Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 94 Entries. Monday, March 20 View Page Tyler last year..my grand nephew....hopeing for bigger this year...lineup to come..lots of HDA   Thursday, April 20 View Page I will be only growing Big N Orange this year. Still debating on one BigNUgly...1518 Kline Dmg 1985 Miller X 2009 Wallace.The previous photo with my nephew was my 500lber..June planting and grown on the third secondary...will try to over come my rookie frost mistakes. Also need to water more. It was growing 25lbs a day and after a 2 1/2" rain storm it put on 38 lbs. Short growing season here with frost well into June and starts late September. So I'm cutting back on what goes into the ground May 1st....others will be started end of April and grown in 2 gallon grow bags and planted Mid to end of May. I will be planting about 20 plants this year. I am bypassing the other 2 farms I grew at and cutting way back on my veggie garden to spend more time with the AGs. Filed and soaked 4 seeds from my 500 Hoffman 681 Dill McDonald X 1374 Engle/Open and 4 seeds from my 224 Hoffman 823 House X 1912 Carter..test germinations were impressive with 8" roots in 3 days. I will want to cross that into an early planting with the 1297.5 Young 1912 Carter X 1000.5 Gansert and the 839 Young DMG 1000.5 Gansert X 1912 Carter.Also starting early will be the 312 House DMG 1317 Clementz X 359 Foss. Will also start the 1734 Clementz 1317 Clementz X Self. These 4 seeds will be filed and soaked today. Good Luck this year to everybody, especially you Orange Growers. Also a special thanks to everybody that donated seeds. Anything that was given to me will be planted. Thanks Again, T   Thursday, April 20 View Page Nothing like driving myself crazy and making more work for myself. Decided to do the BigNUgly 1518 Kline and added another Orange..1474 Clementz..1177 Clementz X 1317 Clementz. Soaking now.   Thursday, April 20 View Page Forgot to put a little mycos and azos in my starter seeds yesterday. Filed at 11:30 am and soaked for 6 hours at 90 degrees and then put in seed starting mix. Pulled them today at 3 pm and 6 had germed and 2 with roots 1 inch long. Know what I'm going to do from now on. Explains why my test germs had 8" roots in three days.   Friday, April 21 View Page Started one more this morning. 2106 Schmit Filed and started soaking at 6AM. Then headed to the local golf course and picked a couple hundred nightcrawlers off the greens. Nice rain last night and the little buggers were all over the place this morning. Probably should and probably will pick a bunch and add to the pumpkin patch. Frost is finally all out of the garden. Will till on Sunday. Will place 4'X6' and 3'x6' sheets of glass over planting areas to warm the soil. I have 12 of them. Should be enough to get me started.   Saturday, April 22 View Page All 224s pushin dirt and one ready to open..almost out of the soil. One 500 pushing dirt. Going to be interesting. Will see who is most aggressive and plant the others by the road...trimmed some trees and cut one down so they get at least 8 hours. Also will have a cluster patch. See what happens. Enough room for everybody. Will probably end up with 30 plus.   Sunday, April 23 View Page Found all 8 from Wednesday up and openig at 6AM this morning. A very pleasant surprise to find the 1297.5 Young up this morning also. Soaked and went in seed mix at 7PM Thursday. Will be tilling the patch today and filling some buckets for replanting.   Monday, April 24 View Page 100% Germination on all my seeds. Everybody is up or is pushing dirt. Happy to see the 2106 Schmit moving. Now I just have to hope it throws orange. Rain in the forecast for tomorrow so it will be a good day for round two with a bunch more BNO getting filed and soaked. Will plant snow peas and radishes along outside edge of the pumpkin patch. Hopefully the snow peas will act as a wind break for part of the patch. Will be transplanting to four gallon buckets in hopes of keeping them protected longer for a later planting. The 312 House seems to be very aggressive.   Monday, April 24 View Page Redneck Green House is up and functioning. Used my large sheets of glass to make an easy green house out of my non used truck lumber rack. I'll get a photo. 