Mighty Mighty Northern Bush Pumpkin
Seeds in my hair, seeds in my pockets, seeds clinging to my bathrobe, seeds in the sink, seeds on the floor, seeds in the tub, seeds under the table, seeds on top of the table, seeds in bags, seeds in boxes, seeds still in the pumpkin, seeds in the cushions of the couch. Seeds. Did I mention it's seed season? Orders are rolling in, seed is flying out the door, the ladies at the post office are already starting their seed and no-one's had a proper dinner for months. Ahhhhh. As it should be.
And it's time to plan ahead for the seed I will grow this season. We will have a carrot crop, hopefully a cucumber crop, of course the mighty Northern Bush Pumpkin and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of trial tomatoes to grow out. Luckily I intend to live a long life so I can grow them all out. My trials this year are about "Earlies", "Dwarf's" and "Peach - or Angora" tomatoes. Super fun!!!!
NO excuses! It's time to rock and roll! Even though we are no longer experiencing proper winters to kill off bugs, disease and critters, we will still try to grow. Disease is coming higher and higher and so are the bugs. ORGANIC - NATURAL SOLUTIONS ARE THE ONLY ANSWER. If you don't already know this - please don't kill predators unless they are attacking your livestock - please? One coyote can take out 40 ground animals in one night. The fox and the bobcat will gobble up hordes of critters all night long. The mole hills and mounds and burrows trip up my horses and last year, one of my mares came in with a severely bowed tendon - which cost us the big bucks to heal her. Keeping the critters balanced is the name of the game. Mother Nature will cure it in a harsher way - too many means starvation and disease to wipe out clusters like we are experiencing. In all of these years, we have never seen ground animals at this level. 4 warm winters in a row will do it. So we need those predators to do their job every night.
Last fall - when the critters tried to move in - I came face to face with a wood rat coming out of my bread drawer! He was unafraid and looked at me as if I was intruding - we stared at each other as he sized me up and down. I said, "NO." He said, "We'll see." 45 minutes later he was live-trapped on the counter with peanut butter and after the guys took him away - I began the bleaching process. Such attitude.
Meanwhile - I better get studying up on tomato diseases - as they are coming! Last year a grower friend of mine got TMV - (horrors!) Tobacco Mosaic Virus and she had to ditch the whole lot - including the seeds. TMV will remain in the seed - what a loss! Tobacco kills tomatoes. No smoking tobacco around tomatoes, do not let smokers touch the plants or anything around them. I simply ask tobacco smokers to wash their hands with soap and water if they want to touch anything - I even provide wet wipes on tours. I don't want them to touch the door jam of my greenhouses as to not leave remains behind. No judgment! Just information. How many tobacco smokers have said to me, "Is that why I can't seem to grow tomatoes?!" Yes.
And it's time to plan ahead for the seed I will grow this season. We will have a carrot crop, hopefully a cucumber crop, of course the mighty Northern Bush Pumpkin and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of trial tomatoes to grow out. Luckily I intend to live a long life so I can grow them all out. My trials this year are about "Earlies", "Dwarf's" and "Peach - or Angora" tomatoes. Super fun!!!!
NO excuses! It's time to rock and roll! Even though we are no longer experiencing proper winters to kill off bugs, disease and critters, we will still try to grow. Disease is coming higher and higher and so are the bugs. ORGANIC - NATURAL SOLUTIONS ARE THE ONLY ANSWER. If you don't already know this - please don't kill predators unless they are attacking your livestock - please? One coyote can take out 40 ground animals in one night. The fox and the bobcat will gobble up hordes of critters all night long. The mole hills and mounds and burrows trip up my horses and last year, one of my mares came in with a severely bowed tendon - which cost us the big bucks to heal her. Keeping the critters balanced is the name of the game. Mother Nature will cure it in a harsher way - too many means starvation and disease to wipe out clusters like we are experiencing. In all of these years, we have never seen ground animals at this level. 4 warm winters in a row will do it. So we need those predators to do their job every night.
Last fall - when the critters tried to move in - I came face to face with a wood rat coming out of my bread drawer! He was unafraid and looked at me as if I was intruding - we stared at each other as he sized me up and down. I said, "NO." He said, "We'll see." 45 minutes later he was live-trapped on the counter with peanut butter and after the guys took him away - I began the bleaching process. Such attitude.
Meanwhile - I better get studying up on tomato diseases - as they are coming! Last year a grower friend of mine got TMV - (horrors!) Tobacco Mosaic Virus and she had to ditch the whole lot - including the seeds. TMV will remain in the seed - what a loss! Tobacco kills tomatoes. No smoking tobacco around tomatoes, do not let smokers touch the plants or anything around them. I simply ask tobacco smokers to wash their hands with soap and water if they want to touch anything - I even provide wet wipes on tours. I don't want them to touch the door jam of my greenhouses as to not leave remains behind. No judgment! Just information. How many tobacco smokers have said to me, "Is that why I can't seem to grow tomatoes?!" Yes.
Cut it open to find a prize inside!
 Scoop them out... |  Rinse them off... |
Spread them out to dry...
Greenhouse/Seed Room progress:
Holy crap it's slow right now. Patience is my middle name. I wait. Cord and Beau continue to build one greenhouse after another and try to work on ours 'in between' - which is really just an illusion. Beau works with Cord full time and goes to college full time - and commutes a lot. He studies on the road - I don't know how he's doing it. Cord is finishing one and lining up two more so his brain is complete.
Meanwhile - I wait, and dream, and pack the seeds back up in tubs every time I fill an order. Pumpkins are still rolling around the living room floor, tomatoes are still in bags everywhere and the couch is my office. My Seed Room awaits.
It's gonna be great.
Holy crap it's slow right now. Patience is my middle name. I wait. Cord and Beau continue to build one greenhouse after another and try to work on ours 'in between' - which is really just an illusion. Beau works with Cord full time and goes to college full time - and commutes a lot. He studies on the road - I don't know how he's doing it. Cord is finishing one and lining up two more so his brain is complete.
Meanwhile - I wait, and dream, and pack the seeds back up in tubs every time I fill an order. Pumpkins are still rolling around the living room floor, tomatoes are still in bags everywhere and the couch is my office. My Seed Room awaits.
It's gonna be great.
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