Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 425 Entries. Saturday, April 15 View Page I've decided to start my diary over. It was just to messy. Here is my patch with 4 yards of compost spread out. It looks really good to me. I will have it tilled next weekend And start the seeds the week after next weekend. Then put the hoops sometime at the end of April. My vegetable garden with beds in it is looking good too. The fence for my giants will go up at the end of April or beginning of May. I will be planting my hot peppers that I started indoors there in the beds and other vegetables that I will probably buy from the store. So far everything is on task.   Saturday, April 15 View Page   Friday, April 21 View Page I've started a new diary so here is my 2017 lineup! I will be starting them next week. Thanks Norm for sending me 1223.5 seeds.   Saturday, April 22 View Page A little rainy here in Topsfield today. So I am going to work on my hoop house tomorrow. It will be sunny and warm then. My plan was to start my seeds this upcoming week But I am going to start them tomorrow. The time has arrived. It's time to start them. So the hoop house will be build tomorrow and the seeds will be started tommrow. I will not put the hoop house in my garden yet because it is not tilled yet. Tilling was going to be done this weekend but the recent rain now pushed it to most likely next weekend. But that's ok, lots of things happening tomorrow .   Saturday, April 22 View Page Here are my peppers then some tomatoes in the middle. The peppers are just exploding. They doubled in size in the last 4 days. WOW products are just giving them great boosts   Sunday, April 23 View Page The hoop house has been built! I will put the plastic on after I till my patch. Then I will put heating cables down and the light in the hoop house to warm it up. My seeds got started today. I will plant in mid may   Sunday, April 23 View Page   Wednesday, April 26 View Page My pumpkin line up could possibly be changed a bit. Here's why, The 1980 Lancaster is not germinating. Woody has tried lots of times and the seed just doesn't want to germinate. He put it in this incubator but has no luck getting roots to come out of it. Just won't germinate. He is trying again to see if he will get the magic seed. If that does not happen then I will be going with the 1713 I believe it is. That is a great seed. That seed grew the 1980. I will be completely fine using the 1713. On the other hand. The 1223.5 GANSERT germinated within 24 hours and is in pots.   Friday, April 28 View Page My peppers told me something today. Here is what they said---- " Henry, we refuse to stop growing"   Friday, April 28 View Page   Saturday, April 29 View Page Good news! The 1980 LANCASTER has germinated. My lineup will stand as is. The 1223.5 GANSERT and the 1980 Lancaster. I went to look at my plants that came up above the dirt the 1223.5 and they were looking good! The 1980 should be showing is a few days. I will till my patch tomorrow if the soil is dry enough which I think it is now. After Woody tills my patch for me I will start digging the hole for the cables. Then next weekend I will most likely put the plastic on my hoop house and get the heating cables in and the light in the hoop house. So far things are on track. I will post pics of my plants when they get a bit bigger.   Sunday, April 30 View Page Tilling has begun!   Sunday, April 30 View Page   Sunday, April 30 View Page   Sunday, April 30 View Page The patch has been tilled! Patch is really looking great! Soil is nice and fluffy. I will use walking boards to walk where I need to walk   Sunday, April 30 View Page Currently digging the pit where the heating cables will go in   Tuesday, May 2 View Page Here are a picture of my pumpkin plants. There are the 2 1980s Lancaster in the front then the two in the back are the 1223.5 gansert   Tuesday, May 2 View Page This weekend, I will get the plastic on the hoops. Also I will get the heat light in the hoops and bury the heating cables. I will turn everything on this weekend to warm everything up, I will plant not this weekend but the weekend after this upcoming weekend.   Thursday, May 4 View Page Pepper update: peppers are doing great. The one all the way to the right is about 2-3 feet tall already . I am already seeing some reapers forming. Maybe I will get to eat one before I plant them in the ground. Looks like I will have a huge yield with all the plants this summer. Projected planting date for peppers - End of may   Thursday, May 4 View Page One of my reapers doing great!   Sunday, May 7 View Page The hoop house has been completed! Heating cables are turned on. I will be planting next weekend!   Sunday, May 7 View Page Here is a picture of the inside of my hoop house.   Sunday, May 7 View Page Here are my plants! Two 1980s in the front then the two 1223.5s in the back. The 1980s are a little smaller because they were planted a bit after the 1223.5s but next weekend it will be time to plant them!   Sunday, May 7 View Page I have a little weather thing that I found. I put the sensor in my hoop house so now I can see what the temp is in my hoop house which is great! Right now I am just trying to warm the hoop house up so don't worry my plants are not in 84 degrees. That would be a little to high. Planting next weekend   Tuesday, May 9 View Page I went to take a look at my pumpkins today. They are doing really good. The 1223.5 is growing really nicely. So is the 1980 but it's a little behind since it sprouted 3 days after 1223.5. This weekend it's going to rain Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday. If the weather is crappy I will plant Monday or Tuesday. If I plant Saturday then the 1223.5 might just go in since the 1980 might be to small to go in but if i plant on Monday or Tuesday next week then the 1980 will most likely be all caught up to the 1223.5. Anything can change so I will be prepared for possible changes . Otherwise Bnot please stop stealing the good weather:)   Friday, May 12 View Page 1223.5s will be planted tomorrow! 1980 will have to wait a little longer. That one will probably go in early next week   Saturday, May 13 View Page Plants are in! The 2- 1223.5 s are in the front and in the back are the 2- 1980s! At the bottom of each hole that was dug I've added some mycorrhizal   Saturday, May 13 View Page   Saturday, May 13 View Page It is going to rain tonight and tommrow. Heavy rain. 2-3 inches expected but since I have a hoop house the plants should be nice and comfortable. It was a cloudy day today. Surprisingly the hoop got all the way up to 73 today which is great. I expect it to go down tonight. The low tonight is supposed to be 44. Lows for next week are in the mid 50s. I am very exited to grow this year again! Last year I had a good year . This year I want to have an even better year! My goal is 1000 pounds on atleast 1 pumpkin . After last season I put my goal at 800 but seeing how I have so many more techniques and with my expansion and with me starting with a hoop house my goal will be 1000 pounds! Hopefully in September I will be welcomed to the 1000 club!   Monday, May 15 View Page Sun is out! The plants get to see sunlight for the first time since they were in the ground. Great growing weather this week! They are really gonna grow. I am reading 76 degrees in hoop house right now at 5:00 Pm. Tommrow it is going to be 77 for high so I will crack two ends of the hoop open   Monday, May 15 View Page Not sure if you can see but there are posts around the garden. I did lots of work after school. Fence will go up this weekend! I will get a better pic after the fence is up   Monday, May 15 View Page My patch is looking great! I have about 1600 SF of patch   Tuesday, May 16 View Page So this morning before school i cracked both ends of the hoop house open. But then at 1:15 woody came to the rescue. Got a text message saying hoop house was all the way up to 108! Woody came and took the ends off. All is good. Got a little worried when it was at 108 degrees though   Tuesday, May 16 View Page Got the fence up much earlier then expected   Thursday, May 18 View Page 1223.5 Ganserts are really lovin this warm weather! They grew a lot today   Friday, May 19 View Page Day 2 of this fisher cat coming in my backyard right behind my patch. It came Wednesday and it's back today which is Friday it could be back tommorow. It's hunting for some big time food. I am going to put my stealth cam out in the woods behind my backyard so maybe I will get some shots and videos of it. I've got 4 dogs soon there could be 0   Saturday, May 20 View Page Pepper update: this update is not going to be so good. Suddenly I lost a reaper plant. What happened is it just suddenly died. I had them inside getting some nice fresh sun the past two days since it was to hot to put them out. It was like 95 degrees. And this morning I noticed one reaper plant just turned wrinkley and died. All the leaves were perfect yesterday. Nice and green. I don't think this was a burned plant that just died it was something else. The leafs were not burned at all. The new leafs are light green. Those are the leafs that died then it spread to the entire plant. So yes maybe it was a little burn but those light green new leafs are on my other plants. Those plants are now getting wrinkled too on the light green new leafs. but not as badly. Now I'm very upset in 1 day from now all my peppers that I've been growing all winter long could suddenly die for an unknown reason. I did not over water them either I made sure the soil was dry before I watered but I'm not sure what happend.   Sunday, May 21 View Page I am doing a comparison with my plants. This is the one week comparison. The two 1223.5s are in the front as labeled. The 2 1980s are in the back as labeled. This picture was taken on Sunday (may 14) I planted these plants last weekend   Sunday, May 21 View Page As you can see in this picture I've had major growth in the past week. The 1223.5s in the front then the 1980s in the back   Thursday, May 25 View Page This week has not been a good growing week lots of cloudy cold rainy days. But my plants are actually doing quite well. Some big growth this week. Secondary's forming on all the plants. Both 1223.5s are just about on the ground, while the 1980s are still a little behind but they are catching up quick. Those are not quite on the ground yet. This weekend looks like good weather. Next week looks pretty good too. I will post a picture this weekend of the plants. 