Key to having pumpkins
Pumpkins growers are among the few people thinking about Halloween this Independence Day weekend.
The rule of thumb in the South is to plant pumpkins, which take about three months to produce mature fruit, by July 4 to ensure ripe, ready to carve pumpkins by October. We often associate garden tasks with holidays, says Daphne Richards, the Texas AgriLife Extension agent for horticulture in Travis County. And late June and early July is a good time to plant pumpkins to have them by Halloween. You can plant them as early as March or April, as long as the first frost has passed.
Richards doesn t recommend planting much right now, but pumpkins are an exception. The plants thrive in the heat and sun, but the downside is that you have to keep them watered through the three hottest monpatagonia guidewater duffel max reviewths of the year. The most important planting tip? Plant in mounds that are at least 4 fepatagonia discount code 2013et apart to avoid crowding after the plants start tpatagonia synchilla marsupial fleece pullover reviewo spread.
Like many other kinds of squash, pumpkins have large, hardy seeds that can sprout and push through an ipatagonia r4 washing instructions3nch or two of mulch that will help keep the soil moist while the seeds are germinating. Richards says it s best to plant pumpkin seeds directly in the soil, because if you start them indoors, you have to slowly acclimate the plants to the heat before transplanting outside. patagonia r4 washing instructions(You can buy transplants that are alpatagonia wetsuits review r4ready adjusted to the heat at the Natural Gardener in Oak Hill.)
Many commercial pumpkin growers already have their plants in the ground so they can start harvesting them in September.
Mike Walterscheidt, owner of Evergreen Farms Christmas Trepatagonia guide jacket supplierses in Elgin , expanded his Christmas tree business to include a pumpkin patch about spatagonia outlet store elizabethix years ago. It s nice to have another income compatagonia r4 washing instructions1ing in at another time of year, he says. It brings people out to the farm, where they can see the trees growing, too.
Walterscheidt grows three kinds of pumpkin, including car inspired varieties called Mustang and Corvette, that customers can harvest directly from the field during each weekend in October. They vary in shape and size, depending on whatever Mother Nature does to them. The heat and drought are always tough to patagonia r4 washing instructions0deal with, but Walterscheidt says that topatagonia discount code zumiezo much rain and humidity can be worse.
Up the road at Elgin Christmas Tree Farm, which also sells pumpkins in October, co owner Twyla Nash says that after the drought in 2008, they decided to throw in the towel for growing pumpkins. It s too dry, too wet and too hot, depending on the year, she says. We are busy trying to keep our Christmas trees alive.
The pumpkins that fill up the lawn in front of Tarrytown United Methodist Church every October are grown in New Mexico on the Navajo Repatagonia r4 washing instructions2servation in partnership with Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers, which provides pumpkins to nonprofits in the lower 48 states. Kevin Corrigan, who works witpatagonia guide jacket 100%h the company, says they planted 56 varieties of pumpkins about a month ago and will deliver them to more than 1,000 groups in a few months. (Npatagonia guide pants lineonprofits can sign up to sell fundraiser pumpkins through August, Corrigan says. We ve gotten a lot more Cinderella pumpkins in recent years, the interesting ones with multiple colors and warts, he says. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your profile.
