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Post by Sandbur on Dec 16, 2021 16:40:07 GMT -6
The pumpkins and squash are all cleaned up. The deer headed to the corn early, tonight. Four more joined them. This type of weather moves deer towards my red cedar woods.
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Post by honker on Sept 25, 2022 19:13:44 GMT -6
After I created my dug out water hole I lined the edge with pumpkin seeds even though it was a little late in the season. I thought it would help keep down the grasses where I wasn't going to seed fall annuals. They put on some solid growth. Got some decent sized squash and some pumpkins are starting to form now.
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Post by smsmith on Jun 1, 2023 8:50:20 GMT -6
Early June is a good time to plant pumpkins, right?
I had some left over soil from some old flower pots. Added a few forkfuls of composted pine shavings from last year's chickens, and a cup or so of watersorb. Mixed it all up in a wheelbarrow and plan to make a few mounds for pumpkins. I'll put those down by the garden so they can get watered.
I'm thinking I'm also going to try planting some in a few gopher mounds in the houseplot. I have sprayed that plot 2 years in a row with Imox, so I'm doubting I'll get very good germination. We'll find out I guess.
edit...I put in three mounds by the veggie garden and maybe half a dozen in the houseplot. The seed is at least two years old, so I'm not super hopeful for awesome results.
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Post by benmnwi on Jun 1, 2023 12:17:03 GMT -6
Yes, I always try to plant my pumpkins around June 1st and that has worked well for me. I'm hoping to get in about 1/4 acre of pumpkins this weekend along with some watermelon, squash and cucumbers.
I'm just using saved pumpkin seeds from last year's halloween pumpkins. Those were home grown as well, and they seem to slowly be getting slightly smaller every year that goes by. I'm guessing they are getting cross pollinated and slowly drifting away from the original pumpkin type that I purchased online years ago. I probably should purchase new seed next year to reset things.
I've had some pretty funny looking cross bred squash over the years as well. They usually grow from my compost pile or the edge of the pigpen and they tend to share traits from different squash species. They always look like they will be tasty, but I've never had any that tasted good. The pigs and deer like them though.
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Post by benmnwi on Jun 5, 2023 12:38:11 GMT -6
We planted about 1/4 acre of pumpkins over the weekend, so hopefully we get some rain to get them started. The soil was very dry, so they won't be sprouting until we get some rain.
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Post by smsmith on Jun 5, 2023 12:52:40 GMT -6
Early June is a good time to plant pumpkins, right? I had some left over soil from some old flower pots. Added a few forkfuls of composted pine shavings from last year's chickens, and a cup or so of watersorb. Mixed it all up in a wheelbarrow and plan to make a few mounds for pumpkins. I'll put those down by the garden so they can get watered. I'm thinking I'm also going to try planting some in a few gopher mounds in the houseplot. I have sprayed that plot 2 years in a row with Imox, so I'm doubting I'll get very good germination. We'll find out I guess. edit...I put in three mounds by the veggie garden and maybe half a dozen in the houseplot. The seed is at least two years old, so I'm not super hopeful for awesome results.Given the temps, I'd think I'd be seeing some sprouting by now. The more I think about it, the more I think the seeds were closer to 4 years old than 2. I just ordered some fresh pumpkin and squash seeds.
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Post by Bob on Jun 6, 2023 18:36:02 GMT -6
Yes, I always try to plant my pumpkins around June 1st and that has worked well for me. I'm hoping to get in about 1/4 acre of pumpkins this weekend along with some watermelon, squash and cucumbers. I'm just using saved pumpkin seeds from last year's halloween pumpkins. Those were home grown as well, and they seem to slowly be getting slightly smaller every year that goes by. I'm guessing they are getting cross pollinated and slowly drifting away from the original pumpkin type that I purchased online years ago. I probably should purchase new seed next year to reset things. I've had some pretty funny looking cross bred squash over the years as well. They usually grow from my compost pile or the edge of the pigpen and they tend to share traits from different squash species. They always look like they will be tasty, but I've never had any that tasted good. The pigs and deer like them though. Do you know whether you had heirloom or hybrid seed when you started?
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Post by benmnwi on Jun 7, 2023 10:42:48 GMT -6
Yes, I always try to plant my pumpkins around June 1st and that has worked well for me. I'm hoping to get in about 1/4 acre of pumpkins this weekend along with some watermelon, squash and cucumbers. I'm just using saved pumpkin seeds from last year's halloween pumpkins. Those were home grown as well, and they seem to slowly be getting slightly smaller every year that goes by. I'm guessing they are getting cross pollinated and slowly drifting away from the original pumpkin type that I purchased online years ago. I probably should purchase new seed next year to reset things. I've had some pretty funny looking cross bred squash over the years as well. They usually grow from my compost pile or the edge of the pigpen and they tend to share traits from different squash species. They always look like they will be tasty, but I've never had any that tasted good. The pigs and deer like them though. Do you know whether you had heirloom or hybrid seed when you started? I started primarily with a bag of Connecticut field pumpkin seed I purchased, but I also planted a small packet of those giant pumpkin seeds and some ornamental white pumpkins as well. After that first year, I just collected seeds from those pumpkins and dried them to use the following year.
