Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 129 Entries. Tuesday, March 15 View Page Kicking off the 2022 season. One 1046 Connolly has been soaked and is in in 1 gallon pot. I plan to transfer this seed outside 15 days from now on March 30th. This is a whole month early for my area. My other seeds won’t be germinated till April. This is an experiment, I believe my heated hoops will be able to grow a pumpkin this early, but only time will tell. This plant is for the Canfield Fair which takes place really early around the end of August. Unfortunately it is not a GPC weigh off.   Friday, March 18 View Page Spring soil test & 2022 Patch Amends* - 800 lb gypsum - 50 lb (90%) Sulfur. - 50 lb (34%) Magnesium Oxide. - 5 lb (25% copper) Copper Sulfate. -10 lb (34%) Zinc Sulfate. - 70 lb 0-0-50 - 50 lb 19-19-19 Fert. - 50 lb 21-0-0 w/Merit - 8 lb Triple Phosphate 0-45-0. - 100 lb Kelp. - 100 lb Humic Acid. - 8 lb Borax. - 12 cubic ft. Organic Raised Bed Mix. - 5 lb Mole X - 5 lb Round up Insecticide. - 6 Lg Bags Perilite.   Friday, March 18 View Page Spring amendments added and cover crop tilled in.   Saturday, March 26 View Page 1046 Connolly is up and growing… going in ground a month early (March 30th). Hut and heaters are set up. I’ve been monitoring temperatures and have been able to maintain 65 degrees overnight when outside temps fall below 30 degrees. I believe it will be possible to grow it this early, but only time will tell, worst cast scenario, I replant it a month later with the other plants.   Thursday, March 31 View Page 1046 Connolly went in the ground yesterday March 30th. Hut are averaging mid 70 degree temps. But soil temperature is still to cold at 60 degrees.   Friday, April 1 View Page 2022 Seeds finally decided on! This is the hardest part of my entire season!!!!! I had some completely different plans and had 3-2593 Paton seeds get stuck in Germany Customs that sadly never arrived:( So here it is.. 2183 Mendi, 2356 Mendi, 2218 Cardenas will all be pollinated by the 2030 Kisamore. 2030 Kisamore will be pollinated by the 2183 Mendi. 1046 Connolly is still up in the air. At least that’s the plan if everything goes as planned…lol   Friday, April 1 View Page Germination day.. April 1st 2022. No this is not an April fools joke.   Friday, April 1 View Page I will be trying something risky this season on my entire patch, grow Big or kill everything trying! 2022 Patch Plans -Germinate April 1st. -In soil April 15th. -Hoop off May 10th -Pollinate@13-15’ 1st week of June. By the size of my hoops this is the absolute earliest I can start. And hopefully last frost is over by May 10???? The Dewitt industrial landscape fabric I purchased will be completely under all 6 plants. (30’ x 150’ area). Its black underneath to prevent weed growth, and white on top to hopefully greatly increase the sun’s reflection to underside of canopy for several different reasons. (It’s supposed to flow 15 GPM of water per square foot through it, and have good air flow. I believe this will keep soil much warmer for roots early on. I plan on transplanting outside by mid April in thermostat regulated electric heated hoop houses that will open automatically by temperature if thermostat fails. (No Heating Cables) Snow and freezing don’t worry me, I can control temperature in the heated hoops, the plants growing to quickly out of my heated hoops before last frost does concern me. I want to pollinate extremely early, by beginning of June at latest, if possible, not sure if this is even possible? All plants will be grown with a very similar to Moby Mikes Waterfall vine pattern, except all vines will be sloped down hill towards pumpkin (kinda like you slope pipes or floors for water drainage, but vines will all naturally be on a slope towards pumpkins), with main deadheaded at pumpkins. I thought of this pattern last year before I ever saw his videos, but the two ideas are almost identical. My first several secondaries will be very short(5-10’). My last several secondaries near pumpkin will be around 30’ long. On the last 2 