We’re mad about pumpkins. We grow them, dress them up and carve them for Halloween. Without further ado, some of my favorite pumpkins from the past decade.
Alys Milner 32 mins · Edited · Our first backyard pumpkin September, 2005
Ad hoc pumpkin patch September, 2005
This pumpkin grew from squirrel feed. Dark orange inside with a pale skin.
Amy Farrah Fowler
What all the well dressed pumpkins are wearing this fall.
My 2014 Doppelganger
Spooky pumpkins
The roaring twenties pumpkin
Ahoy Matey Pumpkin
Creepy Crawly Pumpkin
Elvis is alive and well
Signature Pumpkin
Snail Hotel: Mollusks Welcome
haunted pumpkin
Under the sea pumpkin
Ratatouille pumpkin
Last year’s late-season crop
B is for Boomdee
Virginia Tech Pumpkin
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown My lone, volunteer pumpkin this year, 2015
Ready for holidays pumpkin
Delicious pumpkin
Our largest pumpkins ever (46 – 64 pounds)
Photo Bombing Pumpkins When M was 12
Dracula pumpkin
Oh yes, quite delicious thank you.
Crowned Kitty Pumpkin
The Scholarly Pumpkin
Yes, it’s me again.
Bewitched Pumpkin
The Sailor Pumpkin, Mike’s True Passion
I’m a Mac Pumpkin
Snail Hotel: Checking in
A Stack ‘O Pumpkins (M’s treasures)
Resident Carver Extraordinaire Michael Francini.
Collection of Pumpkins
An enterprising snail created a private entrance
Mike’s Carving Wonder
Lindy investigates
Flower Vase Pumpkin
We grew this crowd one year
Rock, Paper, Scissors Pumpkin
Smooch!
Mike’s collection of carvings
Deadly Diva
Pretty Kitty
Our “Haunted Yard” one year
Hanging out with Laura at Bob’s Farm
When pumpkins were still bigger than he was
I grew this gorgeous green pumpkin from seed. One of my favorites. They’re native to Australia.
Welcome Pumpkin This is a Candy Cane Pumpkin, also grown from seed
Lifting Pumpkins is great exercise
You win some, you lose a lot. The joy of gardening
A joyous crop, pre-drought and pre-squash bug infestation.
Admired by many, carved by Michael.
Glowing Pumpkins
My Year of Trash costume hat pumpkin
Velvet pumpkins
When a whole pumpkin just won’t do.
Mike builds a bonfire
The woeful tale of Frank and Shelley
Gardening Nirvana Pumpkin
Gardening Nirvana 
Very impressive catalogue of previously loved pumpkins!
I mean no disrespect to any of the others but “pretty kitty” is my favourite…
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You’re so cute, Danella. I’m fond of the kitty too. It’s often one of my requests.
Thanks for viewing the collection.
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That is definitely a major bout of pumpkin madness, I to think the kitty deserves some kind of acknowledgement.
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That it is, Charlie. A decade’s worth of growing, carving and enjoying the pumpkins. Believe it or not, this is a whittled down collection!
Do you mean Lindy, the kitty or the kitty carved pumpkin?
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Well I was voting for Lindy Investigates–perfect to have a black cat posing with arched back. But then I was won over by Gardening Nirvana Pumpkin. Hope yours is a Happy Halloween. Susie
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Thank you, Susie! Lindy is the sweetest kitty and was only too happy to investigate the large pumpkin while I snapped the camera. I’m glad you liked the Gardening Nirvana Pumpkin too. They’re all as unique as the fruit that grows. Happy Halloween to you, too.
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Go the pumpkins! I still smile when I see poor Frank – he has to be my favourite! It is a most impressive selection you have here and easy to see that Halloween remains high on the list of most favoured holidays!
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That it is, Pauline.
I remember the fun you and I had trading comments around Frank and Shelley, and always think of you now when I think of that dropped pumpkin debacle. When life gives you lemons…have a blast on your blog. xox
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I have a lovely appreciation of all the fun of Halloween now thanks to you 🙂
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Awww. xox
What’s your weather like today, Pauline? We’ve had a smidgen, and I do mean smidgen of rain so it’s all fresh and bright outside. It warms back up again tomorrow, but it was to have a touch of moisture.
