Halloween Garden
May 14th, 2010 by John WolfeI was going to wait until I had more to show for growth, but I decided to take some vid this morning of my new garden. There’s not a lot to look at right now, but once things start coming up, it should make for some good before and after shots in upcoming updates. Though I’m calling this my Halloween Garden because of the pumpkins and corn, I’ve also planted tomatoes and am getting ready to add lettuce and carrots, too.
Since this is my first time planting, this may turn into a “how not to plant a garden” series, 
but hopefully it’ll all do well; either way, I’ll keep the camera rolling. One thing I’m a little concerned about is the pumpkin plants taking over everything, but I’m going to try to train the vines to grow back towards the corn, and in the direction of the compost pile… keep your fingers crossed for me!
May 14th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
My dear friend, this looks wonderful and your garden is much larger than I imagined!!! You have such ample space in your backyard, I’m most envious of you. The ground around there is indeed very hard and dry, as I would suspect it to be in NM. However the patch of land you designed to give birth to new life (being vegetables) is truly outstanding. I tip my hat to you John because it must have taken tremendous muscle work to create a friendly land for your garden to grow. I also enjoyed the voice over as I tend to feel that when you make videos like that, they are most effective. In fact….I wouldn’t mind a voice over for the Kelly Mine video. I should send you some quartz crystals so you can place those in your garden as well. Your doing an outstanding job John, as with everything you put your heart and soul into. Keep up the great work and PLEASE keep us posted. Many Blessings Dear One
May 14th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
PS…I saw this on youtube at 3pm my time and couldn’t wait to comment on SOS. For the first time I was able to comment back to your posting in under 3 minutes!!! Tells ya how excited I am about your garden
May 14th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Hey John;
Fantastic! I will send you an email with some more info on your garden. The ants, you don’t have to poison them, but if they’re the biting variety–pour boiling water down the hole so you don’t have to get bitten to death, plus they can go nuts over your corn and screw it up. Otherwise–it’s looking very promising. I know what that clay and caliche is like–you’re a brave and powerful man to break that up!
May 15th, 2010 at 1:44 am
I was just in the yard today turning the soil in my garden, I still have 1/3 left to turn tomarrow. and as soon as I deweed the dirt I will be planting corn and green beans and maybe some tomatoes. Your yard is very sandy and I wish you the best with it. A few years ago I grew pumpkis and they took over half my yard. They need alot of space or you might be able to trim the vines after bloom and fertilization.Or train them to grow one way like you mentioned. Funny thing is , your garden is very dry and sandy and mine is wet and weedy. I`m sure we will both have a great crop and I can`t wait to see more of your garden and prop making.
May 15th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Goldie,
Thanks so much. I’m fortunate that my backyard has never been landscaped; it’s given me a lot of room to work with for creating the garden. Knowing how loud the traffic is around here, any future garden videos I make will probably all have voice over.
I really appreciate it, Goldie.
autumnforest,
That particular ant hole has been around for three or four years now and I haven’t been bitten by them yet, so hopefully they aren’t too mean. While I haven’t grown corn before, I’ve spent many hours working with the stalks (purchased at a local farm) during my past haunt prep, and I know what you mean about the ants and their love affair with corn. They were always crawling on it and my hands as I was attaching the stalks to my display fences.
Thank you for typing out the word caliche. I was trying so hard to think of that name during my voice over and all I kept coming up with was sand… LOL. I don’t have a rototiller and since I didn’t rent one, I had to use a pick axe and shovel to break through the soil, just to turn over a few inches! I weigh around 215 lbs. and can stand on either side of the shovel, with the point in the ground, and the dirt still won’t budge.
ssflipo13,
Awesome! I wish you all the best with your garden, too! It does sound like we are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to our specific soil conditions–I guess it keeps things interesting. Yeah, I’m hoping my idea to train the pumpkin vines will work out. Your idea about trimming them after they become fertilized is one I’ll keep in mind also.
Thanks for watching and commenting.
May 15th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Cool work, man. Pumpkins definitely devour gardens. I had a pumpkin that rotted a couple years back and the seeds must have dropped into the soil beneath it (it was sitting on a bench in the front yard) and come late summer we had a pumpkin vine taking over. It was an awesome surprise because we didn’t expect anything (since the seeds fell, we didn’t plant it).
Good luck on the garden!
May 15th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Much appreciated, Dr. Necropolis! And I love hearing about how vegetables and fruits accidentally got started in people’s yards. It inspires me to think if it can happen like that, then surely I can grow something intentionally.
Many years ago, my grandparents used to discard their watermelon rinds (with some seeds still inside) over the fence into the same type of sand I have in my yard. Come the following summer, they had inadvertently planted an entire watermelon patch and the vines were going everywhere.
May 16th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Oh, after Halloweenj, I do so love gardening
Thanks for sharing your pictures. I do just love seeing other peoples gardens!
Cheers!
May 16th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Big congrats on your baby tomato! That’s awesome! Have you ever seen “Pumpkin Trees”? Here’s a link to check them out- http://www.365halloween.com/halloween-decor/pumpkin-tree.php I grow pumpkins only in my garden and the pumpkin trees have been my special planting project for 3 years now. I have seeds from last year’s crop that I’d be happy to give you if you’d like to try some? I only have a handful of years of planting experience under my belt but I think your garden looks wonderful! Also- when your pumpkins get big enough to sit on the ground put a little piece of cardboard underneath them on the ground- it’ll help discourage them from rotting. I think keeping the weeds with the flowers on that far side is very smart because they will attract bees which you want for pollination. Yay bees! Nice work- very well done, indeed!
May 16th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
The Frog Queen,
It’s my pleasure. Thank you for watching. With some effort and positive intentions, I’m hoping there will be a lot more to show in my next update.
My corn started coming up yesterday!
Camile,
Thanks! I’m really proud of that little one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pumpkin tree–thanks for the link. I’ll check it out after I finish posting. I appreciate the generous offer on your seeds. As soon as I see what the trees look like, I’ll comment back and let you know for sure.
That’s an excellent tip about placing something like cardboard underneath them. I don’t know what I’d do without all of you guys helping me along with really great tips like that! And you know, I never thought about the bees being interested in the blooming weeds and then pollinating my veggies. I just kept them cause I couldn’t bare to pull something up that was blooming. But now I have another good reason. I really appreciate everything, Camile. It’s always really great to hear from you.
May 17th, 2010 at 12:34 am
Camile,
I just checked out the pumpkin tree and would love to have some seeds if you don’t mind–that is, if you think they’ll still be good by next year. Also, do you think it gets too hot here for them? My location gets into the upper 90s during summer. Since this is my first time trying a garden, I think I’ll stick with working on what I’ve got, but I’d love to save the seeds till next year and plant them then. If you think they’ll do okay in my New Mexico climate, then please send me an email and I can give you my mailing address or else you can find it on my contact page.
Thanks a lot!