Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 145 Entries. Saturday, January 5 View Page Met new grower Reed's Birds and Bees for lunch. Gave him some of Gary Vincent's AG seeds that he had given me. Gave him a marrow seed that I had been given by Glenomkins. Gave him some of my Mega mutt and Karkos Big Zac tomato seeds. Talked pumpkin for awhile.   Wednesday, January 9 View Page Started tomato seed swap with Udo Karkos. Went to Post Office and sent him 5 different varieties of tomatoes. Hopefully I have filled out the customs form correctly. I'll be finding out in 7 -14 business days if he gets it.   Sunday, February 3 View Page Had lunch with SawJaws and Reed's Bird's & Bees. Gave SawJaws a Terry 1724 HD seed to grow. Talked about growing this year.   Thursday, March 7 View Page Received my Orange lot from the German Giant Vegetable Growers silent auction today.   Thursday, March 7 View Page Received Udo Karkos tomato seeds from Germany today.   Thursday, March 7 View Page Received Udo Karkos tomato seeds from Germany today.   Tuesday, March 12 View Page Flat White Boer Pumpkin seeds I received from a coworker that loves to grow pumpkins. Yes they are blue. Non-GMO You can actually stack the pumpkins on top of each other. I give her big orange and other seeds. I've encouraged her to join SCGA but she hasn't.   Thursday, March 14 View Page Companion plant flowers I will be planting around my patch area.   Thursday, March 14 View Page Companion plant herbs I am growing around my garden. It's nice to have fresh herbs for cooking.   Thursday, March 14 View Page 2019 AG line up provided that my patch dries up like it usually does. It should be dried up by the middle of April if a normal moisture spring happens.   Thursday, March 14 View Page 2019 AG Plan B if patch is not dry by end of May. Hopefully no more rain/snow. I'll grow nice looking pumpkins instead of going for size.   Thursday, March 14 View Page 2019 tomato line up. Larry Hill's seed produced 3 6 pound tomatoes last year.   Thursday, March 14 View Page Beefsteak hybrids you can buy at the store/on the internet. I'll be trying to cross these seeds with the Big Marley. I'll also try to cross the 5.11 Karkos Delicious with the Porterhouse variety to create a Delicious Porterhouse tomato.   Saturday, March 30 View Page Fertilizer I am going to use in my patch this year. Using the 2-6-3 kind instead of the 8-2-4 kind because relatively odor free. Want to keep peace with the neighbors. 8-2-4 packs a powerful odor. Note in Benefits - No additional fertilizer required, Sustane company rep presented a power point presentation and offered SCGA growers a discount on product at the SCGA meeting. Bought 200 pounds of product.   Saturday, March 30 View Page Revised 2019 AG Line Up. Winning the 2063 Willemijns (reverse cross of the 2624) at the IGPA silent auction upset the AG Lineup applecart. Decided to cross the 2063 with a Marley UOW 647 (2624 X Self) to see what kind of seed I would end up with. Chose the 2157 Daletas and 2109 Zyweic because those big seeds haven't been crossed with 2624 genetics yet. Going to pollinate a turban squash and a cinderella pumpkin with a Marley 647 to try to create a giant turban squash and giant red pumpkin.   Sunday, March 31 View Page Pheromone pest traps to go with all of my companion plants.   Wednesday, April 3 View Page Started companion plants indoors. Cleaning up patch area since last fall it was either raining or too wet to vacuum up leaves with lawnmower. Wile Coyote might make an appearance this weekend in the patch. If he is successful, 80 % of my patch will have full sun instead of partial sun like last year.   Friday, April 5 View Page Collected soil sample from patch to send to Western Labs. Last year I did not do this until Apr. 21. I am ahead of last year.   Monday, April 8 View Page Soil Sample sent to Western Labs today.   Wednesday, April 17 View Page Patch is a mud pit. Last week's snowstorm water plus todays rainstorm has pools of water all over the patch. Hate to have to use Line Up B because of this water. At least I haven't started any seeds yet. Was think of trying to start the Marley UOW 647 (2624 X Self) on the 20th so I could have it in the ground because how the 2150 Skinner (same genetics) grew last year. Might delay that start for a few days.   Monday, April 22 View Page Western Labs soil report Adding following amendments: 5 Pounds Sulfur 6 Pounds Potash 7 Pounds Epsom salts 2 pounds Manganese Sulfate 1 Pound Borax - getting it from 20 Mule Team Detergent you can buy at the store 10 Pounds worm casings. Hopefully enough copper to bring it up.   Tuesday, April 23 View Page Took out germinated Petunia plants. Moved them to larger pots with potting soil instead of seed starting soil. Started the last seeds of my Petunia plants. Turned up heat in germination chamber to 88 degrees. Hopefully the remaining petunia plants will germinate. Getting ready to start AG and tomato seeds. Marley 647 (2624 X Self) will start first. Bought last of soil amendments. Waiting for tree trimmer to finish trimming the tree around the patch to give 100 % of the patch at least 8 hours of sunlight. Last Friday he started but one of his machines got stuck in the mud in my patch and he had to stop.   