Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 38 Entries. Sunday, January 5 View Page Seeds, seeds, seeds!!! Looks like pumpkin growers and birds have similar things in mind around this time of year.   Friday, February 28 View Page My frost hardy cacti in 'winter mode'...just hanging around and, in between, doing nothing just for the sake of having a rest from all of the 'hanging around'.   Friday, February 28 View Page On the busy side of life: Spring has sprung, this little pansy (the first one I've discovered this year) is already doing a good job.   Friday, February 28 View Page Another busy site: Did some patch prep (perhaps the earliest patch prep I've ever done). Decided to bury the weeds on that part of the patch where I will be sowing some Phacelia flowers soon (maybe next week), the parts of the patch where the pumpkin vines will grow not before June.   Saturday, March 15 View Page Patch today :) Now the weeds are buried, and I have piled up some soil at the plant spots. Right after finishing that part of work, we've got some rain (and some snow). Now the soil can settle for the next couple of days, and then (end of March) the plant sites will be covered with clear plastic sheets...the sun needs to warm up the soil.   Wednesday, April 2 View Page Patch today :) Next step of patch prep finished. Last weekend we've had some good rain, and now the forecast looks like some sunshine the next couple of days. Just about the right time for getting the plant sites covered with clear plastic, now the sun can do some good work in terms of soil warming. BTW: As some of you may guess, there will be four plants this year. Bonus info: Two of them will be greenies again. :)   Thursday, April 17 View Page Patch today :) Well, not a big difference with respect to the previous post, but...   Thursday, April 17 View Page ...seedlings are waiting! 20 seeds started, 20 seedlings are up (none of them showing any problems so far). Seeds were started on April 8th, and in two days some of them will hit the patch. :)   Saturday, April 19 View Page Something changed...   Saturday, April 19 View Page The seedlings moved into their new home today :)   Tuesday, April 29 View Page Patch today :)   Tuesday, April 29 View Page Seedlings today :) The 2124 is pretty fast, whereas the others just try to develop their third true leaf, the 2124 is a step ahead...BUT: The "two third leaves" look like there could be some problems associated with this aggressive growth. The beginning of a ribbon vine? Hopefully NOT! (Time will tell.) The other seedlings look normal (and all of them are doing the same thing, basically).   Tuesday, May 6 View Page Patch today :)   Tuesday, May 6 View Page ...and my plants today :) Looking good so far.   Thursday, May 8 View Page My outdoor cacti today, there are signs of life :)   Thursday, May 8 View Page Can't wait to see how many of the new buds will turn into flowers in a couple of weeks...   Sunday, May 11 View Page Patch today :) It was a very sunny Sunday, a good day for removing the covers for a couple of hours, for some weeding, watering and some "crown cosmetics". So far, I haven't removed any true leaves, but the cotyledons are gone now and all sorts of buds associated with the cotyledons and the first and second true leaf nodes.   Sunday, May 11 View Page Plants today...doing fine.   Sunday, May 18 View Page Patch today...   Sunday, May 18 View Page ...and the plants today. We've had some cool, cloudy, dark past couple of days, the color of the youngest one or two leaves can tell it. Anyway, the plants are now starting to develop something like a main vine. In about a week I need to release them from their huts. :)   Saturday, May 24 View Page My 1007.5* are the strongest (most brutal) plants this year. The backup plant wants to grow like a tree (no, I'm not talking about the X-mas tree pattern, LOL), and the favorite plant developed some horribly bad upwarts pointing secondaries in the 3rd and 5th leaf node (with one at the 4th pointing into the soil). This year I won't wait any longer (just to see that those secondaries will be crap...as they eventually break), this year I let my plant grow some main vine before it will be allowed to do some secondaries.   Saturday, May 24 View Page Before and after...the three bad guys are gone. Now the crown can push all the goodies into the main vine.   Saturday, May 24 View Page The secondaries in the 6th and 7th leaf node are looking very well-behaved. They will make a good pair of first secondaries on my 1007.5* plant this year (fingers crossed).   Monday, May 26 View Page My kids are growing the 783.4* Wagler 2022 this year. Can't wait to see what it will produce.   Monday, May 26 View Page My patch today. It was the time to remove the huts, now the plants are free, may they run like crazy... :)   Monday, May 26 View Page Plants today :)   Monday, June 2 View Page Jungle...ahm...patch today ;) Now the time has come that I need to remove the cover crop which is doing pretty well in between the AG plants (oil radish and some rye and some weeds), need to get rid of it within the next two days. Then, as the main vines grow, I need to remove the phacelia flowers over the course of the next two weeks.   Monday, June 2 View Page Plants today :) Well, the backup plants are still there (in their back, need to guide the backups' main vines a bit to the one or the other side, will keep them for as long as it takes for the first males to open on the favorite plants, want to see that they aren't sterile), but in the pic there was room for the racehorses only ;)   Thursday, June 5 View Page What a difference :) The oil radish and a good load of the phacelia are removed. Now it's easier to actually see the pumpkin plants ;)   Wednesday, June 11 View Page Patch today...   Wednesday, June 11 View Page ...and today's individual views of the plants.   Saturday, June 14 View Page My frost hardy cacti...the first flowers opened today :)   Sunday, June 15 View Page There is a guest on one of my carrot plants: a beautiful swallowtail caterpillar, nibbling on the greens (perhaps trying to nip off a few leaves to encourage root growth, who knows).   Wednesday, June 18 View Page Patch today :) Now I have removed all of the Phacelia. Wondering as to why I put the sprinkler on the bare soil rather than over the AG plants? Simple reason: I want to make use of wet soil and warm weather to get some remaining weed seeds pop open, just to disturb the weed seedlings with a hoe (to let them roast in the sun) in the next two weeks as long as it is easy to treat this area before it will be covered by the AG plants.   Sunday, June 22 View Page Today there were females open on the main vines of three plants, females that I didn't mean to use as keepers (want to wait for another week, let the plants grow a bit stronger first). One of them was on my kids' plant (they are growing the 783.4* Wagler 22 this year), and the other two on my 1007.5* Wagler 21 and 2124 Wuersching 24. Their size is similar, but their cross-sections reveal signs of different wall thicknes. Based on this observation (and normal fruit shape of the final keepers provided), I am inclined to make a prediction that my 1007.5* is most likely to go heavy (in a decent manner), the783.4* not so much, and the 2124...I will keep my fingers crossed that it will weigh to chart (at least).   Tuesday, June 24 View Page A glimpse at my kids' patch...their 783.4* plant makes me jealous.   Tuesday, June 24 View Page ...my plants aren't looking bad either, though. They just don't look like ideal beauties from a textbook. Anyway, they are growing, and the first pollinations will happen in the course of the next couple of days.   Tuesday, June 24 View Page Today a somewhat different view of the individual plants...their crown ends and the first part of the main vines. I'm happy with what I see, strong main vines and a decent pattern of secondaries, and lack of weeds ;) (Just need to remove some of the oldest leaves of the 2064.2 and 870.4*.)