Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 38 Entries. Thursday, January 1 View Page I have high hopes for the potential of 2026! Good luck, and grow em big this year!!! Saturday, January 3 View Page December cabbage is 4 weeks from start. They grow so slowly early on, I cant wait for spring... 98 days until pumpkins! Getting real excited for 2026! Saturday, January 17 View Page My lineup is 90% done i think, first weekend of April is my target start date with the greenhouse, so 11 weeks to make any changes. Getting excited to let the seeds see dirt, and I dont even have most of the seeds until I pick them up March 28. Pumpkins I'll have: 2464 Stelts (2365 Wolf x 2376 Stelts) 2387 Deletas (1885 Werner x 1357 Wolf) competing for an outside spot 2020 Paton (2365 Wolf x 2907 Paton clone) 2257 Paton (2365 Wolf x 1727 Jacobus) for the greenhouse spot. 1082 DeVisser (1664 Butler x Self) 1540.5 Pitura (2004 Bernstrom x 1108 Pitura) 2117 Bryson (2332.5 Paton x 2144 Barron) as backups Saturday, January 17 View Page Im going to put a ton of work into squash, my goal is to hit 1534 for the Canadian record, we skyrocketed our PB from 382-901.5 last year, so im extremely optimistic about 2026. 2030 Tobeck (1109 Jutras x 1935.5 Jutras) 1592 Tobeck (1997 Tobeck x 2030 Tobeck) competing for 1 spot 1611 Jutras (920 Jutras x Sib) 1838 Jutras (1109 Jutras x Self) competing for the 2nd spot 2 of our own 901.5 DeVisser (1123 Sproule x 1040 Butler) 1935.5 Jutras (1844.5 Holub x Self) As backups Saturday, January 17 View Page Bushel Gourds are getting a bit more attention, as we really hope to break our 4 year old PB, and hit 250 pounds with them this year. 370.5 English (470.5 Connolly x Self) 335 MacKenzie (267.5 MacKenzie x Open) 267.5 MacKenzie (242 Butler x 370.5 English) 201.5 DeVisser (181 Kline x Self/Sib) competing for 2 spots. Saturday, January 17 View Page Tomato and field kins are up in the air still For Tomato, I have 100s of seeds from probably 50 different fruits. My plan is for 20 plants in the garden, so it'll be a lot of coin flips lol Field kins will have 2 of my 118 UOW DMG, and what else depends on what I get from my local club, or what I find in my seed bins lol Sunday, January 18 View Page Build a primitive box to regulate temp/humidity. Hoping to try 1 or 2 practice rounds of BG-watermelon grafts this winter, and get a few for the spring. Saturday, February 28 View Page Favourite part of the winter: syrup time! Saturday, March 28 View Page Got home from the GVGO seminar. Lots to think about... White clover, PH meter, Glycine, white shade cloth, under canopy misters, dead dinosaur fertilizers, so much i dont really understand... But, I will try to keep a diary up to date the whole season. I will also be trying to do a simple video series "Chasing 2000" as I attempt to break the 2000 pound barrier for the first time in Ontario. Ill definitely try to post more as season begins in the next 2 weeks or so. Hopefully I can till the soil by then. Been a very wet and cold spring so far, so it might be rough getting the heat cables in the ground in time. Saturday, March 28 View Page Looking at photos, last year I had plastic up, and greenhouse rototilled April 10th, so a bit of time still, but ive got to get in gear, and get the ball rolling on 2026 if I want to have everything done in time. Greenhouse repairs to start tomorrow Friday, April 3 View Page 1 of the things im trying for the first time in 2026: charcoal. As a byproduct of syrup making, its completely free and barely any extra work. Now, its not technically "biochar" as it lacks the biological innoculation, however it should still have the same benefits of increasing cec, water retention, and microbial growth possibility. I expect to get ~10 cubic feet from my final 2 boils of the year. Maybe next year ill do it every boil and heavily ammend all my patches with it Sunday, April 5 View Page Rutabaga and beets started inside. Patch prep happening right now, picking up amendments Tuesday to spread through this next week, rototilling next weekend, pumpkins & squash start then. Tuesday, April 7 View Page Seed start date is Friday, this is my 2020 Paton. Not sure how well you can see, but the seed case got cracked in transport, and due to this being my only chance at a 2020, im very concerned about getting it to germinate. Will it germinate fine same as all my other seeds? Or should I do something special to ensure it does? Wednesday, April 8 View Page Excitement in the mail today! Glad to have it before seed start. On an unfortunate note, the local agricultural supply plant is down for maintenence. Precisely when I needed to get a bulk bag of gypsum... called around to a bunch of places today, and im really hoping to hear back with good news tomorrow, as we have a lot of rain in the forecast after this weekend, so if I dont till now, I have to wait till end of the month... Friday, April 10 View Page Picked up 500 kilo of calcium sulphate (it was weird though, not a straight powder like gypsum, but 27% calcium and 13% sulphur, so still good), 2.2 kilo of copper sulphate, a 25 kilo bag of 0-0-60 (muriate of potash), and 3 25 kilo bags of 18-18-19. I know theyre not all optimal fertilizers, but I need the fast nutrient fixes especially in the new north patch. Friday, April 10 View Page Final lineup for the pumpkins. 