OK, cheating a little. This picture was actually taken on February 27th.
What's in that basket? Kabocha pumpkin, Cavili zucchini, Hakurei turnip, Bright Lights Swiss chard, Bordeaux spinach, red leaf lettuce, Okinawan spinach, Meyer lemons, basil, cilantro, Jade and Royal Burgundy green beans, Super Sugar Snap peas , Fairy Tale and Ping Tung eggplant, and a few Sweet Pea flowers.
Today marks the first day of spring!
4 comments:
I didn't know you could grow a kabocha or zucchine in the winter! The latest I could get a pumpkin to flower last year was in August but I haven't tried growing kabocha. I do get cucumbers most of the year but they definately don't grow that well in November/December. Do you have problems with the melon fly where you are?
Oh the melon flies and the oriental flies are terrible here Jane. I tried a few melons last summer and do you know the little *&*#&*^s didn't even wait for the melons, they stung the vines! After that i was afraid to try cucumbers. Do you have to provide protection?
I selected Cavili zucchini because it is parthenocarpic. Since i grew them under row cover i needed a variety that didn't need to be pollinated. I did not cover the Kabochas. Once they got a little size on them it was hard for the flies to sting them but most of them still took some damage. It would have been better with some protection, i think. This year i am adding the GF-120 baits to my arsenol.
Now that is funny about the cucumbers not flowering well in November/December. I just read that cukes are a little day length sensitive and produce better during short days! Well, that is why it will be nice to have another Maui gardener to compare notes with ; )
A hui hou!
1 bunch of Dutch Yellow shallots I planted the first week of Jan. was loose and I pulled it this morning. It looks okay and it did bulb. The ones from Sept. are still not ready.
OMG the melon fly...this year will be my 3rd attempt at growing cantelope type melons. The plants either succumb to powdery mildew or the baby melons are damaged by the flies. At the height of the mating season they don't even care if the female flowers are open.
I'm going to paint the bait more widely then I did last year. I was told their favorite place to hang out is castor bean trees and there are some in a field near my house.
This time of year it's not so bad so I use white paper bags over the newly pollinated melons and squash. And, I'm using tule to drape over portions of the plants that have pollinated melons. But it won't be long before the battle begins!
I have lures for the male melon and male oriental. I've caught a zillion male melon flies but very few orientals so they may not be around Kihei. Do you have the lures? If not you can purchase them at the Ag office at MCC.
My cucumbers bloom all year but the baby cukes don't grow that well in Nov/Dec. Many are stunted or deformed. The Suyo and Palace Pride (long Japanese types) did better than the slicing types.
At the height of the melon fly season they did stick some of the cucumbers after I pulled out all the melon plants. The people who work at the Ag office at MCC say this can be brought under control. Maybe this is the year!
i have to admit i was a little envious, everything on your blog looks so great i never guessed you had the same insect pressure.
i just received a follow-up call from the MCC office and they told me the melon flies like to roost in the crop they are stinging. i don't recall hearing that in the class i attended last summer so i thought i would pass it along. i've been using the lures for a few years now with little effect. Have you taken a good whiff of the GF-120? i swear it smells good enough to eat. Hope the honey bees don't think so...
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