Gardening

[DemonSlayerMau]

What a way to put it Andy. I kind of feel bad for pumpkins when you think about it that way.
Then again, once detached from the vine, it's pretty much dead anyway.
Of course, I couldn't help but think the same thing. It's hard to think of a pumpkin as a pet when you're going to cut the top off and scoop out the innards. You're also detaching it from it's life line. So really, we're growing pumpkins just to torture them.
Of course, with other plants we eat them so *shrug*

[DemonSlayerMau]

And now for Gardening in 2010...an EPIC BUMP!

And yes, I'm once again tackling the task of growing pumpkins and other things. I wasn't too successful last year, but I have high hopes for this year's crop.
Last year it rained like crazy, but this year I have a new problem, lots and lots of weeds.
Some of my pumpkins and squash I preplanted months in advance this year, and they're turning out pretty good.
I also decided to get some already grown plants from a local farm market. Now these pumpkin plants are HUGE! And some of my pumpkins and squash already have flowers on them. So I'm hoping for some good ol' home grown pumpkins ripe for carving this year. That is, if the weeds don't continue to take over my garden. I've got a lot of work to do apparently.

[Andybev01]

At least the plants are big enough to tell apart from the weeds.

[DemonSlayerMau]

It's true. But I preplanted them in little pots this time, like the ones you find in pregrown tomatoes. And the ones I got from the farm market really are huge, they're almost as tall as the corn! o.o

[MacPhantom]

Drought really crushed my hopes for any good pumpkins this year, but I may get a few small ones. Oh well. There's always next year.

[Ciuin]

Out of the 15 pots I have on my porch, only 3 survived.

It wasn't drought, I'm just a terribly forgetful person. Survival of the fittest at my house. If I have to water you twice a day, you aren't going to make it.

[Andybev01]

What a coincidence, that's the main reason I don't have children.

[Midnite Shadow]

What a coincidence, that's the main reason I don't have children.

LOL...that's funny stuff right there.

[Ciuin]

What a coincidence, that's the main reason I don't have children.

Whats scary is that I have a kid. She's kind of like one of those wolf children you read about. Only the wolves are cats.

[MacPhantom]

???

[Ciuin]

Yep. She's also missing the same teeth after the Christmas incident.

But back to gardening, my cats and daughter have been eating my chives when I'm not looking. I also have a wicked nice moon flower vine and some determined basil (it grew out of the crack in the pot rather than from the top)

[Andybev01]

I tried growing basil last year and when it first sprouted it was hearty and green and then up and died on me about a month later.

[MacPhantom]

Basil doesn't do well in the ground, because it's susceptible to changes in moisture. Your best bet is to grow it in a pot. Cover your seeds with a quarter inch of loose potting soil, keep it moist and in a sunny, warm spot. When the seedlings sprout, thin them out, and when they get big enough to have edible leaves, transplant them into several other pots so they have plenty of room to grow. If you have temps above eighty five degrees, keep the pots in an area that gets some shade during the hottest part of the day, but make sure they get at least six hours of sun. Water it every day, and trim it every other week to keep it from going to seed. You can also take cuttings and put 'em in water; they'll last for weeks, and even sprout roots. You may want to let one of the pots flower; hummingbirds love basil flowers.

[Andybev01]

I did most of that except thinning them out. Perhaps that was the problem.

[MacPhantom]

Maybe it was fusarium, a fungal disease common to basil....

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