1000 pounds here we come.   Friday, May 26 View Page I decided to do an early photo. I just could not resist. Just about two weeks in the ground. Here is my 1223.5. The next picture will show the other 1223.5 after those two pictures I will then show the 2 1980s   Friday, May 26 View Page Ok here is the other 1223.5. They are both great plants. They are both at the same length. I like the other 1223.5 a little better though. That is the picture before this one. Here's why. It is a little more aggressive. It is throwing out HUGE leafs every day. While the other 1223.5 in this pic is a little slower the leaf growth is just slower. It is Also kinda branchy the plant in this picture. The other one is more full. They are both growing at the same speed so let's see what happens . Anything can change.   Friday, May 26 View Page Here is one of the 1980s. These plant sprouted a little after the 1223.5s so that's why they are a little smaller. They are looking great though! It is getting crowded in the hoop so I will take the hoop off soon. Next pic will show the other 1980   Friday, May 26 View Page Here is the other 1980. They are also doing very well.   Friday, May 26 View Page Here is the last picture of today. as you can see the leafs are getting huge on my 1223.5 plants   Sunday, May 28 View Page One of my 1223.5s. both of them are out of control. If they keep growing at this rate they will be out of the hoop by Tuesday.   Sunday, May 28 View Page   Tuesday, May 30 View Page   Tuesday, May 30 View Page I decided to choose which plant to keep today of the 1223.5 it was the right one! It just looks really nice. But I am worried about the 1980s those have issues. Issue on one plant is that the vine is completely FLAT. And it continues to be flat. Issue on other one is that it is impossible to get down. It's really tough. I will wait till this weekend to decide which one to keep of the 1980s   Tuesday, May 30 View Page 1980s not doing so good . Completely flat vine on one plant and the flatness keeps coming. Then on the other plant it's struggling to get on the ground. The plant was moved today but I'm worried the vine will just snap   Wednesday, May 31 View Page The weather is once again terrible today. Rain showers. My 1223.5 is cruising right along. I have made an estimated pollination of around June 20th for the 1223.5 in case you did not see my other diary post It was time to prune one out of the 1223.5s. I am down to 1! I woke up this morning to my 1980 starting to even out. As I wrote yesterday. One 1980 vine is completely flat and it continues to be flat. I don't want to keep that one. But the On the other 1980 that is the one that I moved a little bit. That one is starting to even out and ready to start running soon but it is still on the ground and on its side but coming up slowly. Sunny weather tomorrow,Friday and Saturday with temps around mid 70s that will give the 1980 time I hope to completely even out. I am still a little worried about the 1980s but my worryness is going down   Thursday, June 1 View Page I will include some pics on the next entry. So today I started burying the 1223.5 I sprinkled some pumpkin pro by each root going into the ground so far. As you know the 1223.5 is on fire with growing. I had to cut the end of the hoop to allow it to grow more. It's still kinda cold to take the hoop off. The 1980s are better. The flat vine one will be pulled next week   Thursday, June 1 View Page   Thursday, June 1 View Page   Thursday, June 1 View Page   Thursday, June 1 View Page   Friday, June 2 View Page Just spotted a squash bug today. Crap. I hope this is not a bad bug season. They are here much earlier then last year and this year it's pretty below average for temps so far   Friday, June 2 View Page First major disappointment of the season. Big split on 1980 plant I pruned out the flat vine one. This split on my only left 1980 just brought my confidence way down. This plant is hard to take care off. I don't think this plant will survive with this major split. Still 3 and a half more months to go till seasons over . I need to make sure no larva worms get in there   Friday, June 2 View Page 1223.5   Friday, June 2 View Page The 1980 is now part of the club   Saturday, June 3 View Page I know that I am posting a lot but with my 1980 plant things are getting frustrating. I went over to woody Lancaster's today. He said to me that the 1980 was a complicated plant. It took multiple tries to get it to germinate. Then the split in the plant now. That split Is growing day by day. It is just very frustrating. So what we did today is we started backups of the 1713. If this 1980 keeps struggling to grow then I will pull it and plant the 1713. Let's just say I planted the 1713 in the ground in mid June which would probably be time time I would plant it , I would not get a polination probably until mid to late July! I would be looking at around a 300-600 pounder probably. Anyway that is the last outcome and I would say there is a good chance this will happen.   Monday, June 5 View Page This rainy old and crappy weather is about to be ended. Take a look at the expected temps. Plants will be in for a shock!   Tuesday, June 6 View Page I don't need to explain anymore. Just a reminder. It's June 6th   Wednesday, June 7 View Page Hoop is outta here! Plsnts are free! Next few pics will be of the 1223.5 and 1980   Wednesday, June 7 View Page 1223.5   Wednesday, June 7 View Page 1223.5   Saturday, June 10 View Page I will plant all my peppers today! They were started in February! First up! The Carolina reapers! I put WOW starter paks on each side of root ball for the reaper. I have two more starter paks so those will go in two of my starfish peppers   Saturday, June 10 View Page The peppers have been planted!   Sunday, June 11 View Page Here is just a quick picture of the 1223.5. I got the stomach bug yesterday and I still have it so it's been hard to work on the plants. . More pictures coming tomorrow.   Monday, June 12 View Page 1223.5 is growing very well. Plant is about 10 feet 5 inches long. Female pumpkin was spotted but I got rid of it since its too early.   Monday, June 12 View Page 1223.5   Monday, June 12 View Page 1223.5   Monday, June 12 View Page Leafs look great   Tuesday, June 13 View Page 1223.5 Plant had a major growth spurt today. Main grew about 7 inches while the secondary's put on some impressive growth as well. 11 feet 1 inch is how long the plant stands at 6:54 pm The plant is growing faster and faster every day. These secondary's are out of control   Tuesday, June 13 View Page Some male flowers opening in a few days   Tuesday, June 13 View Page No squash vine bugs have been spotted nothing. Very good sign. I've spotted some roots already coming out of the soil so I quickly added some more soil on top. This is a strong plant With a strong root system. 1980 is cruising along as well but much smaller. The 1980 is just about a week behind the 1233.5   Saturday, June 17 View Page Lots of growth from last entry a few days ago. 1223.5 weekend update. The 1223.5 is growing very strong. Secondary's are growing a lot and so is the main. I've spotted 2 pumpkins way inside the main vine but I hope to get those pollinated before July 1st   Saturday, June 17 View Page As you can see the secondary's are shooting right out   Saturday, June 17 View Page Can you spot that orange pumpkin? It's out at 13 feet. It's still way in the main vine so I hope it moves another foot or two. This one could be a keeper.   Saturday, June 17 View Page I did not forget about the 1980. This one is showing me it's big potential. The secondarys are really starting to explode now on this one. It's about 10 feet. Only 3 feet behind the 1223.5 but secondary's are still wayyy behind   Saturday, June 17 View Page 1223.5   Saturday, June 17 View Page 1980   Saturday, June 17 View Page Side view of the 1223.5   Saturday, June 17 View Page Tall shot of 1223.5   Saturday, June 17 View Page Very thick main on 1223.5   Tuesday, June 20 View Page Pumpkin update. The 1223.5 is getting massive. There is a pumpkin at 14 feet with 15 secondary's behind it. That female flower will open sometime next week. I will pollinate that one. There is also another pumpkin in the main that will end up at 15-16 feet. That one will probably open in 12-14 days I am going to pollinate all of my choices .   Tuesday, June 20 View Page 1223.5 pumpkin at 14 feet with 15 secondary's behind   Tuesday, June 20 View Page 1223.5   Tuesday, June 20 View Page 1223.5   Tuesday, June 20 View Page 1223.5   Tuesday, June 20 View Page The 1980 is doing very well also. Secondary's are coming out very fast   Tuesday, June 20 View Page 1980   Tuesday, June 20 View Page Lots of secondary's still trying to catch up with the others on the 1980   Tuesday, June 20 View Page So much energy flowing through the 1223.5   Tuesday, June 20 View Page Sunflowers are doing good. The one right in front of this picture is the 14 inch head sunflower! The ones in the back are mystery sunflowers 5 mystery ones because the wind blew there cups away that had the type they were so I will find out what they are when they fully mature. I started some giant mammoth seeds today. Some more 14 inch heads cause I think I only have 1 of those but who knows maybe one is a mystery one. I also started some multi blossom ones and the 5.05 tall meter sunflowers and 1 seed i found of the 19.8 head luders. I am going make sure to know the type of the sunflowers I started today throughout the entire season. So this is all for fun for the first year of giant sunflowers. I plan to enter the tallest one I get and the biggest head one I get into the fair.   Saturday, June 24 View Page This pumpkin will be opening Monday and will be pollinated then. My wanted pollination date was June 20-25 for the 1223.5 so Monday is the 26th I think I was pretty much on target!! This is great! If I choose this pumpkin it will have a solid 91 days or so to grow   Saturday, June 24 View Page Guess what time it is? Pumpkin time! Woody just came to look at my plants and he said that the pumpkin flower for the 1223.5 could defiantly open tomorrow! If not I will put these in the refrigerator for pollination Monday if the pumpkin flower does not open tommorow. Monday would still be great!   