How to Plant a Pumpkin Pit (or Squash, Melons, Cukes) || Black Gumbo
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- Опубліковано 7 жов 2024
- Here we break ground on a new spot in the yard, seeing if I can grow a pumpkin patch in my lawn using the pumpkin pit method. I learned of this old time method from David the Good's book, "Compost Everything," which you need to buy right now. It's really a good resource. This methods utilizes unconventional organic material for compost like meat and leftovers and chicken bones, and whatever lurks in the back of the office lunch room fridge. Being buried deep, it does not stink, but will feed nutrition to your cucurbit vines (watermelons, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, squash) and will feed them the whole season.
In my lawn, I am planting Moranga and Jarrahdale pumpkins, winter squashes, and will allow the vines to sprawl. This is a permaculture/food forrest/survival method and I have high hopes. But will it work in my location and with the limitations my lawn imposes? We shall see.
Learn with me how to plant squashes, pumpkins and melons while recycling scrap and waste that would otherwise be sent to the dump.
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Black Gumbo shares our suburban, backyard, sustainable gardening efforts. We work a small-scale, typical Zone 9a garden and raised beds, the kind of gardening accessible to all. We tend to take the slice of life approach and hope you will enjoy our family, our dog, our cooking, our adventures, and occasionally some commentary and advice. We love family, joy and friendship, and we invite you to enjoy these things with us!
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It’s not cheating... it’s improvising in keeping with the situational elements. 🙃
this video actually reminds me of something my family did when I was a kid living in the rural Annapolis river area of Nova Scotia. We were a family of 6 kids and one parent, so a successful garden was a real food security imperative since we lived on around 9k a year back then. A church elder took me fishing on the Annapolis river for a fish called shad. These particular fish were prolific at that time and journeyed up that river every year to spawn. There was no limit to catching them at that time,so we caught a ton of them and used a lot for food but all the guts and bones etc this man showed me how to trench and bury the fish in a row and then plant our vegetables on either side. It was a ton of work,but he knew what he was talking about, we had had a good amount of food from that method and it seriously made me feel like one of those well off kids from town! Funny how I had forgotten about that until I saw your video. Well done. Can’t wait to see how your plants grow up.
Love that story. Thanks for sharing it. We have shad around here but for me it would be much easier to cast net mullets in the surf of off a pier. Tons of them and likewise, a forage fish so no limits. I plan to do that this summer.
seem to remember that this technique was taught to the pilgrims by the native people they eventually replaced.
When I was a teen we moved to an area where the ground was nothing but clay. Our dad composted everything. The clay turned into the most beautiful soil for a beautiful garden. It fed 8 of us.
That's awesome. Compost is very powerful stuff for sure!
Lol, anti-corgi fence. My dogs are my biggests "pests" in my garden! I can't imagine burying meat with them around. Great video!
Awesome this is exciting to try
It really helps on any of these videos to let viewers know what area you live in.
In every single video on my channel the description always includes my area, zone 9a.
🤣🤣I love how she always go after the water. Your son is soooo helpful, my daughter is the same way
Great. Awesome. I hope they do well. I also found a sunny side of my yard. I'm not sure what I'll end up putting there. But of course it will be utilized. That side is shared with my neighbor. No fence. But it will be used. Have an awesome week. Love the pup.
Great idea for the pumpkins and melons. Stinky compost was priceless. Good job done on fixing that side up to get some more tasty veggies growing. Looking forward to seeing how the new sites grow on for ya. Hope you guys have a great week!
I am going to try this with my squash and watermelon, thanks so much for this video, I've been saving alot of kitchen scraps, I will do this tomorrow. .
Just getting caught up on all your videos, good stuff.
Did something simliar with my squash, cukes and melons. The dang grass got too high and i couldnt cut it and if I tried to move the vine so I could weed-eat, the plant would pout for days.....lol. Great video, as always. Oh and I checked out David The Good and love him. I commented on his video that I heard of him thru you, and he replied " Scott is my homeboy". Love ya both.
Interesting concepts.
Shoot around my area, when dry, I have to use a post hole digger to make a hole. When wet, I might get a foot down with a shovel, jumping on it. . My property use to be a cane field. Hello from the damaged but surviving Breaux Bridge, La.
Post hole digger is murder here with the clay. We replaced our fence and I installed my grape trellis pots with one. Hated it. I'll be installing another post with a post hole digger this week, but for a pit, I'll take the shovel. :-)
I have a Jack-Rat that is as bad as your Phoebe. Jack does help sometimes. I found a half eaten rabbit he had buried in one of my beds a couple years ago. One thing you can do to help prevent your pits from smelling, before covering it up, throw in a couple of handfuls of white lime to kill the odor. Hollis of Hollis & Nancy's Homestead puts fish under almost all of his plants. He uses the lime to control the odor.
