Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 65 Entries. Tuesday, January 14 View Page Who's going?!? I had a great time in Green Bay back in 2019. I am looking forward to heading back there in March! � Monday, March 10 View Page Just got back from the GPC convention in Green Bay, Wisconsin. What a great time! The GPC and the WGPG club put on a great show. We even had a view of Lambeau Field from the hotel. � Sunday, March 30 View Page Here it is! This massive 100 x 30 foot greenhouse belongs to GreenGene. He is allowing me to grow a single plant in there this year alongside his two plants. I am super excited for this opportunity. Thanks Gene!! � Thursday, April 10 View Page Seed starting time has finally arrived! Here are the seeds Gene and I are going with. As you can see, we both like Steve Sperry's seeds! Three of these will make the final cut and get planted in the greenhouse. � Thursday, April 10 View Page We added a little bit of WOW to our starting mix. � Friday, April 11 View Page This season is going to be awesome! I never dug planting holes with a tractor before! � Saturday, April 12 View Page Getting ready to head to Gene's to do some broadforking exercise. Good thing we are growing in a greenhouse! � Saturday, April 12 View Page My first lesson of the day is prep your hole. � Saturday, April 12 View Page Heating cables and a bag of Dr. Earth are in there. � Saturday, April 12 View Page The cables are on and hole prep is complete! LFG! � Sunday, April 13 View Page Worked on my home garden on Sunday. I will be sharing this garden with my son and his girlfriend. My giant tomato plants will be grown here and lots of peppers! � Monday, April 14 View Page Inner hoop house for my plants. This is temporary until I get back over there with rebar and plastic to make it bigger. � Tuesday, April 15 View Page Starting to pop! � Thursday, April 24 View Page Inner enclosures are all ready. The seedlings are going into the ground tomorrow! � Sunday, April 27 View Page It has been decided! I am growing the 2465.5 Sperry. Here are my two seedlings in the greenhouse. One will be culled in a couple weeks or so. � Monday, April 28 View Page Plants are getting a drench through the sprinkler system. � Wednesday, April 30 View Page My seedlings are doing pretty good. The main vine is starting to form on the bigger plant. � Thursday, May 1 View Page Yesterday was opening day of our Spring turkey season. Gary Vincent and I had a great hunt! This bird tried to be tricky and came in behind and above us on a ridge. Gary's calling brought him right to me. 17 yard shot! � Tuesday, May 6 View Page I have a little bit of leaf burn but my plants are doing well. Hopefully the vine is down by this weekend. Need to do some weeding too. � Tuesday, May 13 View Page Did some weeding and vine training today. The plants are looking good. � Saturday, May 17 View Page The final decision has been made. I am down to one 2465.5 Sperry plant! � Sunday, May 18 View Page Gene has chosen to keep both 2198 Sperry plants in the greenhouse. They look great! � Monday, May 19 View Page Gene will be growing the 2144 Barron for the 150 contest in this mini greenhouse. � Wednesday, May 21 View Page The new tiller Gene got for his tractor did an amazing job! Our plants are looking pretty happy. � Friday, May 23 View Page The vine burying has begun. Gene is teaching me his techniques. � Tuesday, May 27 View Page Tonight we added our main walkway boards. My main is about 10 feet now. � Tuesday, May 27 View Page Gene has his 150 plant in good shape too! � Saturday, May 31 View Page Had a visitor at my home garden on Saturday morning. � Sunday, June 1 View Page Setup the mini-greenhouse for my giant tomatoes this year. � Monday, June 2 View Page The secondary vines are really starting to run! � Tuesday, June 3 View Page Halfway through vine burying, Gene snapped this picture of me. Now you can see just how big my 2465.5 Sperry is. Gene's plants are even bigger! � Friday, June 6 View Page Just finished over 2 hours of vine burying! I took the early female off the main. The first potential keeper is 15 feet out! � Friday, June 6 View Page