Halloween Garden: Update 2
June 1st, 2010 by John WolfeIt’s been seventeen days since I shot my first Halloween Garden vid, and in that time my corn, pumpkins, and lettuce have all come up and the German Queen and Celebrity tomato plants have been happily growing larger.
I didn’t mention my carrots in the vid, but they’re planted behind the tomatoes, however, they still haven’t peeked through yet–maybe in a few more days.
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June 1st, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Holy Moly, MD’s
corn NEVER looked like that. Looking at your corn John reminds me soooooooooo much of my Grandpa’s corn. The stalks were always a rich dark green and the leaves were always shooting up towards the sunlight. When “MD” sees this video, I’m sure he’ll think you doctored up the video….you know MD 
I will assure him you have done no such thing but rather this is the result of love, energy, appreciation and WANTING them to grow. YOU enjoy the process, MD didn’t enjoy the process as much as you or I do. Your corn looks outstanding!!!
Ahhhh look at your little lettuce rows, aren’t they so cute with little tiny green leaves. How precious is that. I might be wrong about this but I don’t think you’ll have to thin those out. Our collard greens were bunched up like that in the beginning as well and they never had a problem sharing the ground. I would look more up on that before you actually thinned them out sweetie. For all we know, they might like being close together like that as where corn or pumpkins need more room.
Your pumpkin mound looks wonderful and what’s even more incredible is that those are seeds from a few years back. Just goes to show us all the power of our Earth’s seeds. They all look extremely healthy and well loved.
Good God!!! Look at the size of that tomato!!! I could say something else here pertaining to that but knowing me the way you do I’m sure your imagination just filled that in with something Goldie would TRULY say
That tomato is beautifully firm, nice skin, good color and coming along nicely. I wish I were a seed planted in your garden; looks like an Earth party going on in there. Hmmmm, looks like you have some room for lemon cucumbers 
Excellent update my dear friend and your garden looks outstanding, as does the motion light you installed. Nicely placed.
June 1st, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Looking great, John. I’m pulling for you on this big time because I know how tough it can be to grow a garden of useful plants. You can be super hopeful, but sometimes they fall apart despite your most valiant efforts. Good luck and keep the updates coming.
June 1st, 2010 at 7:26 pm
John,
Fantastic! It all looks very good. Corn was planted just right and tomatoes have lots of room. I got all choked up to think that you kept the seeds from the Jack O’lanterns your uncle and you carved. Every year, hopefully you can continue to use the seeds for a new crop. What a wonderful and beautiful memorial. I hope someone would do that for me. Carrots are the longest at coming up. Once the lettuce takes off, you won’t be able to eat it fast enough–it can be like a weed! I think you’ve got the farmer’s bug now. Come fall, you’ll be so thrilled. I bet next year you add some creepy gourds too.
June 1st, 2010 at 9:31 pm
you know, it’s sometimes humorous to me how INTO the whole “look what I’m growing” thing people get! (even tho’ I’m one of them) rather like a parent feels as the child grows and changes and hopefully, turns out well. putting seeds into the ground and nurturing them is its own kind of cathartic process…fascinating, really. anyway, I enjoyed looking at the continuing development of your garden. lovely!
June 1st, 2010 at 10:00 pm
very cool garden . I am not a gardener by any means but isn`t your corn planted too close together? I know you said you had to thin out a few things. Best of luck on the halloween garden.
I`m planting corn myself this year. I have a 10 x 10 ft area that I`m going to use. I just have to till up the dirt and rack the weeds out and plant. Maybe this weekend.
I can`t wait to see the pumpkins.
June 2nd, 2010 at 11:02 am
I have an unexpected pumpkin plant that has come up were I burn leaves and branches. I have ceased all burning until fall harvest as it has at least five blooms that have already started to fatten at the base. Your garden is very nice. If I had time I would love to do that again someday. It is almost meditative to me.
June 2nd, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Bravo, John!! Hooray! ::claps wildly!:: Well done!!
!
June 3rd, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Goldie,
I’m looking forward to hearing MD’s reaction! You’re right–I’ve so been enjoying the process of getting my hands in the soil and doing my best to help everything grow. My garden’s not just something I throw a sprinkler on and forget about, but rather it’s a connective, very conscious experience.
Thanks for the tips on the lettuce. I’m hoping I won’t have to thin them out, but since they’re a romaine lettuce I’m not sure. I’ll definitely do a little research prior to thinning. I, too, was impressed by the 2008 pumpkin seeds coming up, and not just one but all five!
The tomatoes are definitely growing larger, but what shocks me even more is how much growth I’ve seen in the last two weeks of the plants themselves!
I know your fondness for lemon cucumbers didn’t have anything to do with that comment, right?
Thanks for all the feedback and support, my friend!
Dr. Necropolis,
Thank you, I appreciate that so much! The big thing here has been working to put nutrients back into my sandy soil. Hopefully, between growing the garden this year and doing some more soil amending over the fall and winter months, the ground will be really primed for more growth.
autumnforest,
Thank you. Ever since my uncle’s passing I’ve been wanting to find some way to honor him by bringing forth new life in the form of a tree or something similar and I think the pumpkin seeds have turned out to be the perfect way. Thanks for letting me know about the carrots. I’ve started seeing a little bit of growth in the last day or two, so I’m hoping that’s them coming up and not a new form of weed.
Oh yeah, I can’t wait until fall! I’m so looking forward to my own little harvest time. Creepy gourds are a great idea. I’ll have to look around and see what I can come up with. I’m also planning on creating a miniature green house (above ground) come fall so I can continue growing my lettuce and maybe broccoli over the winter months.
Pam Morris,
I’m especially jazzed about it cause this is my first time ever for growing anything. So, I’ll probably be acting like an idiot about it for quite a while still.
I so agree about the experience of gardening being cathartic. I’m not at all a religious person, but I am very spiritual, and I can honestly say that working with the garden puts me in a very spiritually connected place.
ssflipo13,
Yeah, I think the corn is probably too close together. In terms of rows, I think the distance is fine (each row is 12 inches apart), but the individual plants in each row are too close. I’ve seen different schools of thought–some people say each row should be three feet apart, while others say one foot. I went with one foot because I heard corn needs to be close together to pollinate properly. Honestly, I probably should thin them out, but I’m not sure if I’m going to have the heart to do it or not. I’m going to research corn a little more and see if it’s completely necessary.
Thanks for your comment. I wish you all the best with your corn! Please keep me updated on how it’s doing.
Ethan,
While this is my first time for growing a garden, my grandparents have been growing plants and vegetables for years. Back when I used to live with them, it was always very cool to find a plant growing that you never intentionally put in the soil! Congrats on the unexpected pumpkin plant!
Thanks, Ethan, and I have to agree with you about the process being meditative.
Camile,
Thank you! In my garden updates next year, you’ll be seeing your pumpkin tree seeds coming up around this time!
June 3rd, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Looking good. Just love gardening and Halloween! This blog is a perfect combination!
Cheers!
June 4th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Thanks, The Frog Queen, I appreciate it!