Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 45 Entries. Tuesday, March 26 View Page I did a germination test on my 2054 Strickler ‘23 seeds. They went 6 for 6. Very happy for that, as I had dispersed many of them. Good luck to everyone that grows one.   Tuesday, March 26 View Page A recap of last year. This is my 1099 pound fruit at the Indiana State Fair. It was 326 Ritter x 2365 Wolf. Unfortunately, the plant had contracted YVD which had caused cessation of growth of the fruit. I had a 1953 Daletas plant going also but lost that fruit to rot.   Tuesday, March 26 View Page Here’s the pic.   Tuesday, March 26 View Page This is my 2054 Strickler at the Dublin, OH weighoff. We were absolutely thrilled to take 3rd place at such a large event. This was 2365 Wolf x 1686.5 Stelts, so we should be looking for the seeds to go heavy.   Friday, April 19 View Page Did a germination test on my 2054 seed, they went 6 for 6   Friday, April 19 View Page We had 4 minutes of totality at the solar eclipse 4/8. It truly was spectacular!   Friday, April 19 View Page We had to had to decorate some rocks.   Friday, April 19 View Page We had a toilet water supply line burst in the middle of the night releasing I don’t know how many hundreds/thousands of gallons of water. So we’ve been a little busy. Actually I had considered not growing this year. Fortunately Kathy wouldn’t hear of it. So here are some of my tomato starts.   Friday, April 19 View Page More of my tomato starts.   Friday, April 19 View Page Here are my seed selections. This year, focusing on huge, but looking to incorporate heavy genetics into the large seed lines. Mystery pollinator will be revealed later, won’t start it until 10 days later.   Friday, April 19 View Page This is what I used last year to combat weeds. Obviously spray under the leaf canopy, try to avoid the leaves, got excellent results.   Friday, April 19 View Page So last night I sowed my AG seeds into cowpots after soaking them in water with Humic acid for 2 hours. The seeds were lightly sanded. They are in Black Gold Natural Organic Seedling Mix, to which I have added Mycos, Azos & Trichoderma, and then some extra Azos right on the seed. I placed them in my egg incubator at 84 degrees & 85% humidity.   Monday, April 22 View Page The first 4 up! 1953 Daletas x 2, 2147.5 Sippel $ 2195.5 Kisamore.   Wednesday, May 1 View Page I’ve got my best 2 plants, 1953 Daletas transplanted out in the patch.   Wednesday, May 1 View Page In Patch C I’ve transplanted 2 2147.5 Sippel plants into my minigreenhouses. It was a tough decision between these & 2 2195.5 Kisamores.   Thursday, May 2 View Page The emblem for our Gt tomato competition team!   Friday, May 3 View Page The transplants at my 3rd patch…1747.5 Handy. Going for super heavy!   Wednesday, May 29 View Page As some of you know, I graft all of my tomatoes. I use the Approach graft technique. I tried topgrafting but my success rate topped out at 50%. With Approach grafting I’m successful 95% of the time. This pic show the scion and the rootstock cuts.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page This pic shows the 2 plants meeting up & held by a slipknot.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page Here are 2 of my tomato beds. The back one is for the Giants, 18 of them. The front bed has 18 heirloom tomatoes in it, but also has to share the space with 2 peppers, 2 zucchini, a basil plant, a row of green beans down the middle & 2 AGs under the Aluminet that are pollinator plants. They will be removed once I’ve used their pollen.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page This is Patch A with a solar shade over it. The majority of the soil surface is covered with weed fabric. You can’t see them here, but this is the home of 2 1747.5 Handy plants.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page These are my 1747.5 Handys. They have been lagging behind my other plants & have some wonky leaves, undoubtedly something I have done but ???. In my experience, the plants tend to grow out of early difficulties.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page This is my 1953 Daletas on May 27. It had a length of 8’1”.