Halloween Garden: Update 4
July 5th, 2010 by John WolfeIt’s a really good feeling to see everything growing and changing! I think my confidence when it comes to tending to the garden is finally starting to grow too. I feel like I’ve learned a good deal about what the plants like and don’t like, and I can just about guess which ones are going to need water prior to placing my hand in the soil. At this point, I’m also glad I kept the garden fairly small for my first time, because it’s allowed me to get to know more about caring for each plant.
Anyway, enough about all that, here’s my fourth update:
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Halloween Garden
Halloween Garden: Update 2
Halloween Garden: Update 3
July 7th, 2010 at 12:17 am
Obviously you are a better gardener than I am! Plants tend to meet their doom when I take care of them.
July 7th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Been a bit since my last comment but i still keep up with your stuff. Garden is looking sweet! Cant wait to see those pumpkins growing more by the next time.
July 7th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
It looks great, John!! I wouldn’t trim back the tomato plants while they are producing unless someone who has really good tomato growing experience recommends that you do. Once they put on flowers and fruit my Grandmother would just water hers and let them run a muck in the garden and grow with no pruning and hers did really well but if you’ve heard some good advice on pruning then go with it.
If you don’t have a lot of bees and other insects buzzing around your pumpkin blooms pollinating them you may want to think about helping those baby pumpkins get pollinated. And that is exactly what they are- you are right. You should have ‘male’ flowers which don’t have the baby fruit at the base and then the female flowers which do. What you want to do is, in the early morning when the flowers are all open, put on a little soft, romantic mood music and very gently with either a small paint brush or a q-tip, brush a small amount of pollen from the male flowers onto your brush and then brush it gently into the inside of the female flowers. Then step away from the garden and let them have some privacy while the mood music continues to play and voila- baby pumpkins that will mature into big grown up pumpkins! Pretty cool!
Your corn looks fabulous! I think the old adage about growing corn is that it should be “knee high by the 4th of July” and yours looks right on the mark!
Big congrats and Bravisimo!!
!!!
July 7th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
….you play coy John, but I think you already had a green thumb before you started, your garden looks great, very healthy! I don’t see any burn marks, bug bites, or plant damage at all. Congrats on your success so far.
July 8th, 2010 at 2:33 am
GHFans,
I was very concerned that I’d be doing the exact same thing when I started the garden. I did get way too ambitious at first and I over watered quite a bit, but thankfully everything survived.
frightnight,
Thanks! It’s good to hear from you.
Camile,
Awesome! What would I do without your help? I wouldn’t have known that about the pumpkins and may have lost the opportunity to guarantee the baby gourds had a chance to mature. Thank you so much. I actually saw my first bee this morning going from flower to flower. Also, the ants LOVE the pumpkin blooms. They don’t crawl on anything else in the garden, but they are all over the pumpkins. I’m not sure if ants can be helpful pollinators, but hopefully the pollen will stick to their feet and they’ll deposit it as they visit each flower. But just in case, I’m going to try your suggestion, too. Maybe I’ll play a little Barry White for the plants. LOL!
The first baby pumpkin I showed in the vid has grown quite a bit since yesterday. Since it’s growing, does that mean it’s already been successfully pollinated?
Thanks for the good advice on the tomatoes, too. Considering how I hate to disturb anything that’s healthy and growing (it was a painful experience to have to thin my corn!), I’ll probably leave them alone.
Yeah, that’s the same saying I’ve heard about corn, too.
Thank you so much, Camile!
Fiend4Halloween,
Honestly, I’ve never taken care of a plant in my life, not successfully anyway, until I started this year’s garden. Maybe my thumb’s just a tad green because of my genes.
After all, my mom and grandma are pretty talented when it comes to raising and caring for plants.
Thanks so much!
July 8th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Wow, the growth is just amazing John. Everything is looking so good and you even have tassels with the corn now. The tassels looks VERY healthy, strong and solid in their girth. I’ve seen some tassels that are limp and not very thick from the base to the top. However your tassels look like…..well, a young stud, fresh and ready to do the job
Your corn is looking much better than G’s corn ever did…and your in NM, go figure. I think alot has to do with your divine unique spiritual energy and honest care and love that exudes from you and all through out your garden. I wish my Poppo were alive today so he could see the remarkable progression of your garden out there in the desert 
I can’t believe it’s been almost 10 years since his passing. Where did this last decade go?
Too bad about the carrots. They must be a picky bunch of veggies to grow because G had no luck with them either and my Poppo never did grow carrots. I don’t know enough about carrots to give you any expert opinion but thankfully we have some great resources online for free to help out with further research into it. That one tomato plant just blows my mind, really John….18 tomatos?!!! Your in for a special treat when you can finally eat ‘em. Ooooo, I can almost taste the sweetness myself. I’m curious hun, once you have more time, experience and confidence under your belt with your garden, are you going to expand your garden out more so? If yes, what other produce are you interested in growing….other than lemon cucumbers that is
Keep up the great work sweetie!!!
