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Entry Date
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Nick Name
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Location
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Friday, April 14, 2006
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Tony Pumpkin
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Abbotsford BC
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Entry 1 of 229 |
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In the image you can see a picture of this yearfs pumpkin patch almost ready to go. Above the dividing line I will plant some basil, or cilantro (since I grow a large regular garden as well). The patch of soil where I will grow the pumpkin is a raised bed about 7 feet wide by 4 .5 feet deep. The vines of the pumpkin I will grow over my lawn. The slope is relatively steep and southern facing.
The picture that you see is the end result of my composting efforts. To prepare the patch in the fall I dug up the original soil to a depth of about 2 feet (the actual soil itself is 3+ feet deep). Along the sides of the pile I buried a whole bunch of old garden clippings, salad stalks, corn, and of course last years 250lb pumpkin all cut up into little pieces.
On top of this I dumped about 3 wheelbarros full of black dirt (from very old leaf compost) that I found in the back of the lot under my large laurel hedge where the neighbor has been dumping excess leaves and clipping for many years. I then added about 6 inches of maple leafs and mixed them in with the soil.
On top of this heap of soil I planted winter rye in December until it grew about 18 inches high. Just yesterday I got some good year old chicken manure and I dropped 4 wheelbarrows (300+lbs) on top of the rye so that it would rot the rye in time for planting. I then proceeded to mix up the leaves from fall, the rye with its roots, and the manure with a pitch fork. I will deeply till the soil one more time before planting and when I do this I will add generous amounts of 18-18-18 balanced blended fertilizer.
Hopefully my efforts will provide a good growing medium for this yearfs pumpkin plant. I will only be growing one plant.
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