Thursday, April 25 View Page Tree trimmer finished removing most branches obstructing full sunlight into my patch. It turns out I should get at least 8 hours of sunlight in 100% of my patch. My biggest barrier to success has been removed! Next year I can justify him coming back to remove more by saying I don't want any branches falling on the storage sheds and garage. A picture doesn't do justice to the area now getting full sunlight. They also cleaned up most of the twigs in my patch that I needed to rake up before putting down turkey compost and soil amendments. Once the amendments have been put down on the patch, then they will be roto tilled in by the neighbor for the price of a field pumpkin or watermelon in the fall.   Friday, April 26 View Page Started germinating Marley UOW 647(2624 X Self) seeds. First seed I cracked piece off of it. The shell that came off only had green mass on it. The root part looked fine. If it germinates, then I will probably have funny looking cots. Second seed was no problems. If both germinate, then it's wait and see how the 2157.5 Daletas, 2063 Willemijns, and 2109 Zyweic germinate. Both seeds floated on the water they were soaking in. The seeds soaked in water in a cup on a mat in my germinating chamber that is set at 87 degrees. Using damp paper towel method to germinate.   Sunday, April 28 View Page Brought 2 peat pots of round 2 Petunia plants into the house and put under grow lights. Ready to discard Round 1 because of lack of germination. Restarted 2 4.54 Martin (7.45 Martin X Open) tomato plants that did not germinate last year. I'm giving them a week to germinate. The germination chamber is at 87 degrees and very humid. Water droplets are forming on the lid.   Tuesday, April 30 View Page Started Nasturtium and Marigold companion plants (for SVBs, Aphids, and other pests) under grow lights in basement. Took Marley 647(2624 X Self) seeds out of Ziploc bag to see if they would germinate in seed starting soil. Started 2077 Brandt(2624 X 2145) in seed starting soil as a backup just incase the 647s fail to germinate and validate this germination method. If the 2077 germinates in the seed starting soil in my germination chamber, no more trying to start using damp paper towel for AGs.   Wednesday, May 1 View Page Started 2170 Daletas and 2109 Zywiec today. I'm not wasting anymore time waiting for the 647 Marley seeds to germinate. Plants need to be ready for pollination on June 15. If 0 or 1 germinate then I'm ok. It will be a good problem to have if both germinate (doubtful because of oops when sanding one of the seed's shell. Sunday is judgement day for the 647s. If they haven't poked out of the ground or when I peel the peat pot off them, there isn't any sign of pumpkin root growth, in the trash they go. Monday is judgement day for round 1 petunia plants in basement. Germinate or get thrown. Time to clean off heating mat for germinated plants.So far no germinations from round 1. Round 2 is doing ok with a couple of peat pots with several petunia seedlings in each.   Thursday, May 2 View Page Removed remaining non germinated petunia pots from gemination. Started my tomato line up today including store hybrids. 2 seeds / plant. Germination chamber now a full house. Poured some more water onto seed heating mat to kick up the humidity in there where droplets are forming on the lid and falling into the pots. Temperature inside germination chamber is 87 degrees. Started cleaning up remaining twigs so neighbor can roto till Saturday. Friday will add amendments to soil and set up temporary fence to keep dog out of patch until it has been roto tilled. Don't want to poison it with Borax (20 Mule Team Detergent) I am adding to the patch. Hopefully the Borax will kill some of the creeping Charlie in the patch. It made my day seeing Mr. & Mrs. Duck return to my neighbor's pond in his back yard. First time I've seen them this spring. It's fun seeing all the ducklings. I feel like building a duck house for them to stay in.   Friday, May 3 View Page Put down almost of all of my amendments. Some turkey manure and Borax left to do. I thought the turkey manure was supposed to be odorless but a few gusts of wind blew a smell of turkey manure at me. Temporary fence for dog took me longer for me to put up than I expected. Marley 647 seeds got a 7 day stay of execution after consulting with Cindy Tobeck on how her 2150 seed grew last year. Marigolds started germinated under my grow lights in the basement. The package said 7 - 14 days and its only been a couple of days. Nasturtiums should be germinating the next few days.   Sunday, May 5 View Page Neighbor roto tilled patch yesterday. Waiting for pumpkins to start germinating. All of my wife's cherry tomatoes have germinated and now under grow lights in the basement. Waiting for tomato competition plants to start germinating.   