my first pumpkin and squash harvest
Sep. 14th, 2020 04:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareinaI had posted a photo of my pumpkin and squash harvest, and one of my friends asked for my secret and what I did to grow them.
This is what I typed up in reply:
I started planted six "Round Beauty" squash (the green ones) and foour Hubbard pumpa "Bright Summer" (the orange/yellow ones with bottoms flat enough to stand on their own) on 2020-05-03 (these were both purchased from Bloomsterlandet). The Golden Nugget Pumpa (the ones with pointy bottoms) had been started indoors sometime earlier than the ones I started, and given to me by Barbara on 2020-05-11 when it was already more than 10 cm tall (the ones I planted, on the other hand, didn't start sticking their first tiny shoots out of the dirt till the day after I got the Golden Nugget (the seeds for which Barbara had purchased on line)
The Golden Nugget was transplanted to a larger pot on 12 May, and the others got larger pots on the 17th of May. Some weeks later Barbara suggested that it would be a good idea to start giving the pots an hour outside each day to get them used to outdoor conditions. I did this for the first time on 31 May, and managed to accomplish it at least seven times between then and when I planted them outside on 2020-06-12 (at which point they had been flowering for a while).
Their outdoor home was prepared by putting some stone curb stones around a couple of areas at the base of a south facing hill and turning the soil over to discourage the grass (that part took three days) and then adding additional dirt that the tractor had loosened up in the nearby field.
On 2020-06-12, when I finally planted them I first dug a small hole in the ground for each, filled it overflowing with a mix of cow and chicken manure, and put in the plants in the middle of the manure pile. Then I watered them, and made them a cover by fastening together and bending into a bunch of arches some of those old orange sticks that get used to mark the side of the road for snow ploughs. I wedged them into place over the plants between the hill and the rock border, and covered the top part with that white fiber cloth that one buys in plant stores to cover plants. I left the ends open, and the bottom front (sunny side) open for about 30 cm, and the whole back (north) side open.
During the hot part of summer I tried to remember to water them daily, or twice a day on the really hot days (but didn't always get them as much water as they wanted, judging by the way the leaves often looked wilted during that time). once it cooled down a bit and we were getting rain regularly I kind left them on their own, and only bothered to water them once in a great while. After I had harvested the first couple of squash I took away the covering, which I had left while it was so hot out to protect the poor things from direct light.
I was able to harvest the first small squash on 18 July, and I would harvest one at a time of the green squash every few days from then on. I always waited to harvest the next till I had finished eating whatever I had made from the last--early on the squash were small--about the size of the largest of the little green ones that are still more oval than round. By 22 July they had gotten big and round, like a green pumpkin, but still has soft skin, like a zucchini, and I could put all of it into whatever I was cooking. Their skins were still this, and fine to eat on 16 Aug, but by 23 August they had transformed to thick skins that were hard to cut with a knife, and from then on I have been peeling them before cooking.
Since the pumpkins were much smaller and slower growing than the squash (even the one that had had a head start at Barbara's), I left them alone and didn't try harvesting any till this week, and as a result the biggest pumpkins managed to catch up with the biggest of the squash.
I suspect that the pumpkins might have done better if I had done a better job about introducing them to the concept of living out in the harsh weather--when first they went outside it was still getting cold and night, and very soon thereafter it was super hot (for here), but they forgave me enough to make some pumpkins, so I can't complain.
This is what I typed up in reply:
I started planted six "Round Beauty" squash (the green ones) and foour Hubbard pumpa "Bright Summer" (the orange/yellow ones with bottoms flat enough to stand on their own) on 2020-05-03 (these were both purchased from Bloomsterlandet). The Golden Nugget Pumpa (the ones with pointy bottoms) had been started indoors sometime earlier than the ones I started, and given to me by Barbara on 2020-05-11 when it was already more than 10 cm tall (the ones I planted, on the other hand, didn't start sticking their first tiny shoots out of the dirt till the day after I got the Golden Nugget (the seeds for which Barbara had purchased on line)
The Golden Nugget was transplanted to a larger pot on 12 May, and the others got larger pots on the 17th of May. Some weeks later Barbara suggested that it would be a good idea to start giving the pots an hour outside each day to get them used to outdoor conditions. I did this for the first time on 31 May, and managed to accomplish it at least seven times between then and when I planted them outside on 2020-06-12 (at which point they had been flowering for a while).
Their outdoor home was prepared by putting some stone curb stones around a couple of areas at the base of a south facing hill and turning the soil over to discourage the grass (that part took three days) and then adding additional dirt that the tractor had loosened up in the nearby field.
On 2020-06-12, when I finally planted them I first dug a small hole in the ground for each, filled it overflowing with a mix of cow and chicken manure, and put in the plants in the middle of the manure pile. Then I watered them, and made them a cover by fastening together and bending into a bunch of arches some of those old orange sticks that get used to mark the side of the road for snow ploughs. I wedged them into place over the plants between the hill and the rock border, and covered the top part with that white fiber cloth that one buys in plant stores to cover plants. I left the ends open, and the bottom front (sunny side) open for about 30 cm, and the whole back (north) side open.
During the hot part of summer I tried to remember to water them daily, or twice a day on the really hot days (but didn't always get them as much water as they wanted, judging by the way the leaves often looked wilted during that time). once it cooled down a bit and we were getting rain regularly I kind left them on their own, and only bothered to water them once in a great while. After I had harvested the first couple of squash I took away the covering, which I had left while it was so hot out to protect the poor things from direct light.
I was able to harvest the first small squash on 18 July, and I would harvest one at a time of the green squash every few days from then on. I always waited to harvest the next till I had finished eating whatever I had made from the last--early on the squash were small--about the size of the largest of the little green ones that are still more oval than round. By 22 July they had gotten big and round, like a green pumpkin, but still has soft skin, like a zucchini, and I could put all of it into whatever I was cooking. Their skins were still this, and fine to eat on 16 Aug, but by 23 August they had transformed to thick skins that were hard to cut with a knife, and from then on I have been peeling them before cooking.
Since the pumpkins were much smaller and slower growing than the squash (even the one that had had a head start at Barbara's), I left them alone and didn't try harvesting any till this week, and as a result the biggest pumpkins managed to catch up with the biggest of the squash.
I suspect that the pumpkins might have done better if I had done a better job about introducing them to the concept of living out in the harsh weather--when first they went outside it was still getting cold and night, and very soon thereafter it was super hot (for here), but they forgave me enough to make some pumpkins, so I can't complain.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-09-15 07:34 am (UTC)