Tag Archives: pumpkin
Remembering Autumn
As mild as this winter has been, it’s still been winter! Don’t get me wrong – I’ve greatly enjoyed our -4° instead of our -40° weather – but veggies & fruit won’t grow in -4° any more than -40°. (Well, except for haskap…. but that’s not the point.) The point is that I’m getting anxious for spring as I assume many of you are. I’ve order my seeds long ago and I’m ready to get planting. However, the time is not yet upon us for such things, even though technically, I guess, it’s not ever too early to figure out how to prepare your garden for spring.
So in the meantime, I thought I’d look back at a few of the photos I took last autumn to remind myself of what I have to look forward to. The first is a photo of my prized pumpkin. I only got one this year – that’s why it’s so prized! I wish I had a Mighty Max garden cart to carry it in from the garden! This baby became pumpkin pie. And pumpkin pie. And pumpkin pie. And more pumpkin pie. (I can think of no greater purpose for a veggie!… or a melon… or whatever a pumpkin is classified as…)
Another highlight of my garden this year was the corn! Man, did we get corn! Not only did the kids love “exploring in the corn”….
We also enjoyed eating lots and lots of beautiful peaches and cream corn on the cob!
The kids also enjoyed the wildlife that came through this year. We had an ABUNDANCE of ladybugs…
And a we had our first visit by a salamander. This little fellow was living under our composting lettuce heads.
And of course, we took time to stop and smell the flowers.
Well, I’m afraid all that reminiscing didn’t pacify my longings for spring. In fact, perhaps, it even intensified them a little. But as I look outside, I see the sun shining and the snow melting – and I know that, while it’s not here quite yet – spring is indeed coming. And I shall be ready for it!
A Photo Stroll Around The Yard
This evening I took a walk around my yard with my little girl and my camera. We planted a few potatoes in an old dirt pile (for lack of garden space and having extra seed potatoes), planted a couple of cucumbers and transplanted a few tomatoes (left over from Grandma’s greenhouse), caught a frog and watched a giant beetle, and through it all – took lots of pictures. So here are a few highlights – at least the ones that were in focus…
The Garden
Our journey started in the garden where the peas are starting to pop up. This is the spot that was lawn last year, so I’m thinking it may be a bit grassy/weedy this year.
Our raspberries that we transplanted last year are coming along.
The sunflowers have made their appearance.
The squash is a little nervous about showing it’s face.
My pumpkin, hit by frost on May 26th, may actually recover.
The Yard
The mosquitoes are out enjoying the blossoms of my Ethel Pink Mayday.
This ladybug posed for us on the tip of a Tiger Lily.
We quickly snapped this picture of this bumble bee before it buzzed off.
The Pasture
These buffalo beans grow all around this area.
These shooting stars are scattered around the wetlands.
None of my close-up shots worked very well, but these little purple wildflowers sure looked pretty – even the dandelions seemed to fit in.
Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing these pictures almost as much as I did taking them. Oh wait, let me show you one more. It’s my favorite, but I’m biased…
Yellow Leaves On Your Seedlings?
Over the past few days I’ve noticed two things. First, my cucumber seedlings have a tendency to die for some reason. Secondly, many of my plants have a growing yellow tint. Some tiny spots on the leaves have gone brown. Like this…
This hadn’t happened in the two previous years of starting seedlings indoors, so I wasn’t sure what I was doing wrong.
So I did a little research on the internet and it wasn’t hard to find the answer. It was… lack of fertilizer. As I was reading several articles that explained this to me, I realize that I had neglected to fertilize my seedlings this year! So, today I gave them a healthy dose of fertilizer (though I was tempted to do extra, I refrained…). We’ll see how long it takes for them to recover and if my problem was actually what I think it was.
If you’ve got a more accurate understanding of the problem, let me know!