Monday, May 6 View Page Peeked into germination chamber to see how things are going. Discovered that a 4.54 Martin Tomato seed that would germinate last year germinated this year.   Tuesday, May 7 View Page Some tomato plants germinated last night. All the Store/internet ones germinated. The 4.45, 5.95, and 5.11 germinated also.   Thursday, May 9 View Page All competition tomato seeds have at least 1 plant germinated now. Also 4.54 Martin(7.45 Martin X Open) is doing well under the indoor grow lights. 2170 Daletas poked through the soil in the pot today. Waiting for 2109 Zywiec and 2077 Brandt to do the same. They were all started around the same time. Saturday I am going to open up the pots to see what's going on if they're not poking through the soil. Started 1794 Cotterman (2145 X 2009 Wallace) 16% Heavy and 2 1901.5 Larson (2624 X 2145) seeds as backups incase the Zywiec and Brandt seeds are duds.   Friday, May 10 View Page Peeked into my germination this afternoon and saw my Marley 647 (2624 X Self) was poking out of the seed starting soil. Made my day. I started this seed on Monday figuring it was going to take several days to germinate. The 2 other Marley 647 seeds that I had tried to germinate turned out to be duds. Tomorrow I will be starting to germinate a 2063 Willemijns - reverse cross of 2624. I wasn't going to start the 2063 seed until I had a Marley 647 germinated. I plan on crossing the Marley 647 and 2063 Willemijns and seeing what kind of seeds I end up with. With the Marley 647 germinating, I can pollinate a Cinderella pumpkin and a Turban squash to try to create a giant red pumpkin and giant turban squash. I'll be germinating Cinderella pumpkin and turban squash seeds at the end of the month.   Saturday, May 11 View Page Marley UOW 647 (2624 X Self). Germinated and grew this big in 5 days in the germination chamber. Shell was easy to pull off cots. 2109 Zywiec and 2077 Brandt seeds were duds. 10 days in germination chamber and no root development. 2170 Daletas shed shell and cots starting to open up. Started 2063 Willemijns (reverse cross of 2624) and 1794 Cotterman seeds in seeding starting soil in germination chamber.   Sunday, May 12 View Page My 647 Marley (2624 X Self) and 2170 Daletas. I have to figure out this new camera since the picture is blurry. Note how long the stem on the Marley 647. It was only 6 days ago I put the seed into the germination. Maybe it will be an aggressive grower instead of a slow out of the gate like the 2150 seed with the same genetics. Put tomato plants into bigger pots. I wanted to get the plants out of seed starting soil and into regular soil. Took home an 1875 Mendi plant from Bnot's place after seeing his new place. He did not want to grow the plant. Now I am waiting for my 2063 Willemijns (reverse cross of 2624) to germinate. Line up would be complete when it germinates. I have a 1794 Cotterman also in the germination chamber for back up. This seed is an aggressive grower. I would pollinate it with the Marley 647. Aggressive grower + big genetics = ?   Friday, May 17 View Page 1794 Cotterman (2145 X 2009) 16 % heavy. 1 week after germination.   Friday, May 17 View Page 2170 Daletas about 2 weeks old. Had trouble get shell off cots.   Friday, May 17 View Page 1875 Mendi plant. Got this plant from Bnot last weekend.   Saturday, May 18 View Page 647 plant died. I put watered it before I put it out in warm sun on Thursday. I came home a couple of hours later after running errands and it was folded over and limp. Tried to revive it wit some more water and even a light solution of fertilizer. My other 3 plants now will have lots of room to run now. Waiting for this cooler weather to end before putting the plants in the ground now.   Monday, May 20 View Page Received tomato seeds from Weird Wint today. His 5.91 California State record seeds were included. Set up water system for AGs with soaker hoses. Looks like I will have enough water pressure after briefly testing. Tomorrow is supposed by more rain so I cut testing short so I wouldn't make more mud before the rain showers tomorrow. AG pants should be going in the ground on Wednesday.   Tuesday, May 21 View Page Started a 1512 Cotterman (2009 Wallace X 2624 Willemijns) seed today as a backup plant. The 2170 Daletas plant is not looking too well in my house despite being near the grow light. Hopefully it will do much better once it is planted in the ground.   Friday, May 24 View Page Put 2170 Daletas, 1875 Mendi, and 1794 Cotterman plants into the ground. Covered each with my economy greenhouse. Having doubts that the 2170 plant will survive. It did not look good but figured it could be a plant that will do well out of pot. Buried up to 1/2 inch from its cots. First true leaf starting to coming out but not growing very fast.   