Hops Update

Here's a look at our hops plants (with some purple morning glory mixed
in). Last year the hops were harvested in late September, which was
actually a little late. This year we are thinking late august to early
september for harvest.

Last Hot Weather Photo

I have nothing witty to say about this.

I'm Melting

As predicted, today is hotter. This is the back yard temp which is a
liitle like a furnance right now.

Ugh

Too Hot

This was the temperature in the backyard yesterday, and today is
supposed to be even hotter!

Leighann and I are cooped up in the downstairs guest room at home
because that's the only window the AC would fit in easily. It's a cool
sanctuary and a blast of heat every time we leave the room.

Sacrifice

I decided to sacrifice pumpkin 1 this afternoon. Growth stopped for a
few days and then it actually started shrinking so I knew it was time
to cut it loose. I don't know why this happened, perhaps it just
started too early. Maybe it was the foam rubber I put under it to
protect it from the ground. Perhaps an infection, who knows. Either
way, the one pumpkin remaining on the plant will get 100% of the
nutrients now.

Heat Wave

(Be sure to keep checking the Pumpkin stats link over in the upper right of this page. It's updated daily)

There's a heat wave going on in Portland right now, and everything is
slowing down. Mensa is especially lethargic, as you can see from the
photo and I installed our window air conditioner in the down stairs
guest room where we've been sleeping.

The upcoming temperature predictions are into the 100s, which is
unusual for Portland. We break 100 a couple times a year, if that. The
plants in the garden are doing really well, as the automatic drip
system I installed last year is keeping everything hydrated, with
minimal effort. It works so well, in fact, that this afternoon I
extended the drip system to the south side of the back yard. I
specifically wanted to hook up drippers to the first pumpkin plant and
the four bamboo containers running along the side fence. I even had
enough of the black tubing to run the system into the back fence area,
for future drip hookup.

All is installed now and working well. I like to think that the couple
hours I spent getting it all connected and running pays off as extra
hammok time down the road, something that sounds really nice right
about now.

Roots

Check out this mid-vine root. It dropped down from the vine below a
pumpkin and I suppose it's meant to draw nutrients as a supplement to
the main roots. I pulled it because I want to have a little mobility
in the vine around the pumpkin so I can position and rotate the
pumpkin if needed.

I even like the photo as a still life.

Pumpkin Data

Chris and I are numbers junkies (I blame my dad!) so I started a
collaborative online spreadsheet to track the daily pumpkin progress.
Granted this takes away the element of secrecy from the competition,
but at this point I don't know that I would be doing anything
differently.

I'll get a link to the data up soon....

Long Vines and Pumpkins

Seems like a good time to share a couple of 3D photos of the progress
in the garden, as growth is really starting to take off. The first
image is the long vine that is stretching out in the back corner
garden. There's definitely room for this plant to grow but
unfortunately my first pollination on this plant did not take. I
pollinated a second flower yesterday (and again this morning) and hope
it will take. The vine on this plant is so amazing that it would be a
shame if I don't get any pumpkins off it.

The second image is the baby pumpkin! I'm keeping a daily record of
circumference to monitor growth, this morning it was measured at
11.5". Either way it's looking great!

Bigger and Bigger

Here's a look at the little pumpkin growing from the plant that's
towards the front yard. It's the location with more shade but better
soil. The back yard plant has a pumpkin too, but it's smaller at this
point. That could be because I pollinated it later or, it seems, that
plant is putting a lot of energy into growing really long vines.

Chris' attempt

Here's the pumpkin chris is growing. It's actually looking pretty good
so I'm going to have to sabotage it soon.

I Feel Dirty

This morning I pollinated a female flower. No romantic music. No sweet
talk. I plucked the male flower and rubbed the pollen all over the
female flower. That was it. Pumpkin sex at it's finest.

Hoptastic!

At this rate I hope my trellis string hold up to the weight of all the
vines. Last year we harvested in September, so there's a lot of time
for these to keep growing.

Our Big Farm

I'll tell more about this later for those of you who don't know. We
joined a group of people farming two acres of organic land on Sauvie
Island, twenty minutes from our house. Leighann and I brought out
dinner and wine, it's 75 degrees and were drinking wine. I love farming!

Jasmine Explosion

Our front porch.