10 transplanted today more tomorrow and will file and soak more tomorrow. Most of the rest of my seeds mid May. The only one that hasn't taken off is the bibnugly 1518. Started another one and the first one still has time. The 1518 my most aggressive early plant last year. Maybe feeling left out because everybody else is BNO.   Tuesday, April 25 View Page Round two here we go. Filing and soaking today. Planted 1000 snow peas this morning before the rain starts..ought to be enough for a wind block for where the majority of the the wind comes from. I did start one more yesterday..1574 Bobier 1495 X 2009 same cross as the 1317. Today another Young seed the 907 Young 1059v/m selfed...the 982 Trychta 900 Gansert X1143 Engel, the 748 McWilliams 1047 McWilliams X open, the 1047 McWilliams 359 Foss X self, the 1148 Wagner 359 Foss X self, I have a 1533 Haist on the way 359 xself, the 900 Gansert 359 Foss x 993 V/M, the 1177 Clementz 1947 Clementz x 1317 Clementz, the 1048 Engel 777 Young x self, the 1143 Engel 359 Foss x 1374 Engel, the 504 House 840 Young x 811 Gerhardt it grew my second biggest pumpkin last year very Orange, the 359 House 810 Westcott x 811 Gerhard, the 1172 Grande 359 Foss x 932 Grande. Almost all of these seeds were donated and I really appreciate the generosity of your donations. Hope I can return the favor next year to anybody looking for seeds. Round three coming in a couple weeks.   Tuesday, April 25 View Page 1518 Kline is 1985 Miller X 2009 Wallace   Wednesday, April 26 View Page Decided to start a 631 Trychta 705 Debacco x open this morning after checking genetics. 705 is 811 x 2009 more nice orange. Tried the over night soak at 85 degrees with some of my tomato seeds that I forgot to start. Soaked Monday night..put in seed starter Tuesday morning and half of them were up this morning. Gotta like that. No movement from the 1518 yet.   Wednesday, April 26 View Page Well round three came earlier than expected. Added 2 1533 Haist 359 Foss selfed, 774 Fletcher 1058v/m x 811 Gerhardt, 371 Fletcher 811 x 1059 and the 855 Pukos 1495 x sibb. Can we say ORANGE!!   Monday, May 1 View Page Round three are all up. Issues with round two. Won't know the total casualties for a few days. Believe I may have overheated the germination chamber. Some came up..some are trying and some didn't make it. Placed round three under round two so that raised the height considerably for round two. One of the seeds had a club root and some had germinated with a very short root and then terminated. Some took. Very disappointed the last couple days.   Wednesday, May 3 View Page Casualties are 1518 Kline...second one took but started several days later,982 Trychta..still have a seed for next year, 1574 Bobier, 748 McWilliams, 1048 Engel, 504 House still have one left for next year, 359 House, Struggling Seeds 1143 Engel,,,pulled it and it looked like a spider with 50 legs..stuck it back in and roots grew several inches down the side of the cup overnight,,a survivor, 907 Young..more on the way...It's costing me a Derby Bet...but well worth it...it wants to grow but we'll see what happens. Bought a smart phone but I will need a five year old too teach me how to use it! Plants are looking good in the greenhouse. Cold tonight so I rigged up some heat. Probably mid 20s. Fishin in the mornin. Both my 855 Pukos 1495 Stelts x Sibb are looking great. My most aggressive plant is my 224 Hoffman followed by the 500 Hoffman. Second true leaves out and looking good. Young and Clementz plants right behind. Would love to have a five week jump on last year. Pics to come when I find a five year old to help.   Monday, May 8 View Page Redneck greenhouse. 4x6 sheets of double pane windows on the top and 3x6 sliding glass doors for the sides with electric heater. Can open it for ventilation by moving the front door and side doors as needed. Glad to have had it with one day last week at mid 20's and 34 lastnight with lows near freezing all week and chilly. About 8 inches of rain in the past week and showers for the rest of the week. 14 pails in there with another dozen 2 gallon bags going in today. Most of my 224s and 500s have all got there true 3rd leaf. Can't plant until the end of May. Lots of nice Orange.   Monday, May 8 View Page Just hit 40 degrees today. A few snowflakes. Will hold off until tomorrow for transplanting.   