Volunteers

I've had a few volunteers come up in my garden from last year. I thought I'd leave some and see what happens. Here's a zucchini volunteer.

And a Yellow Crookneck summer squash that came up in my tater patch.

I had dozens of these come up in last year's Straight Eight cucumber patch. I transplanted a few to see how they'd do.

And a half dozen of Sugar Baby watermelon's.

lol those watermelons are volunteerin to come to my house! *G*

I'll roll one down your way when they get ripe, be on the lookout!

I'll stand out on I-10 waiting for it. I love a good watermelon and I keep buying them from the store hoping that one of these days...*sigh* Have one of the mini's I got at Sam's Friday that taste alright but nothing like I remember my Grandfather growing when I was little.

Saint

My wife loves melons too although I'm not too crazy about them. I'm also trying the Charleston Grey watermelon this year, an heirloom that grows to about 25 lbs. Haven't got those out yet, still in pots on my back deck.

WoW 25 lb? That's one big watermelon..how does it taste have you ever tried them or just planting blind?

Charleton Grey is a good middle age open pollinated melon ( Not an heirloom tho) It was the most popular shipping mellon in the 70's and 80's until displaced by the Crimson Sweet, Today most supermarket melons are seedless, but I have not found one yet with the flavor of a standard watermelon. The original Charleston Grey was released by the Southeastern Vegetable Breeding Laboratory, Charleston SC in 1954. There are several newer versions ( Charleston 76, Charleston Elite, Charleston Express, Charleston Grey 133, etc.) Sugar content is not as high as Crimson Sweet but a good melon that does not sunburn. All of these are "picnic" or family melons that are marketed in the 22 - 25 lb range.

Farmer,

Thanks for the info, I was under the impression that it was an heirloom.

Red here is an interesting F2 crookneck volunteer. Thinking of growing it out to F6, calling it Powhatan's Club and making up a tall tale to support it. Of course I am terminally lazy when it comes to that.

LOL I'm not sure this counts as a volunteer, wonder if I can put it in a salad. This is in with my red scallions and my cucumber.

Farmer,

That looks like a cross between a Yellow Crookneck and a pattypan squash, it would be interesting to see what you get if you grow it out.

araness,

Is that a mushroom? Not sure I'd eat it!

This message was edited Jun 1, 2005 10:09 PM

Yep it is..and nope I'm not...although I might pull the husbands leg and chop up a shroom in his salad and tell him it came out of the pot...after he took a bite that is.

Hehehe!

I have a sunflower that appeared in my 20' row of broccoli, and I figured I'd let it go since it's not gonna be shading much of anything all by its lonesome. LOL

I've also been transplanting marigold volunteers to the edges of the garden since I didn't have enough room indoors to start them... and don't really need to bother at this point... ;)

now, Saint, let's not risk poisoning the poor guy...

Farmer - Could that be a papaya pear squash? Looks like the picture on my seed packet:-)

The tomato volunteers growing out of our composter are looking rather healthy (another vote for compost) can't wait to see what they produce. I had sunflower volunteers everywhere - from the birdseed so I transplanted them in to the corners of the garden.

-Kim

Low possibility. I have never grown the Papaya Pear. Most likely this was one of parent types of the hybrid crookneck, or a cross with a scallop. The only two cultivars I had in that patch last year were Eightball (a round zuch) and Horn of Plenty (crookneck) both hybrids so between them they could have cooked up something.

Yes! I have a ton of tomato volunteers from the compost pile. Since the official tomato plot is already full with THIS year's plants, I have transplanted volunteers all over the place. If I get anything from them, I'll be pleased.

I also had 8 of these come up in the dipper gourd patch, I transplanted them by the fence.

Red, What is this volunteer?i figure it is some kind of veg and you would know. If not, I will post in Identification. Not the tomato and not the thyme:)

Thanks -Kim

Red, What is this volunteer? I figure it is some kind of veg and that you would know. If not, I will post in Identification. Not the tomato and not the thyme:)

Thanks -Kim

Kim,

If you're referring to the one between the stepping stones, I believe it's just a weed.

Ah, weeds, the most abundant of volunteers! That one will do great in the compost pile :-)

Oh good, now I can pull them. For some reason the bugs like them though, most have lots of eaten parts but not the herbs, lettuce and tomato volunteers. That is why I thought they might be 'something'.

I am over those maple volunteers. Next year I am going to put some kind of screening/cover over the garden and my containers. Someone remind me next April:)

-Kim

Here's some more photos taken about two weeks after the first posting. The zuchinni, will be picking my first in a couple of days.....

The Yellow Crookneck summer squash.....

And the Mammoth Russian sunflower in my tater patch.....

Found this in my Calla lily pot when it had only 3 small leaves. It's beginning to form buds now but since I don't know what it is (maybe a melon?) I don't know where to plant it. What is it?

I would say it's a summer squash of some type, looks like one with a bush habit, probably a yellow crookneck or straightneck. It doesn't have the leaves of a zuchinni.

Thank you, Red. I took another look at the picture of your Yellow Crookneck posted above. I think you are right. How much sun does it need? Can I grow it in a large half-barrel?

Quyen,

Should be fine in a large half-barrel, they can get pretty large. Full sun is best.