Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 147 Entries. Thursday, February 28 View Page It warmed up a bit so I trudged out in the snow to the patch. Still have some repairs to do. Put the cold frame in.   Thursday, February 28 View Page Here is the melon shack. Really buried. Didn’t have time in the fall prep because it snowed. This is becoming a thing. This season isn’t going to get full attention as usual because I need to catch up on preparations. Time to rebuild some patches if I’m going to get better.   Thursday, February 28 View Page Back to -28 c tonight. This is one long winter.   Thursday, February 28 View Page The sun is warm now, starting to heat the greenhouse even when it’s cold. Temp is 10°C warmer at night over 20°C warmer than outside on a sunny day.   Thursday, March 14 View Page Started peppers!   Sunday, March 17 View Page It’s slowly melting. Lots of work to do when the pipes can be removed after they melt out. All the vines remain yet too. I’m not going to kill myself growing this year. I’m going to relax and just do what I can.   Sunday, March 17 View Page First peppers up. Seems pretty fast. These were ones I grew in ‘13. Yellow scorpions I hope. I didn’t control pollination so they could have crossed with my Bhuts.   Saturday, March 23 View Page ?It’s been nice the last week with temps approaching +10. Much less snow than last year. But, it’s been so cold for so long that I’m having trouble warming soil in all patches including the greenhouse. I will have to delay planting until I can til the ferts in. ? I managed to get the heat cable in the North patch but it was thawed only 6” down and below that it was really frozen. Really Really frozen. Here’s the greenhouse soil thermometer. Yesterday it said -5 C.   Thursday, March 28 View Page ?Watermelons are up! Peppers are doing ok too. I don’t file or soak seeds. I feel they need the stress. I planted the watermelon seeds laying flat under about 10 mm of soil. They seem to come up coatless that way. ?Planted on the 24th.   Saturday, March 30 View Page Getting there, slowly and surely. Soil temp is near 20°C and still warming. I might add the heater to the melon shack soon.   Saturday, April 6 View Page It was greenhouse soil tune day. Thawed down far enough to till finally.   Saturday, April 6 View Page Started one of my 1884 seeds. Should be good to go in about 10-12 days. I’ll wait till this one is up before I start the one for the other patch. The other patch is wet, not tilled and has broken hoop pieces. It’ll need a week or so yet to get the timing right.   Sunday, April 7 View Page Reapers are up. Finally.   Sunday, April 7 View Page Snow is almost gone. Now we need some drying.   Sunday, April 7 View Page The greenhouse is getting close to ready.   Saturday, April 13 View Page Transplanted the 327 Kent. Patch is really dry underneath as in below 8”. I kept the shack over it during winter. I think what it really means is that I wasn’t watering enough last year or any year. Watermelons will suck all the water out. As in all. Like dry your cell phone in dry rice dry. Poured 10 gallons in the planting hole.   Saturday, April 13 View Page Transplanted the 1884 Crews ‘18 into the greenhouse. Seedling had one cot that didn’t develop. Was thinking I should start another so I did. Pretty sure this one is fine though.   Saturday, April 13 View Page The 2255 hasn’t popped a radicle yet. I err on the side of dryness but my other 1884 planted a day later already has 1” of root showing. Therefore I decided to switch pots. I left the end of the 2255 uncovered so I can watch it.   Sunday, April 14 View Page And.... the 2255 has a radicle should be up in 2 days.   Wednesday, April 17 View Page 2255 looks larger than most of the seedlings. I might have to do an actual soil test on the north patch after all.   Thursday, April 18 View Page Big Z 2255 is looking good.   Saturday, April 20 View Page The 2255 Zaychkowsky is in the North patch.   Saturday, April 20 View Page 1884 Crews I have another one that I may replace this one with. Soil is a little warmer than I’d like and I may have to mess with the cable.   Saturday, April 20 View Page 327 Kent watermelon. The vine is starting.   Saturday, April 20 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky transplant has taken well.   Friday, April 26 View Page The last week has been nice except for the wind but at least today it was fairly light at 28k gusts instead of 60.   Friday, April 26 View Page This weekend might not be as good so I’ll take patch pics today instead of tomorrow.   