July 13, 2009: Granny's Pumpkin Patch

The "Big Guy" is turning orange now, and I think he's finally stopped growing. You can see by the photos that he's much larger than any others on the vine. These are supposed to be the small, 5-6 pound pumpkins, but "Big Guy" weighs 14.5 pounds! Yes, I took my digital bath scale out to the garden, positioned it on a square of plywood, lifted the pumpkin and scooted the scale under it with my foot. I'm sure my neighbors think I'm insane.


Big Guy


Normal pumpkin #2


Normal (but oddly shaped) pumpkin #3


Normal pumpkin #4


Normal pumpkin #5

There may be more pumpkins in the patch, but I wasn't going to risk losing my computer mouse in that jungle of vines!




The bell peppers are getting so heavy, they have to be staked to stand upright.


Lots of yellow crookneck squash on the way!


And lots of butternut squash, too.


Today's harvest of dill, basil, onions, tomatoes, pole beans, Royal Burgundy bush beans and a small head of cabbage added another 5 pounds to the 2009 harvest total..

All of the dill got blown over in last night's wind storm, along with my sunflowers. Two of the bell pepper plants were leaning badly, but not damaged. The parsnips were held up by the bush beans, but now they need to be fenced in upright, as I pulled the last of those beans today.



Monday's Garden Dinner

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (onions, basil, garlic)
Hot Garlic Bread (garlic)
Tossed Salad (tomatoes, cucumbers)
Strawberry Shortcake (strawberries)

16 comments:

  1. The pumpkins are certainly coming along really well.... what are your plans for them?

    You are still getting an amazing bean harvest!

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  2. Hi Granny!
    I had to chuckle when you talked about your neighbors! LOL!!!!

    Your pumpkins look fantastic!!!!! Gosh, they'll probably boost your garden poundage past 200!!!

    I remember seeing a show about these farmers who made boxes for their watermelons. As the watermelons grew, they would take on the shape of the box.... maybe that oddly shaped pumpkin was up against something as it grew??

    Your harvest looks so good. Love the color of those beans!

    I harvest my broccoli today! It was so yummy! Much milder than story bought.

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  3. KitsapFG, I will freeze the pumpkin, as I'm quite sure they will be ripe before Halloween. I think I'm going to buy some dry ice this year and take my frozen foods south with me. I don't think we can eat that many pumpkin pies before the end of October!

    Yes, I'm getting a LOT of beans. I've taken all my bush beans out now, but I might plant a few more. I'd rather have pole beans, but it would be touch and go to get a crop before freezing weather hits us. Last year I got one bean from the pole beans I planted around July 24th! They were killed by a frost, then it didn't freeze again for weeks.

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    Toni, if you were my neighbor, what would you think to see a 70 year old woman scooting through the garden on her belly, taking pictures of pumpkins and stuff? Or pushing her bathroom scale through the garden to weigh the heavier things?

    The oddly shaped pumpkin was rescued from the fence. It was growing between the wires, so it got a kink in its neck ;-)

    Garden broccoli tastes nothing like frozen or store bought. Much milder and sweeter.

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  4. Granny those pumpkins are amazing! My butternut squash hasn't yet flowered, but I'm looking forward to it. Garden broccoli is fantastic. It's not dry and crufty like store bought.

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  5. Ribbit, I saw two butternuts that were at lest 2-3 times the size of the one I photographed, AFTER I put the picture on my blog. They were hidden in the foliage, and I didn't find them until I went out looking for more pumpkins.

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  6. Hey Granny, those pumpkins look wonderful! I didn't grow pumpkins this year, so I'll live vicariously through you and yours.

    Last year, my cucumbers were supported on a chicken wire trellis, they kept growing into the mesh and the ones I rescued ended up with kinks like your pumpkin #3.

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  7. GrafixMuse, I'll be happy to cyber share my pumpkins with you! Do you know, this is the first time I've ever grown pumpkins?

    I have cucumbers growing on the fence, too. I keep rescuing them from between the wires.

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  8. Well, if you were my neighbor, I'd think you were remarkably spry and probably have fierce competitive/cooperative gardening urges. I love the computer mouse as the size comparison!

    Winter squashes are growing on me as the favorite vegetable. I don't like pumpkins to eat that much, but roasted butternut squash cubes? And butternut ravioli with sage butter? I'm all about that. I have high hopes for my other varieties.

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  9. Oh, Stefaneener...winter squash makes a better "pumpkin" pie than pumpkin does! I absolutely love butternut, and I'll never forget the huge Hubbard squashes my grandmother used to grow. They were delicious, but really too large for a small family. I do have to admit to liking pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin custard and pumpkin cookies, so I think I'll be able to use most of what I grow.

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  10. I wish I HAD neighbors as crazy as you-it's a GOOD kinda crazy and I'm glad! Who else would regale us with tales of dragging scales and plywood out to the garden! You're the best-keep it crazy!!

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  11. LOLOL - I read this in your comments section and found it priceless:

    Toni, if you were my neighbor, what would you think to see a 70 year old woman scooting through the garden on her belly, taking pictures of pumpkins and stuff? Or pushing her bathroom scale through the garden to weigh the heavier things?

    Ohhhh I haven't laughed that hard at a mental image in a long, long time. I wish we were neighbors! That's right up my alley.

    And wow your pumpkins look amazing. I love that as a blogger you used your computer mouse as the size reference - good choice!

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  12. Granny your pumpkins look great. So how are they doing growing on the mulch? None of them are getting rotting areas? I am trying it this year. Last year I put large bricks under them to keep them from rotting on the ground. I don't even have any pumpkin babies yet...I think I am having a lack of pollination problem! I put a leaky hummingbird feeder out there to try to attract more bees!

    I often wonder what my neighbors think of me taking all my garden pics as well! They probably think I am nuts! We live in a subdivision, so we have plenty of neighbors close!

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  13. Yum pumpkin. My family likes pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting and of course pumpkin pie. I envy those pumpkins.

    My dill is now over my head. Last year it got to 5' now it is even taller. It is supposed to be 3' high, but every year it seems to get taller. I don't have it staked up and keep wondering it if will fall over. I hope not, but you never know.

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  14. Sue and Kate, Couldn't we have fun if we were all neighbors? Talk about crazy, they'd probably put padded walls around our gardens, LOL!


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    Shawn Ann, when I grew melons, I always set them on pots or boards or bricks, but I'm going to let these pumpkins grow naturally, on the ground. The wood mulch is very thin under them, and the sandy soil below drains well. We'll see what happens.

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    Daphne, I really hated losing the dill, it was so pretty in the garden. Next year I'll plant it in a corner where it will be protected from the wind. At least there were a lot of heads that had gone to seed. I lost all of it, even the shorter variety I got from Dan. When you think about the wind gust that took down a huge maple tree last July, it's not surprising that we got one that took down dill and sunflowers.

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  15. Granny, I don't know how to tell you this but I think you might have a mouse infestation in your garden. I would try luring them to other areas of your yard with some cheese to make sure they don't try to nibble on your pumpkins. ;)

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  16. LOL, Desert Dame! That darned mouse is going to get lost in the pumpkin patch one of these days, then I'll be in big trouble! Or I'll forget and leave it out there in the sprinkler, like I did with my digital camera :-(

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