Pumpkin harvest time

This year I feel like the pumpkins have been so much more work than pumpkins are supposed to be. I planted out butternut pumpkins and golden nugget pumpkins. My husband loves Butternut pumpkins best and Golden Nuggets are usually the perfect size to cut and eat in one family meal, with no need for storing cut pumpkin in the fridge. All good.

But then the mystery compost pumpkins sprouted and were doing rather well. 'I really should let them grow', I thought, as they did go to all the trouble of growing for me... I had no idea what variety of pumpkin they were - pumpkin surprise! They turned out to be something like a Jap/Kent and what I can only describe as a cross between a Jap/Kent and a Golden Nugget. We have tried one of these and they taste pretty good.

The pumpkins are dying back, so I am pulling them out over the next few weeks - partly because I could actually do with the path space back again, but also as we really don't need any more pumpkins! This photo has the first mass harvest picking, although I have picked 70+ to date and there are more still to be picked. To think that there could have been more... I have spent countless hours slashing and yanking pumpkin vines off the path, only for them to be choked and impassable in only a few weeks. My arms prickling from the spiky hairs on the pumpkin leaves and stalks and thinking that next time I should wear long sleeves, but not learning from my lesson. I don't often walk out into the yard planning to garden, it's just a wander over to check something out, kids are playing well or helping me out and all of a sudden we have been out there for hours...

We carved names into pumpkins, our names, names of family and of our children's friends. This has been delightful watching them grow into name scars over weeks and months. Sometimes we go on garden walks to visit our named pumpkins. Sometimes my girl comes home saying that we need to write a name on a pumpkin for a new friend. I love that she sees sharing our produce with a friend is special and important. I love that she sees the sowing of seeds, the watering and caring for the plants, the harvesting and gifting of produce and the meal where the produce is shared, all as being special and something that we get great enjoyment from.

PJG