Garden Witchery (11 page)

Growing

First things first. You need a lot of space to grow pumpkins. If you are limited to a small backyard vegetable garden, try the mini varieties such as Baby Boo or Jack Be Little. Pumpkins require very fertile, rich soil. We grow our pumpkins down at the family farm. The soil at the farm is incredibly black and rich, as it's flood-plain soil. However, we still make our hills for the pumpkins with bags of composted manure—not raw manure, the composted kind that you buy in twenty-five pound bags at the garden center.

For my part of the country, farmers recommend having your pumpkins and gourds planted by June 7. I live in zone 5. Check with the local farmers or your county's extension office to see what planting time they recommend.

For directions in planting Indian or ornamental corn, check the seed packet for variety-specific planting dates, which are usually after the last frost date, when the soil temperature is warm, at least sixty-five degrees. Plant in side-by-side rows for pollination purposes, and try a nitrogen-rich fertilizer for the corn.

Stake your pumpkin hills with a tall stake when you plant the seeds. Pumpkin foliage grows anywhere from one foot to three feet tall, and then you can't find the hills to water them. (Learned that lesson the hard way, myself.) Don't step on the vines! Fertilize your pumpkins regularly with a water-soluble fertilizer like Miracle-gro.

Watch for signs of squash beetle activity and be prepared to dust the pumpkins. I recommend Sevin, or Bug Be Gone. It's an all-purpose powdered pesticide that kills those bugs. Sevin is a fairly safe chemical to apply topically to pumpkins and other vegetables. It is not absorbed into the plant, and washes off easily (the residual life of Sevin is fairly short). Dust safely! Wear a mask and gloves. The first time I grew pumpkins I announced that we would not use any chemicals. We had a beauty of a crop that year, too, hundreds of them. Then the squash beetles found us. They attach themselves to the vines and drain all the juice out of the pumpkins, so they look like deflated playground balls. The attack of the vampire pumpkin bugs! Nasty. We lost the entire patch that year, and I changed my mind about chemicals.

To discourage squash beetles, you can try planting marigolds, catnip, tansy, and nasturtiums. Also, when choosing your varieties for pumpkins, look for mildew-resistant varieties. A problem with mildew widely affected the pumpkin crops in Missouri last year. It's just one of those things. For the first time in years, we had to buy pumpkins for Samhain. We lost our whole patch.

Harvesting

By late July or early August, the Indian corn should be mature. After gathering them, gently peel back the husks. String up some rope to hang the ears on and let the corn dry out completely. Use a protected area, like your garage or a shed. If you leave them outside the birds will get them.

In mid to late September, watch your foliage on the pumpkin and gourd vines. I know the pumpkins are starting to turn orange, but sit tight. Wait until the foliage dies back and the stems start to turn brown before you harvest them. Use a sharp pocket knife to cut the vines, remembering to leave yourself a good stem length.

Carry pumpkins like a ball, not by the stem. Wash them in a solution of bleach and water when you get them home. The bleach water helps stop mildew and washes off any chemical residue. Store your pumpkins and gourds on wood planks or hay bales, not on concrete (they'll rot).

Selling

Open your yard stand in late September–early October. Let the kids do the selling. Just keep them supervised. Once a stretch limo pulled up in front of our house and the chauffeur, in uniform, hopped out to buy some pumpkins for his kids. He scared the hell out of my youngest son and daughter, who were about seven and eight years old at the time. (They thought the limo was a hearse.) Once I explained to them that he was driving a bride and groom around in there, not a dead body, they thought that was kind of cool.

I watch my kids through the front window, even now. If there is a problem I just step up to the door or walk out onto the front porch. Usually it's just someone who wants to know where we grew the pumpkins, or needs to break a large bill. Have change available.

Let your kids make up a few signs. People love to buy from children. Toss gourds into a wheelbarrow and let people root around through them. They enjoy doing it and I've yet to figure out why. Also the wheelbarrow is handy; when you're done for the day, just roll the wheelbarrow around back.

Display Indian corn or really pretty mini pumpkins on a card table. Ornamental corn is fragile when it dries, so don't be too rough on the husks.

Don't haggle over prices, clearly mark on the pumpkins close to the stem with a ballpoint pen. Make your prices very reasonable, price them to move. You don't want to get stuck with thirty extra pumpkins, do you? Either give away any extras that are left over, donate them to a shelter for troubled kids, carve them up for a large Halloween display, or use them as compost.

But a little garden, the littler the better, is your richest chance of happiness and success.

Reginald Farrrer

Bewitching Container Gardens

Container gardening is at an all-time level of popularity. If you are limited in space, this may be your only option. You can create a fabulous garden simply with containers, window boxes, and hanging baskets in all different shapes and sizes. Turn your patio, balcony, or deck into a miniature garden that is easy to move around or rearrange.