Sunday, May 26 View Page Started a 670.2. Weishaupl (1266.3 Jany 13 HDA X 568.8 15 HDA) 17 HDA seed. This was part of the Orange lot that I won at the German auction last winter. There is a picture on pumpkin fanatic. It looks like I am the first to grow this seed. My curiosity made me want to grow this seed just to see what kind of pumpkin I would get. I found a 10 X 20 area 200 sq. ft in my yard - it was my dumping ground in my yard where I put all my old Miracle Grow potting soil each spring over the years. The soil should have decent mineral composition. Now it's covered with creeping Charlie but a good spray down with some Borax solution should kill it before I plant this seed if it germinates. If it looks good enough to win HDA, I will take it to a weigh off. I'm glad I'm going for looks instead size where I am planting this seed.   Tuesday, May 28 View Page Marrow and Field Pumpkin seeds I am planning to grow. Patch is a mud pit after yesterday's rain. My 1875 Mendi and 1794 plants stood unfazed by the weather. Didn't check on the 2170 Daletas plant because I couldn't see it. I'm assuming it died because it was in rough shape when I transplanted it.   Thursday, May 30 View Page 1875 Mendi plant looking a little worse for wear after all the rain. But still standing.   Thursday, May 30 View Page 1794 Cotterman still standing after all the rain.   Thursday, May 30 View Page Confirmed my 2170 Daletas plant did not survive being transplanted when I found I dry spot to walk in my mud patch. The 1512 Cotterman (2009 Wallace X 2624 Willemijns) and 1878.5 Leer (1501 VW X 1261 Caspers) seeds germinated today. It looked like one of my 220 DMG Baggs (165 Baggs X 178 Baggs) marrow seeds will be germinating tomorrow. It's going to fun planting the 1512 and 1878 plants in the mud.   Sunday, June 2 View Page 670.2 Weishaupl seed is toast. Dug around pot to find seed and pus was coming out of the seed. It's funny that the 1878.5 Leer germinated real quickly when I started them both at the same time. Started 495.2 Ressel (1030 DeBacco X 1143 Engel) today. This is the last HDA seed I am going to try to germinate this season. It's getting too late to be germinating seeds. Started a 173 Baggs (165 Baggs X 174 Baggs) marrow seed today for backup just incase the 220 Baggs marrows blowup during the season. Should be receiving Porkchop's long gourd seeds this week.   Monday, June 3 View Page Planted field pumpkins - 2 127 Harnicas (211 McKinnon X Self) and a 180.8 Horde (158.7 Horde X 158.6 McKinnon). Planted 1878.5 Leer (1501 VW X 1261 Caspers) to run the length of the back of my AG patch instead of at the 1512 Cotterman. The spot I was originally planning to put it has way too much shade for this plant. Planted a 64.55 Murphy cantaloupe. The other plant is so so but developing a first true leaf. The 1512 Cotterman is an ugly duckling with its cots. Waiting for its first true leaf to come out of if before transplanting it. My other 220 Baggs marrow seed should be poking its nose out of the soil in the next couple of days. Soil starting to form a cone where the plant is coming up.   Tuesday, June 4 View Page Planted 220 Baggs marrow in a dry spot in my patch. Waiting for other 220 Baggs and 173 Baggs marrows to poke out of soil in pot. Cones are forming where they will be popping out of the ground. Poked around 495.2 soil to seed if seed has germinated. Covered seed back up and it should be up by this weekend. Received long gourd seeds from Porkchop. Tomorrow I will build trellis for long gourds if it's not raining out.   Saturday, June 8 View Page My 1512 Cotterman (2009 Wallace X 2624 Willemijns) plant with the ugly duckling cots. Ready to be transplanted now that leaves are coming out of the ugly cots.   Saturday, June 8 View Page My 2nd 64.55 Murphy giant cantaloupe. Not quite bit enough to be transplanted since it is small and not strong enough to be transplanted.   Sunday, June 9 View Page Planted 1512 Cotterman and 495.2 Ressel AG plants. A toad watched me plant the 495.2 Ressler. A few days ago it watched me plant a 64.55 Murphy cantaloupe. Built a toad house using a small ceramic pot for the toad. Hopefully it will take up residence and eat bugs in my patch. My neighbor's man made pond in his backyard gives him water he needs. Planted a Baggs 173 marrow plant. Watering system is under construction. Need to buy some odds and ends. Doing much better than last year's debacle. Already thinking about crossing the 495.2 Ressel (1030 DeBacco X 1143 Engel) HDA with the 1878 Leer (1501 VW X 1261 Caspers) - Big orange pumpkin.   Wednesday, June 12 View Page What a difference a year makes. Last year I was struggling with sunlight and getting plants into the patch at this time. This year no real sunlight problems and overall plants are doing much better than last year. What a difference it has made removing my big branch over my patch this spring. Should be much further ahead but germination issues and a swampy patch delayed planting. Watering system is almost done. Need to set it up for marrows and newly germinated watermelon plants.   Wednesday, June 19 View Page Started secret ingredient compost tea. I'll be disappointed if it doesn't have a bad smell when its ready. This compost tea will go on my other plants. 2nd round of tomatoes starting to germinate. 