Nope, it is a pumpkin! Different squashes, pumpkins, and watermelons all look the same when they are young. When it is large enough to put out the first male flowers, they still look a lot alike until the female flowers appear–they have a bulge at their base before the stem. If it is long, it…
Blossoms have appeared on the zucchini. These are female…you can tell because there is a little bulge at the base of the flower where it attaches to the stem. After pollination, this little bulge will grow into an edible squash. I pick them at 8 – 10 inch size when they are tender.
No, I didn’t plant any pumpkins…they just sprouted by themselves and are huge! They are putting out only male flowers now, just to entice the bees to visit. The blossoms are edible: pick the open blossoms, remove the pollen, wash gently with water, fill with stuffing mix, and bake 15 min. Delicious.
Plants are covered with little berries which are starting to show some red. Can’t wait for them to ripen! They are so sweet. Birds don’t seem to be bothering them much. I put flash tape up to scare the birds off, which doesn’t bother the bees’ pollinating exuberance.
Peas are growing crazy! I planted both the edible pod and the peas-in-a-pod. The edible pod grows thin and develops very small, tender pea-ettes. The peas-in-a-pod develop large peas like you get in a can. I have to split the pod to get them out. The pods are too tough for people, but the hens…
Sometimes you just have to clean the chicken coop. Today was on the cloudy, cool side so I gave the coop a really thorough cleaning. Removed the removable floor and washed and disinfected it and set it aside to dry. Removed all the bedding in the nests and replaced it with fresh, new straw. Replaced…