Tamara Christine Van Hooser

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Stories By Tamara Christine Van Hooser

  • Produce
    Produce By Tamara Christine Van Hooser November 4th, 2022

    What Crop To Rotate With Pumpkins

    What Crop to Rotate With Pumpkins. Crop rotation arranges vegetables into families that have similar vulnerabilities to disease and insects to avoid planting them in succession and increasing the likelihood of transferring problems from one crop to the next. Pumpkins (Cucurbita maxima, C. moschata or C. argyrosperma) fall into the gourd or cucurbits family, which grow on vines. By rotating the pumpkin crop with other crop families in a given planting area, you help the soil maintain a nutrient balance, reduce weed problems and decrease the opportunity for damaging populations of disease spores, eggs and pests to settle into one area long-term and harm your pumpkins.

    By Tamara Christine Van Hooser November 4th, 2022 Read More
  • Produce
    Produce By Tamara Christine Van Hooser November 4th, 2022

    How To Know When A Prickly Pear Is Ripe?

    How to Know When a Prickly Pear Is Ripe?. The sweet, oval fruits that grow on the tips of prickly pear cacti (Opuntia spp.) pads provide a colorful temptation for curious and hungry children in search of a snack in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3b through 11. Your mom sense, however, may worry about the ouch factor of the sharp spines and when the prickly pears are ripe for little tummies to enjoy. Alternately known as a tuna, cactus pear or Indian fig, their peak of ripeness only lasts about a week during the summer. Therefore, knowing the key indicators of maturity can help you schedule a family prickly pear harvest outing where you can supervise the safety of little fingers, and gather the best-quality fruits for healthy and nutritious snacks and juices.

    By Tamara Christine Van Hooser November 4th, 2022 Read More