Big pumpkin plant!

May be no big deal to people who grow pumpkins all the time but this is rather amazing to me. This pumpkin plant is growing huge! You can see from the picture that it dwarfs the hen and chick together. Leaves are a full foot across. Now, my preference in pumpkins is for the small pie-type pumpkins, so I have a lot more of those planted. However, I think I'll plant a couple more of these at the edges of the garden just for novelty and self-esteem! Bragging rights are everything. Especially here in NM, where most of the produce seems to be miniature because of a combination of heat and poor gardening techniques.

Corn is showing silk and developing ears one at a time. Not a surprise, with the way I planted it and with multiple varieties planted. I've already narrowed down the field for planting next year, though still may rotate out to trying other varieties, depending on flavor and the rest of the season.

Neighbor was telling me the other day how I need to remove all the grass and plant one crop in each mound. That's the way they did it when he was growing up here in NM. He'd never heard of companion planting and thought it a bad idea.

I'm checking into growing tobacco for personal use. Even if I stop smoking, it makes a good insecticide. Just want to get the right strain of tobacco.

Lettuce finally flowered, so I cut the flower stalks off and laid them out to dry. Feeding the tall leafy section to the rabbits. Next time I plant lettuce, I don't think it will be so much. Unless I plant extra for the rabbits and to sell.

The aphid mixture I sprayed on the garden the other day didn't work so well. Then I found out I used the wrong jar from the fridge. The one I used had no garlic in it. I've noted the bees and butterflies don't mind the garlic much but the ants and aphids really don't care for it. So, finding the right mixture makes coming up with salable produce much more likely.

Cabbage is finally forming definable heads. Green bean and cucumber plants are flowering and beginning to develop fruit. (Still really tiny.) Not quite sure I'll have any broccoli at all, with the aphid damage and clay soil where I planted but I planted more where the soil is better.

Looks like a cat got to the rooster, so now I'm down to one big hen and one little hen. The big hen should start laying in another month or so. Little one not for at least three months. Have to get another rooster chick in a couple of weeks. Going to look into raising some chickens for meat, as well. Have to do some reading on what that takes. Know I can't do any of the slaughtering while daughter is around. She couldn't take that. I'd be kind of worried if she could.