Posted in Farming, Garden, Gardening, Gardening, Homesteading, tagged garden, gardening, Halloween, homesteading, pumpkin patch, pumpkins, sunflowers, tomatoes on August 19, 2012| 50 Comments »
The pumpkin patch is beaming with life! I love to watch the pumpkins grow. One day there’s a little pumpkin the size of a golf ball, 2 days later it’s the size of a softball.
I hope your pumpkins are doing great.
The Jack-Be-Little’s are turning orange already. How are your sunflowers?
Posted in Farm, Farming, growing tomatoes, growing your own vegetables, Organic Gardening, Organic Vegetable Gardening, Pumpkin Patch, tagged autumn, corn field, dog, dusk garden pics, farm, farm in fall, garden, gardening, growing pumpkins, pumpkin patch on September 15, 2011| 4 Comments »
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Summer’s coming to a close. The daylight is fleeting and the cool autumn air is whistling through the trees and soon their leaves will put on a spectacular color show and I’ll have to rake them into big piles and haul them to the curb. The garden plants are hanging on and giving all their energy to the fruits clinging onto their stems.
We picked some pumpkins yesterday and celery, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage and one crazy zucchini. The root vegetables can still sit in the ground for another couple of months. On a cool fall Saturday afternoon, I’ll head out back and dig up a wheelbarrow filled with onions and carrots and celery. So, long as the Buckeyes are playing an evening game and as long as I have a hot cup of apple cider to sip on.
Jake will help. By help I mean pee on anything that’s still vertical. As the world’s only farm Chihuahua, he has to mark his territory right? Mindy is always a big help harvesting too. She doesn’t like the planting but is a patient harvester. Carefully looking underneath each vine and every leaf. She can have some hot apple cider too.
Posted in Farm, Farming, growing your own vegetables, Pumpkin Patch, tagged corn plants, farm, farm in autumn, garden, gardening, growing pumpkins, pumpkin patch, sunset sky, tomato plants on September 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The temperature dropped 30 degrees in one day and it feels like autumn is on under way. The corn is turning a deep purple and the pumpkins are turning a brilliant orange. The sky is littered with gray clouds and a soft rain is falling. Time to bust out the crock-pot and make some warm meals. Chili is on the way tonight, made with fresh tomatoes, green peppers and onions from the farm. Best of all, football starts tomorrow and I can’t wait.
Posted in Farm, Farming, growing pumpkins, growing tomatoes, growing your own vegetables, Organic Gardening, Organic Peppers, Organic Tomatoes, Organic Vegetable Gardening, Pumpkin Patch, tagged corn, corn field, corn plants, deer, farm, garden, gardening, Grow your own pumpkins, growing pumpkins, How to Grow Pumpkins, pumpkin patch, step by step instructions to pumpkin growing, tomato plants, watering tomatoes on July 30, 2011| 5 Comments »
Dave got the fence patched up where the deer were braking in to feast on the watermelons, pumpkins and corn. An ear popped up today as well and I grabbed a picture of a dragonfly on the corn. Did you know that a dragonfly’s life span is just 24 hours? I also snapped a couple shots of the rabbit I must take down in order to save my crop. god, I hate rabbits and deer.
Green Pepper, Thai Hot Pepper, Zucchini and tomatoes
I found a ton of pumpkins popping up. I was worried that they wouldn’t be pollinated but after my last post I noticed lots of bees, dragonflies, ants and other insects doing the pollination job. Thanks for the help Mother Nature.
I’m trying a new format with this post. Wordepress has made it a pain in the ass to post pics and text and make it look decent. So, please take a moment to click on the thumbnail pic to see it.
Posted in growing pumpkins, growing your own vegetables, Organic Vegetable Gardening, Pumpkin Patch, tagged farm, garden, gardening, pumpkin patch, pumpkin planting, step by step instructions to pumpkin growing, step by step instructions to pumpkin planting on July 24, 2011| 4 Comments »
Here’s a cool side-by-side picture of when I planted pumpkins on June 16th and a picture I took this morning July 24th. It’s pretty amazing what Mother Nature can do in just 38 Days.
Pumpkin Pollination is the key to growing pumpkins. It all starts with the Male Flower which grows above the vines and opens about a week or so before the female flower. You can tell the difference between the Male and Female flower quite easily. Male is on the left below, Female is on the right.
The Male is up above the plant and the female grows on the vine underneath the leaves. The giant leaves shade the fruit. Bees, birds and other insects take the pollen from the Male flower from the center stamen and place it on the female flower in the center of the multi segmented stigma. There was a lot of insects doing the pollinating this morning.
Due to the decrease of honey bees in certain areas, you can pollinate pumpkins yourself using a Q-Tip. Simply stick the Q-Tip into the center of the Male flower, and then place the Q-Tip (covered in yellow pollen) into the center of the Female flower.
More Pumpkin Patch Pics….
Pretty soon, you’ll have a pumpkin growing.
I found this guy hiding underneath the leaves. The first pumpkin of the season!
Posted in Gardening, tagged brocoli plants, corn, corn field, corn plants, cucumber planting, deer, farm, gardening, growing cucumbers, growing pumpkins, pumpkin patch, tomato plants on July 7, 2011| 3 Comments »
I caught this doe in the rear field this morning. I have got to get that fence repaired in the beck. Usually deer are active at dusk and dawn but this young lady was out and about around 9:30am. Not a good sign. I also caught a jack rabbit in the front garden yesterday. I won’t use chemicals to keep them out. I use hair clippings (they hate the smell of humans) I get from the local salon and I need to build a scarecrow.
Broccoli Cabbage
Corn – Planted at about 10 days apart. You can see the difference between the middle and right pic. The right pic was rototilled once again before planting so the grass is really staying out of the way as compared to the middle pic. The sweet corn looks lush green and very healthy!
Cucumbers Pumpkins
Leaf Lettuce Spinach
Roma Tomatoes Supersonic Tomatoes
Posted in Gardening, tagged chicken coop, cucumber planting, dusk garden pics, farm, gardening, pumpkin patch, pumpkin planting on June 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »
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Uncle Keith came over last night to plant pumpkins with Max. He’s such a big help on the farm. Lucky to have a friend like him!
I’m planting Connecticut Field – Slightly flattened globe. Multi-purpose pumpkin that are really big jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween.
Hefty orange-gold fruits weigh 15-20 lbs. and have a flattened bottom to keep them from tipping. I hope they come in on time, This type of pumpkin takes 100 Days to Maturity.
I bought another hose (130′) to reach the rear field but still came up short. Need another hose to hook up to get to the watermelons.
I was able to water the corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, soybeans. It’s not going to rain for another couple days and I wanted to make certain those little seeds have a a bath.
The chickens enjoying the the cool evening breeze.
Grass Update: I cut it and now I just have to rake the excess straw away. If you look real hard you can see Max in the picture on the right. She loves coming to the farm with UK.
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Two Barn Farm 