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1:19 pm
Sat 12-Aug-06
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A comment left by Jay on Fiona's Gem Squash post is worth opening as a topic for the green fingered folk.
Seems like a lot of people prize this veg, so how do you go about growing for a decent yield?
Never knowingly underfed
4:57 pm
Councillor
Tue 22-Sep-09
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I've got 11 varieties of squash this year ( ...I know...) among them, Little Gem.
Plants as happy as all the other squash varieties, all of which are either producing for eating now or for later in the year. Even the butternuts in the greenhouse have fruits...but the Little Gem.... NO, all male flowers on very healthy plants.
Loads and LOADS of male flowers.
Perhaps they just need time to produce female flowers, some squashes are like that.
Anyone else tried them?
Kateuk makes things at http://www.etsy.com/shop/finkstuff and sometimes she does this too http://www54paintings.blogspot.com/ and also this http://finkstuff.weebly.com/
7:10 pm
Supreme Being
Mon 21-Sep-09
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Haven't tried gem squash but I find that with squashes of many varieties they seem to reach an optimum size and then they go berserk and then I get inundated.
Here in Latvia people stack all their weeds in one big pile and then put some soil on and grow their squashes on that, or sometimes they grow them directly in a manure heap. Seems to work anyway.
We have grown patty squash this year on heaps of compost from the last two years and layered with straw to keep the weeds down and the water in and they are looking good and healthy and now they are producing. They did seem to sit for ages before taking off though despite putting them in after the cold spring when the weather was warmer. Perhaps I should have watered them more to get them going but that is a lot of effort in lugging buckets up from a pond down the hill about 100m away
.
2:03 pm
Senior Class
New members
Mon 9-Aug-10
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I have seen pumpkins growing on the compost heaps in the kitchen garden at Chatsworth and we were thinking of having a go at that this year but havent gotten around to it.
We just have courgettes in but I would like to not bother with them next year and grow some different squash instead - specifically ones that will be nice in soup. I will have to experiment.
1:05 pm
Councillor
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Well, the Gem squash has decided it might do some female flowers, but given the appalling weather this past fortnight, I very much doubt I'll get any fruits from it...hey ho, always next year- might try Gem in the greenhouse.
Kateuk makes things at http://www.etsy.com/shop/finkstuff and sometimes she does this too http://www54paintings.blogspot.com/ and also this http://finkstuff.weebly.com/
2:41 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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debih said:
I have seen pumpkins growing on the compost heaps in the kitchen garden at Chatsworth and we were thinking of having a go at that this year but havent gotten around to it.
Debi, our neighbours here in France don't grow any vegetables, but they do put things from the kitchen on a compost heap at the bottom of their field. They now have huge orange pumpkins sitting on top of their compost heap ! Amazing.
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