I know. I know. All you summer lovers are wanting to shout at me about this fall look. Fall and spring are my favorite seasons, so I guess I always want to rush them in. Besides, we do have some orange and red leaves here in Northeast Ohio, already peaking out amongst the green. Plus, I'm in the throes of preparing for the start of homeschool. I have to somehow mark the end of carefree summer times.
Do you know anything about vegetable gardens? Can you tell me why our pumpkin and squash plants have beautiful, healthy-looking flowers, that are nevertheless closing up and falling off and not producing fruit? We do have plenty of bees around. I've seen them busy in the squash flowers many a time. The beans and peas are doing great, as are the giant sunflowers. We did plant about three weeks late (mid-June).
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4 comments:
I'm afraid I can't help you. Sorry. I don't really know that much about gardening. This is my first year even having a garden.
In fact, my pumpkins are doing the same thing. Maybe it's normal?
Love the new look, and feel, of your blog. Thanks for being so loyal to my blog. Hope everything is blossoming, aside from the squash, the way it should be.
First off, I've been following your blog for several months but had yet to leave a comment till now. I always enjoy following another Mom's daily struggles and triumphs with her children, balancing and juggling the "Mom/Wife/Me" roles we take on, and especially enjoy reading when it comes from a Christian perspective!
I have (almost) three little ones: Elizabeth is starting first grade, John is in his second year of preschool, and our third (second son) is due any time in the next three weeks. Anyway- that's a tiny bit about us. It only seems fair, since I've been reading all about your family!
I love the blog format- we've had our own family blog for several years to help keep out of town/state family in our loop and updated on family pictures and adventures. Because it's all about our personal lives and lots of pics of our kiddos, we've chosen to keep it listed privately... sorry to not have much to give in return for your open-ness!
Alright- about the garden. We had the same problem this year and last with our pumpkins, so this year I contacted a local master gardener for help. There are apparently 'boy' blossoms and 'girl' blossoms. Yep, when you look inside the blossom you will clearly see their 'parts'. A funny anatomy lesson for my children and I to discover (picture my son running around the backyard hollering and laughing that our pumpkins have penises!!).
Plants usually produce more male blossoms than female, but if you find a female blossom you can pollinate it yourself by hand- another interesting lesson for myself and the kids! We had success with ONE of our blossoms and now have a baby pumpkin beginning. It certainly won't be big enough by harvest time- but we'll know better for next year. We had plentiful bees also and really didn't think we needed to do more- but apparently with pumpkins we did. (Side note: our watermelons, peppers, other squash, and last year's canteloupe did just fine on their own. What's wrong with those pumpkins??)
Alright, now I've written an entire entry myself- sorry!
Keep on with the writing... It's enjoyable to read, and is such a theraputic exercise for those of us who are literarily inclined, plus delighfully reassuring for all of us moms to know we toil on our own- but have a sisterhood that extends far beyond our own doorsteps...
Hi Anne,
It was so nice to read about you and your family! Thanks for visiting my blog. And thank you, too, for the gardening tips. We found the male and female flowers as you directed and discovered two small pumpkins growing on the female flowers. There are TONS of flowers, but few pumpkins. We will know what to do next year. Thanks!
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