On the Homefront: Pumpkin Harvest

Behold my very first pumpkin harvest!  I was inspired to try planting pumpkin seeds this year when a stray spaghetti squash seed found its way into my horse's manure pile last year and grew to luxuriant proportions.  Needless to say I was not willing to eat anything that grew out of the manure pile, but I thought I might give jack-o'-lantern pumpkins a try.  I planted three hills of seeds this past spring, two of which sprouted a few baby plants before I suddenly and unexpectedly had to leave town for two months.  I forgot all about my pumpkin patch while caring for my sister, but when I returned in August I was shocked at the amount of growth my baby pumpkin plants had achieved!

Crazy Maddie decided that no pumpkin picture was perfect unless she
was front and center in the image.

Numerous vines stretched everywhere, threatening to engulf my horse trailer, and a number of pumpkins had matured considerably.  Unfortunately a few losses were suffered when my horse came home from the boarding stable where he had spent the summer.  He managed to trample on three of them, and I accidentally ran one over with my riding mower when I cut back the jungle of overgrowth that was my pasture when I returned (the result of an excessive amount of rain and lack of any mowing all summer).  Sadly, my best and largest pumpkin rotted from the bottom before I had a chance to harvest it, as it was growing in partial shade and the ground was always a bit damp there.  However, I am now the proud owner of seven fine full-grown pumpkins nurtured right on our property, with two more possibly on the way (one is almost ready, but the other is still mostly green and may not ripen completely before the end of the season).

This is what happened when I gently suggested to Maddie that she might
want to move out of the way so I could get my pumpkin photo (I had to
bribe her with the promise of a treat to get the dog-less photo at the top
of the page).

I'm sure this is more than you wanted to know about my pumpkin-growing experience, but I am beyond excited about this gardening odyssey.  I have come to the conclusion that pumpkins thrive on horse manure and benign neglect, both of which I can provide in abundance.  Next year I will plant the seeds in an enclosed space safe from mowers and horse hooves, and we shall see how they do!

Rational Ruby considerately rested well in front of the pumpkins
while I was photographing them, but I decided no photo shoot was
complete without both pups posing with the pumpkins,
so here they are!