Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 26 Entries. Saturday, May 11 View Page Thanks to Reed for the Foss seedling, and thanks to Bill for distributing his pumpkins! My original seeds did not take, so good to have help.   Saturday, May 18 View Page Making a bigger home for a Foss baby. After walking around, decided to move 5 yards of soil into the open walkways. Gotta use all the space.   Saturday, May 25 View Page 20x20 patch. Planted foss pipsqueek with some goodies. Kids ate dirt. Ill take that in place of a soil sample.   Sunday, June 2 View Page I missed some garlic last year...it will be super interesting to see how many heads of garlic sprout from this, since each head is at least 5 new heads. What can i say, im firing the three kids that helped.   Friday, July 5 View Page Drip tape installed. I feel like a real pumpkin grower. Killed a squash vine borer with my bare hands but broke a leaf doing so. Watch out bugs, I'll take a leaf out to get you.   Thursday, July 11 View Page Funny thing happened. I couldn't get a shovel into the 4x8 raised bed behind the pumpkin to transplant that volunteer tomato at the front of the main vine. So I thought it was a wooden brace. So I moved the shovel over a foot. Again the shovel wouldn't break through like it was a bog. Finally the shovel cut through a mat of thick white roots. Oops. Dang pumpkin found the chicken manure I was letting cool off for next year, and really likes it hot.   Friday, July 19 View Page Svb s make me want to break international laws against chemical warfare. Does anyone do all organic pest and disease control? I want to, because the leaves look healthier before a chemical applications, and I sure it messes with the michorizal network. My giant carrot has some rot issues with the heavy rains...but that's been my way of learning...failure.   Monday, August 19 View Page Marigolds bigger than the kin! Got a little too confident and terminated all pumpkins before the pregnancy test came back, storm came...wrecked main...blah...had to shift to 2ndary. Lesson learned. Now the weather is in 70s, so a little too late for a biggie. But the carrot looks great, probably because theres no ott until the end!   Thursday, August 29 View Page 28 dap roughly, growing on secondary   Saturday, August 31 View Page Mn state fair. Farmer brown educating tons of people! And Johnsons went for pumpkin glory...again. way to go everyone who took the time to show up with an entry.   Saturday, August 31 View Page Nels. Bought a syringe at tractor supply and injected bt in a hole by the stem that looks like a borer. Kinda late for them but those bast.. they're out for blood.   Tuesday, September 3 View Page 33 dap 120" cc. Sounds hollow.   Saturday, September 7 View Page 284 ott despite downey mildew and plenty of svb blow outs, and growing on a secondary.   Saturday, September 7 View Page Second foss pumpkin I've grown. Both a nice orange.   Tuesday, September 10 View Page Ummm...did my pumpkin sneeze?   Tuesday, September 10 View Page Yummy   Wednesday, September 11 View Page Last nights rain did her in. Mushy and rotten stem.   Thursday, September 12 View Page All done! Rot got inside. The fly sitting on it monday was a sign...got a carrot still to nurse with raw bloom microbes. First carrot was a funny case of wider than long...chicken food.   Thursday, September 12 View Page Gotta get drainage for next year. Clay soil in the southwest metro makes a pool under the 10 yards of soil I plopped on my side yard. Also better svb spraying, pruning of tertiaries, mildew...maybe I can send my kids away for the summer and quit the boat business to free up time...I can dream.   Sunday, September 22 View Page Kodiak mustard came up in sunday morning, raked in thursday night.   Sunday, September 22 View Page Carrot...   Monday, September 30 View Page Chicken fodder, rotten through and through this year.   Monday, September 30 View Page Garbage   Sunday, October 6 View Page Got out to gale woods and anoka. Bought some premium hill tomato seeds that grew the 12 lb tomato. Lol. Pic is September 14th, days before it deflated into a whale carcass.   Sunday, October 6 View Page Tractor supply 50lb bag of calcium for way way cheaper than grow stores. Only worry is salt residue. I'll probably wash it first like coco coir. And congrats to bill foss for taking 1st at 2 events in MN.   Friday, October 11 View Page bought kelp meal and alfalfa pellets to break up the soil. it's all about advertising/target market to get a better price: gardening store=expensive but animal feed store=reasonable. Kelp meal from a local organic farm was way cheaper!