Gardening

[DemonSlayerMau]

Anyone going to be gardening this spring/summer? My dad usually has a garden, and he's gonna let me grow a couple things.
I plan on growing some cherry tomattoes...AND pumpkins (for obvious reasons ) if I can get away with it.
I would also like to plant some flowers on my grandpa's grave, we did so last year on Father's day and it looked beautiful.

[TK421]

Every year I grow my own pumpkins and my wife grows sunflowers. I'm getting the soil ready now, and pretty soon I'll start germinating the pumpkin seeds. I'll be planting them in mid April.

I want to put in a couple of raised garden beds on the side of the house that gets all the afternoon sun. Of course, that means I have to take down the old fence, which is falling apart, and put up a new fence. Once that little chore is done, I can get some raised beds and really start a garden. I'm hoping to grow bell peppers, lettuce, caulifower, maybe even some corn.

My folks have a nice garden at their place. Last year they all kinds of vegetables. It was fantastic.

[DemonSlayerMau]

Well, last year my dad's tomattoes didn't turn out so well. We got some good ears of corn though, and the zuccini grew like crazy!
My mom and stepdad had a garden at their place, and they were growing pumpkins...and their pumpkins cross bred with the squash producing some nifty looking hybrids. They were going to give me one for Halloween, but it got infected with some worms.

[TK421]

Oh, bummer.

I have grown pumpkins the last two years. This will be my third, and I really want to grow big ones. Last year my largest pumpkin was only 12 pounds. I'd like to get at least one to break 20 pounds this year. Start small, dream big.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Now I'm getting jealous. Narf Narf. Every spring I plant a pumpkin patch, (for the same obvious reasons as DemonSlayer) and every year the squirls and the rabbits make short work of them right after the vines blossem. I get lost of blossems, and lots of little tiny strawberry sized pumpkins, and then one fine evening, I come home from work to water the pumpkins, and find most of them gone, and a couple of badly nibble on ones, and the next day even the vines are gone, and I'm left with just a few mounds of dirt and a lot of satisfied rabbits and squirls.

My town is plagued by rabbits, squirls and crows.

Mike

[TK421]

We have squirrels, moles, and neighborhood cats. Every year, I see a few baby pumpkins that are nibbled on, but I also go out every morning and water with Miracle Grow. The neutrients really help the pumpkins and I think they also help to keep the squirrels at bay.

[TK421]

We have squirrels, moles, and neighborhood cats. Every year, I see a few baby pumpkins that are nibbled on, but I also go out every morning and water with Miracle Grow. The neutrients really help the pumpkins and I think they also help to keep the squirrels at bay.

[DemonSlayerMau]

Well...we have a lot of squirrels and birds and such from the park, but our cats tend to keep them at bay, especially our big fat peach colored cat, Pinkey. Problem is, the cats also think the garden is a giant litter box! Nice fresh dirt to dig into and do their business isn't exactly something they can resist very easily. So we usually have to shew them out. Our major problem though is the weeds. But usually we get some pretty good veggies out of it.
Perhaps you should try growing some sunflowers. Maybe the rodents would go for the seeds in those instead of the pumpkin seeds, and try looking for some deterrents for the pesky rodents.

[Pumpkin_Man]

That sounds like a good idea. I'll try both the sun flowers and the Miracle Grow. Perhaps a dozen boxes of moth balls to boot will at least keep the rabbits away.

Mike

[DemonSlayerMau]

Perhaps you could also try a bird feeder and a fence around the garden, something the squirels and rabbits can get to easier than the pumpkins.
Just a thought, I'm no expert at gardening. Don't shoot me if it backfires though lol.
If all else fails, cats are great rodent deterrents! But then you'd have to make sure they don't dig in the fresh soil.

[TK421]

If rabbits are really a problem, get a 2ft wide roll of chicken wire from your local improvement or feed store. Put up a perimeter fence that is about 6 inches in the dirt and 18 inches high. It's still very easy to step over, but it's just tall enough to keep most critters out.

[Pumpkin_Man]

I'm away from home way too much to ever own an animal. It just wouldn't be fair, but I will try one of those little fences, some moth balls and some Miracle Grow.

Maybe I can contract with one of the local teeny-bopers to look after my pumpkin patch while I'm at work.

Mike

[DemonSlayerMau]

WOO HOO! Great news guys. I DO get to plant pumpkins for sure! It'll be home grown pumpkins this year for Halloween, and if I get a bunch of them maybe I can sell them really cheap.
All I have to do is buy the seeds, plant them when the garden's ready, and care for them with plucking the weeds. I'm so excited I can't wait until it gets warm enough to plant them!

[Pumpkin_Man]

That's not too far off, and I am definately going to try again this year for a pumpkin patch. One that will make Linus proud. Narf Narf.

Mike

[TK421]

Anyone know the "perfect time" to plant pumpkin seeds? I'm about to start germinating the seeds this week, but if anyone knows the best time to actually put seeds outside in the garden, I'd love to know.

Basically, what I've been doing is I put the seeds between a couple of sheets of damp paper tower for a week or two, then when they start to sprout, I take the seeds, and some potting soil, and tuck each seed into a spot in a cardboard egg carton. I let the seeds grow for a little while longer, and then put them out in the garden. After that, it's water and miracle grow like crazy.