secondaries closest to pumpkin I will grow out all tertiaries to around 12’ long. Water and fertilizers will be added directly to my 550 gallon water tank and applied by overhead watering through Wobbler head sprinklers. The landscape fabric will maintain lots of moisture and limit air flow to roots, with my clay soil this does concern me. I will burn holes with a torch in fabric for each leaf node as plant grows, and stake each one with landscape stakes. No burying of any vines! Only bottom roots will touch soil! My patch has very high winds which could break vines that are only staked down and not buried. I attached a chicken scratch drawing of my vine pattern in a photo. Each plant will be grown in a 32’ long x 22’ wide area.   Tuesday, April 5 View Page Bad day…. My only 2183 Mendi had only one cot and it’s mostly broken. I was really excited to plant this one. I’m still going to try growing it out as a pollinator for the 2030 Kisamore, but I’m not real optimistic it will survive.   Tuesday, April 5 View Page I started 2 more seeds today the 1297 Wallace and the 1781.3 Vangeel, due to the loss of my 2183 Mendi.   Thursday, April 7 View Page Other 5 heated hoop houses put together. T-post beat in ground for wind fence, didn’t get to finish a storm came in. Weather permitting snow fence will be completed in the day or two. March 30th experiment of placing 1046 Connolly outside in heated hoop house is going well. It’s still growing good even with snow and nighttime temperatures in low 20 multiple days. Hoops never fall below 68 degrees.   Friday, April 8 View Page 1297 Wallace & 1781.3 Vangeel both broke ground and shed seeds after only 36 hours. 2183 Mendi is out, sadly its not going to pull through. So against my better judgment I’m gonna try 6 plants 2022; 2030 Kisamore * 2218 Cardenas 2356 Mendi 1036 Connolly 1781.3 Vangeel 1297 Wallace   Friday, April 15 View Page 1046 Connolly has amazingly done well on its outside experiment, so Im going to transplant the 2356 Mendi and the 2218 Cardenas outside today. I will transfer the 2030 Kisamore & 2183 Mendi to a larger pot and place them outside next week when we get some better weather. And yes I said 2183 Mendi, it unbelievably grew its first true leaf. I was going to throw it in the trash and put it off because I was busy and miraculously it came back to life…   Friday, April 15 View Page 2356 Mendi is in the soil… 4-15-22   Friday, April 15 View Page 2218 Cardenas is in the dirt… 4-15-22.   Wednesday, April 20 View Page The last three plants are outside; 2030 Kisamore, 2183 Mendi, 1781.3 Vangeel. Growing a total of six plants this season. Seed: Germinated on: Outside on: 1046 Connolly. 3/1/22. 3/15/22 2356 Mendi. 4/1/22. 4/15/22 2218 Cardenas. 4/1/22. 4/15/22 2183 Mendi. 4/1/22. 4/20/22 2030 Kisamore. 4/1/22. 4/20/22 1781.3 Vangeel. 4/5/22. 4/20/22   Tuesday, April 26 View Page Bad day… 2183 Mendi and 1781.3 Vangeel dead, corn maggots the ate base of stems. Bottom picture is of plants just 24 hour before the top photos. Today was a learning experience for me. I have never had an issue with corn maggots and was going to wait a couple weeks till plants got established before drenching the soil with Merit, bad choice…. I germinated another 1781.3 Vangeel today, but sadly that was my only 2183 Mendi, and I was really excited to grow it this year.   Saturday, May 7 View Page Round Two. 1781.3 Vangeel & 1046 Connolly are in the ground. (With Merit this time!). Replacing the 2183 Mendi and 1781.3 Vangeel that I lost to corn maggots.   Thursday, May 12 View Page Two 330 Vial Watermelon plants in the ground today 5/12/22. They were germinated April 5th. Hopefully the dog kennels will stop the coons this year!   Thursday, May 12 View Page 1046 Connolly early planting experiment was a fail. Soil was to cold and it never grew even though the hoops were in the 70’s. I was going to replace it with a backup, but it has finally started to grow a main vine 6 weeks later than it should have.   