4 Porterhouse, 1 5.04 Clayton, 1 5.75 Hill, 2 Karkos 4.12, Big Marley, and a Spaziani 4.45 (Megamutt Z). I have a 5.95 Wixom, a 5.175 Hill and 2 more 5.04 Claytons along with other tomato seeds waiting to germinate. If the 5.95 Wixom doesn't germinate, I'll have the 5.04 Claytons (8.22 Porkchop X open) to cross with the 5.175 Hill.   Monday, June 24 View Page Inspected plants to see how well my plants responded to my secret ingredient compost tea. I am very pleased with the results. Marrow plants have caught up to field pumpkins in size while field pumpkins have been growing well. AGs responded real well. Almost all are vining. 1875 Mendi plant responded very well. Secondary vines are starting to form around the stump (First time for me because of lack of sunlight previous years). Main vine has grown to 2 feet in 4 days. I am hoping I can push the main vine to 12 feet by July 4 so I can get a pollination. Planning on another round of compost tea for the plants the week. Waiting for last round of tomato germination to finish. Just waiting on the 5.95 Wixom and I will be happy with what has germinated this round.   Wednesday, June 26 View Page Dog caught and destroyed a squirrel destroying one of my 127 Harnica field pumpkin plants. I thought she was too old to do that. 6 year old neighbor kid asked about my pumpkin plants. I told him I would give him a field pumpkin if I grow more than 2. His face lit up when I told him I would give him seeds to grow his own next spring. Neighbor guy asked about what I use for fertilizer on eating tomatoes and I showed him how to use Miracle Grow stuff. Last summer he was fascinated with seeing 1+ pound tomatoes on my plants. This year I hope to blow him away with big ones. Still waiting for some tomato seeds to germinate. Germinated ones have been put in bigger pots.   Saturday, June 29 View Page Weeded around all my plants before the heat kicked in. All pumpkin plants starting to vine and having to train most of them. So much for growing opposite of first true leaf. 1875 Mendi plant is my best and main vine is about 4 feet long. I counted 3 secondaries forming on each side of the vine. Hoping that this weather will help me get a pollination around the 8th of July at 12 feet. Plenty of male flowers forming. Planning to start using foliar spray to push the plants along.   Wednesday, July 3 View Page First male flower opened up today around the stem of the 1875 Mendi plant. Waiting for female flowers to appear on plant. Vine is about 6 feet long. All other AGs are vining and finally pointed in the direction they are supposed to grow. So much for growing the opposite way of the first true leaf. Competition tomato plants almost big enough to be transplanted to 20 gallon pots. Disappointed that many big tomato seeds did not germinate: 6.32 DMG Borgers, Delbrut, 6.22 Karkos German Record, 5.91 Murphy (Weird Wint) California Record, 5.95 Wixom, A Big Marley, and 5.11 Karkos. Probably will be transplanting competition plants next week.   Friday, July 5 View Page Saw 1st female flower on 1875 Mendi plant starting to form at 7 feet. Last year I wasn't able to pollinate until July 25 so I think I will be able to beat that this year. Figured out that my 1875 Mendi and 495.2 Ressler (HDA) plants are in the best spots in my patch after this spring's tree trimming. This weekend I plan on trying out my new foliar spray on my plants.   Saturday, July 6 View Page Saw female flower starting to grow on 1878 Leer at 4 feet. First male flower bloomed on the 1794 Cotterman. I am having wishful thinking of having the 1875 Mendi, 1878 Leer, and 1794 Cotterman all pollinated by July 15.   Monday, July 8 View Page No pollination today on the 1875 Mendi. Plant main vine is slowing down. It's focusing on growing the first 2 secondaries and they are about 2 feet long each. A female flower is forming on one of the secondaries. The first female flower on the main vine will probably be ready be Friday at 10 feet. I'll pass on that one and wait for the next one since the plant is growing secondaries to help push a pumpkin. I tried my new foliar spray today on all my plants to see how they respond to it. The directions on the jar told me to use 2 tablespoons of powder/gallon of water and apply every week or 2. The website said to use 1 tablespoon/gallon of water and apply biweekly. I'm following the directions on the jar. 220 Baggs marrow is growing fast while the 173 Baggs is growing slowly. Tomato plants almost big enough to be transplanted into 20 gallon pots.   Wednesday, July 10 View Page Replaced SVB and cucumber beetle traps. Inspected traps and they had caught several SVBs and cucumber beetles. Didn't find any eggs when I was checking the patch daily so I think I am safe. Companion plants are all out so another level of protection is out there. I think I am getting my first female flower on the 220 Baggs marrow. Changed my mind and will pollinate the female flower on the 1875 Mendi just to get something going because of time. Thinking of pollinating the female flower at 4 feet on the 1878 Leer and turning the main vine into a secondary just to get something growing. The secondary vine growing on 1794 Cotterman is almost as long as the main vine so I will pollinate the female flower that appears first and turn that vine into a secondary because of time.   