The Great Pumpkin(s)
Susan loves to play with her garden. Each year there is always something new; something different. There are always zucchini, squash, beans. But this year, 2022, she planted pumpkin. Just one vine and it was planted on the edge of our compost pile.
The vine grew well. It should being rooted in a huge pile of rich rotting compost. As it grew she guided it out of the garden and over to the top of the hedge along the South side of the back yard. And there it grew.
One of Susan’s three pumpkins growing in the top of the hedge. It is not ripe at this point and still has green viens in the skin.
As the vine travelled along about four feet off the ground a pumkin formed and began to grow. We protected it and created a shelf in the bush for it to sit on. And still the vine grew. Becasue we were preoccupied with our pumkin, and because pumkins are green when small, we failed to notice that the vine was growing two more fruits further along, in the top of the hedge, under the large vine leaves. We had three large healthy pumkins growing in the hedge!
It is October and the pumpkins are ripe. Here Susan is harvesting the middle one. In the upper left corner you can just see the first pumpkin and in the lower right you can glimps the third.
Sam with her chosen pumpkin ready to take it home. It is the one she is standing beside on the right.
So we had three. We only needed one. Susan called Sam and she came yesterday to pick up a pumpkin for Halloween. We cut all three off the vine and Sam got first choice of hers. She couldn’t wait to get home and find a design to carve into it.
We then called Joe and Christina and they came over today and picked one for themselves to decorate their house. That left us with one for us to carve and put on our front porch. But when I do we are certain to save some seeds for next year.
So Susan’s little experiment was a huge success this year. It was fun to watch our pumpkins grow and turn from green to orange and grow larger than Safeway’s pumpkins!
A garden can be an amazing thing.
Sam is looking and the last two pumkins on Susan’s vine before Susan picked them.
Susan standing with Sam who has her pumkin on her shoulder. That is one nice zucca!