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I don't notice much smell on the flower, but after handling the flowers there is a stink left on my hands. I'm not sure how to describe it. The closest thing I can compare it to would be slightly sweet raw mushrooms.

Jerusalem Artichokes are usually grown from their tubers, which taste quite good. I got my tubers from a farmers market, but I have seen them in a few grocery stores in the fall. The Pink Bananas taste a lot like pumpkin with a little extra sweetness. I think they make a better pie than...

Today was a pollination day. I hand pollinated one pumpkin and seven Jumbo Pink Bananas.   If your looking for an interesting Sunflower, you could try Jerusalem Artichokes. They have tiny flowers, but they can get really tall. Last year mine got to over 12 feet.   Dill's flower hand pollinated...

I just got back home from the Oklahoma monsoons. My pumpkin patch was busy without me. It grew several feet and started flowering. So far several males and one female bloomed.   The Patch   Male Dill's Flowers   This female bloomed either Friday or Saturday. I didn't get home until early...

My pumpkins are taking over. The last two weeks have been very dry and my rain barrel was almost empty. Luckily we got a thunderstorm on Saturday and two more today. Now there is a thick wall of humidity out there.   Here is the unruly patch.   There are a half dozen female buds forming.  ...

I found a small split on the vine. I guess it was either the temperature or the wind that did it. On Tuesday it got up to 90 and by Wednesday morning it was 43. There was gusty wind most of the day on Wednesday. I'm not too worried, I've seen squash plants recover from worse.  

I have not had any male flowers open yet, but I have female buds forming. The vine also has a small branch.  

This week the nights were between 55 and 61, the days were between 79 and 85. But that is about 10 degrees above average.   The soil is a product called Leafgro. It is composted leaves and grass clipping produced by the state. I also mixed in some rock dust.

It has been four days since I last posted a picture. A lot of growth since then.   Dill's Atlantic on the right. Other two are Jumbo Pink Banana.   Dill's vine. The top half of the picture grew in the last three days. Auto-focus had a little trouble with this angle.     The weather reports are...

24 hours later, I have tendrils.   Since the Dill's is a maxima, I'll try using it's pollen on the Jumbo Pink Banana. Last year I realized the pink bananas make a better pie. It will be interesting to see what some big genetics will do to it.

I don't have any tendrils on my Dill's, but my Pink Bananas have a few. The stem is growing in a zig-zag pattern right now.   Speaking of pollinating, is the Dill's a C. pepo or C. maxima? I may try using some male flowers from the Dill's on the Pink Banana.  

My Dill's is still growing. It has a few tiny bud like things at the base, and I think it started to vine. It looks like it will head off in a slightly different direction than I first thought. I guess the wind may have twisted it the first few day it was in the ground.     I improvised a...

I think my Dill's is starting to vine. It spent Thursday and Friday nights under covers. I don't think it got below freezing here, but the counties to the north, east and west were under frost advisories.   The 10 day forecast shows good weather(for humans, plants could use a little more rain)...

Hey Trent, do you have a Bradford Pear near your garden? I see a lot of petals in your pictures.   All of my squash are getting covered tonight. The forecast is for 36 degrees, but last night the forecast was off by 4 degrees.

Here is mine a little over a week after going in the ground. There is a bit of growth at the base and should start to vine soon. It has been getting rain every other day, so I have not had to do anything since planting it. There is a high risk of severe thunderstorms this afternoon.      

Now that you've harvested, whats next for that pumpkin? Last October, I bought a 25 pound pumpkin and was able to make enough pies to get through the winter. I might still have one in the freezer.

I thought about that when I started planting them. The two on the right should grow towards an empty space in my yard. The one on the left I got careless. I'll see what it does and guide it if I have to.   A couple years ago I had a white pumpkin plant grow over the fence into the neighbor's...

I was looking at the forecast and saw no temps below freezing. So the Dill's Atlantic and Jumbo Pink Bananas went in the ground. They are planted in raised beds that are about 20 inches to ground level and filled with mostly composted leaves and grass clippings.   The Atlantic Giant is on the...

Here's my Dill's just eight days after poking out of the soil. This thing is growing too fast, I still have a little over a week until the average last frost date.  

Out here it is rare to see any lupine, and when you do they are usually damaged by deer and don't come to flower. Last year I found this lone white Lupinus perennis in a big patch of blue. I believe these are listed as threatened here in Maryland.