Thursday, May 11 View Page My growing area ...6000 sq ft on the left for kins and 1600 sq ft on the right for veggies. Been growing on the right for twenty years. Tilled and started on the left last year and added to it this year. Final till in about 2 weeks. My AG Garden had fish carcasses dumped on it all winter down the center where the kins will be planted. Some were fermented for about a month and buried before the initial tilling. Approximately 50 gallons of carcasses total. One deer carcass staked out in the fall was picked clean and mostly gone except for the backbone and head. Nice eight pointer which will look good as a skull mount. Ravens were there most of the winter. Droppings should be beneficial. The apple tree in the left rear is a pain. Had to trim some branches to keep apples out of the garden. Deer have already started nipping the buds. Fence going back up after tilling.   Monday, May 22 View Page Avoided a small disaster this weekend. A 90 MPH microburst hit just a few miles away. Trees down and power out all over. One side of my greenhouse was knocked over by the wind. The only casualties were 7 or 8 labels for my plants. I'll try to figure out who's who but only know a couple for sure. I was going to plant some in a circle and grow them away from each other for some smaller Orange kins. These will be the likely candidates. Still have all my early starts and most of round two labeled and looking good. Long range forecast says plant...gut tells me to wait. Might plant a couple for practice with the buckets and teepee them with sliding glass doors.   Monday, May 22 View Page Everybody is liking the greenhouse. A little shock to the system coming soon.   Thursday, June 1 View Page MAY SUCKED!! Fifth wettest May. 40% over average. Night time highs ...low 35s hi 60 and it ain't supposed to change. Raining most everyday. Dodged a big bullet yesterday..storms went just South and North Hail..60 mph winds. Lighting and thunder out one window nothing out the other side. Two more weeks to Bass season..can't wait. Everything I planted nine days ago looks the same and everybody living in the greenhouse almost caught up. New plans for next year.   Friday, June 2 View Page I was mistaken. I took a big hit in the hail storm. Talked with my friend today ( 4 miles south) who was starting my tomatoes and peppers and about 75 out of 250 were destroyed by the hailstorm. I've got extra but my biggest hit was big tomatoes. May Really Sucked!!!   Tuesday, June 6 View Page First morning in quite a while that wasn't in the 30s. It was 45 and that is supposed to be the hi for today and oh yes it's still raining. Welcome relief is on the horizon 80s and sunny by the weekend!! I feel for anybody growing in the Northeast.   Tuesday, June 13 View Page Was wondering what the yellow is on my leaves? I've got 18 AGs in this patch and this is the only one with yellow like this. The one next to it has just a smattering around the outside edges on a couple leaves. I did spray sevin for cuke beetles yesterday but I sprayed everybody. I've seen it in posts before but can't find it Any info would be appreciated.   Sunday, June 18 View Page Wonderful start to bass season!! One Smallmouth about 19" and the smallest 13". The Perch is bigger than 2 of my smallmouth. Some nice panfish to go with the bass!! More fertilizer once they're filleted.   Sunday, June 18 View Page Scofield Farm..Late kins all unknown but nice orange along the fence.   Sunday, June 18 View Page scofield Farm 4kins other side of the road. My 4 kin box. See what happens.   Sunday, June 18 View Page A little tough to see but 10 kins going down the middle of the patch. Staggered about 10' apart running in opposite directions, Best of the the bunch is 1474 Clementz about 5' long...lots of runner ups at 3-4'..lots of small kins culled..finally some warm weather..at the end of the patch I have 3 that will be running away from the rest down a slight grade. A month ahead of last year...got lots of nice orange going but ..somebody that doesn't perform well will be pulled. With our spring everybody still has a chance except for the fish. Anybody want to go fishin'??   Sunday, June 18 View Page Just looking and everybody has liked the warmth and the rain!! Gaining 3-4" ( 6-8 summertime)a day I'll update after torrential rains forecast for tommorow. I've got well draining soil so water is a must.   Sunday, June 18 View Page Glad I buried vines today. Winds already picked up. Nice to see leaves blowing around instead of the whole plant!!   