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Pumpkins
Jun 7, 2023 18:17:04 GMT -6
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Post by Sandbur on Jun 7, 2023 18:17:04 GMT -6
Early June is a good time to plant pumpkins, right? I had some left over soil from some old flower pots. Added a few forkfuls of composted pine shavings from last year's chickens, and a cup or so of watersorb. Mixed it all up in a wheelbarrow and plan to make a few mounds for pumpkins. I'll put those down by the garden so they can get watered. I'm thinking I'm also going to try planting some in a few gopher mounds in the houseplot. I have sprayed that plot 2 years in a row with Imox, so I'm doubting I'll get very good germination. We'll find out I guess. edit...I put in three mounds by the veggie garden and maybe half a dozen in the houseplot. The seed is at least two years old, so I'm not super hopeful for awesome results.Given the temps, I'd think I'd be seeing some sprouting by now. The more I think about it, the more I think the seeds were closer to 4 years old than 2. I just ordered some fresh pumpkin and squash seeds. Some of my garden seeds are two plus years old and 2/3 types of squash have emerged. I don’t think there was enough moisture until I watered well. Same for cukes.
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Post by smsmith on Jun 7, 2023 18:32:57 GMT -6
Given the temps, I'd think I'd be seeing some sprouting by now. The more I think about it, the more I think the seeds were closer to 4 years old than 2. I just ordered some fresh pumpkin and squash seeds. Some of my garden seeds are two plus years old and 2/3 types of squash have emerged. I don’t think there was enough moisture until I watered well. Same for cukes. It's possible the mounds in the houseplot didn't have enough moisture to germinate, but not those I put down by the garden.
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Post by smsmith on Jun 13, 2023 13:50:41 GMT -6
Turns out some of the old pumpkin seed did indeed germinate. I'll let those go and see what becomes of them. I mixed up some more old potting soil, old chicken bedding, and watersorb today. Made a mound each of Connecticut field and Big Max pumpkins, zucchini, spaghetti squash, and butternut squash. I'll be stringing hoses towards the end of the week so I can water all of the mounds (and some of the clover) on the houseplot. With any luck, the deer will have plenty of squash and pumpkins to eat this year.
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Post by smsmith on Jun 19, 2023 18:37:15 GMT -6
I let the houseplot/pumpkin mounds get too dry for too long. I've been soaking that area early and late in the day since Friday morning with a tower sprinkler. The subsoil is like powder. It would likely take all of this week, morning and afternoon of moving the sprinkler to bring that soil back to life. I'm thinking I'm about done watering...
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Post by badgerfowl on Jun 20, 2023 9:18:04 GMT -6
I let the houseplot/pumpkin mounds get too dry for too long. I've been soaking that area early and late in the day since Friday morning with a tower sprinkler. The subsoil is like powder. It would likely take all of this week, morning and afternoon of moving the sprinkler to bring that soil back to life. I'm thinking I'm about done watering... Our garden is powder as well. We've been hauling 5 gal buckets (8 at a time) and it's getting old real fast. I planted my Kohlrabi, tomatoes, and peppers in lumite fabric after seeing yours look so great. Those are probably the best looking plants in the garden. The matting definitely holds in the moisture.
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Post by smsmith on Jun 20, 2023 9:23:24 GMT -6
I let the houseplot/pumpkin mounds get too dry for too long. I've been soaking that area early and late in the day since Friday morning with a tower sprinkler. The subsoil is like powder. It would likely take all of this week, morning and afternoon of moving the sprinkler to bring that soil back to life. I'm thinking I'm about done watering... Our garden is powder as well. We've been hauling 5 gal buckets (8 at a time) and it's getting old real fast. I planted my Kohlrabi, tomatoes, and peppers in lumite fabric after seeing yours look so great. Those are probably the best looking plants in the garden. The matting definitely holds in the moisture. Our tomatoes in lumite look great. They love this hot, dry weather. We bought so many tomatoes this year we were out of room for peppers. Those went in the main garden this year. They look good down there, but I've been watering that spot all spring. It's also some heavy ground compared to the houseplot/pumpkin mounds west of the house. If I had to haul water in buckets to the garden(s) I don't think it'd get done... My neighbor put in a new garden this year. He's got almost the whole thing covered in lumite. Cuts way down on watering. There's a bunch of Amish and Mennonite west of us who do the same thing every year. Their gardens really crank out the food.
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Post by badgerfowl on Jun 20, 2023 9:30:44 GMT -6
Our garden is powder as well. We've been hauling 5 gal buckets (8 at a time) and it's getting old real fast. I planted my Kohlrabi, tomatoes, and peppers in lumite fabric after seeing yours look so great. Those are probably the best looking plants in the garden. The matting definitely holds in the moisture. Our tomatoes in lumite look great. They love this hot, dry weather. We bought so many tomatoes this year we were out of room for peppers. Those went in the main garden this year. They look good down there, but I've been watering that spot all spring. It's also some heavy ground compared to the houseplot/pumpkin mounds west of the house. If I had to haul water in buckets to the garden(s) I don't think it'd get done... My neighbor put in a new garden this year. He's got almost the whole thing covered in lumite. Cuts way down on watering. There's a bunch of Amish and Mennonite west of us who do the same thing every year. Their gardens really crank out the food. I like it for weed suppression as well. Not much more I hate than weeding the garden.
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