Its a good week for planting squash-type seeds indoors in pots. Seeds like cukes, squashs, pumpkins and watermelons (curcurbits)... Maybe the weather will be warm enough to plant them outside next week! We'll see.
Here's what I have growing inside now:
Sowed April 21:
Watermelon (1 3-pack), sprouted April 29 (8 days)
Zucchini, Caserta (1 3-pack), no sprouts yet :(
Zucchini, Cashflow (1 3-pack), sprouted April 25 (6 days)
Summer squash, Sunburst (1 3-pack), sprouted April 30 (9 days)
Summer squash, Zephyr (1 3-pack), sprouted April 29 (8 days)
Summer squash, Starship pattypan (1 3-pack), sprouted April 29 (8 days)
Pumpkin, Big Rock (1 3-pack), sprouted April 29 (8 days)
Gourd, Birdhouse (1 3-pack), sprouted April 30 (9 days)
Cucumber, Rocky (1 6-pack), sprouted April 25 (6 days)
Cucumber, Striped Armenian (1 6-pack), sprouted April 30 (9 days)
Sowed April 27:
Squash, Lakota (1 3-pack)
Gourds, large ornamental (1 3-pack)
Squash, Delicata (1 3-pack)
Pumpkin, Baby Pam (1 3-pack)
Sowed May 3:
Cucumbers, Pickling (1 6-pack)
I plan to plant a lot of these around the fence of my community plot. All the ornamentals (pumpkins and gourds) will go next to my house where there lead levels are too high for growing edibles. I'll mix them with tall sunflowers. I like to make sure I grow a nice big patch of cucumbers, since we eat a lot of these in the summer. About half of these seedlings are for my parents. I haven't counted how many I have, but I think I'm ending up with quite a lot!
This year will be my first gardening (beyond tomatoes in pots). I've been looking for a blog just like yours -- you're going to be my inspiration! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteJust curious - what made you suspect that the lead levels beside your house would be high? Is this typical for soil around construction? I was planning to espalier some fruit trees along the side of my house and am now wondering if I too should get a soil test first...Thanks.
ReplyDeleteEspaliered fruit trees around the house sounds beautiful! What a great idea.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, most houses built before 1950 will have had lead paint on them at some time. At some time, the paint has probably flaked off or been scraped and landed in the soil below. My guess is every home in older towns have elevated lead in the soil around the foundation, though I have not seen any studies of this.
If I were you, I would have the soil tested if you are growing edibles. That said, I've read that lead isn't taken up well by plants and usually doesn't get into fruit. The main problem is the dust on the surface of crops. You can even have the fruit tested to see how much is accumulating.
I have removed all the vegetables I had near my house and will be planting a thick cover crop (clover) on the soil. I'll put some containers there for growing a few vegetables and will grow ornamentals around them.
Good luck with your plantings.
Ours have sprouted as well and have a few true leaves (cucumbers). Everything looks great!
ReplyDeleteGreat looking cucumber sprouts there. Have a great growing season this year!
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