Doug and I decided to plant pumpkin seeds last spring, mainly so our Calgary granddaughter could watch them grow. Doug rototilled and raked the garden until it was ready. I bought the seeds--six of them in a package--along with the usual carrot and parsnip seeds and the seed potatoes. We planted and watched.
Only one pumpkin plant came up. The rest were probably washed away by the water from one of the underground springs in the area. This one pumpkin plant grew and grew and grew.
"You can't strangle the carrots," I told it as I snipped off the offending vines.
"You can't grow into the raspberries," I scolded as I cut off more vines.
"You can't spread into the willow trees," I chided as I cut off two more vines.
"You can grow across the entrance to the garden. We'll just step over you."
When our granddaughter came to visit, we admired this spreading giant.
Tiny oblong pumpkins started to emerge.
"I thought pumpkins were naturally round," I stated. I found out that different types of pumpkins have different shapes. Still the vines expanded.
When Doug and I returned from an 18-day holiday, the pumpkins were enormous, but still oblong-shaped. They were also green. We decided to leave them for another week.
"Come and look at what is happening to the pumpkins," Doug told me one morning.
Three of the pumpkins were partially eaten. Hoofprints in the garden proved the guilt--some of our resident mule deer herd obviously like pumpkins, but not enough to finish them. Doug moved the partially-eaten pumpkins by tractor to our composting site--a fancy name for where we dump grass clippings, weeds, garden refuse, tree branches, and whatever else from the yard that will decompose. Hopefully, the deer found the pumpkins there if they wanted to finish their meal.
We rescued six of the remaining large, oblong, and still green pumpkins. An internet site recommended wiping the pumpkins with a 10% bleach in water mixture to get rid of any surface bugs. Doug delivered the pumpkins to my work bench in the front-end loader of his tractor, and I sponged them off. We stored the green ones in the detached garage where it is dark and cool.
One finally turned orange enough that we could give it to our granddaughter for Halloween. It weighed about 20 pounds, and it's one long, tall jack-o-lantern.
Thanks goodness all six seeds did not grow--nothing else in the garden would have survived. I think the deer--or whatever else wants to nibble--may get the remaining five.
Happy Halloween everyone.
Only one pumpkin plant came up. The rest were probably washed away by the water from one of the underground springs in the area. This one pumpkin plant grew and grew and grew.
"You can't strangle the carrots," I told it as I snipped off the offending vines.
"You can't grow into the raspberries," I scolded as I cut off more vines.
"You can't spread into the willow trees," I chided as I cut off two more vines.
"You can grow across the entrance to the garden. We'll just step over you."
When our granddaughter came to visit, we admired this spreading giant.
Tiny oblong pumpkins started to emerge.
"I thought pumpkins were naturally round," I stated. I found out that different types of pumpkins have different shapes. Still the vines expanded.
When Doug and I returned from an 18-day holiday, the pumpkins were enormous, but still oblong-shaped. They were also green. We decided to leave them for another week.
"Come and look at what is happening to the pumpkins," Doug told me one morning.
Three of the pumpkins were partially eaten. Hoofprints in the garden proved the guilt--some of our resident mule deer herd obviously like pumpkins, but not enough to finish them. Doug moved the partially-eaten pumpkins by tractor to our composting site--a fancy name for where we dump grass clippings, weeds, garden refuse, tree branches, and whatever else from the yard that will decompose. Hopefully, the deer found the pumpkins there if they wanted to finish their meal.
We rescued six of the remaining large, oblong, and still green pumpkins. An internet site recommended wiping the pumpkins with a 10% bleach in water mixture to get rid of any surface bugs. Doug delivered the pumpkins to my work bench in the front-end loader of his tractor, and I sponged them off. We stored the green ones in the detached garage where it is dark and cool.
One finally turned orange enough that we could give it to our granddaughter for Halloween. It weighed about 20 pounds, and it's one long, tall jack-o-lantern.
Thanks goodness all six seeds did not grow--nothing else in the garden would have survived. I think the deer--or whatever else wants to nibble--may get the remaining five.
Happy Halloween everyone.
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