Pumpkin Adventure 2011 Edition!

Hi Spooky Friends!

Hope everyone has been well! Have you gotten a chance to check us out on Facebook yet? http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Halloween-Night/197551100264142 Be sure to "like" our fan page!!

As some of you already know, I tried my hand at growing pumpkins last year. It was a lot of fun watching the vine grow and finally getting little pumpkins, but alas, I never got a full grown pumpkin. By the time I realized what I needed to do in order to fertilize the pumpkins, it was too late in the season. BUT!!!! I learned what I needed to do, so THIS year I am hoping I will be more successful!

A few weeks ago I went into my local Sutherland's store (a farming/ranching store) and bought a package of seeds for about 59 cents. I forgot to save some seeds from the pumpkins I bought last year. Oops! I will be planting them around Memorial Day (like last year), but will be using a different method. Last year, I started my seeds out in a pot with fertilized soil. They did VERY well, but after the vine got so big, I couldn't move the pot into the sun without fear of destroying the plant. So, I will be planting the seeds in a corner garden where my mom planted gourds a few years ago (they did really well there). I will be collecting a few shovels full of horse poop courtesy of my horse, Roy, and mixing it with the soil in the garden.

I learned last year that the flowers that bloom on the vine are the "male" flowers. When the pumpkins are big enough, they have a flower on the end of them which are the "female" flowers. I discovered in order to fertilize my pumpkins, I had to, um, "force" them to fertilize! I felt a bit dirty afterward! LOL! I broke off the stamen of the "male" flower, then rubbed it inside of the "female" flower making sure that the pollen had totally covered the inside.

I had a lot of fun learning how to grow the pumpkins and enjoyed just watching the vine grow!! The flowers are beautiful and can get really big! I look forward to trying again this year and hope that I am successful enough to grow at least one full sized pumpkin!