7 seeds for 2 spots. Lots of options if something doesnt look good. Im really hoping for the 2020 and the 2501 as finals, but all of these except my own 1082 could be great Friday, April 10 View Page Final squash lineup. Also 7 seeds for 2 spots. Again, all capable of growing an absolute giant. Friday, April 10 View Page 4 hours soaking in a bit of seaweed, some azos and some mycos Friday, April 10 View Page Temp probe set to 85° F (found a cheap temp probe switch of sorts, meant for reptile terrarium, hopefully it works for heat cables too, ill find out in a week). Now: we wait. Saturday, April 11 View Page 1 patch done! The new 30x65 patch is amended and rototilled. ~650 pounds of calcium sulphate, 85 lbs of 18-18-19, 2.75 pounds copper sulphate. My borax and manganese sulphate will be added to soil drenches through season to avoid leaching. Other than that, the soil should be top notch. ~10 days till this is home to 2 squash and 1 pumpkin Sunday, April 12 View Page First roots up, under 35 hours 1611.5 Jutras, 2501 Bernstrom, 2387 Deletas, 1082 DeVisser, and 1540.5 Pitura all up My starting lineup is all going into 2 gallon pots, my backups are all going into 1 gallon pots. Mixed mycos and azos with the potting mix Watered in with seaweed Sunday, April 12 View Page 2464 stelts, 1592 Tobeck, and both 901.5 popped s root now Sunday, April 12 View Page 1838 Jutras popped a root at ~43 hours Just waiting for the 2030 tobeck, 1935.5 jutras, 2117 Bryson and the cracked 2020 Paton (i dont have high expectations for that one though, it didnt look good) Wednesday, April 15 View Page In 5 days I have 8 of the seeds showing above ground, 2 more that had a root so will be up shortly. The other 4 i accidentally fried, when I didnt put my temp probe back in contact with the heat mat for the baggies... rookie mistake, I know. Lost a 2030 Tobek, 1935.5 Jutras, 2117 Bryson, and the 2020 Paton (although the 2020 Paton was very unlikely in my opinion anyway). Thankfully I made the mistake almost 3 days in to germination, so everything that had already popped a root is good to go. Definitely could gain some time if I had a better way of heating the pots... hmm... more projects for next year Wednesday, April 15 View Page My hand sowing skills need some refining... Planting white clover in the greenhouse Theory is that living ground cover keeps soil temp lower, moisture evaporation lower, and potential light retraction from the white flowers. Theory came from Russ Landry (Big Kahuna 26), and im excited to try it for the greenhouse Saturday, April 18 View Page Soil cables turned on, currently 51°, set to 85, transplant date is next friday Saturday, April 18 View Page Got the plants out for a few hours while the weather is good. Tuesday, April 21 View Page Planting out friday, I got them in a cover together to spend the next few days getting used to natural daylight hours, and daytime heat. Heater set to 20°C constant, hopefully the sunlight pushes daytime closer to 26° Tuesday, April 21 View Page Bushel Gourds sanded and beginning soak. Will soak 10 hours overnight in seaweed + Azos, then ill paper towel till they germinate. May start a watermelon with them tomorrow too. Wednesday, April 22 View Page I may have forgotten to plant the BGs when I woke up this morning.... they had almost 20 hours of soack instead of the 8 they were supposed to. Hopefully its okay. Anyway, theyre into paper towels now, and watermelons soaking under a paper towel (to weight it down) 2x 161.5 mackenzie, they'll go into paper towel this evening Thursday, April 23 View Page Getting nervous about planting out... Last year I planted out right now, its gonna be tough to keep the plants going this year... I have enough power to heat the greenhouse plant in its mini cover, but the other only have soil heat, so it'll be hard. Maybe ill just blanket the covers at night... Still want to plant out this weekend regardless Friday, April 24 View Page 1838 Jutras and 1592 Tobek look okay, but not spectacular competing for north meadow spot Friday, April 24 View Page 2387 Deletas and 2464 Stelts competing for a North patch spot Friday, April 24 View Page 1611 Jutras in the last North patch spot Friday, April 24 View Page A couple goodies went in with each plant too Friday, April 24 View Page Realized i missed the 2501 Bernstrom... Greenhouse plant, got a little heater this year. Chasing 2000 with this one. Friday, April 24 View Page Got the mini covers blanketed for the night. Just because the next week or 2 has nightime lows <5C (like 40F) I should invest in some insulated tarps, or huge blankets or something. Would save me a crapload on my electricity bill now that I have heat in the greenhouse! Saturday, April 25 View Page A little expensive, but im setting up drip lines in the greenhouse. Hopefully its another step towards removing any potentially damaging variables from the season. 3/4 main line, 5/8th drip 8 inch emitter spacing, 16 inch line spacing, hopefully it'll be an easy turn it on for 10-15 minutes twice a day to maintain soil moisture.