet down the vine from my 2002 X Self. I found a unexpected male flower on the 1836 to use. Hopefully this cross will take for seeds. I want to get a 2nd Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck 1836 cross going where one of them should make seeds. The 1836 has grown all sorts of secondary vines since I culled the damaged 1836 X Self pumpkin. I've got 2 Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 2002 crosses growing on the plant now. One should make it to where it creates seeds. I might try to add a Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 1526 cross to the plant. The 1526 plants seem to have run out of energy even though their getting fertilized. What's the point of growing a plant if you don't use the genetics? Measured Borg tomato today. 22 X 21 X 22.5 = 4.99 pounds.   Friday, September 7 View Page Found my tomato for Gale Woods today on my Karkos 5.63 plant. It's a third truss set that should have no problem staying green until the weigh off. Threw my aborted 1807 squash in the compost trash bin. Decided to save a couple of seeds because it was a personal best growing for size. Maybe it aborted because it would rather be dead than be a pumpkin. Threw my critter damaged 1836 X Self in the compost trash bin. Kept a handful of seeds just in case I want to grow it again and cross with 2002 X Self I am growing. Patch looks like a minefield with all the glue and snap traps I have set up. Made the anti critter cage larger around the 1836 X 2002 cross I have growing. If it keeps growing at the rate it is, I might have something respectable to bring to Stillwater.   Sunday, September 9 View Page Had a great time with Bnot at early tomato weighoff at the garden place. This is a 1.64 pound tomato from a 4.54 Martin (7.45 Martin X open). I picked this tomato over a few others because Weird Wint wanted some seeds to grow from it. It hadn't stopped growing when I picked it.   Sunday, September 9 View Page 1.95 pound tomato from a 5.56 Karkos seed. Tomato stopped growing once I put it in a sling. I thought it was going to get much bigger when I put it in a sling.   Sunday, September 9 View Page 4.05 pound Borg tomato from a megamutt seed. This picture showing the side of the tomato that was in the sling shows why this tomato only weighed 4.05 pounds instead of the 4.99 pounds according to measurements. There is too much empty space on this side of the tomato where as the side I saw was solid. I think I did well growing giant tomatoes for the first time.   Thursday, September 13 View Page Started process of saving seeds using the Oxyclean method. Used my 1.97 tomato as my first tomato just incase things did not go well. Put Borg sling on my Karkos 5.63 tomato. It had outgrown its other sling. I need this tomato to get at least a 26 inch circumference to have a chance at Gale Woods. Ignoring manufacturer's fertilizing recommendations when applying. We'll see if their disclaimer "Will Not Burn" is true or not.   Friday, September 14 View Page Created a Witch's brew mix to give to my tomatoes. Brew consists of water, worm casings, Neptune Fish and Kelp, some Ful-Humix concentrate, Neptune Crushed Crab and Lobster shells, some mycos, and a special ingredient - My dog's poop. She was pooping around the Borg tomato pot and the vapors made it grow well. In her old age she's acquired allergies and got diabetes. She's on a special diet with a mix of dry diabetic dog food and canned grain free dog food. Its easier for her to digest and I am hoping her poop is easy for the plant's to digest. Who says I am going to eat these tomatoes? Cut a small piece of plywood to put under a big tomato I call loafer. It's being supported by 2 different branches. It looks like the tomato is just lying there taking it all in. I don't want the tomato to get DQ'd like Bnot's 6.32. It's on Bnot's 3.02 Wixom slammer he traded me. Started building greenhouse for tomato plants. I won't post pictures. I don't want Bnot to get ideas from me. It's nice when most of the parts I have already been built for other uses.   Friday, September 14 View Page Created a Witch's brew mix to give to my tomatoes. Brew consists of water, worm casings, Neptune Fish and Kelp, some Ful-Humix concentrate, Neptune Crushed Crab and Lobster shells, some mycos, and a special ingredient - My dog's poop. She was pooping around the Borg tomato pot and the vapors made it grow well. In her old age she's acquired allergies and got diabetes. She's on a special diet with a mix of dry diabetic dog food and canned grain free dog food. Its easier for her to digest and I am hoping her poop is easy for the plant's to digest. Who says I am going to eat these tomatoes? Cut a small piece of plywood to put under a big tomato I call loafer. It's being supported by 2 different branches. It looks like the tomato is just lying there taking it all in. I don't want the tomato to get DQ'd like Bnot's 6.32. It's on Bnot's 3.02 Wixom slammer he traded me. Started building greenhouse for tomato plants. I won't post pictures. I don't want Bnot to get ideas from me. It's nice when most of the parts I have already been built for other uses.   