Good advice thanks so much!
We have that heavy heavy red clay in NC. (Thus our choice to do containers and raised beds.)But this is a great idea for trying some bigger melons. I have a 90lb. Boxer I have to fight to keep out of the garden.... it’s more of a chore than the actual gardening. I have been doing more research on the “composting all food scraps” concept since watching your video when building your new compost bins. I still feel very reluctant to use meat and cooked food scraps. But will give it a go with this method you are using the do your squash plants. TFS....💕
If you are really on the fence about composting unconventional things, look up Steve Solomon's book "Gardening what it Counts." That's when I first heard about it.
Excellent video.
I'm hoping to grow Jarrahdales by Thanksgiving. Starting them indoors until I can make room for them in the raised bed as the Summer harvest of beans are pretty much over for me.
Not planting as many seeds as you, though. I'm a little intimidated by how huge the vines get.
Btw, your little one and your dog.....stole the show.☺
Going to check your harvest now. See you there!
You will love the Jaharradle pumpkin. I had a vine that volunteered from a J. pumpkin that I had bought and then thrown outside. I never water or fertilized that plant, but it grew like crazy and gave me tons of pumpkins. I had to constantly prune that vine and it still kept coming back for more.
Awesome ideas for the Soil&i will be Literally Rooting for you on them Growing up🙋🎉
Great video, really helpful. Your dog loves the water as much as mine :-D
Always wondered how you got the name Black Gumbo :)
Never heard of pumpkin pits before so this is interesting. With subterranean rats here I wouldn't even try it in ground here. It would probably work in a tall garden box. May have to give it a try next year. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THIS DONE IN CONTAINERS?
Those Jarrahdales are beautiful pumpkins. They are becoming easier to get at farm stands here and are very good eating.
I don't know if they can be grown in pots, but it would be fun to try. Or to avoid underground pests, you could bury all the gross stuff in a simple basket made of hardware cloth. The thing about thes epumpkin vies is they are so huge and produce so much growth, they need a lot of resources to built mass, not sure if a pot would have that much unless you really stay on top of fertilizing.
As for the Jarrahdale, I like the looks of them, never tried them. I am thinking I will enjoy them a lot.
Jarrahdale are Aussie pumpkins and are excellent for soup, roast with potatoes, and good for canning. They will keep all winter if you let them dry out in the sun after picking. Throw the seeds in any old compost pile and they go crazy.
...and I thought you got the channel name from a family recipe! Our clay up here in KY is brown to orange...it starts going toward red down in GA. Didn't even know you all had clay, much Iess call it black gumbo!
Its real fertile because we live in a coastal prairie environment that has has centuries of grasses and shrubs amend the soil, but its flat and swampy too so it just sits and compacts. To release all that great black organic nutrition is hard work, but worth it!
I'm a recent subscriber and I enjoy your videos and am learning a lot from you. Thank you. I am concerned, however, that you seem to be short of breath a lot. I don't know your medical history, but it could be cause for alarm. I hope you are well and if not, hope you will see a doctor soon. Sorry to be so forward about it, but it was obvious to me that you are short of breath. Take care.
It's usually because I try to get a lot of heavy work done quickly, so I don't have to be out there in the heat of day, while also adding in shooting the scenes from various vantages. Then again, I am a larger fellow, and carry around more weight than I should, which makes it quite a work out to dig in the hard clay. :-) I do, however, appreciate the kind concern, and its not too forward of you. :-)
I would've put sand and hydrated lime down there too. those help break down clay along with the compost.
Awesome stuff👍
Great video Scott . I hope you get a great harvest. 💗🍈🍈🍈🍈🎃🎃🎃🎃
We have a dachshund who loves to chase water streams just like your Corgi. I wondered how you planned to keep the dog away from the compost. Smart.
The main compost bin is blocked in, she can't get in. The pumpkin pits are too deep for her to dig up, but just in case for the moment, they are surrounded by short sections of fence. We had two Dachshunds (sisters, we called them the "Weenie Sisters") and they loved to be outside when I gardened.
I gotta check out Baker Creek's website again. There's an eBay seller under the name of ohioheirloomseeds who sells seeds really cheap. I've bought all of my tomato seeds from him.
(edited again)
I wish I had a compost bin like yours and hopefully you got some kind of setup to collect rain water since I heard you mention a thunderstorm. Good luck on the squash
So farno rainwater collection yet, but I am working on a collector for my AC unit which vents humidity outdoors in the summer through a pipe. Nice clean distilled water going to waste there.