Tuesday, June 20 View Page My 1474 Clementz growing 8" a day the last two days. 6' long..heavy rain is done..hopefully I can pollinate before the end of June...will put me three weeks ahead of last year.   Tuesday, June 20 View Page Better picture of the patch with the staggered plants. First three ..next best..about 4' and growing quickly. 312 House, 224 Hoffman and 1297 Young..Need to till out my foot traffic..lots of nice orange   Friday, June 30 View Page Genes got the kids weeding the patch at the Scofield Farm   Wednesday, July 5 View Page Well the patch is starting to look like something. Last week low 40s at night and low 60s during the day slowed growth. Now after torrential rains and sunshine the plants are growing again. Been culling all kins and now have one at 11' on the 1474. Front to back 312 House dmg, 224 Hoffman, 1297 Young, 1215 Pukos ( 1912 Carter x 2185 Brandt), 224 Hoffman, 500 Hoffman, 2106 Schmit, 1474 Clementz with the chair over the kin...front right is 1734 Clementz and behind that with elephant ears ..finally doing something is the 1518 Kline for BNU.   Friday, July 7 View Page What a diffrence a couple days make!! Got kins on the ones doing the best from 10-14' out. Put out more chairs. I'll be busy soon so Fishin' while a can!!   Sunday, July 9 View Page Started pollinations today and looks like I'll be busy for a couple weeks. 224 Hoffman( 823 House x 1912 Carter) X 1297.5 Young (1912 Carter x 1000.5 Gansert). Am looking forward to doing the reverse cross in a day or two if the males cooperate. Got Lucky and had one male for this pollination. Pollination at 11.5' with another at 14' in a few days.   Tuesday, July 11 View Page Pollinated 312 House DMG x self...312 is 1317 Clementz x 359 Foss. One of my best plants Pollination at 11.5' and another one in a few days at 15'   Tuesday, July 11 View Page 5 lobe on the 312 pollination   Tuesday, July 11 View Page Patch really starting to fill in. I need way more chairs!   Wednesday, July 12 View Page Got my reverse cross I was looking for. Males were more than cooperative as I used 3. 1297.5 Young x 224 Hoffman, 5 lobe at 12' and another one soon at 15'....also selfed the 1474 Clementz on the first secondary that was running away.. behind the plant. This plant ran long with few secondaries until 6' out. Will wait a while and cut the secondary at the main as there is a kin on the main at 16' that should be ready in a few days. Also selfed the 855 Pukos (1495 Stelts sibbed) at 8' but probably won't keep it with another kin at 11.5'. both were also 5 lobe   Thursday, July 13 View Page Pollinated 1215 Pukos this morning 1912 Carter x 2185 Brandt with 1518 DMG Kline 1985 Miller x 2009 Wallace...4 lobe at 11'..late germination..May 1st but moving right along...I will pollinate the next one on this plant with the 855 Pukos in case it does throw Orange. If not I'm going to keep the BNU   Thursday, July 13 View Page 3" of rain last night..with forecasts for thunderstorms..some severe for the next few days...hate it when dirt flies all over my plants..guess it's better than hail plus river bottom well draing soil handles the water well   Friday, July 14 View Page Pollinated the 1734 Clementz 1317 x self.. 5 lobe 16' out and 19 secondaries..which surprised me   Friday, July 14 View Page 855 Pukos hanging out in the veggie patch all by itself   Friday, July 14 View Page 312 House DMG 17 secondaries   Friday, July 14 View Page 1297 Young   Friday, July 14 View Page Suprised to find two females open this morning ...1474 Clementz ..on a secondary about 10' out on the main vine..probably won't keep it..open pollination did use a 1177 Clementz and 1297 Young and closed it. Also the 1177 Clementz..1947 Clementz x 1317 Clementz...open pollination 10' out on the main ...probably won't keep it either..pollinated it with a couple 1474s and closed it   Friday, July 14 View Page 224 Hoffman   Friday, July 14 View Page overall patch view 14 in the patch..furthest ones out have less manure in the soil and they are showing it   Friday, July 14 View Page In the last pick Down the left side of the garden is a 75' row of snow peas which are about done and they will get tilled into the soil shortly. Inside of them I had three rows of radishes which have been done for a few weeks. Outside left of the peas are a row of squash, broccoli and brussel sprouts. Down the right side is a row of yellow and purple beans. They better hurry and produce before the kins reach em or they'll be tilled in also.   