Posts Tagged ‘pumpkins’
“Huge Pumpkins up to 70″ Around!”
My seeds from Seed Savers Exchange
Last year’s successes have emboldened me enough to expand the garden. For the first time I’ve saved some seeds from last year to plant this year. Jesse brought some seeds from Brooklyn at Christmas that I’m anxious to plant and today I got some pumpkin seeds that will give me “huge pumpkins, up to 70″ around!”
I’ve taken a different approach to seed selection. Last year I picked up seeds on sale from Ace and Home Depot. This year I’ve done that again but I’ve also investigated some of the seed companies that specialize in heirloom and rare varieties. I have also taken a look at some of the companies that sell primarily to commercial producers. Those companies that maintain their own test lots and labs and trial grounds and whose germination rates exceed federal standards are the places I want to shop for seeds. Although there are others, I’ve taken a close look at Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Territorial Seed Company, Stokes Seeds Ltd. and Parks Seed Company which has a wonderful Gardeners Handbook.
This year my favorite resource for seeds is the Seed Savers Exchange. This is a non-profit organization that saves and shares heirloom seeds. It is the largest non-governmental seed bank in the United States. They have 23 acres of certified organic preservation gardens. Their site itself contains a wealth of information on all aspects of gardening as well as seed saving and trading. Even their seed packets have instructions for seed saving . The Seed Savers Exchange is the source of the seeds photographed above.
Let me know if you’ve come upon a favorite seed source.
And yes, I know I already used this photo.
Decay… Again
broccoli leaf
Once again I am struck by the aesthetic side of decomposition. This time I took the broccoli leaf into the studio to photograph it. It was a little late in the evening and pretty dark for photography outside.
This is the same type of leaf that in June I was so taken by its waterproof quality. It now looks very different. No longer waterproof, it has taken a distinctly autumn-ish color. It looks worn and ragged.
As my garden ages it changes in so many ways. Leaves like this broccoli leaf become battle scarred. Tomato plants wither from the inside as they seem to yield their energy to the fruits as they ripen. The same fate falls to Noah’s pumpkin plants. They look horrible – just dying – again, in sacrifice to the beautiful pumpkins they produce.
Only the pepper plants continue to look as virile as their fruits.
This is the period of the greatest harvest. It comes at a price the plant itself pays. We enjoy the harvest but I also watch as the plants begin to succumb to their efforts.
Big Plants… and REALLY Big Plants
Noah with his pumpkin
The largest plant I have in my garden is a couple of pumpkin plants. They long ago
“crawled” over the fence and seem to wander at will in my yard. That’s OK with me. It’s less grass to mow.
For all its size there are only 5 pumpkins growing. They are large pumpkins and Noah seems to enjoy them. They grew with amazing speed – much like Noah.
This past June I photographed a wedding in California. Since it was a late afternoon wedding my friend Jim and I spent a couple of hours the morning of the wedding at the Big Trees State Park.
The Park is home to some of the largest trees in the world. Some of them were large trees when Christ was born.
Jim looking at fallen tree at Big Trees State Park
Their pace of growth is very different than Noah’s pumpkins, however. While the pumpkins have a few scars from birds pecking and squirrels scratching them, some of the sequoias and redwoods have holes from Pileated woodpeckers and black marks from lightning strikes from hundreds of years ago.
I find the different cycles of plant growth very interesting but I’m glad Noah doesn’t have to wait a couple of thousand years for his pumpkins.
New Progress in the Garden
ripe cherry tomato!
There are some good thing to report!
• In spite of a cool, wet summer our first cherry tomato has ripened.
• Pumpkins are getting large and on their way to 25#, or so the seed packet says.
• We are learning many ways to cook zucchini! Katie had a zucchini Asiago cheese-omelet this morning.
• Wildflower seeds I planted are blooming, although I don’t know what most of them are.
Anyone who knows wildflowers please feel free to help me identify them.
Any Brooklyn pumpkins yet, Jesse?
How about Pilsen jalapeños, Andy? Does the el cast too much shade on your garden?
This pumpkin is about 12 inches long so far.
unknown wildflower
unknown wildflower with bee
Back to it…
The greenhouse is not the only neglected part of my gardening life. Jesse pointed out that I have not been attending to this blog. Well, he’s right. I’ve been distracted by work, creating a Facebook presence for my photo business, and …well …gardening.
All the spring rains have made everything grow like mad. We have eaten most of the lettuce, all of the spinach (more on that later) and radishes, and a good bunch of turnips last night.
tasty turnips
Also doing very well are
• tomatoes
• broccoli
• zuccini
• Noah’s pumpkins
broccoli
teeny, tiny peppers!
Now, if only I knew what was eating my pepper plants. And …what are those beetles on Noah’s pumpkin plants? Time to get out the insect book. More soon …I promise.
Noah's pumpkin plants are flowering.
Is this thing going to eat Noah's pumpkins?
Missiles From Heaven!
Missiles From Heaven
Today I discovered that Noah’s pumpkin plants are under attack from alien craft using silver maple seed rockets. The one pictured above pierced the pumpkin plant leaf but I am quite certain that the plant will survive.
From Andy…
I got the following note from Andy today. He also sent some wonderful photos of his urban garden.
hey dad!
i just transplanted my pumpkins into a larger container to be left outdoors. here are some photos! i grabbed an old ginger sack from work, filled it with potting soil, placed that in a crate for structure, and added the pumpkin plants. i’m only concerned that there are two plants. i grew them together in a milk jug until this point. do you think that i should take one out? one of them might be better off than two growing together.
andy
(Mostly) Progress
In spite of cold and threatened snow (some fell overnight but none remained this morning), the lettuce, radishes, and turnips have begun to appear. The spinach planted in the egg crates has sprouted but we’re still waiting for the spinach that was planted directly into the ground.
bibb lettuce
My grandson’s pumpkin seeds sprouted almost immediately after planting inside in two yogurt containers. I’ll let them grow a little more before planting them into the ground. They will be planted in the spinach area. With spinach growing quickly in cooler weather, I expect that it will all be picked before the pumpkin plants get very large or maybe even before they are planted outside. I like to have different plants sharing garden space like this. Ideally, this allows me to make effecient use of small spaces.
spinach!
Pumpkins will grow where spinach is now.
The tomato plants are looking very spindly. I put them outside one day that was pretty cold and windy. This may not have been a good thing to do to tropical plants. We’ll see if they survive. The bell pepper plants look great!
Spinach
I’ts still cold outside – in the 30’s. Perfect for planting spinach!
I did a little experiment. I planted some spinach seeds where I will later plant squash and pumpkins. These were planted directly in the ground. I also planted some in a seed-starter-filled egg crate. Since these seeds are just large enough to handle individually, I planted exactly one seed in each section of the egg crate. Modern seed technology seems to make such conservative use of seeds practical. With tiny carrot seeds this would not be practical.
After germination I’ll cut the crate into individual sections and plant them in the ground. We’ll see if this works…
The Garden Space
Here’s where we’ll be sharing food with the rabbits. It’s three strips 24 feet long. The middle strip is four feet wide and the outer ones are 24 inches wide. The narrow strips are for tomatoes and peppers – bell and jalapenõs – and the wider one is for spinach, carrots, turnips, lettuce and broccoli. Another small plot will contain pumpkins and squash.