Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 41 Entries. Monday, January 1 View Page I set a goal over the fall and winter to turn my horse manure pile weekly to create compost. It ultimately consisted of 15 yards of horse manure/shavings, a 600 pound pumpkin, several truckloads of big leaf maple leaves, 15 yards of dairy solids, and some salmon.   Monday, January 1 View Page Here's what my patches looked like with their cover crop of winter rye and light sprinkling of maple leaves.   Monday, January 1 View Page There it is: a steamy pile of awesomeness!   Monday, January 1 View Page Greenhouse 1 (Gh1) patch will be no-till in 2024. So, I weed-whacked the cover crop down in preparation. I did a lot of reading and studying about how no till benefits the rhizosphere. Singh gh1 is at the end of my row of 4 greenhouses, it'll be the most practical spot to try this approach. Fortune favors the bold   Monday, January 1 View Page After putting down some organic amendments, I covered the patch in paper and hand tossed a layer of finished compost on top. In order to avoid compaction, I hauled my wheelbarrow to the edges of gh1 and threw shovelfulls of compost on top until it was about 3 inches deep.   Monday, January 1 View Page Here it is at the beginning of my hand spreading of 12 yards of material. This was a major workout!   Monday, January 1 View Page And done! Ready to put some workers into the soil....   Monday, January 1 View Page 2000 European Night Crawlers! I named them all Pete!   Friday, February 16 View Page The 2024 season kicked off with my fellow GPC Committee Members in beautiful Belgium for the International Growers Convention!   Saturday, February 17 View Page Pete and I cleaned up well!   Saturday, February 17 View Page I had the BEST time in Kasterlee and was super proud to win the #1 squash in the world as well as the GPC Squash Grower of the Year! It was a very close race this year, and Luc and Team Vodkamelone were such great competitors! It was wonderful to finally meet them in person! The last two years, I really focused on squash, but this year, I'll try to grow some enormous pumpkins.   Friday, March 1 View Page Here's what my manure pile looked like before weekly turning that happened all fall and winter.   Sunday, March 3 View Page And this was the finished pile! I had western labs test it and was very happy with the results!   Monday, April 15 View Page Meanwhile, the babies all sprouted and look fantastic! The seeds were not sanded, but were soaked 8 hours in warm 90 degree water with a pinch of kelp. I soaked them at 11 PM on April 9th, and then on the morning of the 10th, I put them into prewarmed 4 inch pots with seed starting mix. This was round one.   Monday, April 29 View Page Here's what I've got built for 2024: four 24x48 greenhouses for four pumpkins; a 20x25' tomato hut for 12 tomatoes; a 15x15' cloche for a squash; an outdoor 7x21.5' space for my 150 sq. foot patch, and two long gourds on my trellis. Maybe if I'm feeling ambitious, I'll grow a marrow...that's a game time decision.   Wednesday, May 1 View Page The greenhouses are up and covered!   Wednesday, May 1 View Page The compost I made all fall and winter was spread!   Wednesday, May 1 View Page The Thurston County growers took a field trip down to Oregon for our amendments! We're going to grow some enormous pumpkins and tomatoes!   Wednesday, May 1 View Page My no-till patch got amendments then I had to hand spread 12 more yards of compost on it.   Wednesday, May 1 View Page The babies right before planting out.   Wednesday, May 1 View Page Seeds were started for the main greenhouses April 9th, in a favorable moon phase. Next, they were potted up April 17th. Finally, they were planted out April 25th.   Wednesday, May 1 View Page I was pleased with the babies' roots this year.   Thursday, May 2 View Page Presenting the 2024 pumpkin greenhouse lineup! In greenhouse 1, the no-till patch, here's the 2560 Gienger.   Thursday, May 2 View Page In greenhouse 2, I have the 2501 Bernstrom.   Thursday, May 2 View Page In greenhouse 3, I'll be growing the 2287 Sadiq.   Thursday, May 2 View Page Finally in greenhouse 4, I'm growing the 1707.5 Caspers.   Friday, May 3 View Page Meanwhile, I have some more starts potted up in the house under the lights including my 150 sq foot plant, and backups (both squash and pumpkin). My main squash seeds arrived 2 weeks late in the mail from Medhi Daho in Frence, so I started those 2 nights ago. In order to catch them up, I'll be taking some pages from Travis' playbook, and got my Co2 generators tested and ready so we can hit the ground running when they emerge (hopefully by tomorrow)! It's a 1628.5 Sikorski x 1109 Jutras cross with great color and shape. I like that it's an outcross, and not linebred 1109.   Friday, May 3 View Page I was planning on using a squash breeding project plant for the 150 square foot challenge, but both plants were wonky (one cot and double vined), so I planted one of my backups instead: the 2501 Bernstrom. It's a looker fosho!   Sunday, May 12 View Page Happy Mother's Day! Here are some pics of my pumpkin babies!   Sunday, May 12 View Page I changed out my 150 square foot entry to my original plan: The 1857.4 Vanheuckelom #2 squash in the world for 2023 (782.6 Vanheuckelom x 1940 Urena). I initially thought it was going to be a double vine, but it's acting normal, so I'm glad to add it back into my lineup as a squash breeding project. I love that he pollinated it with the 1940 Urena, and am excited to get some newer genetics into the greenies. Last year, I tried, but didn't have males ready to self pollinate when it was time. I like this cross better anyways!   Sunday, May 12 View Page Here's the 1707.5 Caspers. It has just touched down the day before and ready to run! PS: This antique steel Oly can is older than me and from our former Olympia Brewery, about 12 minutes away in town.   Sunday, May 12 View Page Here's the big and beautiful 2287 Sadiq. It has a 4 foot vine and quite aggressive!   Sunday, May 12 View Page My 2501 Bernstrom was my biggest, fastest and best baby, but stalled out in the patch for unknown reasons....last night I figured out why: the soil heating cable wasn't plugged into the thermostat....doh!!! Hopefully now it'll warm up and catch up. It just laid down today, and seems to have some seriously far-reaching roots!   Sunday, May 12 View Page Here's my 4 foot long vine on my 2560 Gienger in the no-till patch. This plant is AGGRESSIVE, and I'm hoping the no-till benefits it.   Sunday, May 12 View Page I did some tissue pH and brix testing yesterday and the plants are balanced, so I'll just keep on keepin' on. I must be doing something right!   Wednesday, May 15 View Page There's a backup plant started 4/15 on top, and my Daho competition squash plant soaked 5/1 and put in a 5 gallon bucket on 5/2. It's only 10 days post germination, and already a pretty good size.   Wednesday, May 15 View Page Planted out the squash since we've got a window of cloudy weather, which I like for transplanting.   Thursday, May 16 View Page Because the squash got such a late start, it's going to get some advantages to help it get caught up: LED lights and Co2.   Friday, May 17 View Page Tobeck 11 plant roster: 7.57 LaRue, 7.98 LaRue, 10.46 LaRue, 8.8 Daho, 6.32 LaRue, 9.06 Brown, 8.8 Daho, 8.51 LaRue, Roma, 8.8 Daho, 9.06 Brown, 7.98 LaRue   Wednesday, October 2 View Page https://ultexplorer.org/2024/cindy-tobeck   Wednesday, October 2 View Page YouTube