Saturday, June 24 View Page 1223.5 GANSERT X SELF. Sunday or Monday!   Sunday, June 25 View Page Flower did not open today so Looks like tommorow is the day! Monday June 26 will be pollination time!   Sunday, June 25 View Page I made a little mistake on the distance of my 1st 1223.5 pumpkin. It is at 13 feet 5 inches not 14 feet. Not sure how I made that mistake. That one has 16 strong secondary's behind. Pumpkin number two is at 16 feet 5 inches. That pumpkin has four more secondary's so 20 secondary's behind that one. That one will open Friday or Saturday I think while the 13 foot 5 inch distance one will open tommorow! I still really like the 13 foot 5 distance one though. It's nice and round and I do have plenty of plant behind it. The other pumpkin is pretty round too but just a slight oval in it. Maybe it will change. But as of now it's too early to decide which one.   Sunday, June 25 View Page Here are the old flowers that I picked yesterday. I am going to use the new ones. These look great on the kitchen table! And the smell of these flowers is unbelievable. I love it! I can smell them from a mile away. Next update will be tommorow morning   Monday, June 26 View Page It's 6:35 AM right now. In about 1 hour I am going to take that cup off and pollinate! It's chilly 58 degrees but in 1 hour it's gonna warm up   Monday, June 26 View Page I am done. I decited to pollinated with three flowers. It is all tied up. This is a great looking pumpkin in my opinion . A really nice thick stem and the pumpkin is nice and round. This pumpkin is at 13 feet 5 inches out on the main. I pollinated it with itself. 1223.5 XSELF if I choose this one I have about 92 days to reach my goal of 1000   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Pumpkin number 2 on 1223.5 about 16 feet 5 inches out. 20 secondary's behind that one. Four more then the 13 foot 5 inch distance pumpkin that was pollinated yesterday   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Not good news. I got home and some wind damage to the main stalk of my plant. Where the leafs are. Leaf tips on the end of each vines including main are covered in dirt. They are just drenched! Puddles everywhere   Tuesday, June 27 View Page I will take pictures of this mess tomorrow. I am getting up at 5 am to start inspecting on them. I need to see if there was any other damage   Wednesday, June 28 View Page Here is what happened during the storm. Here is what it looks like on all the vine tips. Main is covered too. All I need to do is let it dry off in the sun today then try to mist the dirt off or shake the vine very lightly. Some leafs by the stalk also got damaged. Picture of that in next entry.   Wednesday, June 28 View Page This is the only damage. The dirt covered vine tips and some leafs that fell down. I will prop the leafs up with bamboo sticks   Wednesday, June 28 View Page Full overview of 1223.5. The 1980 is ok too.   Wednesday, June 28 View Page Look at this beauty. I named it "the beast" I love the long stem on this pumpkin. I also love the shape! A nice 5 lober too!   Wednesday, June 28 View Page Top view   Wednesday, June 28 View Page   Wednesday, June 28 View Page This one should open Friday. Another one on 1223.5. Shape Is a bit oval and the stem is not as long as the other one. I would say it's a very good chance of me keeping the other one   Wednesday, June 28 View Page All vine tips are clean. Actually turns out that the hail last night missed me by about 4 miles. Very close. Wind and rain was the issue but I have a lot of trees so they stopped the strong wind from driving into the patch   Wednesday, June 28 View Page 2nd pumpkin on 1223.5 This was not expected. Completely turned bright orange on the tip this afternoon. It was green this morning. I was thinking Friday or Saturday but tomorrow I think. Maybe it knew I was going away on Saturday. Also maybe it knew that it was going to be 90 degrees Friday and Saturday. It wants to get pollination in and settled before the heat. Still can abort but better to pollinate in 70s not 90s   Thursday, June 29 View Page Another 5 lober on 1223.5   Thursday, June 29 View Page More pumpkins. 2 more that will probably open late next week. Not sure yet where the distance will be. Plant is around 22 feet so they could be at 23 feet   Thursday, June 29 View Page "The beast" is making the move. Within 3 hours its on the ground! Was way up in the air this morning. After I took this picture I put a towel over the table and it's covering all four sides of the table so no sun gets on the pumpkin. I am going to CT this Saturday then coming back next Friday! Woody is taking care of the plants. That's a long time but after I get back I am going to move the main vine to the left so the "beast" can have all the room it needs. This will most likely be the chosen one. I will keep the other one on the vine even after I move the main I think but I will be pollinating pumpkins still until I am positive which one I will keep. So far I am liking the "beast" next update will be next Friday or next saturday! That's a long time from now so both pumpkins that I pollinated could be pretty big by then. Good luck and grow em big!   Monday, July 3 View Page Just wanted to share some of the fish I've caught so far here in the Long Island sound in CT. Next entry's will consist of all the fish so far. And maybe something else that is not a fish   Monday, July 3 View Page A nice flounder that I caught yesterday. This one was about 14 inches long.   Monday, July 3 View Page Here are two porgy's that I caught yesterday on two separate hooks. These were some nice keepers that we will grill up and eat. These Kept coming. Caught a bunch of these.   Monday, July 3 View Page This was a monster porgy that I caught today. This one weight about 2 pounds! Measuring in at about 15 inches long!   Monday, July 3 View Page This was a squid that my dad caught. This one was very cool. Pooped the ink out everywhere on the boat. Tossed this squid in the freezer overnight and Used it for bait today.   Monday, July 3 View Page Me filleting a nice fish. That beer in the background tasted good   Tuesday, July 4 View Page I'm ready for more fishing today. More pictures to come.   Tuesday, July 4 View Page Just came back from fishing. Dident catch any porgy which was odd. Caught a bunch yesterday. No blue fish either but I caught a bunch of these things. They are called sea robins. They are weird looking but kinda cool.   Tuesday, July 4 View Page   Tuesday, July 4 View Page   Wednesday, July 5 View Page Had a great time in CT. Fishing was great caught a bunch of fish. Fireworks were great too. Now I am off to NYC until Friday then coming home. I'm exited to see what my pumpkins look like after about a whole week of being gone.   Thursday, July 6 View Page Got to NYC yesterday. Coming home tomorrow. I'm exited to see the pumpkins after about a week being gone. The first pumpkin "the beast" will be at dap 11 while the other pumpkin will be at dap 8. Woody has turned the main vine. I will put mill fabric down for the beast this weekend or early next week I think. The other pumpkin will stay on the vine until I am sure which one I will keep. Woody told me that the beast is the size of a small cantaloupe. He told me that on Tuesday. Not sure how big the other pumpkin will be. The 1st 1980 female may open this weekend. I'm not really sure about it. I saw a small pumpkin inside it when i left so maybe it opened or maybe it dident. Anyway when I get home I will be able to describe things better. It's had when I came even access my plant. Get ready for a lot of diary entires from me tommorow though. Next post will be pictures and a big description of the plants!   Friday, July 7 View Page I will be home at 3:00 PM. I will post entires of the 1223.5 first. There will be around 5 entires for each plant probably more describing what is in the pictures. Cloudy rainy day today.   Friday, July 7 View Page Wow!! I don't know what to say right now! This is the 1223.5! It tripled in size! See that pumpkin! Dap 11! More entries describing more   Friday, July 7 View Page Look at this! So shiny! This is a great looking pumpkin on the 1223.5! This is the beast! Next pic will show other pumpkin on 1223   Friday, July 7 View Page This is the other pumpkin on the 1223.5   Friday, July 7 View Page 2 more pumpkins on 1223.5 these will just be backups   Friday, July 7 View Page Another shot of the beast. 1223.5   Friday, July 7 View Page Full shot of 1223.5   Friday, July 7 View Page 1980! This plant is trucking right along!   Friday, July 7 View Page All starting to fill in.   Friday, July 7 View Page Here is the pumpkin on the 1980 that will open tommorow   Friday, July 7 View Page Sunflowers! They are getting massive!   Friday, July 7 View Page   Friday, July 7 View Page Sunflower stalk is huge!   Friday, July 7 View Page Side view of the beast. 1223.5   Friday, July 7 View Page That's it for today's entires! Still can't believe how much these grew! I am very happy with the 1980 now. It was struggling in the beginning of the year but has made a turnaround. I'm happy that I've got something to pollinate on that tomorrow. Another pollination too on it that will open early next week. I will measure the distance and count how many secondary's are behind the pumpkin that I will pollinate tommorow. I will pollinate it with the 1223.5 gansert.   Saturday, July 8 View Page A very nice 5 lober on the 1980. 17 secondary's behind and 18 feet out. 1980X1223.5 gansert   Saturday, July 8 View Page Even with the vine Turned it's still in a bad position. There's may be a way to work around it   Saturday, July 8 View Page This one on the 1980 is in better position   Sunday, July 9 View Page Split on 1223.5 GANSERT about 6-7 feet away from stump. This sucks!! Just spotted today so must of been here for a while cause it's at 6-7 feet out while main is about 30 feet now. Good thing is that the plant is still growing very strong and so is the pumpkin. Plant should slow down soon so energy goes to pumpkin. does not seem to be affected by it though   Monday, July 10 View Page (1223.5) That split is not bad. It's mostly healed and solid. It's not affecting anything. I put this clear table over just to keep rain out of it.   