Saturday, September 15 View Page Culled Tobeck 2002 X Self pumpkin. It was the size of a basketball and developed BES. Now I only have 2 sets on the 2002 plant. Both are Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck 1836 and are small. If one of them makes it to Halloween, it will have made good seeds. Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 2002 is the size of a basketball. The other 1836 X 2002 set aborted. Hopefully these crosses will put the best traits of the 2145 seed into 1 of these seeds. All sets are well protected with anti critter cages. Added 20-20-20 fertilizer to my witch's brew. This adds a few minerals that the brew was missing. Noticed nice growth on Karkos 5.63 tomato after the last fertilizer blast. I have to make the Borg sling bigger. It's a nice big green tomato buried in the middle of the plant surrounded by leaves. Wife is helping me with the greenhouse. I told her its coming down Oct. 15.It will make setting up easier having her help. Have to buy a few things(duct tape, plastic, fence stakes. wire) for assembling it. Have electric cord from the garage set up for a fan in the greenhouse. Thought about adding misting sprinkler hoses in the green house.   Sunday, September 16 View Page My fall tomato greenhouse. Need to reinforce it, add fans, cover it with plastic, and wrap it with Duct Tape for the victory. I'm not going to let you win easily Bnot. I have 1 trellis leftover. I made 3 trellises this winter for something else. Funny I am using them for this.   Monday, September 17 View Page I went into my toy box and found this for my fall outdoor green house. 4 Klarlight Indoor/Outdoor LED Plant Grow Flood Lights, 50 Watt Grow LED COB Plant Growing Bulb. I used it outside before in rainstorms and still worked. 4 of them will put off some heat during the night in my outdoor greenhouse. I'll have string them up with wire not Duck Tape.   Monday, September 17 View Page I went into my outdoor Christmas decoration box and found this. 4 outlets for the grow lights and 2 outlets for fans. I can program each outlet to turn on and off 4 times during a 24 hour period. It's a pain to program but works well. I don't think my neighbors and plants will like the grow lights being turned on and off a few times during the night. I'll have to figure out how many times to turn the grow lights on and off to prevent the greenhouse from getting to hot. The fans will be programmed to run during the day maybe night if I have to.   Monday, September 17 View Page Outdoor Duck Tape for the Win. Too bad it is going to be difficult to finish greenhouse with rain forecast for next few days.   Monday, September 17 View Page Need to increase sling size on all tomatoes. Gave them another overdose of fertilizer after good results from last times application.   Monday, September 17 View Page Ordered companion plant seeds for next year for pumpkins and tomatoes. Figured out what I really needed instead of guessing like I did this year and waited for a sale. I inadvertently put some herbs together that shouldn't be together. Bought some flowers I/my wife couldn't find locally. bought 10 packets for $33.00 including shipping. My wife is going to love having lots of flowers and herbs in the basement growing this winter/spring.   Friday, September 21 View Page Patch is destroyed after all the rain the past few days. Patch is a mud pit due to the heavy clay soil. One of the Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck 1836 sets is aborting. I'm hoping that this is the plant deciding which set it wants to grow until halloween. Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 2002 continues to grow bigger. I might have to enlarge the anti critter cage again. I'd be screwed with my tomatoes if I didn't plant them in pots with potting mix with my heavy clay yard.   Sunday, September 23 View Page Starting to get confused on which tomatoes to bring to Gale Woods. Karkos 5.63 starting to ripen. Loafer getting bigger and staying green. Found 3 green Wixom slammers starting to get big. I know I have to buy a kitchen scale to help me decide. Borg tomato seeds now drying. Will be harvesting 4.54 martin tomato seeds and other ripe tomatoes in the patch this week now that tomatoes are ripening.   Tuesday, September 25 View Page Covered 2002 plant with 2 sheets of plastic and weighted down with bricks. Positioned 5 grow lights to hit the areas of the plant with the best leaves. Will set up programming on timer tomorrow. I want to see how things work with existing program in timer before changing it. Hopefully the grow lights will heat up under the plastic enough to keep the plant warm at night. Pumpkin shows no sign of aborting yet.   Wednesday, September 26 View Page Programmed timer for grow lights on 2002 pumpkin plant. Season from hell continues. This morning my largest watermelon looks fine. After lunch I walked by it when coming back to the house from setting up timer and looked at it. Shell cracked around blossom end. Time to weigh it, photograph it, and then eat it. Still have another one growing. I hope that this is one less thing that will happen to me next year along with all the other bad things growing giant vegs that have happened this year.   