Children's Harvest Garden Layout

1 Pumpkins

2 Mini Pumpkins

3 Gourds

4 Marigolds

5 Tomato

6 Peppers

7 Indian Corn

8 Dwarf Sunflowers

9 Giant Sunflowers

Remember, you're not limited to flowers. There is more to container gardens than just annuals. You can grow herbs and vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers. Strawberries can be successfully grown in hanging baskets. Lettuce may be grown in containers; I have even seen a shorter variety of carrots grown in large pots.

In the past when I have taught the public how to make their own container gardens, I gave them several themes to choose from. So I'll do the same for you as well. Of the many different combinations of plants that I have suggested, I also included some popular cooking herbs.

Experiment with these suggestions. When you plant your flower containers, plant them full. You will be dead-heading these as the season progresses. You want those pots to look full when you start. It's depressing to see a half-filled container because you're waiting for the plants to get larger. Remember to fertilize your containers every two weeks, and water them every day.

To maintain vigorous plant growth and to keep your plants attractive, remove spent, dried-up flowers and seed pods. By removing these, the plant puts its energies into producing more flowers, as opposed to putting its energies into seed production. To prune, follow the stem down to the first leaf junction and clip the stem there.

Kitchen Witch Container Garden

In a large pot, try planting together rosemary, parsley, sage, chives, bouquet dill, garlic, and basil. These practical seasonings and cooking herbs (that's what I tell the general public anyway) are very easy to grow together in a sunny location. To my witch friends, I pass along these magickal correspondences. In order, they include love and healing from the rosemary; protection and purification from the parsley; wisdom from sage; chives are great for absorbing negativity; we get protection again from the dill; garlic is worked into exorcism rituals; and the basil gives us wealth and good luck. Now that is a handy little combination to have around, don't you think?

Fragrant Container Garden

For a fabulous mixture of textures and scents, try an arrangement of any of the following fragrant plants: miniature roses, catnip, lavender, mint, or scented geraniums. Plant these in a large pot and place in a sunny location. If you want the roses to survive the winter, transplant them into your garden to winter over. Magickal uses are as follows: roses for love and, depending on the color, other applications (see pages 11 and 38); mint bestows prosperity; catnip is for, oddly enough, cat magick; and scented geraniums are protective.

Veggie Combos

For vegetable container gardening, go with a classic: a patio tomato variety and mari-golds. Planting marigolds and tomatoes together are beneficial, and is called companion planting. Marigolds prevent bugs from infesting the tomatoes, and the plants are usually stronger and more disease resistant as well. Cherry tomatoes are a fun variety for children to try, as are green peppers and marigolds. Make sure that you give them lots of sun, fertilizer, and water. This planter would work well for growing on your deck or balcony. The magickal correspondence for tomatoes is love; in fact, an old folk name for the tomato was the “love apple.”

Also, according to
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
, “when a tomato is placed on the window sill or any other household entrance, it repels evil from entering.” Hmm . . . good to know.

Would that this garland fair
Might weave around thy life
A spell to shield from care
A guard from every strife.

Anonymous

House-Warding Plant Combinations

To ward your home and property is like placing a permanent protective psychic shield against outside influences around your house and yard. Our homes naturally exude a shield of energy. Usually witches and other magick users deliberately strengthen theirs. How? They grow plants with protective properties around the house, place crystals inside the home, display hex signs on the outside of the house, or often hang a horseshoe, open end up, over the inside front door.

Garden witch containers for protection are a subtle type of magick. It's not expensive or hard to do. Start with some good potting mix and your container of choice, and add a little garden witch flair.

Pagan Family Protection Combo

For a part sun–afternoon shade spot, plant trailing ivy, snapdragons, allysum, pink geraniums, and dark purple petunias in a hanging basket or container by your front door. Why these plants? Ivy is protective; snaps ward off negative spells; allysum expels charms; pink geraniums are for love; and dark purple petunias add power and are very fragrant at night.

Hot Spot Container

For a very hot and sunny location, this plant combo will hold up to intense summer heat and then last into the fall. Group together zinnias, coxcomb, and marigolds in a container of your choosing. Zinnias are pretty annuals that make great cut flowers for the vase, come in an array of hot colors, and attract butterflies as well. The red coxcomb is protective and aids in healing. Marigolds have the astrological correspondence of the sun; this flower is used to repel evil and nightmares. It features prominently in the Mexican festival El Dia de los Muertos, the day of the dead. This celebration begins at midnight on November 1, and is a national holiday in Mexico that honors the spirits of deceased ancestors and loved ones.

White Witch Window Box

Red geraniums for protection and to guard the home; vinca vine for its many magickal properties that I listed before—okay, okay, I'll list them again: bindings, protection, love, and prosperity. Allysum for fragrance and to break manipulative spells, and blue lobelia to halt gossip. This container will tolerate part sun/part shade. Be advised that the lobelia will wither back in intense summer heat, but when it cools off again it should bloom back out.