Hello from New Jersey, zone 6b

[chodom09]

Hello everyone.

Have had a small 30x40 garden since 2014 to gain a bit of gardening knowledge. The experience has been rewarding in certain vegetables (Chinese Miben pumpkins, gourds, bitter melons, green beans) while disappointing in others (Asian greens). It's crazy how quickly Asian greens go into bolting in my area. Every year, I try so hard to time the weather and still fail. Yet, I've gotten 150lbs of Chinese pumpkins to donate to the food banks and 50lbs to keep for myself and friends in 2021 when I rarely pay attention to them besides the timely fertilizing.
Start getting into tomatoes and super hot peppers this year, hopefully things will turn out well, and I will get a good harvest for eating and seed savings. Trying again with Asian greens, too delicious to give up.

Tormato has been generous in accepting me into swap while I have nothing yet, looking forward to the chance to return the favor in the future swap.

[Setec Astronomy]

I've heard of that zone!

Welcome to the forum. Some of us wouldn't consider 30x40' a "small" garden, ahem.

[Tormahto]

Welcome chodom09.

That was one horrible introduction. Let me explain that, by saying that you'll now be getting more than you asked for by joining the MMMM swap.

[pepperhead212]

Welcome to the forum, from another Jerseyite! What area are you in? You are growing many of the same things I grow, though I get SVB here, so the moschata squash are the only ones I can grow.

If you are looking for late bolting Asian greens, try some Summer Fest komatsuna, as well as senposai (cabbage x komatsuna) and misome (tatsoi x komatsuna). The two hybrids grow into August for me, and one misome never once bolted this last summer, and I pulled it, to plant the bed for the fall! Win-win bok choy is the latest to bolt for me, but still not like the others.

[Acer Rubrum]

Welcome!

I had not heard of Chinese Miben pumpkins before and had to google them. How do they taste? They look a bit like buttercup squash, if I got the right images when I was looking them up.

[Whwoz]

Welcome to the junction from Down Under @chodom09

[GoDawgs]

Greetings from the South and welcome!

[Nan6b]

Greetings from Pittsburgh, another zone 6b. I have the same problem with bolting, and was able to grow chijimisai (baker creek sells it (rareseeds.com)).

[chodom09]

I'm in Essex County, 30 minutes train drive to Manhattan, NYC.

In 2019, I bought on eBay to ship from China: Miben/Honey pumpkin (orange skin) and King/Black Wolf pumpkin (black skin). I think they are both Hybrid F1. I'm not Chinese, so the name result from Google translate. I don't remember anymore why I was so fixated on getting these seeds, but I'm happy I did. I'm attaching the seed packet here.

Miben pumpkin.jpg

King pumpkin.jpg

For 2020, I grew 2 vines of Miben pumpkin which gave me around 10 squashes about 10lbs each. They tasted so good, sweet and buttery, everyone that got a share loved them.
So I grew Miben again, adding King, totalling 3 vines in 2021 in partial shade. I've gotten total 170lbs . I'm attaching picture of my harvest. The King pumpkin (the really long pumpkin) didn't look like the picture on the seed packet, but it tastes just as good.

2021 Harvest.jpg

The other 30lbs is from 1 vines of green pumpkin that was supposed to grow for young fruit to eat like zucchini, I let them grow big for seeds; the result: 2 big pumpkin weighed 15lbs each and still looked green and too young for seed saving when frost came.

I would love to save seeds of these pumpkins, but still don't understand much about how hybrid works and the result of saving seeds from a hybrid, so a lot to learn.

For Asian greens, I've gotten Tatsoi and Siamese Dragon Stir Fry mix from Baker Creek this year, I'll see how it will perform.

[MissS]

Welcome to the Junction!

[Seven Bends]

Welcome from Virginia! Thanks for posting the pumpkin pictures; very interesting. I look forward to hearing more about your garden this year.

[Acer Rubrum]

Wow, those pumpkins look really cool. Now I have another plant to research. You'd think I'd quit that at some point, especially since I have no more room for squash this year.

Thanks for the description and pictures.

[Pippin]

Welcome to the forum!

Love your Asian pumpkins! I would love to learn how to use those green and very dry meat pumpkins (like Kabocha) in Asian style cooking. I have heard many use them in sweet dishes.

I have been more successful with Asian greens after starting to sow them very late, after mid summer, early July, as a fall crop. The same applies to Asian radishes like Daigons or turnips. They are so fast growing that there is still plenty of time before frost in my conditions. Many of them tolerates cold very well. The problem for me are the long days of the north. The seeds are likely propagated in shorter day conditions.

Happy growing!