Friday, April 26 View Page 327 Kent with IRT mulch.   Friday, April 26 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky looks happy.   Friday, April 26 View Page 1884 Crews fell over when I watered it.   Monday, April 29 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky has flopped over now. Seems early but perhaps plants got a bit leggy as it’s not been very sunny.   Wednesday, May 1 View Page This is the 3rd day in a row like this. This is a challenging season so far.   Friday, May 3 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky It’s been cool and snowy this week. The patch hasn’t been touched since last year. The weather needs to smarten up soon so I can at least til the weeds.   Friday, May 3 View Page 327 Kent watermelon has a nice vine now.   Friday, May 3 View Page 1884 Crews looks really good now. Time to weed some.   Friday, May 10 View Page The 1884 Crews has outgrown its shack and has been set free. Problem is that it’s still below 0 at night yet. Have the heater set because the soil heat system doesn’t have enough heat stored yet. It has been a dismal cold year.   Friday, May 10 View Page Started some Field pumpkins. Hope it warms up soon. Haven’t been able to till the garden yet so I’m a bit behind. Also it’s cold yet.   Sunday, May 12 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky The plant has about 4’ of main vine and it would have outgrown the shack by mid week. Wind was light (less than 20k) so I erected the greenhouse. Still cold at night so this is going to cost some bucks for fuel. Hope it warms up soon. Shouldn’t complain about today... 20° C   Sunday, May 12 View Page 327 Kent watermelon is racing toward the end of the shack.   Sunday, May 12 View Page 1884 Crews Had to cut the plastic after this pic. I’m plenty late in the day posting because I worked in the patch until dark which is about 10 pm. So much to do and so little time.   Sunday, May 19 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky is going to grow on plastic mulch. Plan is to cut holes for secondary rioting and put upside down pot of soil over.   Sunday, May 19 View Page 81 Wolf first night was a frosty one but the heater worked.   Sunday, May 19 View Page 327 Kent is running out of room.   Sunday, May 19 View Page 1884 Crews. Suffering a little. Probably was too warm.   Tuesday, May 21 View Page I put the the oldest seed I have into my germination chamber and 36 hours later it has sprouted. It was only an experiment. My seeds are kept in the freezer. 815 HOLLAND ‘00   Monday, May 27 View Page 1884 Crews   Monday, May 27 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky   Monday, May 27 View Page 327 Kent watermelon   Monday, May 27 View Page 81 Wolf   Monday, May 27 View Page 181 MacKinnon   Monday, May 27 View Page 140 Crews   Wednesday, May 29 View Page I’m calling it, summer is here. +30 tomorrow. Finally some warmth.   Sunday, June 2 View Page It’s been a long time since we had much rain. Time to pull out the drip tape for the garden. 2 miles north of us had 3” of rain but here the patch got about 1/4”.   Sunday, June 2 View Page 1884 Crews I’m letting this one grow a big plant before pollination. Showing some signs of salt damage from our soil. I’m going to water it well and see what happens. Also some damage from our +30 temps this week. A little smokey today.   Sunday, June 2 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky This plant is in the north greenhouse that gets a fair amount of shade after 6 pm. Still figuring out vine burying with the IRT film. Cut a hole under each node and some potting soil on top.   Sunday, June 2 View Page 327 Kent watermelon Plant looks healthy and I’ve pollinated one today. Looks like it’s throwing round fruit. One I pollinated a few days ago looks that shape.   Sunday, June 2 View Page 140 Crews field pumpkin vining out   Sunday, June 2 View Page 181 MacKinnon field pumpkin. It’s flopping over now.   Sunday, June 2 View Page 81 Wolf field pumpkin is running a vine now.   Sunday, June 2 View Page Gete-Okosomin took a looong time to pop,but here it is.   Monday, June 3 View Page I was a little late getting to the hole cutting in the film on the 2255 Zaychkowsky. This is usually not a problem with vine burying but I have IRT film. The good news is the roots punched through easily. I couldn’t lift this one and it had only been a day.   Sunday, June 9 View Page 140 Crews field pumpkin on Thursday before the snow-rain.   