Thursday, April 13, 2023

A Springtime Walk Through the Garden

Today was a gorgeous spring day.  It was one of those days that you want to relish and enjoy before the humidity, mosquitoes and heat kicks in.  After work, I did just that by taking a walk in the garden and checking on things.  First, I checked an experiment I was running on old seed.  I planted some butternut squash and green striped cushaw squash from 2009 I had saved.  It's old seed, but I figured at least some of it would germinate.  Nope.  Not one.  It teaches me that saving seed is good.  Saving seed for too long is not.

I also checked on a row of cowpeas I planted.  The variety was Ozark Razorback Peas.  They were from 2012.  I knew the germination would be low, so instead of planting every 4 inches, I planted every 2 inches.  On the 15 foot row, I would say only about 20% germinated.  I filled in the holes today by planting in the gaps at a 1 inch spacing.  We'll see how well this fills in the holes once Round 2 germinates.

Let's take a look at the other garden progress:

Straightneck Yellow Squash

Crookneck Yellow Squash

Black Beauty Eggplant

The Onion Crop

About a month away from harvest

The row of zucchini

Baby zucchini just forming

One row of blackeyes and one row of purple hull peas

The trellis of cucumbers blooming

Baby cukes setting on the vines

39 Heirloom Tomato Plants trellised

A Cherokee Purple setting fruit

Snap beans flanked by sweet corn

I'll be picking the first mess of Contender snap beans tomorrow!
Watermelon, Cantaloupe, and Butternut squash where they can vine




                                                                40 feet of Irish potatoes

Hope your gardens produce bountiful produce for your kitchen tables!



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