Amazing Progress!

With the help of a roto-tiller, we have made amazing progress in reclaiming the alien landscape that was the new veggie garden on Friday!  

Mostly roto-tilled

Two thirds of the field have been roto-tilled, but the remaining L shaped area can’t be done yet as it is too wet. 

Area Farmer Ploughed a Second Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Late Monday afternoon the farmer came back with another type of plough on his tractor, and tackled some of the worst areas that the roto-tiller wasn’t able to conquer, so that really helped too.  We really worked hard on this and are back on schedule for planting; next weekend there will be more raised beds and more roto-tilling. I really enjoyed being out in the sunshine for two days straight, but my sore muscles will welcome a day off tomorrow!

Plant Lady

Collaborating with Mother Nature

Apple tree beginning to grow

The apple trees are beginning to open their leaves, and it is a gratifying sight. Each year I prune them quite severely and then spend a month or two worrying that I went too far, they won’t come back this year, they are too old and I am stressing them out too much by pruning….my list goes on. But once again they have sprung back to life with exuberant glory!

Their form when pruned is very interesting – I sometime call them my Halloween trees or my Fairy trees because of their odd outlines and rambling, twisted branches. The silhouette of one of them reminds me of a woman taking a stride forward with both arms raised, and I have tried to capture this ghostly impression many times through various art techniques but the essence of it always eludes me ( and sadly, the arms fell off my clay sculpture of it; it’s become a Venus de Milo of apple trees!). I think that it’s because I can never artistically create something so full of life and energy, only the Earth can do that. 

When all is said and done, I am happy to be an observer of this beauty and to try to use it in my garden – I don’t have to create it, just place it and encourage it to develop and let Mother Nature do the rest. Collaborative creation at its finest

The Plant Lady

Pink Jumbo Banana Squash

The pre-1883 Mexican/American heirloom cultivar Pink Jumbo Banana Squash is a member of the the Family Cucurbitaceae, genus Cucurbita, Species maxima. It is also known as Jumbo Pink Banana Squash and Banana Pink Jumbo Squash.  Squashes have a long, banana shape with  ribs, and a salmon-orange skin colour. It can vary in size from 3 kg to  16 kg.  and matures in 105 to 110 days.  

The Pink Jumbo Banana Squash has a  vining growth habit and will reach 30 cm – 90cm in height.   It needs full sun.  The squash should be planted after the last frost 1.2 – 1.8 m apart, with 6 to 8 seeds in each inverted hill.  This squash enjoys a slightly acidic to neutral ph in well drained soil that contains lots of organic matter.  The squash should be harvested when the colour is solid, the rind is firm and the vine is beginning to die.

All squash plants are monoecious, meaning they have both male and female parts on the same plant. The seed is open pollinated.  To collect the seeds first allow the fruit to ripen and then remove the seeds, clean and dry them and store in a dry container.

Insect pests include leaf bugs, beetles and stem borers and larger pests can include rodents, deer and birds.

The Plant Lady