Monday, July 10 View Page Dap 14 today for this pumpkin. I used a basketball for comparison and as you can see it's bigger then the ball. Just put that mill fabric on yesterday. The key this year was to pollinate earlier. That is what needed to happen and it did.   Monday, July 10 View Page Far away picture   Monday, July 10 View Page 1980 doing well! There's another one that will open tommorow. 2 more feet in front of this one.   Monday, July 10 View Page Here is a reference to how big these sunflowers are getting. I used a latter to show. The tallest one right by the later is a 14 inch head one. I looked in the tip and there are no signs of the flower coming out. Already about 7 feet. Maybe this is not a 14 inch head one. As you know the others are mystery ones because the cups blew away labeling them. Only 1 cup that stayed was this tallest one right by the latter and it said 14 Inch head. Still growing taller! They are not blocking the sun from the kins because the sun comes at an ankle where it does not block the pumpkins.   Monday, July 10 View Page Even more sunflowers that I have to plant! I will make sure to know what these are. Some 5.5 meter ones in here, giant mammoths, and a multi blossom one, and a 14 inch head one. I also started some 20 inch head sunflowers! Never too late. Thank you Marley for sending me those 20 inch head ones I appreciate it!   Tuesday, July 11 View Page Just finished fertilizing. I used a pump then connected a hose to the pump. Then put the nozzle on. The fertilizer consisted of half a cup of fish and seaweed and half a cup of urea mate. I did this on both plants but used more on the gansert since it's bigger.   Tuesday, July 11 View Page Pollinated 2nd pumpkin on 1980. 5 lober. 1980X1223.5 gansert   Wednesday, July 12 View Page Culled the backup on 1223.5. Blossom fell off when I slipped and dropped the kin. Lol.   Wednesday, July 12 View Page Cut the back up in half. Walls look nice for such a young kin.   Wednesday, July 12 View Page te veo el próximo año. (See you next year) an exchange student from Spain has been coming here for 3 years now. He is the one in the middle. His name is Jorge. (Horhey) My brother is the one in the left and I am the one in the red shirt on the right. My brother is going back to Spain with him for a few weeks. Jorge is a great kid. He is like a brother to me so it's hard to say goodbye. Lots of fun hanging with him and it's sad that I'm not gonna see him for an entire year. wish he could come two times a year. he's a fun kid to be around. He is fluent in English. Hard to wait another year to see him but I have too. te veo el próximo año   Thursday, July 13 View Page Look at this beauty! Getting very orange. It's only dap 17 and look at the color already. I can see even more orange popping by the blossom and the stem. beachball size a bit bigger.   Thursday, July 13 View Page   Thursday, July 13 View Page The beast is glowing! Norm Check this out!   Thursday, July 13 View Page Really orange!   Thursday, July 13 View Page So pretty!   Thursday, July 13 View Page Next to a basketball this thing is getting huge.   Thursday, July 13 View Page More orange is showing up!   Thursday, July 13 View Page   Thursday, July 13 View Page   Thursday, July 13 View Page Stem   Thursday, July 13 View Page I will update again Sunday. That is dap 20 for the beast. I will tape it and see what it's estimated at. I will also update on the 1980   Sunday, July 16 View Page Today was Dap 20 for the 1223.5 gansert!. She was estimated at 93 pounds! I will measure again in a week and update again tommorow with more info   Monday, July 17 View Page Me and 'The Beast'   Monday, July 17 View Page This kin will come off tomorrow on the 1980. It's not in a good position at all and i have many more backups so not an issue if this one comes off. There is another one that is in a much better position   Thursday, July 20 View Page 1980 is really starting to take off. It's dap 9. I know it's small but the fast few days I've notice tremendous growth   Thursday, July 20 View Page 1223.5 is getting huge! I will measure Sunday and update then again.   Thursday, July 20 View Page Such perfect leafs on my 1223.5   Sunday, July 23 View Page The 1980 is making a comeback! I did not expect this thing to grow based on the health of the plant in the beginning but it's really taking off now. Dap 12 today for 1980   Sunday, July 23 View Page 1223.5 gansert is getting huge! I will take measurements later today and post later on how much it grew in a week and the estimated weight   Sunday, July 23 View Page Fun visit from great growers yesterday!   Sunday, July 23 View Page Side view of the 1223.5   Sunday, July 23 View Page My pumpkin is taping 288 lbs which is 195 lbs for the week!!   Monday, July 24 View Page Ok. I've been having trouble posting diaries so I've had someone do it for me. I'm seeing if this works. Yesterday I measured the 1223.5 gansert and it was estimated at 288 pounds! Last Sunday July 16 the 1223.5 gansert was estimated at 93 pounds. It has grown a total of 195 pounds in a week and 27 pounds a day.   Monday, July 24 View Page Yesterday I did a lot to the 1980. This plant was growing very slow and just one day it picked up. I now have a pumpkin on it. I got mill fabric and positioned the pumpkin. the main vine is in a perfect position.   Monday, July 24 View Page Test. I'm seeing if this picture is included   Monday, July 24 View Page Test   Monday, July 24 View Page Another test to see if pictures keep coming out sideways   Monday, July 24 View Page Test again see if picture keeps coming out sideways.   Monday, July 24 View Page Test   Monday, July 24 View Page Yes! It worked. I think it worked.   Monday, July 24 View Page Ok. I am starting fresh from here. So the 1980 got mill fabric down under it yesterday. The main vine position is perfect. the pumpkin is doing good   Monday, July 24 View Page Ok, finally I've got everything under control. Ive found how to make the pictures the right way not sideways. Back to business. So the 1223.5 yesterday was estimated at 288 pounds. Last Sunday the 16 it was only estimated at 93 pounds. It grew 195 pounds in a week and it's averaging 27 pounds a day! Day 30 is on Wednesday. I will measure then and update on here. I will include pictures Wednesday. It's Raining today.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page The 1223.5 Gansert is looking very good! I am loving the color on it.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Side view of the 1223.5 Gansert   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Another view. I will measure later today since today is day 30 and update the measurements I get.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Day 30 numbers! SIDE TO SIDE 78 INCHES STEM TO BLOSSOM 74 INCHES. All AROUND 98 INCHES The OTT is 250 inches. Estimated weight 360 pounds on day 30. I will measure again Sunday as that is my 1 week measurements. I will still measure every day 40-50 and on.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Day 30 measurements today that I got! side to side- 78 inches. Stem to blossom 74 inches All around 98 inches. OTT- 250 inches Estimated weight 360 pounds I feel like I am on track to 1000 pounds. I will take pics of the 1980 tommorow. The average weight a day for the 1223.5 is now 24 pounds. It was 27 pounds when I measured Sunday. It went down because we have had 2 days in the 50s and rain. I expect it to jump back up again.   Thursday, July 27 View Page Day 16 for the 1980. Very small. I don't expect this pumpkin to zoom off but who knows. This one would be going to a weighoff on October 7th so let's see what happens.   Thursday, July 27 View Page Hand comparison with 1980   Thursday, July 27 View Page The color is getting more orange every day on this 1223.5   Thursday, July 27 View Page My starfish peppers are doing very well! There are hundreds of peppers on all three of my starfish plants. They should be turning red soon.   Thursday, July 27 View Page I should be scared about these. They are the Carolina reapers! I've got two plants of these. They are doing very well. Lots of peppers on both plants   Thursday, July 27 View Page Starfish peppers   Thursday, July 27 View Page Carolina reapers   Friday, July 28 View Page Finally some nice weather! The pumpkins have slowed down this week but with this nice 75-80 degree weather I think they will jump back up.   Sunday, July 30 View Page These sunflowers are getting massive!!! This is my first year at growing some and Damn they are fun to grow! I will take measurements later today of the tallest one. The 14 inch head one looks like the tallest on the end on the left. All the other Mystery ones that the labeling cubs blew away on me look like they are almost as tall.   Sunday, July 30 View Page Took the 1 week measurements today on the 1223.5 Side to side-86 inches All around-107 inches Stem to blossom -80 inches. Estimated weight 469 1/2 pounds! Average weight gain a day is 25 pounds.   Sunday, July 30 View Page I'm going to round the 469 1/2 to 469 pounds. That will be much easier doing the math. So here it is. It's estimated at 469 pounds! That's 181 pounds in a week. I will take pictures tommorow and post them. Side to side 86 inches All around - 107 inches Stem to blossom- 80 inches   Monday, July 31 View Page Here are a few pictures of the 1223.5 Gansert.   Monday, July 31 View Page I am liking the orange   Monday, July 31 View Page Another view   Monday, July 31 View Page Today is dap 20 for the 1980! I will take measurements later today.   Monday, July 31 View Page I've made the decision to measure the 1980 dap 30. Just to small to measure today.   Tuesday, August 1 View Page The 1223.5 is really packing on the pounds. Last measurement I got was on Sunday when it was estimated at 469 pounds. Just by looking at it I think she's over 500 now.   Tuesday, August 1 View Page Lovin the color! The texture is nice and smooth on this pumpkin.   Thursday, August 3 View Page Very sad day today. Had to put down my dog Lilly. She had a very serious eye infection and she had very bad breathing issues. She was 14 years old.   