2016 mostly a failure

Despite my thorough preparation the growing season of 2016 and my optimism which led me to expand the amount of coverage I gave to Israeli melons, heavy rains in the last two weeks of August have destroyed my harvest.

I've never seen this much rain in the summer before and I had no way to imagine two weeks ago when my melons first begin to ripen that they would now be rotting in the field with as much as 2 inches of flood water surrounding them.

In the last several days I've harvested 10, 15, or 20 each day only to throw all but maybe one or two out in the field because they had split open and begun to rot.

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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.

Straightneck squash planted March 21, 2021

Today, I planted 20 containers of straight neck summer squash. I used last year's perlite in each of the Bato buckets, only pulling out the roots to last year's crops. In some of the buckets I needed to top off the perlite with new perlite. The seeds were from Willhite, tested October 2018. I sowed five seeds in each bucket. April 4, 2021 update: reseeded after poor germination so far.

Parthenocarpic cucumbers and squash progress

The greenhouse varieties of cucumbers and squash that I planted last month continue to progress nicely. These parthenocarpic plants need no pollination to set fruit, so they are perfect for growing in a greenhouse where no bees will be able to visit their flowers. Partenon squash Corinto cucumbers

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