Friday, July 14 View Page 1474 Clementz   Saturday, July 15 View Page Pollinated unknown x 312 House dmg 1317 x 359...had eight unknowns..lost labels in a microburst..kept the biggest for my garden..the rest went to the Scofield Farm   Saturday, July 15 View Page Pollinated 1143 Engel 359 Foss x 1374 Engel X 224 Hoffman 823 House x 1912 Carter. Also pollinated 1177 Clementz x1474 Clementz on a secondary.   Sunday, July 16 View Page Pollinaed another 224 x 1297 about 12' out on the first secondary, Also finally got a pollination on the 1474 x 224 on the main at 18' . Lost the one at 14' last week..it was still young and we got torrential downpours and it got plastered with mud..chair didn't help it a bit   Monday, July 17 View Page Cut six foot of ribbon/flat vine off the 2106 Schmit. Had a secondary about 1' out on the main that will be the new main. Plant is growing like a running bush and not vining out. Had the yellow leaves in the beginning of the season that I was worried about. If it didn't have so much room around it it would be in the fire pit. We'll see what happens.   Monday, July 17 View Page Pollinated another 312 House x self at about 15' and another 224 Hoffman x 1297 Young again about 15'....   Monday, July 17 View Page Just realized my pic of the 1297 Young is actually the 224. The 1297 is directly behind it running in the opposite direction   Monday, July 17 View Page This is what we're Catchin' on the lake..Well two out of three ain't bad. Pour down rain again..frustrating ..it just won't stop..low 50s at night and only in the 60s during the day..Looks like some good growing weather on the horizon. Fishin' soon ..lookin' to catch a perch!!   Wednesday, July 19 View Page pollinated another on the 855 Pukos with the 1734 Clementz at about 12' that will put a lot of the 1495 Stelts into that one..just screamin' big N Orange..to bad my growing season is so short...also pollinated another on the 1215 Pukos with the 1474 Clememtz just in case it throws Orange and isn't BNU. Was impressed with the length of the stems on the 1474..about six inches and as big around as a quarter at 5 days after pollination leaving plenty of room for leaf and vines.   Friday, July 21 View Page Pollinated a second 1297 Young x 224 Hoffman on the main about 15' out, pollinated 1177 Clementz x 1474 Clementz on a secondary and pollinated a 1217 Pukos x 1474 Clementz on a secondary...still hoping the 1217 might throw Orange   Saturday, July 22 View Page Pollinated 1518 Kline (1985 Miller x 2000 Wallace) x self for BNU..This Kin was very misshapen and white but great genetics. Another late germination. Still waiting on a few others. Also pollinated another 1734 x self on a secondary   Saturday, July 22 View Page Had a great visit today from VTJohn and his wife Kerry. While John was giving me tips Kerry was inspecting the Veggie Patch. Had to keep my eye on her and didn't want her to eat more than the deer did..LOL   Sunday, July 23 View Page Finally got a pollination on the 500 Hoffman (681 Dill-McDonald HD X 1374 Engel HD/open) X 1474 Clementz...perfect 6 lobe at 12' ... also selfed another 312 House on a secondary...must have been the morning for blooming..have about 10 open pollinations going on on secondaries   Monday, July 24 View Page 6 pollinations this morning in the rain..at least it kept the bees at bay...selfed 4 855 Pukos..one on the main and 3 on secondaries..for a late germination this plant seems to be catching up....pollinated another 1297 Young x 224 Hoffman at 18' on the main and another 1474 x 224 on a secondary   Tuesday, July 25 View Page Biggest in the patch..16 DAP...224 Hoffman..everybody looking good..a little warmer weather and sunshine would help   Tuesday, July 25 View Page 2nd biggest in the patch (312 House) with Tyler and a big smile..love to see when he comes to visit...he was mad at his mom ..my niece..because he couldn't see me first..Great Grandma came first..then Uncle T. What a HAPPY young man..I think the small chair was left out of the tips for new growers to make their pumpkin look bigger   Wednesday, July 26 View Page open pollination on the 907 Young ( 1059 Vincent McGill selfed ) 10' out on the main..two open pollinations on the 2106 Schmit on secondaries   Wednesday, July 26 View Page With all the rain we.ve had I've been waiting for this to happen. Blew up the 1297 at 11.5 feet. 14DAP volleyball size. .I've got two more