Thursday, May 12 View Page 1046 Connolly #2   Thursday, May 12 View Page Second try at a 1781.3 Vangeel. This one appears to be growing rapidly like the first one did until…. the soil maggots ate it :( hopefully they all drank the Merit this time!   Thursday, May 12 View Page 2030 Kisamore, I got high hopes for this one!   Thursday, May 12 View Page 2356 Mendi has begun to lay down a main vine   Thursday, May 12 View Page Thanks Jose for these great seeds! 2218 Cardenas has taken the lead! This plant is growing amazingly so far.   Monday, May 16 View Page 1046 Connolly that was planted in March as an early experiment was removed. Outside temperatures were to cold and wet which it stunted its growth. 2081 Mendi was put in the ground today to replace it, thanks to my good friend Doug Kisamore for giving me his 2081 backup plant to replace it with.   Wednesday, May 18 View Page 2218 Cardenas has hit the 5’ mark and outgrew it’s hoop-house. Hopefully by God’s grace it will not see any extreme weather.   Thursday, May 19 View Page 2356 Mendi at 5’ has outgrown its hoop house as well.   Thursday, May 26 View Page Busy day, I removed hoops, heaters, thermostats, extension cords, etc. I ran the waterlines and Wobblers, tilled the second half of patch and finished installing weed mat. Also put up snow fencing around the front and sides of patch to close it in for a wind break mostly. From left to right: 2081 Mendi 2030 Kisamore 2356 Mendi 1781.3 Vangeel 2218 Cardenas 1046 Connolly 2- 330 Vial Watermelons I’m going to attempt growing Tall Sunflowers this year also, but I’m not sure where to put them yet.   Thursday, May 26 View Page 1046 Connolly backup plant.   Thursday, May 26 View Page 1781.3 Vangeel backup starting to vine.   Thursday, May 26 View Page 2081 Mendi backup plant down and starting to run.   Thursday, May 26 View Page 2030 Kissamore   Thursday, May 26 View Page 2356 Mendi   Thursday, May 26 View Page 2218 Cardenas   Thursday, June 2 View Page Pano picture of patch, it distort things a little, but at least you can see the whole patch. (30’x150’ rectangle) From left to right: 2081 Mendi 2030 Kissamore 2356 Mendi 1781.3 Vangeel 2218 Cardenas 1046 Connolly   Thursday, June 2 View Page Late starts, backup plants (because I killed the first plants) Top left: 2081 Mendi Top right: 1046 Connolly Bottom: 1781.3 Vangeel   Thursday, June 2 View Page Late starts, backup plants (because I killed the first plants) Top left: 2081 Mendi Top right: 1046 Connolly Bottom: 1781.3 Vangeel   Thursday, June 2 View Page 2030 Kisamore.   Thursday, June 2 View Page 2356 Mendi   Thursday, June 2 View Page 2218 Cardenas   Sunday, June 5 View Page My goal was to pollinate in the first week of June. To my surprise by the grace of God this 2218 Cardenas plant made it happen! Awesome 5 lober pollinated by the 2030 Kisamore 6-5-2022.   Friday, June 10 View Page Trying to grow Tall sunflowers for the first time. Here’s my choices. Planted 7 Tall and 1 wide head sunflower.   Friday, June 10 View Page Planted 7 Tall and 1 wide head sunflower. Tilled and dug my dirt out 3’ deep in an 10’ circle, I then replaced the dirt so there would be loose soil 3’ deep in the 10’ circle. All 8 are around one pole, probably not enough root area or support, but it’s what I’ve got to work with.   Sunday, June 12 View Page 2nd pollination on 2218 Cardenas. 5 lobes 6/12/22. 2218 Cardenas x 2030 Kisamore 24 side vines behind pumpkin.   Monday, June 13 View Page 330 Vial Watermelons starting to grow   Monday, June 13 View Page 2nd attempt at the 1046 Connolly, it’s starting to grow.   Monday, June 13 View Page 2nd attempt at the 1781.3 Vangeel. Even though it got a late start I really like this one. Both of these plants have been really aggressive.   Monday, June 13 View Page Another backup that got a late start. 2081 Mendi   Monday, June 13 View Page 2030 Kisamore I believe this one will grow a Heavy pumpkin. I will be pollinating all my pumpkins with this one!   Monday, June 13 View Page 2356 Mendi should be pollinated in a couple more days.   