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Garden Problems
The last two years I have tried to grow pumpkins from seed. I planted the seeds, they sprouted and looked great, beautiful leaves, lots of flowers and then they died. I have bees, so the flowers were pollinated, but they didn't make it far enough to start forming fruit. The vines just shriveled from the base and died. Does anyone know what happened?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kurt on -
Have you ever tried the Natural Way Plantproducts when you put your seeds down? Its an all natural fertilizer comes in liquid as well as a dry formulation.It will give balance to your soil as well as a support to grow a nice and healthy plant.Your soil might be laking something.If you want to try the Natural Way led me know.
I had the same things happening to my tomatoes a few years ag.Since I'm using the Natural Way products, my tomatoes are exellent.You also can visit my website to get some information.
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Permalink Reply by d. savage on -
It sounds to me like squash vine borer, which is just as nasty as it sounds. I had to cut the vine where it meets the soil, just a small slit, and look for a white-ish worm with a brown tip. And, there it was. (I swear it was looking at me!) Then, i squished it. When that's done, you need to add fresh soil at the base where the slit is, and water good. It will delay the growth for a week or two, but mine came back healthy in no time. I have Rodales Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening and use it every year. It's easy to understand, and has helped tremendously.
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Permalink Reply by kim bennett on
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pumpkins need lots of poop, and water
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Permalink Reply by Carol on -
It sounds like squash vine borers. Several things you can do to outfox them. Wrap the stems with panty hose or masking tape to keep the borers from getting in to the stem. You can make a slit in the stem and remove them, then tape it closed again. Use BT injected into the stem. Plant resistant varieties like Cushaw. Maxima varieties seem to be most vulnerable, so plant moschatas, mixtas and pepo instead. You can also buy nematodes that attack the SVB in the soil early in the season and with the right conditions, they will stick around and multiply and keep working for you year after year.
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Farmer Veterans
Today is Veterans Day and Farm Aid thanks all the veterans who have served our country. In honor of their service, I want to introduce you to a group of veterans who are beginning new careers as farmers and growers of the Good Food Movement. 
Not long after the Farm Aid concert in early October, we received an email from Michael O'Gorman, project director of the Farmer-Veteran Coalition (FVC). The FVC brought a group of veterans to St. Louis and mounted an excellent exhibit in our HOMEGROWN Village at the show. Reflecting on the experience, Michael wrote, "Our group...included twenty two veterans—twenty of them post-9/11, fifteen who served in Iraq or Afghanistan or both, and fifteen of whom are pursuing careers in farming or the good food movement. It was a very powerful experience for these men and women to meet each other—some for the first time—and to feel part of a very unique group that shares such profound experience in common. Farm Aid was a wonderful experience for them to see young farmers treated as heroes—something they are both searching for and deserving of. And of course they all went absolutely berserk when Willie came on stage with our hat!!"
Willie and Farm Aid are proud to have hosted the Farmer-Veteran Coalition in St. Louis and honored to include the FVC as a member of our Farmer Resource Network. The FVC is a California-based non-profit organization whose long-term goal is creating 10,000 new farmers from the ranks of some two million returning post-9/11 veterans. This goal is not merely a pipe dream: rural Americans disproportionately over-populate the ranks of the military, representing roughly 65% of all service members. Fully committed to growing the good food movement and to the notion that nourishing the land helps nourish the soul, the FVC's mission is "to mobilize our food and farming community to create healthy and viable futures for America's veterans by enlisting their help in 1) building our green economy, 2) rebuilding our rural communities, and 3) securing a safe and healthy food supply".The FVC, which is explicitly non-political, welcomes all returning vets and connects them with help in employment, training, and replenishing their lives on America's farms. In addition to working with veterans groups all over the country, the FVC is currently expanding its connections to new farmer training programs, building its mentoring program among established farmers and food industry professionals, and gathering resources to help veterans find financing for land or further education.
Click here to read more about the Farmer Veterans Coalition's visit to Farm Aid.
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