Pumpkin Patch II

I've previously mentioned my family's pumpkin patches that we enjoyed as kids in the 1990's so I won't repeat myself again.  Until last year it had been many years since those huge vines were present at the farm.  Justin and I, with my mom's help, planted pumpkins and gourds.  We did it by hand and it was quite labor intensive.  Then we proceeded to ignore it for a month.  It was planted in a field and pumpkins can't be sprayed with the usual chemicals (round-up) so you couldn't even see where the pumpkin plants were between the five foot high (I'm not exaggerating) mustard and thistle and marsh elder weeds.  Then there was a six week span of days without rain during the key pumpkin forming phase.  All of these factors resulted in some very small pumpkins. 

This year we are off to a better start already.  Justin obtained a single row seed drill (it was part of a larger planter) and he adapted it for our pumpkin planting needs. 

I don't have a "before" picture but I can tell you it did not look green and shiny like that when he got it!  Also, it did not attach neatly to the bucket of a skid steer. 

The white plastic pipe feeds into the drill.  In its original form there would have been a large bucket with a lid attached where the pipe is.  When we were kids we planted this way by riding on the back of the planter with the buckets removed.  Can you even see any of the details I speak of without being blinded by that white figure in the bucket? That Mayville State 3 on 3 basketball shirt is as glaringly white as the day I earned it at that long passed 3 on 3 tournament!  My mom's bleach habit made sure of that.  It's only a shade whiter than my skin! 

We planted several long rows of pumpkins that are spaced a distance that will make it easy to cultivate between the rows before they vine out to help with weed control.  Rain is also important since this field is too far from a water source for sprinklers.  Hopefully we will have more success than last year!  The bar is low!

Here are  few pictures of the kids playing at the end of last week.  They are golfing and playing baseball.  I guess I should call it "golfing" and "playing baseball" because what they were doing hardly resembled those games but they had fun. 

Milo is getting more mobile.  I wouldn't say he is crawling but he really gets around on the floor. 

It's funny when he really wants something but he can't reach it!