We are considering planting pumpkins for fall sale and are discussing the different varieties. I am thinking about varieties that are powdery mildew tolerant, primarily Iron Man, Super Herc and Aladdin. In order to do this properly, I'll need to do a little more research about soil preparation before planting. To have pumkins by the middle to end of September, we have to plant seeds in the next 2 weeks. I'll publish more information on this process as we move forward.
6/2/07 Today I planted the first 100 of 750 pumpkin seeds. We are hoping to have a small first crop for sale in the fall to local markets. This will be a good test of the different types of soil that we have around the farm. I will post photos as the pumpkins germinate and begin to grow.
6/11/07 Today I planted almost 500 pumpkin seeds. The Iron Man and Super Herc seeds were planted in a new garden spot I have established at the bottom of our land, next to the creek. We using this spot to test the differences between this soil and the soil for the main garden at the top of the hil. The seeds planted on 6/2 have already germinated. Since there has been a decent amount of rain, irrigation is not needed at this time.
8/22/07 Today I cry "uncle" and accept the agony of defeat. I predicted that the soil close to the creek and at the bottom of the hill would be rich. I know that I should have tested it, however, it looked good (I know, not good farming). The pumpkins did germinate and there were flowers, up until the unpredicted drought. And I did not have irrigation in place on that area of the farm. So, I move forward and plan better for next year.
I did manage to pick a few pumpkins, however the dogs decided that they did not like them on the porch and have scattered them all over the front yard. It looks like a Halloween pumpkin/egg hunt.
