Friday, August 24, 2012

Did I Grow My First Pumpkins?

I love pumpkins and can never seem to grow them. The vines are always iffy and never a pumpkin EVER!
I adore these heirloom varieties but I want to just grow one of any kind of pumpkin.

On my small city lot, space is tight so this year I started a vine right in the center of our front planter. I mounded lots of compost and let it go. It seems this vine has been growing forever so I figured well at least I can grow a vine. Maybe a pumpkin will come another year. Well imagine my surprise when I spotted this guy.


And this one. Could I have done it? My husband says until I cut that pumpkin from the vine, don't get too excited. But I just cannot help it. This is the closest to a pumpkin I have ever been.


This is where I grew it. The vine has covered my roses and taken over but I think it is pretty and I will plant here again next year. I may even take some of the plants out and use as another veggies space. I could see some corn in the back, sunflowers and veggies with flowers along the front border.


The flowers are at their end in here anyway so the vine can take over for now.
Maybe unconventional but that describes me.

The bees have been busy and I thank them.


Here is my main veggie garden in the front yard which is my only sunny spot.

You can read about it here.

Linking to:
Simple and Sweet Fridays
Farm Girl Friday
SNS 149
Sunday Blog Love

29 comments:

  1. I've never been able to grow pumpkins, either. And I swear I'm the only Long Islander who can't grow tomatoes--even in containers! I'm thinking maybe the containers were too small. So at the end of the season I'm buying a few super-big ones on sale. I think I'll try to plant a pumpkin in one of those!
    Meantime, your baby pumpkinette is adorable. Even if it never grows bigger, I'd say "yes, you grew a pumpkin"!

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  2. How wonderful.
    When I lived in the city I grew pumpkins everywhere. They even grew up my pool ladder.
    Now in the country the Squash bugs destroyed mine. So happy you were successful.
    I love pumpkins.
    Joy
    Trace

    www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com

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  3. Oh how I feel your joy! I love pumpkins and can't grow them either. Years ago I was so discouraged at my failed attempts but alas I did find one that grew. It was very small but it was a pumpkin! Yours already looks better than mine did. Your front garden is also awesome! Good luck keep us posted.

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  4. WooHoo on your baby pumpkin!! I have tried to grow them before but they didn't do very well. I would love to have the room to grow a good bunch since they can really add up to buy.

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  5. Congratulations! I have grown vines for squash and pumpkins but that's about it. I use the zucchini blossoms in cooking so I never get the actual zukes but pumpkins are not easy to grow. Hope you and Q get to pick this one. xo

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  6. Hi Elaine!
    How exciting to grow some pumpkins. :)
    I've never planted any..so haven't grown any. But I feel the same way about Peppers!
    They just won't grow for me. I have no idea why. I think it is great that you amended the soil with compost.

    I smiled when I saw that picture of your front veggie bed...I remember that bed, maybe not the same photo. But you have shown that veggie bed before...it was around that time that I started following your blog!
    ...and now we are Chicken Compadres!

    ...have a great weekend, Pat

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  7. We used to have a huge vegetable garden and we don't have it any more. I miss it. We used to grown pumpkins and when they were small like that, my kids would carve their names into the skin and as the pumpkin grew, their names would stretch. It was cool!

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  8. The pumpkin is so cute... Your front yard is so cheery. I would love to be your neighbor and have those sunny sunflowers greet me every morning.
    blessings to you.

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  9. that's so exciting, we always let the children carve their initials in the pumpkins and watch their name grow along with their pumpkin, I have friends living in the city who turned their fr4ont and back yards into veggie gardens, they are beautiful, yours is as well, why not take advantage of the earth to grow edible things!! Excellent!!!

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  10. What a surprise to find not one but 2.
    I wonder how big they will grow.

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  11. Awesome!

    You'll be ready for Fall decorating :)

    Happy weekend.
    K.

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  12. Oh I do hope you have completed pumpkins when the time comes - I've always wanted to throw out some pumpkin seeds and see if anything happens but haven't done it yet. Keep us posted on yours, very exciting. Mary

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  13. That is so great!!! I didnt plant any but the neighbors called me over yesterday because they had some overflow veggies. I passed a very large pumpkin patch I believe I will wait until their grand children get their pick and I may go over in the dark of night :)
    Cathy

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  14. That is so cute! I am always excited about getting pumpkins and even gourds because we usually get infested with squash bugs and that's the end of it. Hope that doesn't happen to your plant!

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  15. Congratulations!! Im lovin those 2 little guys! :)
    Robyn

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  16. WTG!!! once they get a little bit bigger ~ about baseball size, gently lay some straw under them.. it helps protect them. The first year we grew 7 pumpkins.. the next year I used the same kind of seeds and grew 5 white pumpkins
    ( not sure why they were white) and the next year I only got 1 small pumpkin. This year I didn't plant any. : ( and thats my story and I'm sticking to it. lol

    I love your front flower garden.
    Have a great weekend.

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  17. Congrats. I am so jealous- I don't think our pumpkins are going to amount to anything- xo Diana

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  18. Yay! I went as far as to take a paintbrush and try to pollinate the pumpkins by hand one year. My best year was last year when they just magically appeared in my compost pile. It looks like yours in on its way!

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  19. I hope your baby pumpkin grows and matures - so cute. Your vegetable garden looks like a work of art.

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  20. They look like pumpkins to me! Cucumbers are what I can't grow. I've tried every known method and different varieties and my best year gave me two oddly shaped cukes. ~ Maureen

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  21. Hooray! I am so excited for you! This has been a big year! First chickens....then eggs, and now pumpkins!!
    XO KRis

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  22. Congrats! We've removed a lot of our turf (front and back) and planted more edibles. It's easy and looks good too! We live on a standard city lot, it's just a matter of planning... it's also a lot less work mowing, etc...

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  23. Looks like pumpkins to me. How exciting :)

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  24. Congrats! :)

    I grew them one year where I used to live and had a bigger yard. WOW they do take over that is for sure! :)

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  25. Front yard gardens are fine in my book! We grow pumpkins but never get many, lots of leaves though. It seem like you'll never get one at all and then suddenly, beneath the leaves, you find one . . . or two. Good luck!

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  26. So happy for you. I love growing pumpkins and seeing how big they will get. You never know. Thanks so much for sharing on Simple & Sweet Fridays. Can't wait for fall.

    Jody

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