About 5 years ago I had an extra tomato plant and nowhere to put it. I finally decided to try it in one side of my compost bin. I was astounded with how huge it got and how productive it was. I've grown something in the compost bin every year since. The last 2 years I tried cantaloupe which was marginally successful. The vines were delicate and I had quite a battle with wood bugs. This year I've decided to plant a couple of butternut squash plants.
I started the seeds a month ago from the last 3 seeds in my Waltham Butternut Squash package. I hadn't realized I had so few seeds. Fortunately 2 of the seeds sprouted, and I decided that today was the day to plant them.
One side of the bin had finished compost in it. There were some self-seeded plants growing which had to be pulled out first. Luckily for us, there were several potato plants which yielded tiny baby potatoes - and we enjoyed them with our dinner tonight! The compost was surprisingly dry. We have had quite a warm, dry spring, but I had no idea that it was that dry. A thorough watering moistened the soil.
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| Waltham Butternut Squash |
I dug 2 big holes, watered them well, then backfilled so that the soil around the plants would be thoroughly moistened. The plants were popped in, protected with water bottle sleeves and container soil was added around them for weed suppression. And another thorough watering. Another day I'll mulch the compost with shredded maple leaves.
May is an amazing month for flowers. The rhododendrons are mostly finished by the end of the month, but the the peonies and bursting into bloom. Above is a closeup of Bowl of Beauty, which certainly lives up to its name. Having grown bomb varieties for so many years and endured the staking required to protect them from the rain, I now really appreciate varieties like Bowl of Beauty which look gorgeous and are not as labour-intensive.
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