It looks like 2021 will be an interesting season for me and I have been keeping a low profile until I was cleared to work in the garden again. My shoulder has improved significantly over the past few months and although it won't be 100% I think that it is good enough for me to grow a few pumpkins this season.
I was able to get the planting sites and hoop houses up early although my cover crop was really sparse after the chickens spent weeks eating the seeds. Only two AG's this year for me and maybe a field pumpkin tomatoes and some other vegetables
The heater cables have been tested so everything is a go. The soil PH is at 7.6 now so the patch will need a major application of sulfur to bring it down a bit. The wind fencing needs a lot of work but I am still not ready to pound in "T" posts yet and I am concerned about potentially damaging winds on Friday.
I suddenly found myself with more space at home due to a change in my life so the plants were brought into my living room from the usually hot solarium. In the past there was a problem with them becoming leggy from the heat and it looks like it is working. The 1450 Fifolt plant on the left is one of the best starts I have ever seen and the 2226.7 Boonen/Herman beside it is looking good as well. There are several mangel wurzels and a few kohlrabi plants that are ready to go in the ground now as well. I am tempted to plant the pumpkins this weekend but I need a reliable heat source in case of a deep freeze in the coming weeks.
The weather was not co-operating over the past week for me to work the main patch but it looks like things are going to change in the coming week.
I did plant a 1450 Fifolt plant on May 2nd which is the earliest I have ever put a pumpkin out. I held back planting my other pumpkin due to uncertainties about hoop house heaters for both hoop houses.
After one week it appears that the 1450 Fifolt is growing well although the tip really wants to go straight up. It is amazing how well the plants respond to the warm soil provided by the heater cables.
For the first week or two the plants are kept under a row cover canopy for extra frost protection and to keep them in the shade. My plants go from my living room to the patch in one day so they have to be heavily shaded. Now that the sun is coming back there is shade cloth on the hoop house as well.
The 2226.7 Boonen/Herman finally got planted on May 8th. It was a little overdue and the brown marks on the leaves were caused by the grow lights.
The mangelwurzels which are fodder beets got planted today. They are very light sensitive and will collapse in 30 minutes if exposed to daylight. They need to be kept under double shade protection for now. In the past my plants got some sun exposure while at home but not this year. Lesson learned.
Also got the Kohlrabi plants in the ground. There did not seem to be any issues with sun light which is probably due to their heavy leaves but I am not taking any chances and they are being protected from all the elements.