Pulsegleaner's Garden 2019; The Uphill Battle

[Pulsegleaner]

Current update

Animals have done a job on the circle garden. I KNOW they have gotten at the black cow peas, mottled cow peas and green soybeans, but I think they may have eaten pretty much everything!

I have sown some watermelons indoors but as yet there seems to be no sign of germination there. Given how things are going, I'm half tempted to plant the watermelons in a pot on a pedestal and let the vines run down! The watermelons are Costa Rican Fine Rinds from Joe Simcox which are only about the size of baseballs so theoretically I might actually be able to DO that (anyone know what the average tensile strength of a watermelon stalk is?).

 

[Trish Stretton]

Enough to hold the fruit up when it decides to climb the nearest tree....til it ripens.

 

[Smart Red]

works for the personal or small sized melons. i still prefer a safety net of mesh or old nylons for the big varieties.

ive had larger cantalope plants climb up and set fruit to hang down through 2x4 pig fencing with no problems until ripe. [mine are mostly slip-stem types]

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Well, as I said this one's fruits are supposed to be on the extremely small side (about the size of baseballs) so assuming any of them sprout, it should be OK.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Well, as I said this one's fruits are supposed to be on the extremely small side (about the size of baseballs) so assuming any of them sprout, it should be OK.

I've seen watermelon vine support a decent sized fruit (the size of your head or greater) when was hanging so the vine should be strong enough. But I've also seen the weight of the melon pull the vine loose from whatever as supporting it so it wound up on the ground. With baseball sized that should not be an issue.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Update 5/3

Everything is sort of in stasis at the moment, with growth minimal if at all (I blame the unseasonably cold weather.)

This is extra frustrating because it paralyzes any future plans pretty totally. Normally by now I'd be able to tell where the animals had eaten everything (and hence where I can and should re-plant) but as it stands now, I can't tell where things are gone versus where they just haven't come up yet. And I suspect that, by the time I am sure, it will be too late to re-plant anything.

The watermelon plan fell though, as none of the seeds germinated and they all went moldy.

In acquisitions, I found a person in Chinatown selling packs of Chinese seed. More importantly they are agricultural grade packages (as opposed to home gardening ones) so I was able to snag some otherwise difficult to get seed, like waxy corn and the brown skinned snow pea I have been trying to find for a while.

 

[flowerbug]

@Pulsegleaner for us here it is still too early to plant warm weather crops. i hope you can get something to grow this season. perhaps a later crop will work better if the animals can then find forage elsewheres and you can start some in pots and get them taller and growing so they'll be left alone. daydreaming perhaps...

 

[Pulsegleaner]

No you are quite right, they do taper off as the season progresses and other native plants come in to feed them. The problem is that, by that time, there isn't enough time left in the season for anything to go it's full term before frost becomes a problem.

Also the rabbits and squirrels seem to love beans and corn and my other crops above anything native, so they will still attack them with embarrassing frequency.

 

[seedcorn]

Rabbit or squirrel fricassee is really good....just sayin...

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I'm sure it is but I'm suburban remember; no killing or trapping.