So, I am stuck inside (the weather and a bad relapse are not a good combo)... so I am shopping my seed catalogs.
I better get a lot of produce this year. The woodchucks beat me to everything last year. They must be dealt with early this spring.
I thought I would ask, what is the most unusual thing you have grown in your garden that you would/will grow again? My favorite were the red noodle beans that I grew last year, although those mexican sour gherkins were pretty neat. I will be repeating both of those this year.
Also, what is your favorite tomato? I am looking for fresh eating tomatoes with lots of flavor.
I hope everyone's birds are doing well. Mine have had it with the snow and the coop is a sopping wet mess inside from all the poop (since they won't venture out in the white stuff). It is going to be a job to get that thing cleaned out this spring. I think I might hire the neighbors kids again...
Hi, Jersey Hen. In answer to two of your questions:
Every March or so, I put an ad on craigslist in the FREE section and in the Farm and Garden section, inviting anyone to come get free poultry manure/poultry compost for enriching their planting beds. The deal is they have to shovel out the entire coop, taking half and leaving half for me. (or one-third/two-third portioning. Depends on how much I need for my own gardens.) I supply the extra large heavy duty plastic leaf bags, they have to do all the shoveling and filling of the bags. They're welcome to bring helpers and extra shovels. Some years I ask them to wheelbarrow my half right to my veggie garden on the other side of the yard, sometimes to put it in this year's new compost pile next to the garage. I usually have at least three or four replies, all eager to do the work and get the gold for their gardens.
I grow a special winter squash called Tahitian Melon Squash. It grows as long as my leg, from hip to toes!! Starts out deep dark green and turns a beautiful soft orange color like butternut squash skin. Depending on whether it's grown with the fruit lying on the ground or hanging from a fence or trellis, the fruit grows long and straight, or long and curved. Can be eaten raw, but I mostly cook it. Can be boiled, steamed, roasted, grilled, stewed, etc. Very delicious. Not every one of them grew that big, but most of them are at least two feet long. The big ones yielded 13 meals. I don't grow them every year, because that's just too much to eat. The seeds run true and can be harvested, allowed to dry and saved for sowing. I buy them at one dollar per seed, and usually buy ten seeds at a time. The fellow that's devoted his life to these Squash sells the seeds. He's quite an unusual character. Here's a copy of an email conversation I had with him two years ago. It contains his contact information. (Note: there are some people selling squash seeds online that they are calling Tahitian Melon, or Tahiti Squash, but they're not the same; I tried other sources through the years and they grew just ordinary winter squash. I just did a quick search on
ebay, and only two of them look genuine.)
From: Carolyn252 <
[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 7:25 PM
Subject: Hi, Raymond. From Carolyn Hecht
Got the seeds you sent to me a few weeks ago and put them aside until the weather warmed up a bit. Put eight of them in warm water yesterday and let them soak overnight.
Dug out an old email from you from years ago and re-read it to get any info on how to plant the seeds.
Per that email, I added about a cup of Diatomaceous earth (food grade) to the five foot by three foot planting bed, dug it in and raked it all smooth.
Planted two seeds together, about a half inch apart, in one spot, then did the same again about a foot and a half away.
Did that twice more, and so now have four plantings in a row about five feet long at the foot of the garden's chain link fence.
I laid the seeds flat, not on edge, in the ground. Covered them with about a quarter inch of very good soil. A nice mixture of peat moss, vermiculite and blended compost. I then watered the four plantings with warm water.
I took four plastic coated paper cups and cut the bottoms off, then placed a bottomless cup over each one of the planting spots. Hoping the cups will help hold the heat from the day's sunshine in the soil. It's a little bit chilly tonight.
I just now did a search online looking for any other info on how to grow Tahitian Melon Squash. (It's been a few years since my last crop.)
And that's how I found your ad on ebay. Very very interesting. Could you, would you, email your current planting and growing instructions to me? I'd be so grateful.
I remember you advised not to grow zucchini or other squashes anywhere near the Tahitian Melon Squash plants.
But I do have Zucchini about twenty-five feet away, on the other side of the garden. If that's still too close, please advise me as to how to cover the blossoms, and when to cover the blossoms, and what to use to cover the blossoms to prevent cross pollination. Which do I cover? The Zucchini or the Tahitians? Do I cover the male flowers or the female flowers, or both? How long do I leave the covers on? Also, is it okay to grow cucumbers and cantaloupe and watermelon near the Tahitians?
If you need to know my planting zone, I'm in nassau county, on Long Island, in the very lower part of New York State. Some zone charts show that as zone 7, some show it as zone 6.
Thanks, Raymond. Much obliged.
Carolyn Hecht
426 Pennsylvania Avenue
Freeport, NY 11520
Thu, Apr 19, 2012 12:01 am
Hi Carolyn, It's good reading from you !
I can roll up a simple answer for you about growing these so wonderful tasting Tahiti Squash.
If you cut all zucchini squash male flowers before they even open, your Tahitians will be either crossbred with itself or inbred with the same flower from the exact same Tahiti Squash plant !
Both when grown, produce the long and straight or the horseshoe shape.
Inbreeding and then using those seeds will produce the straight fruit !
A simple pliable plastic bread bag or plastic off the roll in the kitchen will do nicely and you can use a clothespin to hold it on firmly.
If there are no other species of the same (like zucchini or cucumber, even pumpkin) around in your garden, you can most likely be growing horseshoe-shape Tahiti Squash which tastes the same as the long straight Tahiti Squash !
If you don't do any pollination of the flower from the same vine, you also have a female fruit ready to be pollinated on that vine the male flower opening, you can cover up your pollinated female fruit and no other pollen from the neighboring plant with much flowering activity going on !
You can just make sure no other pumpkins are around and cross your fingers to get something out of it !
Now you may fathom why I get a buck a seed for my many hours of real work at getting this done to have seeds to send worldwide as I do ! I have hundreds of happy customers now & speak with so many backyard gardeners and farmers too, that order 500 seeds at a time ! That's always good !
I sometimes have customers that are in difficult weather and I give these folks special attention !
Remember germinating temperature is above 66 degrees or a fungus can creep into the seed after too many days of cold weather hits it and dies !
If you ever need telephone info I'll do that too if time lets me ! 619-303-0200
Judging by the size of your growing area, you had better train these vines in a circle !!!
Get as many tap roots to grow into the soil so you have stronger plants ! These runner root systems pop out at 70 degrees and are looking for moist loose soil to develop the massive roots Tahiti Squash has !
You also might have two plants in your size planting box !
On trellis you can only get small fruits !
A lot of what I transmit to everyone about the growing habits of this is largely unknown; no big seed company ever did ! That's because I get my seeds from the main guy that brought Tahiti Squash to the USA in the 1940's and 10 years later I was born. In 1968 I found out about this remarkable Squash plant and also found out that this farmer lives in San Diego ! It took a year and a half for me to track him down and I learned all possible from old Rennin ! I was 20 and he was pushing 80 & he liked me because I was doing my best at remembering my Illinois farm boy roots !
Carolyn, if you have any other questions just ask away. It's what I do frequently during my day ! This really is a survivalists main try at having food to pass around in a weird food crisis, lets hope that doesn't happen ! Have a bountiful harvest !
Your friend Raymond
Raymond Ostergren, 4361 Dale Avenue, la Mesa, CA 91941
[email protected]
