October 16, 2012 by Born To Organize

Birdhouse Gourd: Free Fall Averted

I took a field trip with my husband to the side yard on Monday. He hadn’t seen our birdhouse gourd in a week so I was happy to show it off. The added girth was indeed impressive, but he was also concerned that the weight would snap the vine. His concerns were well founded. We lost a pumpkin this summer in the same way. One day it was hanging from the trellis; the next day the weight snapped the vine and dropped the pumpkin to the ground.

birdhouse gourd with tape measure

birdhouse gourd perspective with orange tree

Above: A bit of perspective. The raspberries and oranges look tiny next to the gourd.
Left: measuring up.

As if on cue, when I checked on Birdhouse Gorgeous today it hung nearly six inches lower on the trellis. Further, the vine was putting weight on the phone wires under the eaves. I had to leave for a meeting, but couldn’t face returning home to a smashed gourd. I needed a way to support it without hindering its growth. Did they sell gourd hammocks, and if so, where would I find one on short notice?

My quick fix? A few pieces of garden twine and a color-coordinating mesh shopping bag. It took less than five minutes to rig and it solved both problems. The bag supports the weight of the gourd while at the same time allowing air to circulate. The twine lifts the vine up and away from the phone lines. I can’t write my blog without an internet connection! Crisis averted. The vine is now free to grow about its business.

Mesh grocery bag

It’s in the bag

Halloween Countdown

Vampire Pumpkin

I raided my son’s dress-up box for this week’s Halloween countdown. In the meantime, snails continue to “carve” the Snail Hotel.

October 13, 2012 by Born To Organize

Snail Hotel: Hole in One

Belly up to the bar

A clever and voracious garden snail found a soft spot in one of our pumpkins. He/she went on a pumpkin bender a few nights ago, slurping an impressive, though disappointing hole in one…pumpkin that is.

Now that they’ve breached the shell , decay will quickly set in. Add to that our spiking temperatures (yet again in the eighties!) and we’ll have a sloppy, slushy, pumpkin mess before week’s end. Taking inspiration from my friend Sheila, I converted the lost pumpkin into a snail hotel. I love my Sharpie’s! I love my pumpkins too, but the damage is done. In addition to counting down to Halloween, I’ll now be counting the days till the Snail Hotel is officially condemned.

You can check in any time you like…

Snail Hotel: Mollusks Welcome

Stay tuned!

Halloween Countdown

Pirate Pumpkin
Shiver me Pumpkin Ribs

October 7, 2012 by Born To Organize

Savoring the Flavoring of Pumpkin

Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie
photo credit: Deborah DeLong

I love growing things that we can also eat, but I’m not much of a cook. I *can* cook. It just doesn’t hold my interest. Luckily for me I married a man who knows his way around the kitchen.

During the holidays, I get to fuss over the table settings while he stays busy in the kitchen. I love arranging flowers, making place cards, lighting candles, and seeing that our guests feel at home.

Our Canadian friends celebrate their Thanksgiving holiday this Monday, October 8th. In the US, we celebrate the third Thursday of November, so still plenty of planning weeks ahead.

Sweet pumpkin pie is a traditional favorite, but not everyone likes the texture. I’ve found a few interesting alternatives to try this year. I’ll be running them by the resident chef to see what he thinks. I wanted to share them with you, too. Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe of your own? Please let us know in the comments, below.

Pumpkin Desserts

Honey Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

Deborah, at Romancing the Bee shared a recipe for this sweet sensation last week. She says it’s quick and easy, and judging by the ingredients, it will go down as smooth as honey.

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

I can almost smell the allspice just looking at the photo. These seasonal goodies would be a hit at the office potluck or tucked into a tin as a hostess gift.

Pumpkin Carrot Swirl Bars

You can never have too much orange. These tasty treats combine pumpkins and carrots for a vitamin-rich dessert. This is a great make-ahead recipe and a fun treat to pack in a school lunch.

Halloween Countdown

Masked Pumpkin

Happy Thanksgiving Day to my Canadian family and friends.

October 6, 2012 by Born To Organize

Pumpkins: Just the Facts, Ma’am

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Pumpkins are so entrenched in our North American culture this time of year, that it’s easy to forget they’re not equally popular the world over. They’re native to Central America and Mexico, but they’ve been grown in North America for five thousand years.

Bob’s Pumpkin Farm, Half Moon Bay

Pilgrims learned to cultivate, grow and store pumpkins from the Native Americans. Without them, they would have starved in those early 1600s winters. Pumpkin pie is traditionally served at the Thanksgiving meal. It’s easy to forget what a significant role it played in the early Pilgrim’s lives.

Thanksgiving flower arrangement

We have a number of pumpkin festivals and pumpkin “patches” in our community. We attended many of them when our boys were young, and were sorry when a few closed to make room for development.

