I decided to attempt a garden this year even after
last year's garden didn't do too well. We got free biosolids from the city and I was hoping it would help break up our clay soil a little and provide some nutrients for the plant to grow. We measured the garden to try a watering system - it is 18' by 18'. Pretty dang big! I think we have about 12 rows. Our garden is doing tons better this year. These first 3 pictures were taken last Wednesday. This first one is my big Jack 'O Lantern pumpkins. It's growing really cool. The start of the vine is zig zag. Plus there's all these curly q's on them too. You can see the zig zag in this picture.
Here's a picture of part of our garden (the back of our house is to the right). From left to right there are cantaloupe and watermelon on the same row. The big pumpkins are the mass closest to me and the ones directly at the other end of the row are my zucchini (I planted the squash/pumpkins in the four corners so they don't go down an entire row like everything else). In the row on the right (down the middle of the picture) between the pumpkin and zucchini are potatoes. We haven't been able to cover the plants yet to encourage root growth. You can also see some corn in the next two rows. I planted everything and there were quite a few things that didn't grow. For the corn I had planted two rows and then waited a few weeks to plant these so they wouldn't be ready at the same time. The first two rows didn't grow but these did. I ended up replanting some things, including the other two rows of corn. In between the potatoes and cantaloupe/watermelon rows I had planted onion (didn't grow and didn't have any to replant) and bell peppers (didn't grow, replanted, still didn't grow).
This is the other half of the garden (closer to the house). You can see the potatoes and corn on the left, to help you connect the two pictures. The mass closest to me is little pumpkins. They're supposed to be about the size of the palm in your hand or something like that. You're also supposed to be able to cook and freeze them. I'm excited for that. At the far end I have yellow squash - one straightneck and the rest are crookneck. On the row to the right of that are tomatoes. The first plants I had died so we got some more. They are doing good - they already have some blossoms. In rows to the left of the tomatoes are beans (I had to replant and 3-4 have started growing), cucumber - one plant has been very slow and another one has recently started, and carrot that didn't grow. You can kind of see Jared's watering idea. It's made of pvc pipe and it floods each row. SO much better than staying outside for hours (literally) to slowly water each row. And much cheaper than a drip system.
I took the rest of these pictures today. I am pretty excited about our garden. Here are some of the straightneck squash.
These are the first open blooms on a crookneck. They are both male but there are some females about ready to open in there so hopefully we'll get some of those growing too. I have a feeling we'll have lots of squash this year. I have 1 straightneck, 3 crookneck, 2-3 zucchini (one of them is HUGE), about 3-5 of the big pumpkins, and around 7 of the little pumpkins. I didn't know if they would grow so we planted as many as we could, since space isn't a problem in our yard. The one problem we've had is squash bugs. I have to go out every night and inspect the plants. I bought some sevin dust because our neighbor said he used the spray and it worked but it didn't last (it only killed when he sprayed). Jared sprinkled the powder for me and I waited a few days without checking. He went out one night and found about 6 couples mating. I went out that same night and found about 4-5 more bugs. I was hoping it would work because the plants are getting so big that it's hard to find them, and to get them out so I can kill them. Anyone have any suggestions?
This is my watermelon. It's starting to create vines (you can see one on the left above the rock). I hope it grows. I love watermelon! It's the black diamond variety.
Here is my cantaloupe. It's not as big as it looks. That's the big pumpkins behind it. There are 3-4 blossoms on it right now (you can see one in the bottom middle of the picture). I'm excited for that one to grow too. I've got a few of those going. The one to the right of it (you can see a couple of the leaves in the corner) also has one bloom on it.
The other day I researched a little to find out how to tell a male and female flower apart. Pretty dang easy. I was wondering because of my squash plant that had started to show it's flowers. Now I look for the females on all my squash and pumpkin plants. I found a couple on my big pumpkin plant. Here's one below in the center of the picture. The flower hasn't opened yet but you can see the bulge right below it. I've learned that's the squash/pumpkin. You can see what it looks like in a straightneck when it starts growing in a few pictures above.
Next year I will definitely be planting my pumpkins and squash with a little more room between them. Last year we had created circles that were dug out and planted them in it. It's a good idea but I think it needs a mound in the middle for the seeds, so they aren't buried in water. And so there's less chance for the leaves to get in the water (that can cause problems too). You can see how my big pumpkin plant is taking over it's little corner. On the left it's right against the cantaloupe and on the right side but above it are the potatoes it's about to squish out. Luckily there isn't anything growing between the potatoes and cantaloupe so I can train the pumpkin to go that way (since there's a few vines already going that general direction) and then keep the others going out of the garden.