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page This is my 2147.5 Sippel on Monday, leading the pack at 10’ 3”.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page This is my 2147.5 Sippel on Monday, leading the pack at 10’ 3”.   Friday, June 21 View Page My 2147.5 Sippel is beset with disease. I consulted Matt DeBacco’s foliar disease pictorial & I thought it might be Alternaria or Gummy Stem Blight. So I tried 6 different fungicides but no joy. Finally I consulted the Man himself. Matt was very kind & extremely helpful. He thinks it is most likely Angular Leaf Spot, which is a bacterial disease. He recommended Hydrogen Peroxide foliar followed by Copper. Of course it is so hot right now I can’t do the Cu as there would be severe leaf burn. But the H2O2 is holding it at bay. Thanks Matt!   Friday, June 21 View Page My 1953 Daletas 12 DAP with circ 30”. Only 12.5’ out on the main vine so hoping the next pollination took.   Friday, June 21 View Page My 2147.5 Sippel 10 DAP with circ of 24.5”. It is 17’ out on the main vine so I’d like to make it the keeper.   Friday, June 21 View Page At Lucas Oil Stadium yesterday for the US Olympic Team Trisls for Swimming.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Despite the storms & disease problems we persist. This is our 1953 Daletas fruit that we have dubbed “Calvin”. He is 30 DAP & tapes out at 378#.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page This is our 2147.5 Daletas we have dubbed “Hobbes”. He is 28 DAP taping out at 372#.   Saturday, August 10 View Page We had a good time at the Indiana State fair today. Here a group pic of the growers.   Saturday, August 10 View Page Calvin ended up at 4th place with 795# but did win the HDA. And I took 1st & 2nd place in tomatoes at 4.08 & 4.0#.   Saturday, August 10 View Page Calvin ended up at 4th place with 795# but did win the HDA. And I took 1st & 2nd place in tomatoes at 4.08 & 4.0#.   Wednesday, August 21 View Page First tomato I weighed yesterday, from my 8.36 Strickler 21’ MegaDom   Wednesday, August 21 View Page The second fruit I weighed yesterday. It’s from 11.65 Faust, a Domingo.   Sunday, August 25 View Page These are the cracks in my 2054 last year from driving on I70 East on our way to the Dublin, OH weighoff. The cracks were roughly 18” & 6” in length, thankfully did not extend to the cavity. I have purchased a 96 pack of the orange donut shock absorbers with T nuts & plan to recoup some of the expense by selling the ones I don’t use. It will still require you to get a proper bolt or screw to attach to the pallet. For further info, go to skidmatesnow.com. They will be $6 + shipping. Shipping will vary by how many you get & distance. They are supposed to be here in 2 days. Contact me by email: bogeymeister@icloud.com. First come, first served. I shall sell the   Friday, September 6 View Page Seed was 7.94 LaRue Domingo. Will enter into the GPC.   Thursday, September 26 View Page We lifted our only remaining fruit to take to the weighoff at the Hodge Farm. Couldn’t begin to accomplish it without my sweet wife.   Saturday, September 28 View Page We were very fortunate with the weather for the Hodge Family Farm weighoff today. Had a great time speaking with other growers. The group pic is the growers assembled around the winning fruit, 1126 Strickler. We also had field pumpkins, watermelon, bushel gourd & tomatoes weighed.   Friday, November 1 View Page Our 40th anniversary was Oct 27 so we had a party. It was costume optional but we opted to do it. The costumes we are wearing are from 1999. It was our son’s first Halloween so Kathy created matching costumes for us.   Friday, November 1 View Page This is the Halloween sculpting I did on Susie. It is below my standard but I was short on time with the rain rolling in.   Friday, November 1 View Page My wife patiently awaiting the arrival of the trick-or-treaters.   Friday, November 1 View Page Susie after dark.   Friday, November 1 View Page In summary, it has been a horrible year with all of the disease. But I certainly learned a lot. I think that is my excuse for the sparse entries in my diary too.