Pumpkins planted

I planted four varieties of pumpkins on June 11. The next day, 1/8 inch of rain fell. The following day, a little more rainfall brought the total of to 1/4 inch.

I planted the pumpkins by mid June this year so that they will be ready for harvest at the beginning of October and therefore suitable for market.

Last year, I planted pumpkins on July 4, and they were not ready to pick until a few days before Halloween. More became ready in November, which was too late for seasonal pumpkin buyers.

The varieties in 70 basins are: Cinderella, Big Max, Howden, and Halloween, all from Willhite Seed Company.

To prepare each basin, I added Texas green sand, Sul-Po-Mag, soft rock phosphate, and Agronomic Partner's 14-0-0 sustainable nitrogen from soy.

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Greenhouse seeds started

148 tomato seeds, started 1/5/2024. Seeds maintained at 80° F. 35 ground cherry seeds and 10 pepino seeds started 1/5/24, maintained at the same temperature. 56 pepper seeds started 1/6/24, maintained at 84° F. Notes: cutting back on tomato production, experimenting with novel crops. This is the latest that I've ever started the greenhouse tomatoes.

Pumpkin harvest August 2016

Despite the fact that the melon crop this year was almost an entire loss because of the rain that came in late August and didn't stop for two weeks, I was still able to harvest a dozen sugar pie pumpkins. These 12 pumpkins came from four or five plants only. I started them as transplants in late May when ongoing spring rains showed no signs of letting up. I planted sugar pie and Howden pumpkins but the Jack O'Lantern pumpkins only produced two fruits that were taken by rot and insects. I planted the transplants in mid June into a hydroponic Dutch bucket system where they grew for 3 months until the pumpkins were ready to pick and cure.

Microgreens sprouted, steamed

My six trial microgreens trays have now sprouted. I have left the clear tops in place for two days in a row now that they're in the greenhouse, and this has been a mistake. Temps inside the trays rise high enough to steam the greens. So far, they have all survived. I will need to leave the tops off a little from the trays so that heat does not build up in them. I hope that their flavor has not been altered by the excessive heat, as heat makes greens taste bitter.

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