Wednesday, September 26 View Page Picture of my damaged 270.5 X Open watermelon taken by my wife with her Ipad. Thought it would be much heavier. Should have known something like this was going to happen. 10 more days on the vine for my Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 2002 then it will have good seeds. Might have to enlarge anti critter cage again. Have to take to Stillwater instead of Gale Woods.   Thursday, September 27 View Page Harvested seeds from 1.64 pound 4.54 Martin tomato (7.45 Martin X Open). Finally ripened so I could easily remove the seeds. Will be bringing 5.63 Karkos tomato into house now that it is almost ripe. Loafer tomato keeps doing what he does best - sitting on his board and gaining weight from doing nothing. I haven't tried to measure him but he looks like he could be bigger than the borg tomato by Gale Woods. Singular cubed shaped tomato now growing on Megamutt plant. Waiting for neighbors to complain about grow lights being on during the night that are aimed at my 2002 plant. Last night I could see them from a window in my house. Dug several small holes in the ground for people to trip over if they try to steal the lights.   Thursday, September 27 View Page Harvested seeds from 1.64 pound 4.54 Martin tomato (7.45 Martin X Open). Finally ripened so I could easily remove the seeds. Will be bringing 5.63 Karkos tomato into house now that it is almost ripe. Loafer tomato keeps doing what he does best - sitting on his board and gaining weight from doing nothing. I haven't tried to measure him but he looks like he could be bigger than the borg tomato by Gale Woods. Singular cubed shaped tomato now growing on Megamutt plant. Waiting for neighbors to complain about grow lights being on during the night that are aimed at my 2002 plant. Last night I could see them from a window in my house. Dug several small holes in the ground for people to trip over if they try to steal the lights.   Friday, September 28 View Page Picked 5.63 Karkos tomato because it is ripe. Loafer still getting bigger. Harvesting tomato seeds from tomatoes on plants that I am not going to use at Gale Woods or Stillwater for future use. I am using a slightly different method than Bnot's for harvesting seeds. You have much less solution to deal with. I cut the tomato into 1 inch slices. Put napkins on table before putting tomato slices on table. I scoop seeds out of pockets with 1/4 teaspoon. Put scoops into a bowl. When done with all slices, tilt slices on napkins up to see if seeds on napkin or on bottom of tomato slice that need to be harvested. Smash chucks of tomato down with a fork. Set bowl of seeds aside. Roll up napkins with tomato slices and throw in trash. Fill up bowl with water. Put 1 tablespoon of oxyclean in bowl and stir. Let sit for 1/2 hour. Pour solution in bowl into strainer. Rinse thoroughly and push pieces of tomato thru strainer with a spatula. Label paper plate with tomato information. Put tomato seeds on a paper plate. Put paper plate in an area to dry. Today one of my neighbors told me he thought my backyard was on fire last night but realized it was the grow lights I had set up. Looked under the plastic and saw that the Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck pumpkin had not aborted. It's going to be a challenge to get it to the size of a softball. Now at least 15 DAP after reviewing diary. Plant still alive. Tonight will be the test. 35 degrees over night. I should be fine because of city heat and plant covered with plastic with grow light heat aimed at plant.   Sunday, September 30 View Page Tobeck 2002 plant is looking much better than when I put plastic over it and started using grow lights at night. Leaves that were turning yellow are now green again. Tobeck 2002 X Tobeck 1836 Pumpkin is still small as a baby cucumber but I am waiting for it to take off as soon as the plant gets into the same shape it was before the rain hit. No signs of aborting yet and we are around 20 DAP. I am hoping that the plant follows an instinct to reproduce is priority number one than to spend energy on growth.   Thursday, October 4 View Page Critters are bound and determined to eat any pumpkin I am growing. I put a blanket over my anti critter cage on my Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 2002 cross a few days ago. Today I found they had eaten a hole in the blanket and tried to chew thru the screen unsuccessfully. Put an old car floor mat over hole in blanket. I'd like to see them try to chew thru that. Oct 8 is 40 DAP so I will have viable seeds from this pumpkin and can take it to Stillwater. 