Friday, August 4 View Page The 1223.5 Gansert is coming off the board. Need to Do some adjusting   Saturday, August 5 View Page Today is a big day. Dap 40 for my 1223.5 gansert. I am going to measure this afternoon. I've also gotta measure tommorow afternoon to because that is the one week measurement.   Saturday, August 5 View Page Day 40 measurements Are just coming in for the 1223.5 Gansert Side to side- 96 inches Stem to blossom- 90 inches All around 121 inches Estimated weight - 668 pounds! This was a huge measurement because it is showing that I am already passed my PB of 539.5 pounds. OTT was 307 inches. I gotta measure again tommorow as that is the 1 week measurements. I will get the average of how much it's growing tommorow when I measure. I am going to include some pictures of the 1223.5 Gansert today   Saturday, August 5 View Page The 1223.5   Saturday, August 5 View Page 1223.5   Saturday, August 5 View Page 1223.5   Saturday, August 5 View Page Just realized I made a tipo. All around Is 120 inches not 121. Here it is again. Dap 40 for 1223.5 Gansert Stem to blossom 90 inches Side to side 96 inches All around 120 inches. Ott 306 inches Estimated weight- 661 inches   Saturday, August 5 View Page Never can spell anything right. Typo not tipo lol! Pictures should upload soon   Sunday, August 6 View Page One week measurements are in for the 1223.5 gansert. (Every Sunday) Side to side- 97 inches Stem to blossom- 91 inches -all around 122 inches. OTT 310 Inches Estimated weight- 668 pounds Average daily gain- 31 pounds!   Sunday, August 6 View Page Just saw that she gained 218 pounds in a week wow! I need her to put on some good weight again this week. Weather looks good. I want to be in the high 800s in a week from now.   Sunday, August 6 View Page Ughhh. Made a mistake! 687 pounds the 1223.5 is estimated at. NOT 668 pounds. Don't worry that was my only mistake.   Thursday, August 10 View Page Today was day 30 for the 1980. These numbers are not much but I have noticed a major increase in Growth that past 5 days. Side to side - 53 inches All around- 79 Stem to blossom-53 inches OTT -185 Estimated weight-149 pounds Goal on this plant is 400-500 pounds. I will be measuring my 1223.5 Sunday. I think I will be in for a big surprise.   Thursday, August 10 View Page Hayden came over yesterday to check out my patch. I gave him a tour. Great kid. He's the kinda kid you could talk to for hours. Here he is next to the 1223.5 Gansert that I have going. I can't wait to see you again at the fair. Keep up the good work. Keep that squash growing man :) this pic may be sideways.   Friday, August 11 View Page Here is the 1980 compared to a basketball. I'm starting to think I have a chance at bringing her to Ri. Just need to be taping over 450 pounds. Intresting thing is that I am ahead this year from last years 514 pounder I brought to RI so maybe I have a chance.   Sunday, August 13 View Page Here it is folks!! The numbers are in! Today is day 48 for the 1223.5 Gansert! 1 week measurements SS- 105 inches SB-97 inches All around 132 inches OTT-334 inches Estimated weight 855 pounds Average growth a day-26 pounds Grew 168 pounds in a week. Here I come! 1,000 may be just 1 week away!! That's my goal! :) harvest is just 46 days away!   Monday, August 14 View Page I am thinking of growing my own seed next year.   Monday, August 14 View Page Day 49 today. I will measure again tommorow.   Tuesday, August 15 View Page I have a big issue on my 1223.5 gansert plant. Last night I spotted some white oozing on the main vine. 3 feet behind the pumpkin I checked for a cut and i found nothing. I wiped the oozing away and my finger went right diwn into the vine! It was rotten a little but then I got to the green part. It is not completly down through the entire vine. I added sulfur to it last night and a fan. I came out this morning and saw that the sulfur had gotten all wet and thst the fan had done nothing. This is a strong fan to. There is no more white oozing but it's dropping the water in the vine like tapping a tree in the winter. This just won't stop! Keeps on coming! This needs to stop soon or my main will rot all the way. The vine was not burried In this spot because the pumpkin was lifting it up. I will update again when everything is finally under control or something bad again happens   Wednesday, August 16 View Page Day 50 numbers are in from yesterday! Side to side- 107 inches Stem to blossom-100 inches All around 133 inches. Ott 340 Estimated weight 900 pounds according to GPC chart Team pumpkin chart days 853 pounds.   Wednesday, August 16 View Page Exciting news. My mom contacted channel 5 news (WCVB Boston) to see if they could come and do a story on me about my giant pumpkins. Sometime next week they will be coming with cameras to film me. This is going to be great! I am excited and i never thought this would happen. This is a big deal to me. I will post the link on my diary if you want to watch it next week when the come.   Wednesday, August 16 View Page This is me with my pumpkin. This is the 1223.5   Thursday, August 17 View Page Bad news! Spotted a mouse nest under my 1223.5 pumpkin. Lots of brush under there. There has always been this small curve on the bottom of the pumpkin so I could always see under it. I looked yesterday no brush looked clean and now I looked today and there is a bunch of brush under there. I am putting traps out.   Friday, August 18 View Page So I dident catch any mice last night. That infection on the main has been dry for two days but when I woke up again it was all wet. Ok honestly this is getting frustrating. A mice trap under my pumpkin and now the infection on the main vine is all wet again! The sulfur has washed away and I saw brown on the vine. Rot! If I try to scrape it out I will end up going into the vine. Things are not looking good at all.   Friday, August 18 View Page 1 week measurements yesterday for the 1980 were Side to side 62 inches Stem to blossom 64 inches All around 99 inches Ott -225 GPC- 262 pounds Team pumpkin- 258 pounds   Friday, August 18 View Page Mice Nest not trap.   Friday, August 18 View Page Here is the infection on my 1223.5 gansert plant. It was dried up 2 days ago with sulfur and now it is back to sapping. This is 3 feet before the pumpkin on the main vine. Is this surface rot? It's getting more brown. It smells like rot. My email is henryswenson@gmail.com   Sunday, August 20 View Page 1 week measurements are in for the 1223.5 Gansert! Side to side- 109 inches Stem to blossom- 102 inches! All around - 144 inches! OTT-355 inches!! Estimated weight 1,019 pounds! GPC YES! My goal was 1,000 and numbers are saying a beat my goal! It grew 164 pounds in a week! Avenging 23 pounds a day. Today is day 55 for it I've caught a mouse that was under the pumpkin so I hope I catch any more that are left.   Sunday, August 20 View Page Sunflowers are blooming!   Sunday, August 20 View Page Sunflower head.   Sunday, August 20 View Page I am liking the deep ribs in this pumpkin. They feel solid   Tuesday, August 22 View Page Tommorow is the day. Channel 5 is coming to interview with me with my pumpkins at 12. Just a bit nervous but I got this. Hayden, everyone makes mistakes in life. That's how you learn. I've made so many mistakes in my life. Live and learn. Keep living life the fullest bud. I can tell you are on a great path in life.   Wednesday, August 23 View Page https://www.google.com/amp/amp.wcvb.com/article/massachusetts-teen-grows-giant-pumpkin-over-summer-break/12065861 Here is the video with Channel 5 coming over to my Patch. It was awesome. I will post pictures later   Thursday, August 24 View Page Here are a few pictures of me when channel 5 was here   Thursday, August 24 View Page Here's another   Thursday, August 24 View Page And here is Woody and I. it was a great time   Thursday, August 24 View Page So Steve Hartman from on the Road called up from CBS NEWS New York! He now wants to do a story on me with my giant pumpkins! I'm famous!   Thursday, August 24 View Page 1980 weekly measurements SS-69 All around 112 Stem to blossom 71 inches   Thursday, August 24 View Page OTT for 1980 is 252 Estimated weight- 369 pounds Average gain a day is 15 pounds   Friday, August 25 View Page So today is day 60 for the 1223.5. I was really happy when I taped it. Here are the numbers Side to side- 114 inches Stem to blossom- 106 inches All around- 149 inches Estimated weight is 1135 pounds! The OTT is 369 inches So there is still 34 days until harvest. I am thinking it will weigh somewhere between 1250 pounds and 1400 pounds the max. I am really thinking in the 1300s. So if I average it out within when I measured it Sunday it's averaging 23 pounds a day. It only dropped 3 pounds. I am really happy with this pumpkin   Friday, August 25 View Page The 1980 has a cool shape   Friday, August 25 View Page Big stem on 1980   Friday, August 25 View Page 1980   Sunday, August 27 View Page 1 week measuring day today   Sunday, August 27 View Page Pressed the wrong date on last entry. Both pictures of the pumpkin were from today august 27th   Sunday, August 27 View Page Measurements are just coming in from the patch. Side to side- 115 inches Stem to blossom- 107 inches All around 150 inches OTT is 372 inches Estimated weight is 1161 pounds. average gain a day is 20 pounds. It was 1135 on Friday so it gained 13 a day for the past 2 days. Looks like the average is going down. BUT that's ok! The most important part is for the pumpkin to at least still be growing which it is. I think I will be growing the seed next year from this pumpkin.   Sunday, August 27 View Page 1223.5   Sunday, August 27 View Page Going to be cold tonight so I gotta keep the pumpkin warm   Sunday, August 27 View Page Here is me with my arms out   Monday, August 28 View Page These pics might come out sideways because I am not taking them directly but I wanted to share some pictures of some sharks from when I went shark fishing Saturday   Monday, August 28 View Page Here is a shark that got tangled in the line so we had to bring it in the boat to un tangle it   Monday, August 28 View Page We went about 50 miles offshore   Monday, August 28 View Page And here is me trying to reel in a big one.   Wednesday, August 30 View Page 1980 day 50 today! Stem to blossom- 76 inches Side to side 72 inches All around 121 inches Ott is 269 inches Estimated weight is 449 pounds. Not impressive numbers for day 50 but I think I am going to beat my PB. (539.5 pounds) I will measure again tommorow as that is the one week measurements. I will add up the average weight gain and include pictures.   