I Got a Pumpkin!

This is what happens when you start a garden "too late".

I had to laugh when I walked out to my back yard and saw this little guy on the vine.

It's turning!

But before I start in with this, I'll talk about my raised garden bed.

I got a late start this year with it. I had plants growing in starter containers (some) and others were doing well and others weren't.

And most of that was due to the downpours of rain we would get every now and then. And scheduling conflicts with said rain, of course.

If I was at an appointment or something I couldn't just drop everything and run home to pull my seedlings indoors.

So some of them got...waterlogged.

And that's my fault, because I should have built something for them more permanent to begin with.

And so, after finding the time and manpower (my husband works 12s...so yeah) to get all the materials together and actually make the thing, it was later in the summer when it was all said and done.

So realistically speaking, when I transplanted the remaining seedlings I had into the new space, I wasn't expecting much to come of them.

But they hung in there and have surprised me.

The picture you see above is from a pumpkin SEED that my husband decided to plant, even though I told him it probably wouldn't grow as late as it was or even put out anything.

Well, boy was I wrong.

It's even survived a recent cold snap (that lasted like 2 seconds, considering it's projected to be almost 80 degrees here on Halloween). And I totally underestimated the power of a vine. I have a squash plant and a pumpkin plant (just the two, mind you) and they have tried to take over half of the back yard. I got one little squash and it's already been picked (happy dance) and the plant is now trying to wither away-normal. The pumpkin plant only has two on the vine and some of the green has started to dim and the blooms aren't looking so great despite the effort.

But I'm still impressed.

I have some carrots and lettuce plants that are still kicking, which is to be expected since they, like pumpkin and squash, do well later too. But as late as a start we got from seeds, I was surprised they took off so fast. I even have some tomato plants trying to hang in there!

I know I'm not going to have a happy little orange pumpkin by the time Halloween gets here, but eventually it may turn before the first frost!

Maybe, ha.

Either way, I'm happy and the kids have been super excited about the "baby punkins" (the other one is still mostly green.. so I didn't snap a picture of "him" ha..).

And of course, my husband gets to say "I told you so". Go figure, lolz.

Hope you enjoyed my little dash of mischief today!

As always.

xoxo,

LittleGypsyRed