If that pup dug deep enough to reach the funky chicken, the poor little stubby legged pup would fall in and not be able to get out!
😁
She'd be stuck for sure but fortunately, its covered now. :-)
If those squash dont grow nothing will lol. Love the idea of composting just about anything. Its natures way to rot everything down so why not utilise it. Free rich compost. Cant beat it.
👍
Being from MS'sippi, I am familiar with clay, but I have never heard of black clay. It looks formidable. Is it the same as our blue clay? It will suck the shoes right off your feet, or send you sliding quite a ways, depending on how wet it is. I have dug pits and filled with compost twice on our red clay hill to plant trees. They are finally about 20 ft tall. Banana trees make a ton of compost, if it gets cold enuff to kill them. A word of caution: Do not use your tiller on banana compost unless it is already chopped up. It will bind up your tines and have to be cut loose and possibly break your tiller.
Black gumbo clay is just like how you describe blue clay. Yes, gummy, sticky and smelly. I'd like some bananas, I have no room for them but my son has a tome of them on his property. Might have to go harvest some.
I'm so excited to watch this video! Please tell me, is it too late to plant pumpkin in my yard now (July 18)? Zone 8b. My front yard would be a perfect place if this works.
Probably too late but look up your local extension office and see if they have a planting guide for your county.
@@ScottHead do you know how well they might transplant? I have two in grow bags that are going pretty good.
What is it with corgis and water spraying? Surprised to see a video on Sunday. Will be curious to see how the vines grow.
I produce the video in advance, sometimes days before it publishes. It is scheduled to post in advance. Sunday is actually one of the more successful days to post a video, and 10:30am is actually one of the best times of day on a Sunday to post. :-)
Needs a bit of sand but bloody hell thats great looking soil.
You aren't kidding. Sand would be a help for sure.
Since you are confined for space may I suggest training your vines to a trellis? Also good for air flow ☺ in humid areas. Cattle panels work great.
I was thinking that after I made the video. Do you think it might be a good use for this rotting pallets there against my fence?
Cattle panel works great man. Pretty cheap for 16 ft to.
I would let them run on the ground if you ever have issues with vine borers. Trellised vines cannot root from the nodes, which means you're more likely to lose the vines if they get drilled.
@@davidthegood I saw your video of you doing that. Cool. If they get as dense as your pumpkins I'll ket some go up the pallets and let some go all over the lawn. Double win there since I won't have to cut that grass.
Scott, do I detect a little Cajun "twang" in your music ? It's a coincidence that I saw your video today because this afternoon, I am digging some pits to transplant my cantaloupe and honey dews in. Pots, even big ones just don't cut it with melons, because they need constant watering.... Ain't nobody got time for dat !
Well I'm a Texas coastal prairie boy all my life, but my dad grew up as a transplanted Texas kid in the Louisiana oil fields and East Texas oilfields. He claims a Cajun heritage when it fits the occasion, LOL. I'll eat a snake, gator, crawfish are great, and I'd even eat a nutria, so I guess I've been influenced by my swamp-dweller neighbors.
@@ScottHead Heck yeah. Nutria is not bad at all ! I've had it pot roasted and in patty form and I loved it. I wish they would catch on because my area (Houma, La) is infested with them. They are destroying the wetlands. The alligators try hard, but they can't come close to keeping up with them, and we have A LOT of gators ! People would love them if they would just try it once, but try and get somebody to even try a bite... NOPE... not happening !
My GF moved out into the county. Nutria was taring up everything. They would shoot and cook them. Kids grew up asking what's for dinner. The answer was meat. Kids were leary "what kind of meat?" Answer: Mystery meat. they are all vegetarians now. Ha!
I know what I'm gonna do with all my catfish guts!
I threw a couple punkins out in the back forty with a lot of vegetation. We saw 5-6 pumpkins growing and then Hurricane Harvey came in.
Awesome! Volunteers are always nice to find.
Is there an update video? I couldnt find an update when searching through your channel. I want to try this but curious how it turned out for you?
They work but by the time I get pumpkins the vine borers kill my plants, ugh. Nothing left to show on video. I do have a Q&A I think that shows the results but it was so long ago I forgot which episode.
Really interesting video, had never heard of these before, thank you!
subbed!!!
Speaking of BLACK GUMBO, smother your okra in a black iron pot if you want to see some "black gumbo" ! They are all I ever used , but I recently stopped using them, and switched to enamel clad cast iron pots. They cook better than any pot I've ever used, and my gumbo isn't black anymore.
