Invariably when I mention to someone that I have a greenhouse the next question is what kind of food plants I grow. People are always surprised to find that I grow tropical plants (mostly orchids and aroids) in my greenhouse.
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| summer squash blooms |
I have tried growing a few fruits and vegetables in the past, with limited success:
- key lime - few fruits before the tree succumbed.
- broccoli - my favorite vegetable, plants were destroyed by caterpillars before they flowered.
- tomatoes - limited success.
- squash - plants were either eaten by insects or withered in the sun before they flowered.
- potatoes - actually a decent little harvest, especially considering the spot I picked was shadier than is ideal.
Much of our yard is shaded, which we love during the hot summer months, but there's not a great place to put in a garden. This year I decided to try some squash seeds in a planter box that I can move around to get the right level of sun. Also I figured the planter box is pretty similar to the raised beds that everyone is planting these days. Another change from my unsuccessful attempt with squash seeds last year: I decided to plant the seeds directly in the planter box, rather than starting them in a seed tray and then transplanting them. I started with two different varieties of yellow summer squash - the kind we really like to eat over the summer. I planted more seeds than recommended for the space, but figured I could thin them out if they got too crowded.
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| summer squash blooms |
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| summer squash blooms |
Things are going really well! The plants have been getting big and produced a bunch of buds over the last two weeks. The flowers just started opening over the weekend and I'm hopeful we'll have a bunch of squash a few weeks from now. I've been monitoring the plants closely for squash bugs and haven't seen one yet.
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