Monday, June 13 View Page 2218 Cardenas has two pumpkins pollinated by the 2030 Kisamore. One on 6/5 & one on 6/12. This plant has been great from the very start! Keeping my fingers crossed it’ll grow a pumpkin as well as the plant has been!   Saturday, June 18 View Page 2356 Mendi pollinated 6/18/2022 by 2030 Kisamore. 25 side vines behind pumpkin. 4 lobes.   Monday, June 20 View Page Culled this pumpkin on the 2218 Cardenas on 6/19/22, going with the 2nd pumpkin Which was pollinated on 6/12/22 which gives me 6 additional secondaries, Hopefully I made the right decision….   Tuesday, June 21 View Page Pollinated the 1781.3 Vangeel x 2030 Kisamore with 19 side vines on 6/21/2022 (4 lobes). There is another pumpkin that will be ready to pollinate in 5 days which will give me 4 more side vines.   Thursday, June 23 View Page 2nd pollination on 2030 Kisamore 6/23/2022. 5 lobes pollinated by the 2356 Mendi with 23 side vines behind it. Now for the hard part, choosing which one to keep….   Friday, June 24 View Page 4 pumpkins will be grown on floor scales this year! I’m really excited about this! Pumpkins are deadheaded and scales are set up and running. Pumpkins on scales are: 2030 Kisamore 2356 Mendi 1781.3 Vangeel 2218 Cardenas   Friday, June 24 View Page 2081 Mendi. Top 1046 Connolly. Bottom Both are way behind but they’ll still carve up nicely for Halloween…..   Friday, June 24 View Page 2- 330 Vial Watermelons are coming along nicely.   Friday, June 24 View Page 1781.3 Vangeel   Friday, June 24 View Page 2030 Kisamore   Friday, June 24 View Page 2356 Mendi   Friday, June 24 View Page 2218 Cardenas   Sunday, June 26 View Page Pollinated 6/26/22 1046 Connolly x 2030 Kisamore at 10’   Monday, June 27 View Page Pollinated 6/27/22. 1781.3 Vangeel x 2030 Kisamore 25 secondary vines behind pumpkin.   Monday, June 27 View Page Pollinated 6/27/22. 1781.3 Vangeel x 2030 Kisamore 25 secondary vines behind pumpkin.   Wednesday, June 29 View Page 2218 Cardenas x 2030 Kisamore Dap 17 @ 59lbs. I’m really loving these floor scales, hopefully they work all season without any issues!   Wednesday, June 29 View Page Another photo of the 2218 Cardenas x 2030 Kisamore DAP 17   Saturday, July 2 View Page Both pollinated on 7/2/2022 Top: 2081 Mendi x 2030 Kisamore 4.5 lobe Bottom: 1046 Connolly x 2030 Kisamore 5 lobe   Sunday, July 3 View Page 2218 Cardenas DAP 20 7/2/22 111 lbs actual weight. 73x48x49=170” 117lbs to chart   Monday, July 4 View Page 4th of July patch photo.   Thursday, July 7 View Page Patch update time! 2-330 Vial watermelons. Plants are growing great, hopefully the watermelons pollinated will take off now!”   Thursday, July 7 View Page Tall Sunflowers, actually they aren’t tall yet, but hopefully…   Thursday, July 7 View Page 2nd attempt at the 1046 Connolly has had its problems also. Plant was 6’ longer and deadheaded with my choice pumpkin set up, or at least I thought…it split, so I’m back to a 9’ long plant with very few secondaries, O I forgot to mention those secondaries have had all the tertiaries removed, gonna be hard to fill in patch now, O well it will make a Great Orange Pumpkin for the kids to carve…   Thursday, July 7 View Page Another late start, the 2081 Mendi, this pumpkin could go really heavy, plus it’s crossed with that Kisamore 2030 Boulder. Very interested in these seeds for next season regardless of it’s final size!   Thursday, July 7 View Page My favorite pumpkins are tall round boulders and it’s looking like this 2030 Kisamore is going to end up that way… weighing in at a respectable 31 lbs today.   Thursday, July 7 View Page 1781.3 Vangeel may only be weighing in at 8 lbs as of today but this plant and pumpkin have got there fast, it was a much later start also.   Thursday, July 7 View Page 2356 Mendi coming in at an impressive 68lbs already.   Thursday, July 7 View Page 2218 Cardenas has been by far the fastest plant in the patch this season, to bad I put all those scars on it… weighing in at 250lbs, this one’s right where I want it to be!   Monday, July 11 View Page Patch update….. pumpkins are on there own for next 7 days… at least I can’t screw anything up in the patch if I’m not there, pumpkins will probably grow better without me anyways! Hopefully a shark picks up my bait soon!!!!   