So, to my second blog entry. I recently decided to turn my hand at gardening in order to become more self sufficient. As I had spent a lot of time in Japan, I chose to start with Japanese pumpkins, called Kabocha. Kabocha aren't so much a pumpkin but rather a type of squash. The plant itself resembles that of the courgette closely, accept the leaves and stems have a prickly and almost hairy surface. The fruit it bears are gorgeous and sweet, with a dark green skin and yellow-orange flesh.
I began sewing my seeds at the start of May in a small incubator and after they had established, re-potted each plant into it's own pot.
As Kabocha typically grow in a humid climate, I waited until June to replant my Kabocha into the vegetable patch. From mid June to mid July Japan experiences a rainy season and so I would have to ensure that my plants were constantly well watered. I grew 6 plants which would typically require a 1m squared patch of soil
each. However, I did not have this space (as you can see from the photo), so, I'm just growing them and seeing what happens!
I enriched the soil with Miracle Grow pellet fertiliser to give my little plants a kick-start. This I found had an overwhelming effect and my plants have grown prolifically! The vegetable patch is jam-packed with plants now, each with tendrils that anchor the stems to any surrounding trellises or even other plants!
Before long the leaves of the Kabocha had grown bigger than the size of my hand by up to 4x, and huge bright yellow flowers had formed. The plants are now standing at approximately 7ft tall.
Kabocha grow a male and female flower on the same plant (above you can see the Male flower). Squash result when the female flower is pollinated. Female flowers are easily identified as they have a kind of bulb at the base of the flower, which includes the ovaries and will eventually become a Kabocha fruit. While male flowers grow at the end of a stem. Finally after approximately 3 months I noticed my Kabocha plants had finally produced female flowers, which had been fertilised within a week.
As you can see, at the base of the squash is a small stem, where the female flower once was. Above is one of many Kabocha fruit I have, and certainly not the biggest! Below is an example of my "prize" Kabocha, while below that is an example of an aborted fruit:
I will continue to update you on my green fingered vignette. Sorry this post has been picture heavy but I am proud of my little Kabocha. Unfortunately I have somewhat of a blackfly problem, which I am combating with the tried and tested soapy water spray method. In addition, 10 of the 16 dwarf French beans I grew in the same plot were eaten by what I can only describe as an
evil vole. So I have yet to find if said vole enjoys eating Japanese pumpkins. Time will tell...
