16 Sep Wed 2015
How to Know When to Harvest Pumpkins
When the stem starts to twist and dry, or the shell has started to harden, it's most likely time to harvest. Try piercing the shell of the pumpkin with your fingernail. If the shell is hard, your pumpkin is ready to cut from the vine. Leave about 3 inches of the stem on the pumpkin when removing it from the vine.
All pumpkins are hard until cooked. If they are overly hard, they probably aren't ripe yet. The outside color should be deep in color, and they should try to press on the rind with their fingernail. If it is hard and if the skin does not break easily, then it is ripe and ready for harvesting. Another way to tell if the pumpkin is ripe is to slap it and if it "sounds" hollow inside, that is a good indication you're ready to harvest. The skin and stem should also be hard.
How to Plant
Choose a full sun location with 20-30 feet for the vines to grow. Your site also should have good drainage.
Try working some compost into the area where you'll be planting your pumpkins. This will create a nice, rich soil bed.
Plant your seeds 1 - 2 inches deep. Germination usually takes place within 7 - 10 days, and once they do, add a little bit more compost around your seedling. This will help keep weeds down and help to retain moisture.
How to Harvest
When the stem starts to twist and dry, or the shell has started to harden, it's most likely time to harvest. Try piercing the shell of the pumpkin with your fingernail. If the shell is hard, your pumpkin is ready to cut from the vine. Leave about 3 inches of the stem on the pumpkin when removing it from the vine.
We have Baby Bear Pumpkin Seeds http://www.localharvest.org/baby-bear-pumpkin-seeds-C25840
and we have also have Small Sugar Pumpkin seeds http://www.localharvest.org/pumpkin-small-sugar-seeds-C24582
How to Know When to Harvest Watermelons
Harvest melons at the peak of freshness for best results. Waiting too long gives you nothing but a mealy mess, not waiting long enough means you might have to throw an inedible treasure out to the chickens. Check the tendril nearest where the fruit connects to the vine. When it starts to shrivel and turn brown, the melon is usually ripe.
There are several methods to identify a ripe watermelon, most of which are not entirely accurate at best. Some say you should tap them and listen to the sound they make, some say to look at the small tail to determine it's ripeness. The fact is, these are not reliable indicators for all watermelon varieties.
The most reliable indicator of ripeness is the color. Ripe watermelons will have darker stripes and the spot the rind rests on will turn from white to golden yellow. Different varieties will darken to different degrees, but this will be your best indicator. If all else fails, plant a variety like Sugar Baby. Its green stripes darken to almost black when it is ripe, which makes the puzzle a little easier.
http://www.localharvest.org/watermelon-sugar-baby-seeds-non-hybrid-C24586
P.S. about coriander and cilantro
My research shows that Coriander has so many benefits that a book can be written on them. It has eleven components of essential oils, six types of acids (including ascorbic acid, better known as vitamin-C), minerals and vitamins, each having a number of beneficial properties.
Cineole, one of the 11 components of the essential oils, and linoleic acid, present in coriander, possess anti rheumatic and anti arthritic properties, which are very beneficial for swelling caused due to these two reasons. For others, such as swelling due to malfunctioning of kidney or anemia, it is seen to be effective to some extent, as some of the components help excretion of extra water from the body while.
Coriander has lots of anti oxidants, vitamin-A, vitamin-C and minerals like phosphorus in the essential oils in it which prevents aging of eye, macular degeneration and soothes eyes against stress.Coriander is good in iron content which directly helps curing anemia and the list goes on and on.