The 2013 Garden Thread

Funniest story of my gardening life:

A few years ago while working in the yard, I noticed a plant growing just off my property line in the empty lot next to mine. Under the tall grass I saw large leaves on a vine. Then, it hit me. It's a watermelon vine! We had eaten watermelon in the past and that's where I dumped the scraps. So, I cleared away the grass, added some good soil and watered the vine. Soon, I had a nice watermelon on the vine. My son was so excited that we were going to have "free" watermelon. As the melon grew larger, it turned orange. Turns out my "watermelon" was a pumpkin! Oh yea, we dumped pumpkin "guts" there too. Oh well, it was fun and funny.

something practical, sensible and useful on this forum? Good thread................

reply to post by Galileo400


This reminds me of the great "sumpkin" incident - a vine grew among the other squashes and we weren't quite sure what it was. The fruits were orange like a pumpkin but slightly elongated like a squash. We called them "sumpkins: for lack of a better term.

As an experiment we cut them up and cooked them as you would summer squash and they tasted similar but with a firmer flesh.

It wasn't until years later that I learned certain squash varieties will cross pollinate with each other. The seed will come out different than the parents. This is why we got the weird "sumpkin."

Squash seed savers beware... As with corn, cross-pollination is a threat, but in this case to the seeds you save and not the seeds you eat!

Happy 2014 Garden Everyone!

reply to post by Tylerdurden1


I have another suggestion about basil: the plant will want to flower over time. Once you see a flower bud start to form on the plant cut enough of the budding stem to submerge in a water source. The plant will grow roots in a few weeks and you can start a new basil plant. At the same time cutting off the bud will extend the life of your mother plant. My basil plant gave up the ghost only a month ago and I started it in April. I call it a semi-perennial.

I am hoping for some advice. I purchased a couple of strawberry plants that were root bound. They were looking a bit sad (wilting leaves) but the guy at the store told me it was because they had just been transported in so were stressed - would bounce right back. I am new at this so planted them in the recommended amended soil in a super sunny location and watered accordingly. These were hard to get out of the pots and I didn't even think to cut the roots or try to untangle them. If I dig them back up will it be worse than just letting them adjust? Two strawberries matured that were babies when I bought it a week ago but the leaves have no firmness.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch.