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Tuesday, May 16, 2006 Tony Pumpkin Abbotsford BC

Entry 30 of 229  
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Well, yesterday was hot (33C) and today is supposed to be just as hot! The 1446 seems to be continuing to vine out nicely. I inserted a stick to redirect the plant slightly to the left so it anchors itself down the center of the mound. I edged the front two small plots of lawn around the house and got 2 wheelbarrows full of grass/dirt strips. Rather than heave it into the compost bins I dumped it alongside of my pumpkin mound to make it less steep at the bottom (it will break down eventually). I added some fertilizer and water to help begin breaking the stuff down, and then I covered it with more dirt. I also dug up a wheelbarrow of old leaf/grass compost from one of my last year’s compost bins and added that to the back of my pumpkin mound—I wanted to give the back of the mound a little more dirt—now some of my soaker hose is covered by a few inches of dirt—I think this will help get the water to the roots as they continue to grow and extend. The mound is about 10X10 now. Next year I may try burying layers of hose.

The picture above shows (to some extent) the nice uniform depth of the topsoil. Yesterday I dug down about 3 feet to try and find the “hardpan” and I was met by a few weird small (1 foot length) chunks of old petrified roots. When I was pulling them out of the soil they felt like old bones. Judging by the trees still around, and the deep soil, I think there must have been an old Maple/Birch forest here at one time. For next years pumpkin mound I will try to find the “hardpan” to amend/mix the soil from there up.
 



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