Sumary of 2009 (pumpkins and zucchinis)

I've just posted a new video about what I learned on my first year of actual gardening in the earth. So I might as well share this knowledge here too.

First the pumpkins!
I started them inside the house I think it was in the middle of April. I didn't want the worms to eat my new sprouts so by the time they went in the garden they had a few leaves. The vines grew pretty fast. But by mid June I was starting to despair about the pumpkins actually growing. They had quite a few flowers, both male and female but they kept falling off. I though it was a watering problem...but now that I think of it I just think it was too early and the plant wasn't ready to grow pumpkins. By mid June I self polinated the flowers(it was always rainy and the bees were scarce) and they finally stayed on the vine. I had one pumpkin per plant and they grew really fast and took a LOT of space. Now they are all turning orange and will soon be harvested and brought in the house. They can keep for a long while just at room temperature, if you don't overheat your house. So I will have enough pumpkins for a while.

Now zucchinis!

Well again like the pumpkins I grew them in the house, because of the worms that like sprouts. Like pumpkins they grew fast and easily. They do need a constant moist soil. And you have to watch not to get the leaves wet for long time as they grow mildew pretty easily. With a few plants (6) I had more than I could eat, litterally! They do take some space, the vine doesn't travel as far as a pumpkin but the leaves are pretty big. One plant grew at least 4 feet long and was over 2 feet wide. They started dying down as the nights got colder. But since I build my greenhouses around them they started growing again. I will probably have a few zucchinis before winter =)

So this is mostly what I learned about those two squashes. Next year I'm gonna try some more squashes, buttercup and butternut. So if you have advice on those please do tell. I would really appreciate it =)

Here's the link to my video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L-hkzrlq0k

No money day 4

Well today is day four and it's still going ok. Tonite is my Friday night since I'm not working tomorow. And after work I was a little tempted by coffee and fried foods. In the afternoon where I worked the lady had the t.v. on. They kept showing ads for "Tim Hortons" and restaurants. So when I got home I made myself a strong coffee and gathered some more lettuce for a salad. Wich was soooo good! And for the fried food...I made myself fried zucchini slices. They were pretty good especially with my homemade garlic diping sauce. But this post isn't about food. It's more about stepping back. This whole experience is starting to feel like a blessing. Makes me appreciate the smaller things in life. And most importantly working to make what you want. Not to buy but to actually make. For a few months now I was feeling like something wasn't right moneywise. And instead of waiting for me to get accustomed to this, I just stopped everything to do with money. It's harsh but it works. The more time passes the more I see that I had lost this self sufficient feeling I love.

Customize your greenhouse !

So tonight I did was I said I would and built my mini greenhouses around my zucchinis. I did have some trouble building the frames since I was alone but I managed. Now I have no idea if it will do anything. But I did leave two zucchinis outside to see differences. I've read that some gardeners extend their gardening season by having raised beds and putting a small hoop greenhouse when the temperature starts dropping. I will of course try this eventually. but I need more time to get more dirt and planks for the raising of the earth. But hey I'm in my first year! So plenty of time left. Here's a link to the video I made of it on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQe94J-MRRs --UPDATE-- When I took the pictures for this entry I noticed that the inside of the greenhouses were singnifically hotter than the exterior. So I supposed they will help after all =)

Stretching Summer

Where I live, Summer starts ending in September....sadly. But tomorrow I am going to try to stretch my zucchini's life cycle. I'll build some simple mini greehouses over the plants in the garden. Now I have no idea how I'll do this. In fact I still haven't checked if I have plastic left in the garage. But it will be done tomorrow and I will post about it (probably even a video on Youtube). But in the meantime if you want to stretch Summer for your plants. I heard that to avoid freeze, you can simply put plastic over your plants at night.But you need to take it out in the morning or else they will steam during the day. Still some plants that need lots of heat might stop producing as the tempreture drops. I guess we will see if it's the case for my zucchinis =)