Today was pumpkin planting day.
Austrian oil seed (left) and Hopi grey winter (right) pumpkin seedlings
First, I had to clear the area where they were to be planted. This is outside the garden bed area, beside the globe artichokes. There is a layer of black plastic on the ground to slow down the growth of the grass, but I haven’t used it in a few years, so a good bit of weeding was required to tidy it up.
The area to be weeded
Once I had weeded it, I gathered old horse manure that had been piled at the far end of the black plastic area and put it in the planting holes that are in the plastic. I also renovated the sprinklers for this area. Then I planted a total of 8 Hopi grey winter and 14 Austrian oil seed pumpkins into the manure piles. After planting, I gave them a thorough watering as both the soil and horse manure that they have been planted in was VERY dry.
After weeding and planting (oil seed on left, Hopi grey winter on right)