On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at Small Holding Farm we planted about 180 squash! We planted the seedlings, which were grown by Farmer Katie in her greenhouse, and the varities included… winter squash, cinderella pumpkins, SWEET REBA (we liked repeating these words when we stubs our toe or nicked our fingers), orange pumpkins, striped pumpkins, red kuri pumpkins, sweet dumpling pumpkins, sugar pie pumpkins, gords, and more!
Step 1 – Lay out the mulch (black plastic). It comes in rolls so you start at one end of the 200 foot bed and you unroll it. As the mulch it is being unrolled, two people, one on either side, follow it and bury the mulch a little on either side (4 to 6 inches) to stop it from blowing away.
Funny Oberservation: Valeria, the intern (seen above), worn sweat pants and her hoodie in 25C+ weather. I on the other hand got a little sun stroke and blisters on my shoulders.
The mulch is biodegradable (made from corn) and serves a number of purposes… to keep out the weeds… to preserve moisture in the soil and to heat the soil. All of these things will help ensure the success of Farmer Katie’s investment!
Step 2: After the mulch is secured, we planted the seedlings. A ruler is used to ensure that the seedings are spaced accordingly. One person marks a spacing of 24 inches on centre, another drops a seedling next to each marks and records the variety, and the third person follows.. digging the holes and planting the pumpkin!
Step 4: Row Cover. Over each 200 ft bed we placed a covering. Same deal as before.. insert ohhhh… about 300 plastic hoops give the cover shape and keep the cover off the plants. Then you unroll the cover… just like before… and you bury the edges with soil to keep it from blowing away and keep out the pests! All of this burying is done with a hoe.
Funny observation: I am right handed, but I am a left handed hoer.
In this case a covering was placed over the flowers to protect them from “cucumber beetle”. Apparently the beetle will eat the flower and sadly no fruit will come.
Step 5: I won’t be there… but Farmer Katie will use her experience and wisdom to know when to remove the cover. She needs to remove it for the plants to pollenate… but not too soon or the beetle will eat the flowers.
This work took 3 people a whole day.. from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m… with a lunch break. We all slept very well on Wednesday night.
PennyGrows 