Jeffslodigarden

Jeffslodigarden Vegetable and fruit tree growing, gardening, and giant pumpkin growing. Author. JeffreysMcLain.com Giant pumpking grower, blogger, and author.

Author of book titled "Backyard Big: How to Grow Atlantic Giant Pumpkins in your Backyard". Vegetable grower and orchardist. Sharing success and failures in my garden.

06/23/2026

I have been thinking about getting a battery powered backpack sprayer for a few years. I use these sprayers to apply nutrients, insecticides, and fertilizer. (I have a separate sprayer for w**d killer!) I finally purchased a Greenworks 60v. It uses the same battery as my lawnmower and blower. It is so much better! I can cover more ground in less time. I am not making any money off this post. I just wanted to fill you in.

06/20/2026

I had some help today for Father’s Day weekend! I did some summer pruning on seven of my fruit trees. Sarah got all the trimmings into the trailer and Anne did my watering for me!

06/18/2026

I planted the 1605 McLain Atlantic giant pumpkin in three different locations, and the result is three very different plants. All were planted within a few days of each other, and they are about 4.5 weeks old. This is a very interesting experiment.

Home patch: 30 percent shade cloth, some afternoon shade, drip tape, w**d fabric, sprinkler for mist. This plant has a double vine, and I am growing it in a V shape. It has about 90 leaves and is growing rapidly.

Calabasa patch: gets about 5 hours of sun with afternoon shade. Overhead sprinkler and drip-fed—large but few of them - about 55. Primary is long and secondaries slow.

Old School House: full sun, no shade cloth, misted, overhead sprinkler. Lots of leaves and vines.

What variety!

06/13/2026

It is another hot one today. I set my sprinkler to go on every 10 minutes for 1 minute. That seems to keep the plant cool. I am using w**d fabric this year because I didn’t fit in a cover crop. It is a pain to work with, but I hope it helps with w**d suppression later in the season. I should be eyeing a female flower about now, but I am a few weeks behind. The plant is growing very fast now. It won’t be long.

06/08/2026

Let me explain what I am doing. I picked these apriums yesterday, about a day before peak ripeness. I put them on the counter and test them several times a day. The perfectly ripe ones go to the edge so that the family can grab from that side when they walk by. I definitely don’t want someone to eat an unripe aprium!Does anyone else do this weird thing?

06/05/2026

My eight ball squash are just underwhelming. I am grilling today and I’m still going to use these walnut sized squash. Maybe things will get better in a few weeks. I really do like eight ball squash and acorn squash but little tiny ones. I’m not sure.

06/01/2026

This is my Tomcot apricot tree. It never ceases to produce large,juicy apricots and is one of my first trees to produce fruit after cherries.

05/30/2026

I had some extra time today to tinker with my compost. I usually make a hole in the middle and water the pile to keep it moist. I had an extra piece of pipe and I drilled holes in it and put it in the center. My hope is that I can water it easily and also allow oxygen to get to the center of the pile. Since it is getting hot this week, I’m covering it to keep the sun off the pile.

05/28/2026

I wouldn’t say it is rare to be raining in late May in Lodi. But it is not common. I feel bad for cherry growers, but my experience is a little bit of rain is loved by my vegetables. Hopefully the sun will come out later and things will dry out. Of course I had several hundred onions drying in the shade and they got wet. Looks like I get to get the leaf blower out this afternoon!

05/26/2026

It has now been several weeks since I transplanted the giant pumpkins. I started a little bit later this year, in hopes of avoiding the use of heating cables and temporary greenhouses. Of course it has been unseasonably cool and things have been slow. Nevertheless, they are starting to lay down. The primary vines can be seen. Once the vine starts moving across the ground then all the hard work begins.

Address

8679 Schmeidt Road
Lodi, CA
95240

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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+12094525269

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