Post Script – The baby is starting to walk some now…Eeeeeeee! He’s really come out of his shell now and is becoming quite affectionate. To see the first steps of walking though just floods my mind with thoughts of life, being an adult, changes and so forth. You know me though…..always the deep thinker, no matter what the subject matter is
July 8th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Goldie,
Thank you so much! Yeah, I’m super proud of everything, especially the corn and pumpkins since they were started from seed, but really all of it makes me happy. Stud tassels, huh? LOL! Hopefully they’ll get the job done as you said, but I may try and help them along with the process once the ears start putting on.
Thanks for what you said about your Poppo. I know he was super talented when it came to gardening, so it would mean a lot to me if he was able to see my little space in the desert.
I do thoroughly enjoy being out there every night. Even if nothing needs to be watered, I just go out to spend time in the garden. Maybe the plants enjoy that vibe. I’ll definitely have to look a little further into growing carrots, but I’m not certain I’ll try them again next year. I’m probably going to expand the garden out in terms of space, but probably not so much in variety. I think I’ll stick to pumpkins, corn and tomatoes. I may even try growing some “creepy” gourds like Fiend4Halloween and autumnforest suggested, too. And I’ll definitely be trying the pumpkin “tree” seeds that Camile sent me.
Thanks again!
That’s great news about the baby walking and growing! And I know the disposition change creates smoother sailing for you.
July 12th, 2010 at 9:20 am
John,
Everything is looking great. I’m amazed at the success you’re seeing in such a dry environment.
Camile had good advice, if you arent seeing alot of bees, you may need to help ‘em along. If I might add to what she gave you; the female flowers only open for one morning so it’s important to check your flowers daily, in the morning hours. Pumpkin plants are also very susceptible to powdery mildew, which can be encouraged by watering the leaves. Pumpkin plants benefit greatly from watering with a soaker hose. The fruit will need the shade of their leaves while they mature, so pay close attention to any pest insects like cucumber beetles, japanese/oriental beetles and other leaf eating insects. pumpkin plants like to climb too, and most of my pumpkins are coming from the vines that are up on the fence, so you may want to consider a small trellis to surround your pumpkin patch for next year.
I’m no expert on pumpkin growing, but these are a few things that I’ve learned after several years of failed pumpkin attempts. This year, Ive seen the best success ever. So far, I have about 10-15 pumpkins ranging in size from baseball to cantalope all in a 4′x12′ patch. I posted a few photos in my blog a week or so back if you want to check ‘em out.
Hope you continue to see great success in your gardening venture.
SK
July 12th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
S.K. Austin,
Thanks, my friend. I worked hard on amending the soil prior to planting. I added about 12 bags of mulch and garden soil, so I’m thinking that may have helped. I’m also going to get a rototiller this winter and dig everything down deeper, then I’ll add all the loose leaves from my haunt display and mix it together. By next spring, my plan’s to add more bags of garden soil, along with my compost pile’s soil and I should have an even richer growing environment (keeping my fingers crossed).
I appreciate any tips you can provide on helping the pumpkins to mature. Since the pumpkin blooms are becoming more plentiful, I have noticed a lot more bees around. The second baby pumpkin I showed in the video is now growing too. I tried helping it the other morning, so it was either due to me, or the insects, or both, but it’s getting bigger. I didn’t realize the female flowers only open for one morning–I’m learning a lot of great tips thanks to you and Camile!
I do have a question about the pumpkins climbing: what happens when a runner puts a pumpkin on a portion of the vine that’s suspended from the trellis? Is the pumpkin able to fully mature while the vine is climbing or does the vine usually grow down to the ground before the pumpkin gets too large? I’m just a little concerned about having pumpkin runners suspended from a trellis in case the vines can’t support the weight of growing pumpkins.
Congratulations on your pumpkin patch! It sounds like you’re giving them what they want and need to flourish. Great job! Though this is my first time growing a garden, I’m just as proud as can be of all my plants, so I know how that feels!
Thanks so much, S.K.
July 18th, 2010 at 11:23 am
I was surfing the web hoping to find a new article on your angel of death and it dawned on me–your garden is missing something! You really should have one hell of a scarecrow for it! You could probably scare away more than the crows.
July 18th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
That’s an awesome idea! With the corn being in such a small amount this year, I don’t think the birds will fool around too much with it, but I do have plans for really expanding on the corn next year and a scarecrow would come in handy, especially a nasty looking one.
The scorching desert sun will be a bear on anything I’d create from mache, but I may try and do something very earthy, with a skull head and wild, gnarled branches for appendages.
Thanks for the idea and for checking up on the angel prop. I’m hoping to have an update posted before too long.