Saturday, July 13 View Page Open up germination chamber today; a week after I shut it down and found a pleasant surprise: a 6.32 Borgers DMG had germinated. Now hoping for the rest of the seeds in there to germinate. Harnica 127 hasn't bloomed its first male flower yet but has a female flower at 7 feet. Horde 180.2 has bloomed several male flowers. 1875 Mendi aborted a female flower at 10 feet. Plant is now 12 feet long and a new female flower is showing at 12 feet.   Thursday, July 18 View Page First female flower on 180.8 Horde field pumpkin today at 8 ft. Female flower at 12ft on 1875 Mendi aborted. It looks like time to add bloom booster to the plants to stop female flowers from aborting. 495.2 Ressler continues to grow like crazy. First female flower at 10 feet. It would be ironic that a seed germinated last, put to grow in a spot in where used Miracle Grow potting soil was dumped for many years, and would be the first in the patch to be pollinated . Thinking of pollinating it with the 1875 Mendi instead of the 1878 Leer. Giving it a shot of double shot of 2145 genetics could turn this pumpkin into a big HD pumpkin because it was such a strong grower out of the gate. You never know what can happen with small seed genetics. I'll have wait to see what male flowers are available.   Saturday, July 20 View Page Put Bloom Booster and a littler High Yield Phosphate near the stems of my plants to try to get them to produce more female flowers. Plants are plenty big but few female flowers and they abort before they bloom. Received a waterproof camera today that I bought during Prime Week to replace my damaged camera that went into the water. Now I'll be able to post more pictures instead of depending on my wife to use her Ipad to take a picture for me.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page Part of my squadron of 5 Porterhouse Tomato plants. These plants put out single blossoms that can grow 2 - 4 pounds. I don't know what Bnot would do losing to one of these tomatoes that weighed 3.01 pounds from a seed I bought off of Burpee.com.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page 4.12 Karkos Plant 1 - Delicious Variety   Tuesday, July 23 View Page 4.12 Karkos Plant 2   Tuesday, July 23 View Page 6.32 Borgers Megamutt D Decided to germinate once I shut off my germination chamber.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page 4.45 Spaziani Megamutt Z Battle of the Megamutt plants in my patch.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page 5.04 Clayton (8.22 Porkchop X open) Domingo Variety Plant 1   Tuesday, July 23 View Page 5.04 Clayton Plant 2   Tuesday, July 23 View Page 5.175 Hill Plant 1. Remember Bnot that this seed put out 3 tomatoes over 6 pounds at Gale Woods last year.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page 5.175 Hill Plant 1. Remember Bnot that this seed put out 3 tomatoes over 6 pounds at Gale Woods last year.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page 5.175 Hill Plant 2   Tuesday, July 23 View Page Big Marley Plant 1   Tuesday, July 23 View Page Big Marley Plant 2   Tuesday, July 23 View Page Filled 20 gallon pots with dirt from garden center for tomato plants. Tomorrow I will be adding fertilizers to the pots along with the plants. Last week was way too hot to do it. Plants looking kind of goofy because I left them on shelves outdoors and blocked the sun from hitting the plants with garbage bins. I'll be straightening them out when I transplant them. Finally my new waterproof camera with a 128GB memory card that I ordered during Prime week arrived. Pictures of my army of plants to beat Bnot have been posted.   Monday, July 29 View Page My 64.55 Cantaloupe plant. Waiting for female flowers now that I have given it Bloom Booster.   Monday, July 29 View Page 220 Baggs Marrow plant. About 12 feet long. I think there is a female flower in the vine tip. Plant is planted under a tree in my yard. Plant gets sun from sunrise to about noon. The rest of the day it is protected by shade. That will be helpful in keeping the marrow from blowing up once one has been set.   Monday, July 29 View Page 127 Harnica Field pumpkin (211 McKinnon X Self) plant. I will be pulling this plant since it looks like it has SVBs. There a few male flowers that I will use later this week to pollinate a 180.8 Horde female flower. Once the pollination is done, then I will be pulling the plant. I thought my SVB had the range to protect my field pumpkins. Lesson learned the hard way. Next year SVB traps and companion plants will go up by field pumpkins also.   Friday, August 9 View Page Saw first 2 bloomed tomato blossoms today. Both were on the Porterhouse tomato.   Friday, August 9 View Page Double female flower on 180.8 Horde Field Pumpkin.   