Wednesday, August 30 View Page 1980 day 50 today! Stem to blossom- 76 inches Side to side 72 inches All around 121 inches Ott is 269 inches Estimated weight is 449 pounds. Not impressive numbers for day 50 but I think I am going to beat my PB. (539.5 pounds) I will measure again tommorow as that is the one week measurements. I will add up the average weight gain and include pictures.   Thursday, August 31 View Page 29 days until the weighoff! 28 days until harvest. I'm really getting excited now. This is going to be a quick month. So far I have caught 10 mice. That's a lot I did not catch any last night so I hope that continues. The pumpkin is still growing so I expect no damage to the pumpkin on the bottom. I am going to leave the traps out until I harvest the pumpkin.   Thursday, August 31 View Page Just discovered an issue with the 1980. Some leaves on a secondary vine were wilting real bad. Found out that part of the vine was completly rotten. Then I saw more leaves up to the main thst were wilting. Those leaves were on the same vine. I have cut the entire secondary vine off. I caught it just in time or the rot would've spread into the main vine. Not sure what caused this   Thursday, August 31 View Page 1 week measurement for 1980. All around-123 inches Side to side- 72 Stem to blossom-76 OTT-271 Estimated weight 459 pounds Average weight gain a day is 12 pounds   Thursday, August 31 View Page The 1980 is likely not to make it to a weighoff. There had been this stem split here for about 3 weeks now. It's gotten worse. It is rotting in there so I cleaned it out yesterday and back to same again. I got a small pencil to see how far it went in. I used the eraser end and it went in a lot today. Yesterday it only went In a little and now it just went in the pumpkin a lot. I really can't see this pumpkin going to a weighoff. October 7th would be the weighoff and another month with rot in there I don't think it will make it   Thursday, August 31 View Page I do not think it went into the pumpkin all the way. As the pumpkin is probably about a foot thick in that area I think it only went in about an inch and a half.   Friday, September 1 View Page Happy September 1st. The 1980 still has a chance. I never give up. Yesterday it was as looking like the 1980 was done. Yes I thought do too but today I had some ideas. Woody and I were thinking. What if we got a hair dryer and a pipe to blow air directly into the rotten wet area. That's what we did. I got a hair dryer and that pipe you see. We connected the pipe to the hair dryer. This was set up this morning. Before we turned the hair dryer on we cleaned out the rot and gooey stuff the best we could. We then turned the hair dryer on. I just stuck my finger in the split and it felt completly dry. I felt no moisture but my finger only goes in a little not all the way. It could still be wet in there but I don't think it is. It just feels very dry. Anyway I am keeping this hair dryer system on at all times for the next several days. I need to make sure it's completely dry. I am starting to feel like the 1980 has a chance but anything can happen at this point. I am hoping that the rot did not go all the way into the pumpkin. I don't think it did but as of now it feels completly dry. Like I said there still could be moisture in the spots where my finger could not reach. I will update on the 1980 again in a few days   Friday, September 1 View Page I meant to say tube not pipe.   Friday, September 1 View Page It's going to be low 40s tonight so I covered the pumpkins up with blankets. The 1223.5 is covered in this picture.   Saturday, September 2 View Page Morning picture of the 1223.5   Saturday, September 2 View Page The ribs on the pumpkin are amazing. They feel solid and thick.   Saturday, September 2 View Page Lost the 1980 today. Rot went completly through. I cut it open and was not impressed at all. Thickest walls were only 7 inches. Thinnest we're 5 inches. It was 7 inches by the stem. Blossom area only 3 inches!. Today was day 53 for it. Estimated weight was 449 pounds (gpc) yes I got 449 when I measured Thursday. I measured today same measurements. Not impressed at all. Lifted up some vines and roots were not big at all. I made sure not to go to close to the Gansert plant. Great seed count. 263 seeds. The seeds are very thick and matured. I will post pictures of the 1980   Saturday, September 2 View Page Estimated 459 not 449. Made a typo. Ott was 271   Saturday, September 2 View Page Stem was starting to rot. All caused by a stem split   Saturday, September 2 View Page I've always believed things deserve get a second chance. When the 1980 plant was in the hoop house back in may it was a weak plant. It has always been weak throughout its entire growing period. I lost it today From a stem split that just got worse. I want to give the now called 459 swenson a second chance. It was sure an odd plant but if you look wayy back into its genetics you will see some really good genetics! . This seed has big potential. Next year it may be a weak plant again but you never know until it starts growing. It could be a very aggressive plant! The genetics are there. I am having thoughts on expanding. Maybe doing 3 plants that have 500 SF to grow in. People have proven that you don't need a huge plant to grow a huge pumpkin. Those are just early thoughts of mine. I am Definatly going to grow the 459 swenson. The 1223.5 Gansert thst I have growing now will be planted too. I most likely will expand and do three plants. The next thing I am thinking about is do I want to try to aim for a PB Next year? The answer is yes. If I try to beat my PB next year with the 1223.5 growing right now then If I let the other 2 plants that I grow next year have less space then the 1223.5 right now then the 1223.5 can be the plant I want to try to beat my PB with. I am calling the 1223.5 the 1223.5 right now because I don't know what it's gonna be but it will be my seed that I get out of it that I plant. I can try to aim for a PB with the other plants I plant too. It's a lot to think about. I know it's early to be deciding what seeds to grow next year but I want the 559 swenson to get a second chance.   Saturday, September 2 View Page I type to fast. I always hit the 5 instead of the 4 It is the 459 swenson.   Saturday, September 2 View Page Here is a picture of the 459 swenson. This was the 1980   Saturday, September 2 View Page Bottom was pretty flat.   Saturday, September 2 View Page Seeds   Saturday, September 2 View Page Walls   Saturday, September 2 View Page Inside   Saturday, September 2 View Page And here is the last picture right before I cut it open.   Saturday, September 2 View Page I loved the shape   Saturday, September 2 View Page Seeds   Sunday, September 3 View Page 1 week measuring for 1223.5 Gansert today. I want to be taping over 1200.   Sunday, September 3 View Page Well hurricane Irma is going to be a major hurricane. Models are now suggesting it going right into North Carolina.   Sunday, September 3 View Page No measuring today. It's been pouring all day and it's a mudslide in my patch.   Sunday, September 3 View Page There was a break in the rain so I measured. All around 154 inches Side to side 117 inches Stem to blossom 109 inches OTT -380! Estimated weight 1231 pounds. I am now taping over the 1223.5. Average gain a day is 10 pounds. I am very happy with everything! I am really excited!   Saturday, September 9 View Page Picked these starfish peppers. They are very red. It is a heavy producer. I am going to dry these out and make pepper flakes.   Saturday, September 9 View Page Measuring day tommorow. Been putting a can next to it and not much growth happening. Let's see what the tape says tommorow   Sunday, September 10 View Page Measuring day   Sunday, September 10 View Page Measurements are just coming in. Side to side- 118 inches Stem to blossom- 110 All around-155 inches OTT is 383! Chart says 1257! It's averaging 3 pounds a day. Yes it's only 3 a day but where I am at I am very happy. It may stop growing soon but I am very happy on how it's turning out!   Sunday, September 10 View Page I hope this picture comes out normal   Sunday, September 10 View Page This should be better   Wednesday, September 13 View Page Day 80 tommorow. It will be very interesting to see if this 80 degree weather spiked up the growth.   Thursday, September 14 View Page Day 80 today and I was happy on what I got. OTT is 385. Side to side -119 Stem to blossom-111 All around is still 155 It's really gaining the height. It's up to 4.5 pounds a day. The weighoff is coming up in 2 weeks from tommrow. Still worried about possible damage from mice under there. Still growing so I am not worrying as much   Thursday, September 14 View Page Forgot to include estimated weight lol. 1275 pounds!   Friday, September 15 View Page The weather this week was great! I am down to the final weeks and 80s this week sunny and scattered showers! That I believe is the perfect growing weather to keep the pumpkin growing!   Saturday, September 16 View Page Test   Saturday, September 16 View Page Ok that worked. So this morning woody came over and took the gate off the back of this trailer. Now when we load the pumpkin it's going to be much easier to maneuver everything. it's only 12 days until harvest!   Saturday, September 16 View Page Ok that worked. So this morning woody came over and took the gate off the back of this trailer. Now when we load the pumpkin it's going to be much easier to maneuver everything. it's only 12 days until harvest!   Sunday, September 17 View Page The measurements are in from the patch. They are still the same as day 80. Side to side 119 inches Stem to blossom 111 inches All around 155 inches OTT IS 385 inches. The pumpkin is just about done growing. I am very happy on how it grew. It's day 83 today and I am very happy that it kept growing until day 80. Maybe it will put on a few more pounds but it looks like it's done. I am very excited for the weighoff. 11 days till harvest. 12 days till weighoff!   