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We had warm sunny days until yesterday afternoon when winter arrived back suddenly and unexpectedly. Its grey and cold and wet, Siddy had a hasty walk between bouts of rain this morning. But now, even as I write this there is a brightening in the sky…… You really need some persistent rain don’t you. How’s the foot bearing up?
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Great collection. Thanks a lot.
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Thank you for paying a visit!
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They are all fantastic. As I was scrolling through I thought “that’s my favourite” until I got to the next one and thought “THAT’s my favourite”! We don’t have a big pumpkin tradition here — we just eat them! So I am blown away by the fun you have and the thought you put in. Mike has such talent. Does he carve through to the centre or only take off the skin? (That question shows how little I know about pumpkins and Halloween 👻🎃)
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Thank you, Anne. I’m glad you enjoyed the slide show. I’m amazed at what we’ve amassed over a decade. I’m not sure how Halloween got to be such a big deal here in the States but I know other countries give it little fanfare.
Mike carves all the way through (or did in these pumpkin carvings), but there is another technique where only the outer skin is breached. Carvers use linoleum tools so that they can scrape away the skin but leave the outer pulp intact.
He waits till Halloween or the day before. Once they’re carved, they rot within a couple of days. We give the seeds to the squirrels if they’re commercial pumpkins. If it’s my own crop, then I save a lot of the seeds to plant or give away for the following year. The smaller pumpkins are good for cooking and eating, but the large ones grown here for carving are made for tough, sturdy skins and less for taste.
You’re the second one, by the way, to include those cute emoticons. I must learn how to do that.
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What a fantastic gallery of Halloween-filled photos!! Loved seeing all your creativity, Alys, and Mike’s carvings are superb 🙂 Happy soon-to-be Halloween 👻🎃
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Thank you, Stacy! This is such a fun time of year for all of us. Mike has so much patience when it comes to carving pumpkins. Some years he uses patterns and other years he makes them up depending on what’s topical. They’re always fun. Happy Halloween to you, too. I wish I knew how to add that cute little pumpkin you put at the end.
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LOL! You’ll be the third person I’ve recently shared this trick with 🙂 On a Mac, press alt-command-space bar and it brings up the grid of emoticons. Don’t know what the keys are called on a PC, but I bet you can find the winning combination 🙂
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Oh thank you! I’m using a Mac so here goes:
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Ctrl-Command-Space bar. thank you!
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Yay!!!! 😄🎉👌🏻👏🏻
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Love love love – Thank you for making my pumpkin season complete!!!
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Awwww….what a nice thing to say, Cyndi. Thank you. Happy Halloween!!!
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Frankenpumpkin! Oh my. What a collection. I love you hefting the pumpkin barbells…
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I harvested and then immediately dropped that pumpkin and it split down the side. I was heartbroken. I made the best of it by adding radio tubes and staples from Mike’s work bench.
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Fabulous! Especially love the last one! 🙂
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This was just like going to a Halloween party. I spent the last 15 minutes showing TS all the carved pumpkins and then the others. Wow! He was duly impressed. My kids both love Halloween. This year we’ve combined our decor but the weather is reeking havoc with them. Wind and 100 % chance of rain. Guess the trick or treaters will be the indoor kind this year. Dog gone it. 😦
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Thank you, Marlene. Your comments always leave me with a big smile on my face and an inner glow. You have such a way with words.
Now darn that weather, eh? We all want the rain, but why today? And that howling wind, too? I’ll look forward to the report back. Last year it rained for two hours on Halloween, then cleared for the evening fun. Fingers crossed for you. I hope the pooled decorations came together for a fun time.
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If I can get the silly post done, you could see for yourself. 😦
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What an amazing pumpkin history you have, and present too! But do you eat them? Pumpkin soup? Pie?
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Thanks for checking out my page, Mad About Pumpkins.
We’ve cooked with pumpkins in the past. I love pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie. The large ones pictured here have a thick, tough skin developed for carving, but they do sell pumpkins for cooking in the markets. Do you like to cook with them?
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