Sunday, June 9 View Page 81 Wolf on Thursday before the snow and rain. As of Saturday it’s still doing well.   Sunday, June 9 View Page 327 Kent watermelon. I’ve started pollinating.   Sunday, June 9 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky is being readied for pollination.   Sunday, June 9 View Page 1884 Crews is also being readied for pollination. I’d guess 6 more days but the cold cloudy weather is affecting growth rates making the guess difficult.   Friday, June 14 View Page First pollination on the 1884 and it’s a twosome! 1884 x self and 1884 x self. One is a 4 lobe and one is a 5 lobe. This time without seeds! The first one I was going to pollinate had seeds in the blossom so it was a no go. I had these 2 up next so I wasn’t too worried.   Friday, June 14 View Page 1884 Crews plant doesn’t have a lot of greenhouse left. I have over 20 secondaries before the fruit. I have inadvertently terminated 2.   Saturday, June 15 View Page There it is 2255 Zaychkowsky x 1884 Crews   Sunday, June 16 View Page 327 Kent pollinated on the main vine. This is a good spot and time. Hopefully the shape is longer than that one at the rear of the plant. It’s a ball.   Sunday, June 16 View Page Pollinated the second on on the 2255 Zaychkowsky x 1884 Crews.   Sunday, June 16 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky plant. I’m cutting holes in the film and holding the vines down with bricks until it roots. Potting soil on top covers. I think it works because the plant looks healthy. I put the plywood down and let the vine grow over top this time. That way I don’t have to lift and place under the fruit later. If it doesn’t take I just pull it down the vine. Only took 20 years to figure that out. Doh.   Wednesday, June 19 View Page Reasonably confident that the fruit on the 2255 Zaychkowsky has taken. I’m going full Eddy on the plants this year and burying a WOW starter pack under each node. That’s a lot of packs.   Monday, June 24 View Page 327 Kent watermelon. I didn’t intend for that round one to still be on but maybe I’ll keep it.   Monday, June 24 View Page This will be the fruit on the 2255 Zaychkowsky.   Monday, June 24 View Page The 2255 Zaychkowsky plant is rooted well despite the film. Cutting a hole underneath each node and holding with a brick and some potting soil works well.   Monday, June 24 View Page The chosen fruit on the 1884 Crews. The cool cloudy weather caused some vine reaching and breaking but I still have 6 or 7 secondaries going on each side. It was time for termination anyway.   Tuesday, June 25 View Page This is a 10 dap pic on the 1884 Crews. I’ll give 5 day pic intervals until growth slows or it splits. I usually start at 10 dap. Another cold rainy day so growth is a little slow. Forgot my coke can somewhere. Doh!   Tuesday, June 25 View Page 10 dap for the 2255 Zaychkowsky fruit. The June monsoons continue so growth is a little slow. Good news, it’s not dry anywhere now lol.   Monday, July 1 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 15 Dap   Monday, July 1 View Page 1884 Crews 16 Dap Found my can too.   Monday, July 1 View Page 327 Kent the youngest pollination 15 Dap   Friday, July 5 View Page 1884 Crews 20 Dap 63” cir. That’s 5” bigger than it’s mother last year. It comes from a line of slow starters so I’m not too worried or excited about the 20 day numbers.   Friday, July 5 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 20 Dap 60” cir   Wednesday, July 10 View Page 1884 Crews 25 days after pollination 88” circumference   Wednesday, July 10 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 25 Dap 86”. Not bad for a plant that’s living in the dark skies of this cloudy forever land.   Wednesday, July 10 View Page 327 Kent 25 Dap 48” cir One day I’ll figure out how to grow melons here.   Wednesday, July 10 View Page 327 Kent late May round one never got culled lol. It’s really round.   Sunday, July 14 View Page 1884 Crews 30 Dap 108” cir. An Ok number. The next 10 days will tell me what I have.   Tuesday, July 16 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 30 Dap 107” cir   Tuesday, July 16 View Page Using a furnace as my co2 source. In theory I could duct outside air through it back outside and not get any extra heat. It turns off if the fans run so most of the time I can use the extra heat. I have it set for 500 ppm. It is mostly useful on days the temp doesn’t get high enough to run the vent fans. I watched the level drop to 250 ppm as I was getting the furnace running. Our outside ambient co2 level is only 375 ppm. Not sure if that’s because of our altitude or all the crops growing.   