Squash and Cross Pollination

Summer squash, winter squash, pumpkins and gourds belong to the Cucurbita family. Members of this family may cross-pollinate with each other. (Insects can bring pollen from other plants to female flowers.) However, the first year of a cross, the resulting fruit is completely normal looking and tasting. Only the end result seed carries the crossed …

Read more

Watermelons and Cross Pollination

watermelon growing

Do you have to separate watermelons (Citrullus lanatus) from other types of melons to keep them from cross-pollinating? No, other types of melons like cantaloupes or honeydew (Cucumis melo), and cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) can all be grown close together without fear of crossing. However, each of these items will cross within their own species. So, …

Read more

Blossom End Rot

Tomatoes grown in containers and indeterminate (vining) heirloom tomatoes can be more susceptible to Blossom End Rot (BER) that is caused by an inability to adequately uptake calcium from the soil. This condition is more likely caused by fluctuating moisture levels rather than a deficiency of calcium in the soil. But, it can also be …

Read more

How are beans pollinated?

Do you want to save your own bean seeds for growing next year? Do you want to re-grow the same fabulous beans next year that you grew this year? It may not be as easy to do with any other plant than the “bean bunch”… ya know why? Beans are self-pollinating and rarely pollinated by …

Read more

May Garden Calendar

seed packet

Wow… May already. Where did the time go? The gardening calendar for May provides a list of recommended food growing tips and gardening chores.
As I mentioned in the last calendar update, April and May, about growing organic food, more people garden in April and May than any other time of the year.