Saturday, August 10 View Page Megabloom on 5.175 Hill Plant 1. First of season.   Saturday, August 10 View Page Megabloom on 5.175 Hill Plant 1. First of season.   Saturday, August 10 View Page 4.12 Karkos Delicious Megabloom. I'll be trying to pollinate these megablooms using the bee on a stick method.   Sunday, August 11 View Page 220 Baggs female finally showed up. Cooler weather the past week and all my bloom boosting stuff made it happen.   Sunday, August 11 View Page 173 Baggs Female flower finally showed up after cooler weather.   Sunday, August 11 View Page Mystery cherry tomato that fell off the plant when I was picking cherry tomatoes. It's supposed to be genetically impossible to pollinate tomatoes with bell peppers. I do have bell peppers growing. I'm going to let it ripen and then harvest seeds. It will be fun to grow next year.   Saturday, August 17 View Page Porterhouse Bloom. Something is funny with this hybrid. I have been getting single and mega bloom blossoms. The package says 2 - 4 pound tomatoes. I don't know if it means a single blossom of 2 -4 pounds or if you have a magablossom that has 2 flowers then the tomato will weigh 4-8 pounds. a triple then 6-12 pounds, or 4 then 8 -16 pounds. I want to see how one of these megablooms sets.   Saturday, August 17 View Page Mega bloom on 5.175 Hill Plant 1.   Saturday, August 17 View Page Megabloom on 5.175 Hill Plant 2   Saturday, August 17 View Page Big Marley Mega Bloom Plant 1. Saw a bumblebee pollinating a 5.175 Hill and a few others flying around me when taking this picture.   Saturday, August 17 View Page Big Marley Mega bloom plant 2. Waiting for more flowers to appear on my Big Marley plants so I can attempt to pollinate them with flowers from the 6.32 Borgers Megamutt D.   Monday, August 19 View Page 173 Baggs X 220 Baggs DMG Marrow pollination   Monday, August 19 View Page First Porterhouse tomato. Goal is 3.51 pounds. Saw a deformed Porterhouse tomato starting to form. Looks like it could be a double or more.   Monday, August 19 View Page First Porterhouse tomato. Previous entry had wrong picture.   Wednesday, August 21 View Page Deformed Porterhouse tomato. Will it turn into a tomato 2 - 4 pounds according to the package or 2 tomatoes 2-4 pounds?   Wednesday, August 21 View Page Big branch fell out of tree during the storm yesterday. It damaged the fence and ....   Wednesday, August 21 View Page Part of the big branch landed next to the 173 Baggs Marrow. And ....   Wednesday, August 21 View Page Part of the big branch landed on the 220 Baggs DMG marrow plant. The risks you take planting near a tree. I've had branches fall onto or spear pumpkins in the past from this tree. I would rather spend the $10K to take the tree down on other things.   Thursday, August 22 View Page Culled 1878 Leer X Self today. I was wondering why the pumpkin quit growing and saw the stem had split where I couldn't see it. Hopefully I can get a pollination in the next week just for seeds for next year. 495.2 Ressler X 1875 Mendi is largest pumpkin in my patch. Hoping for big orange with that cross.   Monday, August 26 View Page 64.55 Murphy Cantaloupe Hopefully I can keep this growing and not splitting before the Stillwater weigh off. It will definitely be covered with a wash basket to shade it and keep the critters away.   Monday, August 26 View Page 4.12 Karkos Plant 1 Delicious Tomato   Monday, August 26 View Page Deformed Porterhouse Tomato - Beefsteak Variety. Package said a seed produces 2 - 4 pound tomatoes. Now I am wondering if 3 or more tomatoes 2 - 4 pounds from 1 blossom. Time will tell. I have already promised Bnot some seeds.   Tuesday, August 27 View Page 173 Baggs X 220 Baggs DMG Marrow 8 DAP I like the shape of this fruit.   Tuesday, August 27 View Page 4.45 Spaziani Mega Mutt Z   Tuesday, August 27 View Page 5.175 Hill Plant 1   Wednesday, August 28 View Page Previous picture was wrong. 173 Baggs X 220 Baggs DMG 8 DAP.   Monday, September 2 View Page Today I lost the 495.2. It aborted itself 30 DAP. Plant looked fine. No cracks around stem or blossom end. No AG pumpkins to bring to weigh offs.   Wednesday, September 4 View Page 220 Baggs DMG X 173 Baggs Not a nice 4 or 5 lobe flower but it will have to do. Growing this for seeds. Seeds won't be viable if I take it to a weigh off. I wish I could have done this cross a few weeks earlier.   Monday, September 9 View Page Big Marley Plant 1   Monday, September 9 View Page Big Marley Plant 2   Monday, September 9 View Page Deformed Porterhouse. It looks like a triple.   Monday, September 9 View Page 5.175 Hill Plant 1   Monday, September 9 View Page 5.175 Hill Plant 2   Monday, September 9 View Page 4.12 Karkos Delicious Plant 1   Monday, September 9 View Page 4.12 Karkos Delicious Plant 2   Monday, September 9 View Page 64.55 Murphy X Self Cantaloupe My challenge for the next 33 days it to keep it from ripening and splitting so I can take it to Stillwater weigh off Oct. 12. Back up weigh off is Gale Woods Oct 5.   