It's really been fun to have a garden that's actually growing this year. I'm excited to see how much we get out of it. I was talking to Jared's best friend's wife and we were talking about bottling. She had bottled some tomatoes last year and I asked if she'd help me do it this year. She said sure, but it's with her mother-in-law who does all the bottling and has a HUGE garden (a full lot). Jared asks his friend about things for our garden and it's been very helpful.
Here's a picture of part of our garden (the back of our house is to the right). From left to right there are cantaloupe and watermelon on the same row. The big pumpkins are the mass closest to me and the ones directly at the other end of the row are my zucchini (I planted the squash/pumpkins in the four corners so they don't go down an entire row like everything else). In the row on the right (down the middle of the picture) between the pumpkin and zucchini are potatoes. We haven't been able to cover the plants yet to encourage root growth. You can also see some corn in the next two rows. I planted everything and there were quite a few things that didn't grow. For the corn I had planted two rows and then waited a few weeks to plant these so they wouldn't be ready at the same time. The first two rows didn't grow but these did. I ended up replanting some things, including the other two rows of corn. In between the potatoes and cantaloupe/watermelon rows I had planted onion (didn't grow and didn't have any to replant) and bell peppers (didn't grow, replanted, still didn't grow).
This is the other half of the garden (closer to the house). You can see the potatoes and corn on the left, to help you connect the two pictures. The mass closest to me is little pumpkins. They're supposed to be about the size of the palm in your hand or something like that. You're also supposed to be able to cook and freeze them. I'm excited for that. At the far end I have yellow squash - one straightneck and the rest are crookneck. On the row to the right of that are tomatoes. The first plants I had died so we got some more. They are doing good - they already have some blossoms. In rows to the left of the tomatoes are beans (I had to replant and 3-4 have started growing), cucumber - one plant has been very slow and another one has recently started, and carrot that didn't grow. You can kind of see Jared's watering idea. It's made of pvc pipe and it floods each row. SO much better than staying outside for hours (literally) to slowly water each row. And much cheaper than a drip system.
I took the rest of these pictures today. I am pretty excited about our garden. Here are some of the straightneck squash.
These are the first open blooms on a crookneck. They are both male but there are some females about ready to open in there so hopefully we'll get some of those growing too. I have a feeling we'll have lots of squash this year. I have 1 straightneck, 3 crookneck, 2-3 zucchini (one of them is HUGE), about 3-5 of the big pumpkins, and around 7 of the little pumpkins. I didn't know if they would grow so we planted as many as we could, since space isn't a problem in our yard. The one problem we've had is squash bugs. I have to go out every night and inspect the plants. I bought some sevin dust because our neighbor said he used the spray and it worked but it didn't last (it only killed when he sprayed). Jared sprinkled the powder for me and I waited a few days without checking. He went out one night and found about 6 couples mating. I went out that same night and found about 4-5 more bugs. I was hoping it would work because the plants are getting so big that it's hard to find them, and to get them out so I can kill them. Anyone have any suggestions?
This is my watermelon. It's starting to create vines (you can see one on the left above the rock). I hope it grows. I love watermelon! It's the black diamond variety.
Here is my cantaloupe. It's not as big as it looks. That's the big pumpkins behind it. There are 3-4 blossoms on it right now (you can see one in the bottom middle of the picture). I'm excited for that one to grow too. I've got a few of those going. The one to the right of it (you can see a couple of the leaves in the corner) also has one bloom on it.
The other day I researched a little to find out how to tell a male and female flower apart. Pretty dang easy. I was wondering because of my squash plant that had started to show it's flowers. Now I look for the females on all my squash and pumpkin plants. I found a couple on my big pumpkin plant. Here's one below in the center of the picture. The flower hasn't opened yet but you can see the bulge right below it. I've learned that's the squash/pumpkin. You can see what it looks like in a straightneck when it starts growing in a few pictures above.
Next year I will definitely be planting my pumpkins and squash with a little more room between them. Last year we had created circles that were dug out and planted them in it. It's a good idea but I think it needs a mound in the middle for the seeds, so they aren't buried in water. And so there's less chance for the leaves to get in the water (that can cause problems too). You can see how my big pumpkin plant is taking over it's little corner. On the left it's right against the cantaloupe and on the right side but above it are the potatoes it's about to squish out. Luckily there isn't anything growing between the potatoes and cantaloupe so I can train the pumpkin to go that way (since there's a few vines already going that general direction) and then keep the others going out of the garden.
It's really been fun to have a garden that's actually growing this year. I'm excited to see how much we get out of it. I was talking to Jared's best friend's wife and we were talking about bottling. She had bottled some tomatoes last year and I asked if she'd help me do it this year. She said sure, but it's with her mother-in-law who does all the bottling and has a HUGE garden (a full lot). Jared asks his friend about things for our garden and it's been very helpful.
No comments:
Post a Comment