Monday, July 11 View Page This is the only view of the patch I’ll have for next 7 days.   Friday, July 15 View Page Patch 7/15/21   Saturday, July 16 View Page Back from vacation. 1781.3 Vangeel aborted and I removed the plant, it was deadheaded and with only secondary vine pumpkins to pollinate this late in July so it wasn’t worth all the extra time and work considering I have 6 plants which is way to many anyways. Also an extension cord shorted out and turned all 4 scales off. So unless I create myself a lot of work by hoisting all 4 pumpkins up and re zeroing the scales they may not be used this season. All 5 other pumpkins are doing great, and watermelons are as well. Photos to come later this week when I get caught up on the ten days of vine burying I missed while on vacation.   Saturday, July 16 View Page Sadly scale isn’t currently working. DAP 34. Measurements are: 135x82x83=300” 623lbs.   Monday, July 18 View Page Here’s a photo of the main vine of the 1781.3 Vangeel plant I removed. This shows how my vine pattern was and how I was burning small holes in the weed fabric to bury the leaf nodes. I really like the weed fabric and will definitely be using it next season as well!   Monday, July 18 View Page I set the 2081 Mendi up on the scale that the 2781.3 Vangeel was on. It was small enough to still do so. It was a much later start. It’s currently weighing in at 36lbs.   Tuesday, July 19 View Page 2030 Kisamore DAP 25 84+63+70=217” 236# Scale 274# +16% Heavy to chart already!!!!! This is going to be a beast like it’s mother! I’m glad I used it for my pollinator for all my plants. It’s going make some great seeds for next year! I’m really looking forward to watching this pumpkin grow on the scale, how heavy will it go…..   Thursday, July 21 View Page Here’s how it looks underneath the canopy. Haven’t pulled a single weed yet! I don’t think I could ever go back to not using weed fabric after this!   Friday, July 22 View Page One 330 Vial watermelon plant completely died overnight. At 5pm the previous night it was perfect. I went out this morning to pick the best melon and cull the rest and found it this way :( I have absolutely no clue why??? Stem and roots were in great shape when I pulled the plant. No bugs and sprayed top quality fungicides and insecticides.   Friday, July 22 View Page 2356 Mendi aborted. It quit growing between DAP 25-31. The plant, vines, and stump were in top shape, I was really surprised about this. I pulled the plant. I was really excited to grow this one. I’m down to 4 pumpkins and 1 watermelon now.   Friday, July 22 View Page Here’s a photo of the 2356 Mendi’s main vine and Spiderman vine pattern. I got alot of empty space in the middle of the patch now…..   Friday, July 22 View Page 1046 Connolly has been put on the floor scale the 2356 was on. This plant was my worst, pumpkin is set at 9-10’. I almost pulled the whole plant, but decided I’d let it grow to carve with the chainsaw for the kids. But with very little plant it’s growing extremely well! It was 323# on the scale today and this was a backup started really late!   Friday, July 22 View Page 2218 Cardenas DAP 40 150+92+90=332” OTT weight 840# Scale weight 848#   Sunday, July 24 View Page 2030 Kisamore DAP 30 102+81+74=257 391# Scale 424# 9% heavy 7/24/2022   Tuesday, July 26 View Page 1046 Connolly DAP 30 129+76+70=275” 480 lbs. Scale 509 lbs. WOW my biggest 24 hour gain ever! 1046 Connolly gained 56lbs. This plant ain’t big enough to be doin’ this…. I’m dumbfounded   Tuesday, August 2 View Page 2218 Cardenas DAP 50 167+104+101=372” 1161 # Scale 1203 #   Wednesday, August 3 View Page 2081 Mendi has grown only 10lbs from DAP 23-30. Plant, stem, stump,vines,and leaves are completely healthy. Pumpkin shows no sign of abort, it just completely quit growing! Same thing happened to my 2356 Mendi. Tissue test revealed no major issues in the patch. My patch just didn’t seem to have any luck with the Mendi seeds this season, while others have had great success with them! O well still have the 2030 Kisamore and 2218 Cardenas growing great! 