Saturday, September 21 View Page Need to loosen/put new sling on a 4.12 Karkos and 5.175 Hill tomato. They've outgrown their original slings. I added a new fertilizer into the mix I am giving my tomatoes and it seems to be working.   Monday, September 23 View Page 64.55 Murphy cantaloupe. It ripened almost 2 weeks before I could take it to a weigh off.   Monday, September 23 View Page 64.55 Murphy cantaloupe. Picked from vine and this was the damage to it. A critter must have come during the night and taken a few bites out of it. I noticed it was uncovered this morning.   Monday, September 23 View Page 64.55 Murphy cantaloupe. About 9.5 inches long. It was about 8 inches wide.   Monday, September 23 View Page 64.55 Murphy cantaloupe weighed 7.14 pounds. Personal Best for growing giant cantaloupes for the first time. I have grown smaller cantaloupes in the past. Lessons learned from this year. 1. Better soil prep instead of just putting in the ground. 2. Start about July 1 so that they won't be ripe by the time the first weigh off comes. 3. Change fertilizers and schedule. 4. Start spraying with fungicide in the middle of August to prevent Downy Mildew.   Thursday, September 26 View Page 4.12 Karkos Plant 1   Thursday, September 26 View Page 4.12 Karkos Plant 2   Thursday, September 26 View Page Big Marley Plant 1   Thursday, September 26 View Page 4.45 Spaziani Megamutt Z   Thursday, September 26 View Page Deformed Porterhouse tomato. Looks like it is going to be a double. A Porterhouse tomato is flashing now so I think it may end up going to Gale Woods.   Monday, September 30 View Page Picked a couple of porterhouse tomatoes that were ripe. Deformed porterhouse is starting to ripen. Made sling on Big Marley bigger. Removed a branch that could interfere with its growing. Big Marley will probably be going to Stillwater with the 5.175 Hill. Both tomatoes are well protected from ripening by lots of leaves. Other Big Marley tomato is damaged on plant. Another one is growing to take its place.   Monday, September 30 View Page Deformed Porterhouse top. Picked today because it was starting to ripen.   Monday, September 30 View Page Deformed Porterhouse Bottom. Looks like a couple of tomatoes fused together.   Monday, September 30 View Page Deformed Porterhouse weight. Disappointed it was only 1.11 pounds. I plan to grow it again next year to see if I can coax more weight and more fused tomato definition out of it. This tomato is not going to a weigh off. I'm planning on bringing the 2 4.12 Karkos tomatoes to Gale Woods.   Thursday, October 3 View Page 5.175 Hill Plant 2 being pulled over by a giant tomato. Will be putting a piece of plywood with sand under the tomato to prevent rot from sitting on ground. Tomato is camera shy so it is hiding in the middle of all the leaves. This tomato is going to Stillwater.   Saturday, October 5 View Page Went to Gale Woods weigh off today and had a good time. Weighed my small tomatoes. Got 6.13 Hill and 7.66 Hill tomato seeds from Larry Hill (Frostbite) that were grown from his 5.175 seed last year. I am tempted to call my 5.175 Plant 2 tomato that is pulled over Spalding but I haven't taken any measurements or looked real closely at it under all the leaves. Next weekend at Stillwater Spalding gets weighed.   Saturday, October 5 View Page Chris Brown showing an example of a bad marrow. It looks like yellow stripes but they were orange.   Saturday, October 5 View Page Chris Brown showing what a good marrow should look like.   Sunday, October 6 View Page Larry Hill and Chris Brown weighing Larry's supposedly 12 pound tomato on the scale.   Monday, October 7 View Page Deformed Porterhouse tomato now ripe. It added almost .8 pounds to a 1.11 weight. A 72% increase in weight just by getting ripe. I'll be reweighing all my unripe tomatoes after the weigh off to see how much weight they put on when they are ripe. The package was right. Between a 2 and 4 pound tomato.   Monday, October 7 View Page Cut all my Stillwater tomatoes off the plants to try to ripen them before the weigh off after seeing how much weight the deformed porterhouse gained after it got ripe. Spalding isn't as big as I thought but still a good sized tomato to pull over the plant in the 20 gallon pot. Looked good from the top. I am curious how much it will weigh ripe.   Saturday, October 12 View Page My first win at a GPC weigh off - Giant Tomato category. My green Spalding tomato won it for me. 5.175 Hill was the seed. Did not catch the weight because it was weighed away from the rest of the categories. It was over 3 pounds green when I weighed it on my kitchen scale.   Saturday, October 12 View Page 5.175 Hill (Spalding) next to a 2 cup measuring cup.   Saturday, November 9 View Page Today I had to put down my dog Kiwi. She recovered from a surgery that the vet thought she would not survive the night and lived 3 weeks after it. Complications from the surgery left me no choice this morning. She looked like she was doing well on the road to recovery. She was a good patch protector; she would catch and killed every critter that would dare set foot near my plants.