Monday, September 18 View Page I am prepared for this tropical storm Jose. Sunflowers are all bunji corded together so I hope those don't get blown around and the pumpkin is covered with multiple blankets. I really can't let the pumpkin get wet. There is a good amount of rain coming but I am not worried about the rain I am worried about the wind. 40-50 MPH winds. Let's see what happens   Tuesday, September 19 View Page I am in shock. What a disappointing end to my season. The 1223.5 has gone down! I am going to tell How it all happened. So I felt the pumpkin today and I shook it a little and it was shaking a lot! Back and forth. I knew I had to make a phone call so I did. So Woody came over and we made the decision to go get the tripod to lift it to see what the damage was. We thought it could be rotting. So we lifted it up and we spotted no signs of any holes that went into the pumpkin. We did find this one spot where some mice chewed BUT that spot was all healed up. We checked entire pumpkin and everything else looked fine! We did notice the pumpkin was warmer then normal. The bottom of the pumpkin was soft let me explain why. So we cut open the pumpkin and we were shocked. It was soupy everywhere! There had to be 50 gallons of soup in there! The most frustrating part was that I will never know what caused the pumpkin to rot. The bottom was fine With no holes. Then I thought maybe air got into the pumpkin then it healed over but that could not of been the case because then the hole would've been too deep to heal over! Honestly I do not know what the cause of this was. It had to start like a week ago or two because it takes time to get soupy like that. I am very disappointed and I was looking forward to the weighoff next Friday. I had no control over it. Thank you Woody for helping me this season on growing these giants. You have taught me so much and I could not have done this without you. You have sprayed pesticides for me and you have helped me every step of the way. Thank you. I am going to give it another shot next year. I may or may not grow these seeds from this pumpkin. I have a lot of thinking to do. This was a solid pumpkin. This sucks and I did not expect this to happen but I just have to process it and get at it again next year. Thank you again Woody! Your the best!   Wednesday, September 20 View Page Here are some pictures   Wednesday, September 20 View Page Another picture   Wednesday, September 20 View Page This picture of the inside was devistating   Wednesday, September 20 View Page Blossom end   Wednesday, September 20 View Page Here is when we were about to lift it up.   Wednesday, September 20 View Page The bottom of this pumpkin was great. It was nice and flat   Wednesday, September 20 View Page And that's a wrap up. I did not expect that to happen. It's very frustrating seeing my pumpkin go down a week before the weighoff. There is next year. This season went very well except for the loss of the pumpkins. The 1223.5 was a strong plant. The pumpkin was putting on nice gains with the peak gains being at 33 pounds a day. There is nothing I could've done to prevent the pumpkin from going down. I am going to plant winter rye in my patch. I think that will help a lot. I need to get the patch all cleaned up first before I do that. Next year I will be growing my own estimated 1275 Swenson. I will be doing two plants again. This seed has so much potential! I can't wait to see what it produces! To everyone out there wanting some seeds I have you covered. Just send me an email to remind me so I can write everything down. That is a wrap up of the season. I will still be going to the giant pumpkin weighoff at the Topsfield fair next Friday. I will still post pictures. I will keep you guys updated on the patch cleanup. Thank you for all that supported me this growing season. I really appreciated it. Thank you :)   Friday, September 22 View Page Just picked a sunflower head that i grew. 12 incher! This one is smaller then my biggest. The biggest I will pick on Wednesday to enter into the fair!   Friday, September 22 View Page 3 pound head   Saturday, September 23 View Page I am very impressed on the walls on the pumpkin. They are thick. About 10 inches close to a foot   Saturday, September 23 View Page In the 15 years that I've been alive this has been the worst thing I've ever experienced. Picking up that rotted soupy pumpkin was the worst! The smell was unbelievable! Next step on the list is the pull the weeds out then after the patch dries out a little I will loosen up the soil. ThebbI will try to plant winter rye within the next week.   Sunday, September 24 View Page Just finished planting the winter rye! I got it done earlier then I thought. I tried my best to get all the weeds out of the patch. There are just a few small ones so I am not worried about it. The rye should germinate quick with this 80 degree weather this week.   Sunday, September 24 View Page Giving the rye some water   Monday, September 25 View Page This Carolina reaper tree is blowing up. There are over 50 peppers that are red right now and there are more coming that haven't even turned red yet! Ive got another Carolina reaper plant that has over 20 that are red and there are more coming as well on that one. These plants are aggressive. I started them back in February.   Monday, September 25 View Page Here are my starfish peppers. This plant is just growing on the ground now since the peppers weighed it down. Hard to see the peppers but they are hiding under the canopy. I have 3 plants of these starfish peppers. This plant is very aggressive as well. They are all growing well. These were started back in February as well.   Monday, September 25 View Page Starfish peppers   Thursday, September 28 View Page Setting the arena up for the giant pumpkin weighoff tomorrow   Thursday, September 28 View Page I am entering these tomatoes into the fair   Thursday, September 28 View Page Here are the squash and pumpkins!   Thursday, September 28 View Page Here is the sunflower head I entered   Thursday, September 28 View Page Here is the tallest sunflower I entered! It's the darker head one   Thursday, September 28 View Page Here are the measurements. Honestly it looked taller to me. I should've taped it before I brought it.   Thursday, September 28 View Page And that's it. I will find out how I do tommorjw :)   Friday, September 29 View Page Second place With my tallest sunflower! There were 12 entries including mine. The tallest only beating me by 4 inches. I am very happy with my sunflower getting 2nd place!   Friday, September 29 View Page Third with my sunflower head! Measuring at 14.5 inches!   Friday, September 29 View Page That's the head   Friday, September 29 View Page Second with my sugar pie pumpkins! I am very happyb   Friday, September 29 View Page Next up are my white squash. I got 3rd with these! There were 2 other exact squash that got 1st and second. I am proud   Friday, September 29 View Page No place with reapers and starfish. That is ok there were over 50 pepper entries this year   Friday, September 29 View Page All the peppers   Friday, September 29 View Page No place with the red tomatoes in the back. Lots of tomatoes entered too. Overall I am very happy on what I placed this year! Great year for me with all the things I entered, very happy with sunflowers   Friday, September 29 View Page Someone pulled the fire alarm in the arena where the weighoff is. Are you kidding me. This is redicoulous   Friday, September 29 View Page Big pumpkins being weighed!   Friday, September 29 View Page Woody has won!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations Woody! 2,003.5 pounds! Amazing job this season! You did great!!   Friday, September 29 View Page Looks amazing!!   Friday, September 29 View Page Top 5 pumpkins. Winner in front   Saturday, September 30 View Page My winter rye is coming up nicely. It germinated very quick.   Sunday, October 1 View Page Not sure if this picture will come out sideways but here is Norm with his HD award on Friday! Beautiful pumpkin Norm! Good job:)   Sunday, October 1 View Page One more try   Sunday, October 1 View Page 42 degrees this morning. Chilly. Fall is finally here!   Wednesday, October 4 View Page Winter rye is really coming along nicely. This warm weather is really helping it grow.   Wednesday, October 4 View Page Winter rye   Thursday, October 5 View Page Picked a bunch of starfish peppers and Carolina reapers yesterday. Going to make pepper flakes   Friday, October 6 View Page Fresh Carolina reaper pepper flakes! The smell just got up into my nose and now my nose is on fire. Next step is to get those starfish peppers and make pepper flakes with those. Still a bunch more peppers on the plants. Seeds right now are drying from the reapers. Seeds from Starfish is next   Saturday, October 7 View Page Big competition between these two bushel gourds! Steve Connolly has the far one in this picture and Gene larviere has closest one.   Saturday, October 7 View Page Weighoff is about to begin here in RI!   Saturday, October 7 View Page John young"s 910 pounder! Nice job! Great looking pumpkin.   Saturday, October 7 View Page Good job norm with your 1,092.5 pounder! Good job on winning the Howard dill award!   Saturday, October 7 View Page Nice job Scott with your 1358 pounder!   Saturday, October 7 View Page Good job Ron Wallace!! 1733 pounds!   Saturday, October 7 View Page Nice job Gary Vincent! 1657!   Saturday, October 7 View Page Steve sperry!!!! 1914.5 pounds!! Amazing!!   Saturday, October 7 View Page WORLD RECORD SQUASHHHHH 2,122 pounds!!   Saturday, October 7 View Page WOW! Great job!!   Saturday, October 7 View Page Slight small mistake I made with squash. It was 2,118 pounds! What a show put on today! Nice job to every grower out there that went to the weighoff! I had a lot of fun talking to all the growers!   Monday, October 9 View Page Yesterday I potted up my Carolina reaper plants. These plants were started last February. They were outside in the ground the entire summer. I am going to overwinter them then plant them again back out in the spring. I hope to still see it produce during the winter. The one on the left is about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. The one on the right is about 5 feet tall too and 3 feet wide.   