Week Four

I lost two pumpkin plants in the hail storm last week. They fell victim to broken stems, and this one does not look particularly well. However, the manure mound is doing fair, and I'm hoping for a blossom out of that one soon.

But behold, the Black Horse in the race, I call her the Climber, and she's doing well. A farmer once told me that pumpkins will grow ontop of roofs, limbs, walls, if allowed. After  all, it is a vine. See you next week.

Week Three

The pumpkins had much growth this past week, at least three to four inches. They look pretty healthy; however, I am somewhat concerned about the yellow discoloration on the bottom leaves. I treated them with a plant food called VF-11; it’s supposed to work like magic according to amateur gardeners across the blogosphere. I have to say that I used it on my pumpkins Saturday morning, and by Sunday morning they had grown about another two inches. I also used it on my tomato plants Saturday morning, and by that afternoon all the plants had tomatoes on them! I would've thought that this was my imagination, but when my wife came outside and exclaimed that tomatoes had suddenly sprouted, I got a little excited and a little creped out with this voodoo plant food. When I feel it has successfully contributed to my harvest, I will discuss further and possibly link to the website. The chipmunks are still running the show in my yard. After watching one of them run through the humane trap with peanut butter and sunflower seeds in his jaw, without setting it off of course, I returned to my more murderous attempts. Of course, my attempts failed due to equipment malfunction. The battle continues, but hopefully I can satisfy them with feed to the point where they are not interested in my pumpkins. See you next week.

Week Two

I had to make the first of many hard decisions of pumpkin cultivating. I thinned each mound to two to three plants in order to ensure maximum growth if am lucky enough to produce pumpkins. I tried to choose the healthiest plants, and so far I think I made the right decision. The pure manure mound contains the three plants, but both mounds seem  to be doing fine so far.

I also treated the plants with UltraGreen Plant Food, and Bonide, an organic insecticide. Now the big news, after having a come to God meeting with a chipmunk, to no avail, he proceeded to bury feed provided for him in my mounds! Luckily the plant was saved with only minor surgery. Providing an easy meal, was not the best advice. So after murderous attempts, I have decided to set a humane trap to relocate this particular troublemaker, hopefully I will have an update on that next week. I also added chicken wire to deter the rabbits, dogs, and cats that have developed a hankering for the manure.

A Hydrangea and a Heliot were also added to attract more bees, and it seems to be working.

On the funny side of the garden, a dove has taken a liking to the buffet provided for the squirrels and chipmunks. It won't leave, and it actually lets you walk right up to him! I believe he would eat right out of one's hand, but I am trying to discourage its behavior in fear the neighborhood cat might have it's own buffet. Check out the pose the dove provided! See you next week.