A summer combating nasty little squash bugs did not prepare me for this:
Garden humour: Bug free, late season plant
A peak under ‘the hood’ reveals an apple-sized pumpkin
…and a companion fruit
Yes, folks, my garden has a sense of humour.
It’s September 10th, just a few weeks shy of the first day of autumn, and here we have a happy-go-lucky, bug free, healthy pumpkin plant. This particular variety is out-shining all efforts to date. Further, it’s growing in the planting bed I’ve been preparing for the winter. I removed the drip irrigation lines, so the beds are dry. I covered most of the exposed dirt with cardboard to keep the cats out. I ran out of boxes before I had enough to cover the whole bed. That was all the invitation this plant needed to get started.
Just one week ago
Day time temps remain high, but once regular night-time lows hit the fifties, this plant will close up shop. Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy it while I can, marvel at my garden’s sense of humour, and be humbled yet again. I’ve been promoted from gardener to garden supervisor, just like that.
Safety net: a small tendril wrapped around the flower, catching it when it dropped from the plant
Is there something unexpected in your life this week putting a smile on your face?
Gardening Nirvana 
I left my squash plants in the ground after harvesting some good sized fruits, another butternut squash has just about grown and is nearly ripe, I must check to see if there are any more.
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Fantastic. Hurray for second crops!
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Ha!! I LOVE your gardens sense of humour! I bet that pumpkin will keep right on growing and ripening and be perfect for Halloween too! I hope my garden turns out to have an equally fun sense of humour for me 🙂
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I hope so too, Pauline on both accounts. I think one of my favorite things about wondering the garden is all these little surprises adding up over time.
Your garden was fun last year, so I’ve no doubt it will continue on the same trajectory.
Have you devised a plan to keep Sir Marmalade from napping in your pots?
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Yes, it’s called Siddy 😀
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Snicker! But of course…
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What a wonderful looking plant. Mother Nature having the last word again. She always wins. I think she’s playing with you. 🙂
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I think you’re right. I’m okay with that. And it sure beats squash bugs.
🙂
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LOL, maybe that’s the trick. No water and no attention. So, that plant grew from 1/4 of the box to 1/2 the box in just one week? Crazy! Just think if there were no bugs in California how many pumpkins you could grow? I saw smaller pumpkins in our market today on my way home from work. they were 1.99/lb (4.39 kg). I don’t know how much they’d weigh but even if they were 4 lbs, that’d be $8 bucks (or Loonies as we call them) Seemed pretty steep. They were the deep grooved smaller ones and not for carving. I think typically the ones for carving are maybe .79/lb or something like that. xo good luck little late pumpkin ❤
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I know, right? I’ll get busy lining up passports for all the little squash bugs. Ha! That won’t do…I would only be passing on the problem to another unsuspecting gardener. It did occur to me that the cardboard may have warmed up the soil to a temperature they like, but I don’t get the lack of moisture?
It will be interesting to see if your pumpkin prices come down in price as the season moves on. I saw a huge display at Summer Winds Nursery yesterday, but I didn’t think to price them. I’ll let you know.
I love the Loonies and the Toonies in Canada.
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I saw a story on our National News last night that was warning Canadians about higher produce prices due to the draught in California. They interviewed a woman who says there’s barely a drizzle coming out of her tap and they can’t drink or cook with the water (I didn’t see what town she was from though). So I can’t imagine produce getting cheaper any time soon. We’ll have to just be like the old days and eat frozen veggies that are grown locally in the summer. My gosh, I hope the weather is better soon for you there. xoxox
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I don’t know where that is exactly, but I’ve heard similar stories for communities not on the larger water pipeline grid. Can you imagine? Awful!
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What a lovely bonus, Alys! It’s things like your unplanned pumpkin that keep a gardener’s spirits up in the face of adversity. You thoroughly deserved a little gardening surprise after all your bug and squirrel dealings over summer. Can’t wait to see your resident Chief Carver make something out of it for Halloween. xoxoxox
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Dani, you are so right: I love this kind of surprise. I do hope it will grow to a good size. I might even offer some shelter at night to keep it warm and cozy. It is growing so fast!
I’m excited for Halloween every year. My inner child thrives.
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Oh, that’s great! Your garden clearly loves you Alys! 🙂
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It’s good to be loved, eh, Cathy?
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What we consider a sense of humour is their remarkable sense of survival – plants never cease to amaze me!
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Annette, agreed. We seem h**l bent on destroying our planet, but then things around us say ‘not so fast.’ It gives me hope.
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What a find and a thrill!! and I’m with Cathy … your garden does indeed love you!
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Aww, shucks. I’m as loveable as a pumpkin I am. 😉
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Goodness me!! maybe there is something about that cardboard. I cannot BELIEVE that!! LOL. Take the box inside and let it finish growing inside?
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Ms. GS I’ve thought the same thing. Since pumpkins like warm roots, it’s possible that the cardboard warmed up the soil enough for the seed to germinate. It’s growing so fast out there I can almost see the change.
I found a snail on the pumpkin and quickly relocated it elsewhere. Only the best for my unexpected garden guest.
How’s your weather holding up as we head toward fall?
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maybe you have found the secret!! Gorgeous day here today, mornings are chilly – but great gardening weather. It’s what I should be doing today… So mUch to do i don’t know where to start- inside and outside. AHHHHH!
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