Monday, October 9 View Page There are still dozens of peppers on both of the plants. Hundreds of flowers still on them ready to open. They will be outside in there pots for a little while until it gets cold then I will bring them in and keep them under a grow light.   Monday, October 9 View Page Reapers   Monday, October 9 View Page Celtics Pre season game!   Tuesday, October 10 View Page Harvested sunflower seeds from my 2nd place tallest sunflower that I entered in the fair that came in at 13 feet 3 inches and a quarter. I remembered something. I had multi blossom seeds that were black like this that I planted. I said that I dident remember what sunflowers I planted but this sunflower had some multi flowers on it so the multi blossom sunflower happened to be the tallest!   Tuesday, October 10 View Page Rye is really looking green   Thursday, October 12 View Page Hmm. What could I possibly be doing?   Saturday, October 21 View Page I haven’t posted in a while. What I was going to do with the hoop house was to keep the pepper plants in there and put my growing light in there during the winter and try to keep them alive but I don’t think I will do that anymore. Just would be to hard. I will start the seeds in my winter garden again in February. The key is to plant them very early then get a decent size plant to put in the ground in the spring. I will do reapers and starfish again and other not so hot peppers.   Friday, October 27 View Page Going to help Woody cut open his pumpkins tommorow. I can’t wait to see the inside. I’ve never seen the inside before on such a big pumpkin, :)   Monday, October 30 View Page It’s 3:31 AM and there is a Terrible storm here in Topsfield Ma in my yard. Massive branch came 5 feet away from slamming into the house and I expect more huge branches or trees in yard to fall. Highest wind gust near me was 62 MPH! I will post pictures in the morning,   Monday, October 30 View Page Wow! What a storm that was! This was a massive branch that came Just feet away from slamming into the house! I biked around Topsfield and ohh it's MUCH worse then at my house. Most roads are closed. I saw some huge and I mean HUGE pine trees on power lines and all over the roads. It is awful! Trees were huge! I will try to post pictures later of that. The power has been off for awhile now and im not sure if it will go back on soon. Wind last night was insane. Gusts in the 70 MPH. Still very windy today so more trees and branches could still come down   Monday, October 30 View Page The branch fell down from this tree. I heard lots of snaps during the night.   Tuesday, October 31 View Page 26 hours since the power has gone out here. This could be another day or too. My brother and sister did not have school yesterday and they do not have it again today. I do but I am in my shop at school which is landscaping so I don't mind going to school. Anyway. I will be posting all the pictures of all the damage soon. It is really bad.   Tuesday, October 31 View Page I am going to post the pictures now. Since I am not taking them directly they may come out sideways but you should get the sense on how bad the damage was.   Tuesday, October 31 View Page This one was very bad. I think it is this tree that is keeping my power out. Look how it snapped the telephone pole I’m half! Brought all the lines down!   Tuesday, October 31 View Page Here is another tree that landed on the power lines.   Tuesday, October 31 View Page Another view or the first picture   Tuesday, October 31 View Page Here is another tree that fell right on the road.   Tuesday, October 31 View Page This one was HUGE. Hard to see from the picture but it was a Pune tree that had to be over 100 feet tall. It hit all the power lines and I think it skimmed a House. They closed the road there.   Tuesday, October 31 View Page The power is back on after 34 hours of it being off. Lots of people around Topsfield still do not have power though. What A beast of a storm that was! that has been the worst I’ve ever seen here.   Thursday, November 9 View Page 24 degrees this morning! Of to a frosty start. Loving this weather   Thursday, November 9 View Page Leaf covered in frost   Thursday, November 9 View Page Winter rye is frosty   Friday, November 10 View Page Second year of indoor growing. Dident start anything yet. Step 1- Clean it! Its a big mess   Friday, November 10 View Page Done all ready for growing!   Friday, November 10 View Page I will be a competitor in the Giant tomato Challnge. Biggest tomato takes the W. Ends first day of spring. Last year I tried and it was a disaster. Plants were very young and just wrinkled up. This year I am feeling like I will have much better luck. I think the issue was I had the light to close last year. I am going to try again. I just found these tomato seeds lying around from last year. will be receiving more From bob thank you bob, There are 3 seeds in this pack. I am going to plant them now. I heard that some people have already stated there’s. I will start some more later in the month. My plan is to have atleast 3-4 big bushy plants. Game on   Monday, November 13 View Page Got 1 tomato seed to pop a root on it. I planted them Friday night. I hope to get the other two to germinate   Saturday, November 18 View Page All 3 tomatoes came up that I planted. No soaking and they all came up with In 2-4 days. They had a heating mat they were on   Thursday, November 23 View Page Happy thanksgiving!   Monday, November 27 View Page Christmas lights went on Saturday night! Now we just need a little snow!   Monday, November 27 View Page Christmas countdown! 27 days   Monday, November 27 View Page Here’s a darker picture of the lights. Other picture was a little light   Monday, December 18 View Page I have not posted on my diary In a long time. About 3 weeks ago I did. I was posting how I was having very bad luck with my indoor growing area. Things have changed a lot in 3 weeks! I will take pictures tommorow and explain what has been going right.   Monday, December 18 View Page Well I just looked back at my diary entries and looks like I never posted the bad luck I was having. I will explain everything tommorow. :)   Tuesday, December 19 View Page Ok. Here are some garden beans I have going. They are doing great under the LED light! I also have some more that I planted but did not sprout yet. Those are a different kind.   Tuesday, December 19 View Page Here is a giant sunflower that I have going! This came from my 13 foot 3 inches and quarter tall one that I grew over the summer. Last year I grew a sunflower indoors and it did great under the LED light.   Tuesday, December 19 View Page Here are some peppers I have going. I’ve got green ones. Yellow ones and green and red ones. They are also doing great   Tuesday, December 19 View Page This ones for you bob! My giant tomatoes! I had to start these over multiple times because the plants I started before some of them only came up with 1 leaf and they looked strange lol. These are doing OK. I say ok and not good because the color om them is a bit off, purple leaves under them but they still are growing so that’s the good part. I will move these under the LED light in a few weeks, before I also put them under the led light too early and they burnt.   Tuesday, December 19 View Page Both plants are from the 4.38 BORGERS   Tuesday, December 19 View Page Purple leaves I was talking about. That’s all for the posts. I will post more as more exciting stuff happens. Happy holidays everyone,   Saturday, December 23 View Page It's time to transplant these beans into a bigger pot. They are doing very well under the led light   Saturday, December 23 View Page Very nice root system on the beans   Sunday, December 24 View Page Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you all enjoy the holiday! :)   Monday, December 25 View Page Merry Christmas to everyone! I got some money for my giant pumpkins! This will help a ton!   Monday, December 25 View Page I just bought myself a gift. This is going to be very cool. It is a wireless camera. I will put it in my pumpkin patch! During the winter I will be putting it in my indoor growing area! You guys can connect to it if you want to Which would be very cool! Anywhere around the world you can connect! All I have to do is send you a code for the camera and you have to download the app. App is on android or IOS. It is called U-Life plus app! I will have more info when I get it. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!   Monday, December 25 View Page The snow the snow!! Wow was it fun to watch! They were predicting rain and it stayed snow throughout the night last night. Woke up with about 2 inches on the ground. An hour later full blown blizzard was blowing! 2 inches in 1 hour! Total accumulation of 6 inches!! I was not expecting any. That really made me happy!   Monday, December 25 View Page Visibility was down to Zero at 1 point. There is a house across the street. It was gone!   Monday, December 25 View Page Cars were covered in the gold   Wednesday, December 27 View Page I will be returning the other camera I ordered for my pumpkin patch. I will be buying this one. I will need to put about a 10 foot post somewhere around my patch then screw this one into the post. When I am away I will be able to check on my pumpkins from anywhere around the world   Thursday, December 28 View Page I did more research on the cameras and found the one I wanted. These got great reviews and there are two that come in the package! I will put two posts up. 1 post will be on the side where one of my plants are and the other one will be where my other plant is.   Friday, December 29 View Page The pumpkin patch cameras have arrived!!!   Friday, December 29 View Page Very easy to plug in as you can see. For 50 bucks I think I grabbed a good deal   Saturday, December 30 View Page Huge deer in my backyard this morning.   Saturday, December 30 View Page There were 4 of them. Hmmm they already know what is going to happen in the spring. I better keep my eye on them   Sunday, December 31 View Page This is the 5.24 borgers. Doing well I will need to plant it into a bigger pot soon. Slight yellowing but it looks like it is coming out of it   Sunday, December 31 View Page This is the 4.38 borgers. Looking like it may not make it. Yellow leaves are really getting to it and it's not growing fast at all   Sunday, December 31 View Page Cold game at the patriots game. 12 degrees. They won 26 to 6