1046 Connolly is doing well for the size of the plant also.   Wednesday, August 3 View Page 2081 Mendi has grown only 10lbs from DAP 23-30. Plant, stem, stump,vines,and leaves are completely healthy. Pumpkin shows no sign of abort, it just completely quit growing! Same thing happened to my 2356 Mendi. Tissue test revealed no major issues in the patch. My patch just didn’t seem to have any luck with the Mendi seeds this season, while others have had great success with them! O well still have the 2030 Kisamore and 2218 Cardenas growing great! 1046 Connolly is doing well for the size of the plant also.   Wednesday, August 3 View Page 2030 Kisamore DAP 40 125+88+98=311” OTT 694# Scale 739# Going to be tall, and hopefully heavy. Only gaining 30lb per day, but it still has 67 more growing days till the weigh-off and plant is really healthy and still putting on new growth.   Friday, August 5 View Page 1046 Connolly DAP 40 144+85+83=312” OTT 700# Scale 698# Unfortunately this pumpkin has almost no plant behind it and growth has almost completely stopped 6 days ago. It is getting to be a super bright orange color though!   Friday, August 5 View Page 1046 Connolly DAP 40 144+85+83=312” OTT 700# Scale 698# Unfortunately this pumpkin has almost no plant behind it and growth has almost completely stopped 6 days ago. It is getting to be a super bright orange color though!   Wednesday, August 10 View Page 1046 Connolly is officially dead. (Sad because it was a beautiful looking pumpkin that was growing really fast) It seems to have became rotten from the inside. The plant, vines, roots, stump, stem and blossom were all in absolutely perfect condition. It stopped growing at DAP 35 for an UOW of 707# from my floor scale. It has stayed the same weight for the last 10 days on the scale so today I cut it off the plant and threw it in the yard for the kids to color and carve it. In about a week I’ll dump it in the woods for the deer. Only 2 pumpkins left in the patch; (2218 Cardenas & 2030 Kisamore), 1- 330Vial watermelon, and some tall sunflowers that are growing nicely.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page 330 Vial DAP 30, fingers crossed on this one, I’ll be the first one to admit I don’t know much about growing these… This is only my second attempt at a watermelon.   Wednesday, August 10 View Page 330 Vial DAP 30, fingers crossed on this one, I’ll be the first one to admit I don’t know much about growing these… This is only my second attempt at a watermelon.   Saturday, August 13 View Page 2218 Cardenas DAP 60 Lots of growing day left, hopefully she keeps up this pace…   Sunday, August 14 View Page 2030 Kisamore DAP 50 150+96+108=354” OTT 1011# Scale 994# 8/14/2022   Tuesday, August 23 View Page 2030 Kisamore DAP 60 144+101+112=357” OTT 1035# Scale 1137# 10% heavy 8/23/2022 I found it interesting to see it only grew 3” in OTT over the last 10 days, but it gained 143# on the scale.   Tuesday, August 23 View Page 2030 Kisamore DAP 60 144+101+112=357” OTT 1035# Scale 1137# 10% heavy 8/23/2022 I found it interesting to see it only grew 3” in OTT over the last 10 days, but it gained 143# on the scale.   Saturday, August 27 View Page Sunflowers are 15’+ and still growin’   Tuesday, August 30 View Page Took my 2218 Cardenas to the Canfield Fair today and won Grand Champion. It was the largest pumpkin ever weighed at the Fair breaking the previous record by 181 lbs. Now the 1693 McMillin. It was a hard decision to cut it off the vine because it was still gaining 20+ lbs per day and had 40 more growing days till my local GPC weigh off.   Tuesday, August 30 View Page Here’s another photo of the 1693 McMillin ‘22   Friday, September 2 View Page DAP 70 2030 Kisamore 151+115+104=370” OTT 1144# Scale 1261# 10% Heavy 9/2/2022   Monday, September 12 View Page She’s definitely tall and getting heavier to chart. 