Another view of the whole greenhouse. � Wednesday, June 11 View Page I have a female on the main looking like she will open tomorrow! � Wednesday, June 11 View Page Another female appeared three nodes down from the one opening tomorrow. I will pollinate both and decide which one later. � Wednesday, June 11 View Page Worked right up until closing time tonight! � Friday, June 13 View Page My first potential female on the main did not open at all. Here is the postmortem photo after we ripped the dead petals off. � Friday, June 13 View Page In my home garden, the potato beetles have arrived! � Sunday, June 15 View Page Looks like this one may open tomorrow morning?! � Monday, June 16 View Page Game on! Gene pollinated this nice looking four lobe flower for me this morning. It is crossed with the 2198 Sperry. � Sunday, June 22 View Page DAP 6 � Tuesday, June 24 View Page DAP 8 � Wednesday, June 25 View Page At the rate we are growing, Gene's greenhouse will be full in a week or less! � Thursday, June 26 View Page DAP 10. Let's go! � Sunday, June 29 View Page DAP 13. Had a nice visit with Matt D and Nick's Big Pumpkins at Gene's today. I hope you guys liked the patch tour. � Tuesday, July 1 View Page Our mix consists of potting soil and biologicals at every leaf node. � Tuesday, July 1 View Page DAP 15. � Saturday, July 5 View Page DAP 19 � Wednesday, July 9 View Page DAP 23 today! � Wednesday, July 9 View Page People have been asking how Gene is doing. He is very busy holding this whole operation together! Here is the pumpkin on his 2198 Sperry B plant. It is 26 days old today. � Wednesday, July 9 View Page Gene's 2198 Sperry A plant has a nice pumpkin too! This one is 29 days old today and is the biggest in the patch. � Friday, July 11 View Page A peek through the greenhouse door! Next Wednesday will be day 30. I am waiting until then to take the first measurements. � Sunday, July 13 View Page 99.9% of my vine burying is done. Just a few tertiary vines that are filling for sun burned leaves are left. This is a view of my pumpkin through the side of the greenhouse with the sides up. DAP 27. � Wednesday, July 16 View Page Wow! DAP 30 is here. Just got back from Gene's. We measured my pumpkin and here are the numbers. Circumference: 126 Side to side: 87.5 End to end: 81 OTT: 294.5 Estimated weight on the new chart: 597 pounds. � Wednesday, July 16 View Page Gene's feeding program is working great! My leaves are looking very happy! � Thursday, July 17 View Page Here is a picture of the stump/crown side of my 2465.5 Sperry plant. Kinda hefty. � Sunday, July 20 View Page Did the hand watering for Gene today. Using a hose from outside the greenhouse with the sides up, you water every vine and leaf node! DAP 34 today. Circumference: 139 Side to side: 96 End to end: 88 OTT: 323 Estimated weight: 789 lbs Average: 48 pounds per day for 4 days. � Sunday, July 20 View Page Gene had to move one of his today with the BIG strap! � Wednesday, July 23 View Page Danny Boyce was a great friend. I will miss him dearly. He was always smiling and friendly. We shared many pumpkin and hunting stories as well as photos. Rest in peace my friend. � Wednesday, July 23 View Page My day 40 is this Saturday but Gene has a wedding reception for his daughter at his house that day! I will have to get there early and measure then get out before the guests start arriving! � Wednesday, July 23 View Page Gene caught me doing more hand watering! DAP 37: OTT 345 Estimated weight: 956 pounds � Saturday, July 26 View Page The pretty potty outhouses are setup and ready for business! Gene and his whole family have been working hard to prepare the property for the wedding reception this evening! � Saturday, July 26 View Page The greenhouse will be on lockdown mode later today. This angle shows one of Gene's 2198 Sperry plants. All three pumpkins in the greenhouse are now estimated over 1000 pounds. Mine is 361 OTT as of DAP 40. That is 1088 on the new chart. � Tuesday, July 29 View Page Made it through the wedding reception without any problems! Grow baby grow! � Tuesday, July 29 View Page The other side of the greenhouse is looking good too! �