I actually love my cast iron cookware, but if I made gumbo it would be chicken and sausage with some okra thrown into a huge stainless steel pot on a propane burner outside. :-) Does okra have some property that reacts with cast iron?
@@ScottHead Yep, okra turns black for some reason. I suppose it's from the iron in the pot. It gives it a slight metallic taste too, but not enough to make a huge difference..
I know to you that Clay is a bit of a pain in the backside, but living at the coast, I have very loose, pale, low nutrient sandy soil. How I'd love some of that black gold in my garden, just to help with water retention, and to bind the soil a bit
I bet that's a real challenge for sure.
Yeah definitely. You have that run off when watering, and when the water eventually gets absorbed by the soil, it just evaporates within minutes. I had to buy bags and bags of organic fertiliser, just so the soil can be more absorbent and have better water retention. Maybe I should send you a truck load of my soil in exchange for some of that black gold lol😂
I have used lime to cover up the smell because I have had dogs who can dog their way to whatever it is that hole. LOL
Is there an update? I couldn’t find the video if there was one. I’m so curious to see if you got any melons from the plants 😊
The vine borers got them before the could fruit. I started some earlier this year and hope they make it
Fabulous! I’ll wait patiently and pray you have a good harvest to enjoy
Nice corgi
Where do you get the little fence? I have been looking for that. Also what is your plan to deal with the grass and weeds that grow under the vines?
The fences are from Home Depot. My in laws had them and gave them to us for free. The grass and weeds will just grow up with the vines. The large leaves help suppress growth underneath just a little.
@@ScottHead thanks I guess I will try a different home depot the one near me does not have that type.
Kinda some stupid questions but if you have all of them seeds come up for each are you planning on thining them out? And would you still fertilize even having all the kitchen scraps down there?
Yes, I will be thinningh them to two or three of the strongest vines. And I don't think they will need much fertilization once they get to the compost, but will occasionally douse them with a compost tea. :-)
Have you ever planted tomatoes in the ground? Since they are are heavy feeders as well would you recommend digging a big hole and adding amendments like this for them? This is my first time growing tomatoes in the ground. I'm just worried I didnt dig the hole wide enough. I did go about 5 inches down though. I have clay soil as well. It's not as dark as yours.
I always plant tomatoes in the ground every year. Yes, I amend the hole too. Here's how we do it. Here's how I did it last year and we had a tomato jungle. ua-cam.com/video/FKUiTon3FdY/v-deo.html
how do U keep the grass cut under the vines? Newspaper? Straw?
I'm not sure yet but I suspect the leaves will shade the ground and suppress weeds and grass. We shall see. I'll let the natural cycle do its thing.
I know clay, but I have never seen black clay...wow
I am going to do this but after I put in the fish i will put in some garden lime, it seems to make the scent from animals.
Good for calcium too.
I have tried pumpkins patch but gets diseased with grubs so i want to grow pumpkins but cant deal with grubs? :( what can i do? Help!
Do you mean vine borers? I never have had trouble with the things we call grubs around here, which are june beetle larvae in the soil or the larger Japanese beetle larva. We do get vine borers in squash and cucumbers though. I don't know really how to avoid them and am still learning with that kind of pest.
Scott Head - Black Gumbo yes exactly vine borers and grubs are a big problem here so i try to spray Demon spray around the area but not directly on plants. so the lot i have where i am expanding my garden would be free from these pests hopefully. I try to grow pumpkins for decorations so may be i can use a lil commercial pesticide on the patch may be.
does this hole attract roaches, yucky bugs and/or rodents?
No, the gross stuff is too deeply buried.
Anti-corgi fence! *snort* lol
Aren't you afraid to attract rats when you put meat in your pit? I like your videos. Greetings from Bavaria.
No, since it is so deep, I don't think animals will get to it. It can be a problem in a compost pile for sure, but if you have a fast compost pile and place the meats in the middle, it will reduce quickly. And rats are not as big a problem so long as they stay outdoors, we have a substantial feral cat popiulation and a family of hawks nearby so they help out. :-) Thanks for watching!
I highly suggest you watch Skillcult's video on this sort of concept where he names it catch pit ua-cam.com/video/pYHdCpj7ANA/v-deo.html
Hey I like that guy, just subscribed. Nice channel I will be checking out.
Seriously...Post hole diggers!! its much easier
Post hole digger is murder here with the clay. We replaced our fence and I installed my grape trellis pots with one. Hated it. I'll be installing another post with a post hole digger this week, but for a pit, I'll take the shovel. :-)
@@ScottHead I have clay too, but red clay. I'm glad you've found a solution :-)
You could use the pallets as trellis to grow your pumpkins on.