The Compost Bin

Having already picked my tomatoes varieties as well as my peppers, I’m ready for the experimental stuff. I like to try an experiment or two every year and try to grow something out of the ordinary. One year I tried peanuts and that really didn’t go very well. The season just isn’t long enough in my NJ garden. Last year I tried to grow luffa. It’s in the gourd family and you can dry them out for use in the bathtub. You’ve probably seen them in stores, sometimes they attach a luffa to a stick to scrub your back. But I have no idea what happened to my luffa. They sprouted and looked good at first and then they just disappeared. I think I planted them too close to the cantaloupe which grew 15 foot vines and took over that section of the garden.

This year I’m going with Gooseneck Gourds. When the construction on the pool is finished I plan on building a trellis-like fence to separate the garden from pool area. The pool is bordered by a 5 foot retaining wall so unless I want to fall off the wall on a regular basis, the fence is a requirement. That’s where the Gourds come in. With a 30-40 trellis fence, I might as well grow something with crazy vines. We’ll see how that goes. My garden experiments haven’t gone that well in the past.

Rounding out my Burpee Seed purchases are:

• Pumpkin - Prizewinner Hybrid


• Pumpkin - Jack Be Little


• Squash - Sunny Delight


• Cucumber - Big Burpless Hybrid


• Cucumber - Double Feature


• Carrot - Big Top


• Bean - Kentuckey Blue


• Marigold - First Lady


• Impatiens - Summer Romance


• Sunflower - Kong Hybrid

Time to get my seed starting trays out of the garage.