Friday, July 19 View Page 1884 Crews 35 Dap 123.5” cir. Now way off last year. Who knows why for sure but it has been really dull. Maybe 2 or 3 days of part sun a week. Forecast is for warm and sunny next week but I’ll believe it when I see it.   Saturday, July 20 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 35 Dap 123.5” cir. That’s only 29lbs a day. Darn clouds. Supposed to be sunny with temps in the mid 20’s next week. Maybe that will pick up the pace.   Saturday, July 20 View Page 327 Kent 35 Dap 58” cir   Saturday, July 20 View Page Here’s a nice fruit on a secondary 81 Wolf x open   Saturday, July 20 View Page This long one is on the 140 Crews. This plant is smaller because no heat cable to start it.   Saturday, July 20 View Page Here’s the main vine fruit on the 181 MacKinnon   Saturday, July 20 View Page Here’s that 815 Holland plant from that ancient seed. This is how big a plant gets without a greenhouse here.   Wednesday, July 24 View Page 1884 Crews 40 Dap 137” cir 99” ss 90”ee so that’s, off the top of my head ,750 ish lbs. We did have 3 sunny days before we went back to thunder storms. I’ve made peace with the fact there will not be a personal best this year.   Wednesday, July 24 View Page Gete Okosomin pollinated 3   Thursday, July 25 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 40 Dap 134”cir 84”ee 91ss that’s about 650lbs. Another cold wet rainy day. I think it was only 13°C at noon.   Thursday, July 25 View Page 327 Kent 40 Dap 61.5” cir 42” ee 39”ss for about 85lbs. That makes me wonder what the other one estimates...   Friday, July 26 View Page Here’s the late May pollination on the 327 Kent. It’s really fat.   Monday, July 29 View Page 1884 Crews 45 Dap 151” cir. That’s about 35 lbs a day. I was hoping for about 160”. The thing about this hobby... just when you think you know what you are doing, it laughs and says no you don’t.   Tuesday, July 30 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 45 Dap 142” cir. If I’m putting down plastic mulch again I’ll have to double up the drip tape and go with 12” spacing max. My soil is very dry between tapes. The water isn’t spreading out much.   Thursday, August 1 View Page Gete Okosomin looks like it took. Another night of thunderstorms. Plants are getting watered well. The problem is that every thing is behind by several weeks and our killing frosts are around the 1st week of Sept.   Thursday, August 1 View Page Inside greenhouse temp, but it’s cloudy(as usual)...   Thursday, August 1 View Page Leaf temp in same greenhouse.   Friday, August 2 View Page Today’s forecast Sunny and 29°C. Except after 2 months of rain the air won’t hold any more moisture and has given up. New forecast... foggy and warm.   Sunday, August 4 View Page 1884 Crews 50 Dap 156” cir 361”Ott so that should be over 1000 lbs. About 26 lbs a day over the last 10. On pace for around 1500 but this year isn’t like others. Stem is very low on this one. Its going to be tricky managing that.   Sunday, August 4 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 50 Dap 153” cir 95” ee 100”ss 933lbs est. 27lbs a day over last 10   Sunday, August 4 View Page 327 Kent 50 Dap 69” cir   Thursday, August 8 View Page 1884 Crews 55 Dap 166” cir. This is actually it’s best 5 days.   Thursday, August 8 View Page Tomato!   Thursday, August 8 View Page Peppers are coming along well.   Friday, August 9 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 55 Dap 158” cir but it’s starting to look like a rock.   Friday, August 9 View Page 81 Wolf field pumpkin is starting to get some orange on the blossom. I think this is when they grow fastest. The original forecast was for 5 and I would have blanketed them but now it’s 8 for tonight. Cool is good but it can be risky.   Tuesday, August 13 View Page 1884 Crews 60 Dap 170-171” cir getting hard to measure as the stem is very low. Probably about 17 lbs a day. That’s not too bad as the dreary weather returns. I’m not sure how anything grows without sunshine. This moment of sun was all there was for the day.   Tuesday, August 13 View Page Tomato! Gets a hammock.   Wednesday, August 14 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 60 Dap and maybe I measured wrong last time but it looks bigger.170” cir. Had a sunny day today too!   Monday, August 19 View Page The field pumpkin in the back patch didn’t like our 3°c nights. Too bad because now I’m worried about my other ones. This was my second biggest.   