pollinated on the main..15' and 18' ..haven't culled a single pumpkin because of all the rain..looking to relieve some stress on the kins from all the water..more rain tonight and thunderstorms tomorrow..cut it in half..solid as a rock and loaded with seeds .. drier weather predicted after tomorrow   Saturday, July 29 View Page Pollinated another 500 Hoffman x 1734 Clementz 13' out on the main and two 1518 Kline x 1734 on secondaries..late pollinations but lets see what happens   Sunday, July 30 View Page Pollinated the 2106 Schmit on the new main x 1474..wanted to self it but nobody was willing...also selfed the 1518 Kline about 15' on main..nice thing about low 40's this morning was not a bee was stirring...need warmer weather   Friday, August 11 View Page I believe this 312 House Dmg will throw orange...30 dap   Friday, August 11 View Page 1734 Clementz 27 dap 201 ott   Friday, August 11 View Page 224 Hoffman..started nice and turned for the worse..on the bright side ..lots of orange going...a few days yet for 30 dap measurements   Sunday, August 27 View Page The way my season has been going. Had stem rot on the 312 House DMG x self and it lost weight so I cut it off 40 DAP. Taped 197. It's got way more red in it than the picture shows. I will grow this next year if seeds are viable. It's been so cool growth on all my kins has only been 8-10 lbs a day as compared to last year at 25-30 lbs a day. Two others on this plant and everybody looks totally different. I have several BNO in the 300-400 lb range with temps consistently in the 40s and 50s at night. Only broke 80 degrees 4 times this summer. Growth is sloooow. Looks like a cold week coming up. My tomatoes finally are starting to ripen. Looking towards next year.   Sunday, August 27 View Page 312 House DMG x self   Sunday, August 27 View Page 312 House x open...can't wait to see what this one looks like..young and well on it's way to orange   Sunday, August 27 View Page 312 House x open...started flat..went to a bowl shape and then started filling out..on a secondary and getting larger everyday   Wednesday, August 30 View Page A better picture of the 312 House..stopped growing after 30 days..culled at 40..found a couple soft spots..moved near the road..hopefully it will hold together for a couple weeks with the cool weather.   Wednesday, August 30 View Page 1474 Clementz x open..largest in the patch right now at 400lbs   Wednesday, August 30 View Page 1734 Clementz x self   Wednesday, August 30 View Page 1177 Clementz x open nice orange   Wednesday, August 30 View Page 855 Pukos x self..wasn't going to keep this one but glad I did. Everybody else aborted. Might not have to worry about it soon. Been low 40s at night..mid 60s daytime and forecast for frost on Friday and Saturday. Gotta love the Adirondacks!!   Wednesday, September 13 View Page The 312 House DMG x self is really showing it's color...getting darker just sitting around. All growing in the patch virtually came to a stop at the end of August. Missed the frost by half a degree...32.5. Frost just a couple miles away.   Wednesday, September 13 View Page !734 Clementz x self...wish it had more orange very light in color   Wednesday, September 13 View Page 1474 Clementz x open..largest in the patch and decent orange...just over 400 lbs...I've got 7 taping over 300 and a bunch of others..ought to get me a little beer money!!   Friday, September 15 View Page The 1495 genetics will live on!! 855 Pukos 1495 xsibb xself equals a bigT200plus. Can't ask for more orange than that   Friday, September 15 View Page Really need to do more Fishin'   Friday, September 15 View Page 224 Hoffman x 1297 Young died early...left it and turned wicked orange one the top...lets see what next year brings   Friday, September 15 View Page 907 Young x open late planting and hope it has time to Orange...I know Mr. Young doesn't know anything about Orange but he's trying. Kerry kick him in the butt...better ORANGE   Friday, September 15 View Page 1215 Pukos..BNU with a soft spot..   Friday, September 15 View Page Last of 3 ...312 House DMG..Still throwing nice dark orange   Friday, October 20 View Page My nephew with some nice orange   Friday, October 20 View Page He needed to reach for the top of this one after I stood it up   Friday, October 20 View Page My nephew Tyler is known as the Hug Monster!! Can you see why. Nice to see the smiles! That's what it's all about for me.