2030 Kisamore DAP 80 154+118+106=378” OTT 1213# Scale 1372# Now +13% heavy Still gaining 10 lbs per day   Friday, September 16 View Page 7 Tall Sunflowers all ended up 15’ - 16.5’ Not as tall as I was hoping, but I never watered or fertilized them so I’d say they still did pretty well. Plus now I have tons of tall sunflower seeds for next season all with great genetics. Who knows maybe I’ll plant a large area all with tall sunflowers.   Friday, September 16 View Page Watermelon updates: 330 Vial is not grafted and has grown well beyond my expectations, yes that’s an actual 5 gallon bucket for size comparison!   Thursday, September 22 View Page 2030 Kisamore DAP 90 158+120+108=386” OTT 1284# Scale 1464# 14% Heavy 9/22/2022   Tuesday, September 27 View Page What an honor it was to have my 1693 McMillin’22 that took first place at the Canfield Fair carved by Gus the Squashcarver. Anyone looking to have a pumpkin carved will not be disappointed by his amazing work. He and his family are truly amazing people. Here is a link to the work he did for the 3rd annual Jack Pine Glass and Pumpkin festival in Hocking Hills Ohio, again thanks Gus. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid07gVwW1o9qpoBNWySkecEp2fovkC2dd49ZbpyTSkzVyHbVoFWnMM1XjdgCsLF6mXml&id=64290615976 https://www.facebook.com/squashcarver/   Thursday, September 29 View Page Sophia Constantine a news anchor for Spectrum News 1 took a selfie with my pumpkin at the Canfield fair and wanted to do a story on it. She reached out to me and today she came out to my patch and did a story. (Not much left of the patch this time of year.) It will air on all Spectrum news channels in Ohio on October 27th.   Sunday, October 2 View Page 2030 Kisamore x 2356 Mendi DAP 100 159+120+109=388” OTT 1302# Scale 1520# 16% Heavy 10/02/2022   Sunday, October 2 View Page 2030 Kisamore x 2356 Mendi DAP 100 159+120+109=388” OTT 1302# Scale 1520# 16% Heavy 10/02/2022   Wednesday, October 5 View Page 2030 Kisamore x 2356 Mendi It’s been in the 30’s overnight last weeK. Finally got a sunny day, so I opened her up to get some sunshine and warm up, and I snapped a couple pictures. Only 3 days left till the OVGPG weigh off.   Wednesday, October 5 View Page 2030 Kisamore x 2356 Mendi It’s been in the 30’s overnight last weeK. Finally got a sunny day, so I opened her up to get some sunshine and warm up, and I snapped a couple pictures. Only 3 days left till the OVGPG weigh off.   Wednesday, October 12 View Page 1541.5 McMillin’22 (2030 Kisamore x 2356 Mendi) It was taping 1329 but went 16% Heavy at 1541.5 I’m glad I chose this pumpkin as my pollinator, Im really excited about this cross and my 2218 x 2030, hopefully it will make tall heavy pumpkins next year!   Wednesday, October 12 View Page Wow I couldn’t be happier with this watermelon. It was from the 330 vial. This watermelon was all natural, not grafted rootstock. It went 10% heavy to chart!   Wednesday, October 12 View Page All fence, weed fabric, and waterlines have been removed. I tried something different this fall to hopefully finally break down my clay soil, hopefully it will work. I added 2 large round bales of hay and 14 yards of mushroom compost. It took more time than I expected to finally get that much hay worked into the clay soil. Cover crop of winter rye and radishes has been planted. Now for the hardest part of my entire season, trying to pick which seeds to plant next year…..   Monday, October 17 View Page Here’s a link to a YouTube video for the 1693 McMillin ‘22 It’s the entire season from a seed to Carving. https://youtu.be/PRvupbu3JwU   Wednesday, October 26 View Page Here’s some pictures of my 1541.5, it was carved into a fat gremlin at Circleville by Gus the Squashcarver.   Wednesday, October 26 View Page Here’s another angle   Wednesday, October 26 View Page I think some of you will find this cross section interesting… There was almost no air cavity inside! 1541.5 McMillin’22 (2030 Kisamore x 2356 Mendi) I crossed my 1693 McMillin’22 (2218 Cardenas x 2030 Kisamore) with this pumpkin, I’m really excited to plant it next year after seeing the inside of this thing!