Monday, August 19 View Page 327 Kent watermelon still growing 65 Dap 75” ish. The rain got in from some holes from hail last year and sat on the plastic causing some vines to rot. I’ve pre placed my vine with the fruit on it on foam blocks. So far so good.   Monday, August 19 View Page 81 Wolf field pumpkin. I think it’s bigger than the split one. Pollination was around the beginning of July. 81 Wolf always grows well in my patch.   Monday, August 19 View Page 1884 Crews 66 Dap 175” cir, growth is slowly tapering off or it could be the lack of sunshine.   Monday, August 19 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 65 Dap 174” cir. Really hard to keep plants above 10° C which is ridiculous in August. Oh well, it’s still growing so that’s good.   Saturday, August 24 View Page 1884 Crews not much growth this week. Still about the same at 175” but the shape is more wheel than round. Could be getting wider. No strange smell or soft spots. It has been cloudy.   Saturday, August 24 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky at 70 Dap today. It’s still growing somehow. Getting some lines as in sag. 179” cir 391ott   Saturday, August 24 View Page 327 Kent is still growing slowly. 70 Dap 77.5” cir. Tendril hasn’t dried up by the melon yet so should have some growth yet. It’s the time of year that every thing slows down. Light isn’t intense enough   Wednesday, August 28 View Page I removed the seeds from the field pumpkin in the back patch. It has an estimated weight of 126 lbs. I could have dragged it to the scale but it does weigh every bit of estimated weight, my back can assure you. Lol   Wednesday, August 28 View Page Gete Okosomin is getting colour. I’m hoping it’s getting its maturity because it could be over any day now. The cool weather has set in and nothing is growing not even the lawn. The fruit is about 20” long.   Sunday, September 1 View Page Sigh. 81 Wolf. That’s it for big ones. Really thought this one would make it. Just too cold this year.   Sunday, September 1 View Page 79 52 52. 126 lbs. again. 81 Wolf x open   Wednesday, September 4 View Page Field pumpkins continue to split. I went out and cut all the rest of them off. Can’t split now.   Wednesday, September 4 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky continues to get closer to stick. That’s a good sign.   Wednesday, September 4 View Page 1884 Crews is also still getting closer to stick. Very slowly but still that’s a good sign.   Thursday, September 12 View Page 1884 Crews about 90 Dap. I’ll put the sand bags away lol. It measures about 401” OTT. It is touching the stick now but growth should be done.   Thursday, September 12 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky 89 Dap it measures slightly over 1400 lbs.   Thursday, September 12 View Page 327 Kent 89 Dap. The tendril just dried up. Hoping for a personal best.   Saturday, September 21 View Page Tomato! Cut it off and weighed. 1482 grams that’s a personal best.   Sunday, September 22 View Page 1884 Crews got pulled today. Happy to report that it was in perfect condition. I used my crane scale to weigh it and it was pretty close to chart. There is some potential snow in the forecast for next week. Time to wrap this up. Hopefully I can harvest the 2255 next weekend. Just about every forecast has been wrong so I’ll probably end up with a sunburn.   Thursday, September 26 View Page I have a decent selection of field pumpkins They are all open pollinations, none of my pollinations made it. Splitsville. We’ve been close to frost since late August but mostly missed.   Thursday, September 26 View Page Couple of big carrots.   Thursday, September 26 View Page Harvest is going to be soon because our season is over. Hopefully it won’t be too wet to get to the 2255.   Saturday, September 28 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky got pulled today. It’s heavier than the 1884 Crews fruit. Should be over 1400. That might win some years but not this time...   Tuesday, October 1 View Page 1884 Crews main vine was rotten along with all secondaries all the way out to the pumpkin. This is the second year in a row this has happened in this patch. Much worse this year. At least I know why it shut down early.   Monday, October 7 View Page 2255 Zaychkowsky becomes the 1474.5 Crews ‘19 and wins the weigh off.   Monday, October 7 View Page 327 Kent becomes the winner at 202.5 lbs. Glad I kept it on the vine even though it had to go through a snowstorm.