2002 Tobeck plant doing well with plastic over it and getting grow light treatment at night. Leaves are looking much better now. With the recent rains, the plastic has turned into a greenhouse over the leaves. Rain holds the plastic down in each section. It's even done that for the anti critter cage I have over the 2002 Tobeck X 1836 cross I have growing there. Best case scenario 25 DAP for the pumpkin. Worst case 20 DAP. Don't remember exact date of pollination. Pumpkin shows no sign of aborting and I can see it clearly through the plastic over the anti critter cage. Pumpkin still size of small cucumber. I'll probably get seeds the size of cucumber seeds from this pumpkin. I don't care about size. As long as they are viable and germinate.   Saturday, October 6 View Page Had great day at Gale Woods weigh off despite lack of sleep. Finished 5th in Minnesota Tomato Challenge with a 2.36 pound tomato from a 5.63 Karkos seed. I brought another tomato weighing over a pound that might have won prettiest tomato award if it was offered from the same plant. I can't complain for being a first year grower. I hope to have a pumpkin/squash to bring next year. Almost didn't go to weigh off because of unexpected road construction detour and I thought my directions were no good at that point. Followed detour and it put us onto the road to Gale Woods Farm. Met Bill Foss, Larry Hill, Chris Qualley, Hobbit, and Sawjaws. Received some tomato seeds from Larry Hill. I hope to duplicate his effort of 3 6 pound tomatoes from his seed next year. Bill Foss was giving new growers his dvd on growing a giant pumpkin. Larry Hill and Chris Brown looked like they were having a competition for most things to be weighed at a weighoff. There were giant carrots, rutabaga, cucumber, and marrow in addition to the regular GPC categories.   Sunday, October 7 View Page Harvested 3 tomatoes I am considering taking to Stillwater. 2 heaviest will go to Stillwater. I hope they ripen before then because a ripe tomato weighs more than a green tomato. First tomato is from seed 3.02 Borgers Variety Wixom Slammer (5.75 Porkchop Domingo X 7.05 Porkchop Big Zac). 2nd tomato (I call it Loafer because it would sit on a board and do nothing but get big). Seed is from a cloned 4.38 Borgers 2017. The 3rd is another mega mutt tomato. Lots of green tomatoes to give away and eat. Harvested 2 sunflower heads. Squirrels had stripped 2 heads completely clean. Leaves and sunflower seed shells were all over by the sunflowers. Harvested 1836 Tobeck X 2002 Tobeck pumpkin 41 DAP and brought indoors for Stillwater. Should have good seeds inside it. Critters had tried to chew thru Anti Critter cage in several spots where the car mat wasn't covering the cage. I am glad this season if misery is coming to an end.   Wednesday, October 10 View Page I guess I am now on the Water Utility list of water wasters even though I called and explained to them that this is my first year with a garden and I am watering my garden using timers. If I grew winter tomatoes, I could see myself getting a similar letter from the Gas/Electric utility plus a visit from the police to make sure I am not growing anything I shouldn't be among the tomato plants.   Wednesday, October 10 View Page I guess I am now on the Water Utility list of water wasters even though I called and explained to them that this is my first year with a garden and I am watering my garden using timers. If I grew winter tomatoes, I could see myself getting a similar letter from the Gas/Electric utility plus a visit from the police to make sure I am not growing anything I shouldn't be among the tomato plants.   Saturday, October 13 View Page Had a great time a Stillwater. Had fun watching Top 10 Pumpkin Average record being broken. Congratulated Joe Ailts on making it to the scale after 10 years and winning the Howard Dill competition. My 1836 Tobeck X 2002 Tobeck weighed only 38 pounds but I am happy to get something to the scale in this miserable year. Pumpkin was 9% heavy so it could be a good seed to grow year. My Borgers 4.38 tomato weighed 2.27 pounds and my 3.02 Borgers weighed 1.69 pounds. I am happy to get some cash for 3rd place in tomato category at weigh off.   Saturday, October 13 View Page Had a great time a Stillwater. Had fun watching Top 10 Pumpkin Average record being broken. Congratulated Joe Ailts on making it to the scale after 10 years and winning the Howard Dill competition. My 1836 Tobeck X 2002 Tobeck weighed only 38 pounds but I am happy to get something to the scale in this miserable year. Pumpkin was 9% heavy so it could be a good seed to grow year. My Borgers 4.38 tomato weighed 2.27 pounds and my 3.02 Borgers weighed 1.69 pounds. I am happy to get some cash for 3rd place in tomato category at weigh off.   Wednesday, October 31 View Page Harvested about 20 good seeds from my 38 pound Tobeck 1836 X Tobeck 2002 cross. Most of the seeds were in different stages of forming. The important thing is I have a few seeds to try to grow this cross bigger next year. I will be sending Brandon Clayton some of these seeds along with a bunch of tomato seeds and a HD winner orange pumpkin seed. Shell was about 5 inches thick all around (found this out when carving it) which surprised me but then this pumpkin went 9 % heavy.