Spirit pumpkin. I've never had one so healthy, so long. SVBs have always been a huge problem. This is a more compact cultivar.
Golden Acre cabbage starting to form a head.
Florence fennel. A volunteer. Note the black swallowtail caterpillar in the upper portion. He's already about an inch and a half long!
One of my three
Sungold tomatoes started blossoming a few days ago. I can't wait for these tasty nuggets!
Sweet Basil planted last season. It overwintered and is now starting to flower. It came in a gift herb kit. I never harvested any of it, so I'm hoping the beneficials will like it. That's why it's still hanging around. Peas are planted on both sides of it. You can see my
Spirit Pumpkin in the back left.
Below are my tomatoes, a
Spirit pumpkin in the near-middle,
Golden Acre cabbage in front of that, onions in the back right, peas lining the lower of the picture.
The birdhouse I built a few weeks ago has found its first resident. A lovely pair of wrens! You can see one on the tomato cage holding nesting material.
Ellagance Purple lavender that I started from seed last season. Smells lovely.
Jacob Kline monarda. Five feet tall already!!! My
Endless Summer hydrangea is blooming as well.
Rosy Returns daylily.
Flamenco Torch Lily. More of a light apricot than the orange I expected. Perhaps because it is so shaded by the monarda.
Golden Acre cabbage starting to form a head.
Florence fennel. A volunteer. Note the black swallowtail caterpillar in the upper portion. He's already about an inch and a half long!
One of my three Sungold tomatoes started blossoming a few days ago. I can't wait for these tasty nuggets!
Sweet Basil planted last season. It overwintered and is now starting to flower. It came in a gift herb kit. I never harvested any of it, so I'm hoping the beneficials will like it. That's why it's still hanging around. Peas are planted on both sides of it. You can see my Spirit Pumpkin in the back left.
Below are my tomatoes, a Spirit pumpkin in the near-middle, Golden Acre cabbage in front of that, onions in the back right, peas lining the lower of the picture.
The birdhouse I built a few weeks ago has found its first resident. A lovely pair of wrens! You can see one on the tomato cage holding nesting material.
Ellagance Purple lavender that I started from seed last season. Smells lovely.
Jacob Kline monarda. Five feet tall already!!! My Endless Summer hydrangea is blooming as well.
Rosy Returns daylily.
Flamenco Torch Lily. More of a light apricot than the orange I expected. Perhaps because it is so shaded by the monarda.
Every thing is lovely! I know the pride you feel about the tomato buds :o) I feel prouder that I saved the seeds ( and knew where I kept them :o). Now I want to save every seed I get for next year.:o)
ReplyDeleteI am going to save seed this season as well. I didn't last season, but it wasn't a great year with the severe drought. This year I am going to baby them. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you click on the fennel picture and zoom in, you can see the cat very clearly. Unfortunately, I went out in the evening, and he was nowhere to be found. Off to molt again perhaps? Hopefully the birds didn't find him.
ReplyDeleteHello Kim,
ReplyDeleteI planted a spirit pumpkin for the first time and they look like gourds. Do you have any information on them because I cannot find any.
Thank you
Jenn
Jenn,
ReplyDeleteIf my memory serves me right, I purchased my seed from Jung Seed Company. Spirit is a hybrid variety that was an AAS winner in the late 70s. Around 90-100 days to mature. For me the vines are about 4 feet long...although one arm stretched out around 7 feet long. It's listed as a semi-bush variety which holds true.
My first pumpkin off of my plant was close to 7 1/2 pounds. The size of a bowling ball. I have another out there of comparable size and two smaller ones on the same plant.
I haven't tasted one yet. I did run it through my food mill to save for holiday pies. These are the perfect size for carving. I posted a picture of one of the pumpkins fully grown, a cut from the vine about two weeks ago.
Mine don't look like gourds. I'm thinking you might have received seeds that were accidentally mixed up or seeds that were saved from this hybrid (won't come true to type).
So far I am very happy with the small amount of space these take up. The size of the pumpkins doesn't appear to be compromised either. I'm loving this variety.
Kim