The immensely popular Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival, dubbed the World Pumpkin Capital celebrates 42 years in 2012. The festival highlight for those of us serious about pumpkins, is the great pumpkin weigh-off. Last year’s winning pumpkin tipped the scales at a mind-boggling 1,704 pounds. Unfortunately, the festival has grown so popular that it can take upwards of an hour to get to the center of town. We joined friends for an off weekend last year, so we could drive through Half Moon Bay and along the beautiful coast, while avoiding the traffic nightmare.

Lifting Weights at Bob’s Pumpkin Farm

I dream of growing our own “Atlantic Giant,” out back, but lack the stamina and will power of the serious growers. It’s fun to read about the efforts the hard-core growers employ, and to see the amazing results. It was quite the thrill growing a 62 pound beauty this year.

I can’t wait to see what the seeds and flesh are like inside. My husband lovingly carves our pumpkins year after year. We dry and store seeds for the following season and the cycle begins anew.

2011 Pumpkin Crop

Pumpkin Facts

Pumpkins are a member of the gourd family, which includes cucumbers, honeydew melons, cantaloupe, watermelons and zucchini.
The largest pumpkin pie ever baked was in 2005 and weighed 2,020 pounds.
In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding “gros melons.” The name was translated into English as “pompions,” which has since evolved into the modern “pumpkin.”
Pumpkins are low in calories, fat, and sodium and high in fiber. They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, potassium, protein, and iron.
The heaviest pumpkin weighed 1,810 lb 8 oz and was presented by Chris Stevens at the Stillwater Harvest Fest in Stillwater, Minnesota, in October 2010.
Pumpkin seeds should be planted between the last week of May and the middle of June. They take between 90 and 120 days to grow and are picked in October when they are bright orange in color. Their seeds can be saved to grow new pumpkins the next year.

U.S. Census Bureau and the Guinness Book of World Records

Resources:

Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival
All About Pumpkins (History)
Pumpkin Facts
The Charles Schultz Classic, It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, premiered 45 years ago.
Our own pumpkins over the years

Halloween Countdown

Pumpkins and Flowers

October 1, 2012 by Born To Organize

Haunting in the Fairy Garden

It was a dark and stormy night in the garden. Strong winds whistled through the stark, barren trees. Lightning split the blackened skies as thunder rumbled like an angry troll. Tiny fairies scaled the tall pumpkins, stumbling upon a petrified fallen log nestled at the base of the pumpkin’s stem. Out of nowhere, a tall ladder appeared reaching skyward.

…stumbling upon a fallen log.

A large, white cat mewed at the base of the decaying stump, reminding them that they must trudge on. They climbed the ladder slowly, chin to chest, to avoid the fierce and brutal wind. Reaching the top, the fairies emerged in a magical forest where homes were made from stickers and tiny cats were one-dimensional.

Halloween Fairy Garden

Frolicking cats

They stumbled along a grey stone pathway littered with fallen leaves leading to a house. Larger than life tombstones stood at an odd angle nearby. Were they imagining things or was that really a ghost? If you’re a fairy meandering through a forest on a dark and stormy night, it’s easy to let your imagination get away from you. It’s probably just a balloon stuck in a tree.

Going up?

Suddenly, someone yelled “surprise!!!” it’s almost Halloween!

Only wonderful things happen in fairy gardens, and this was no exception. Purple flowers bloomed in the nearby forest. Cool, green baby tears lined the forest floor. Resident cats, Petals and Blossum frolicked in the tall grass. A Pyjama Gardener cut flowers for the party table nearby. The fairies stayed to help decorate. We’ll see what they are up to tomorrow.

Halloween Countdown:

I’m so happy!

September 24, 2012 by Born To Organize

My Beautiful Garden Bench

Our growing collection of pumpkins
(Note the tiny ones at the top. They didn’t turn orange in time, but will make excellent “eye balls” for one of the Jack ‘O Lanterns on Halloween.)

I attended the SummerWinds Nursery fire sale last week, and brought home a beautiful, forged-iron bench. Made in Mexico, it features scroll work along the back and a heart-shaped seat. I’m organized at heart, so it was impossible to resist.

My son was with me at the time, and looked askance at the cold, hard bench. I assured him that I had something else in mind, and it didn’t include seating. Under typical circumstances, I would admire the bench, dream of all the things I could do with it, then move on. It seemed extravagant to buy such a pretty bench as a plant stand.

We walked around the nursery parking lot, looked at what little remained at the fire sale, then worked our way back to the bench. The one-of-a-kind lovely was still there, with a fire sale price of 30% off. Further, 10% of the proceeds would benefit the San Jose Firefighters Burn Foundation. We paid for our purchases and into the car it went.

Coincidentally, we harvested our great pumpkins that same evening, I brought home the perfect seat for our pumpkins. Once harvested and weighed on the Wii Fit, I relocated my beloved coleus to the back porch, creating a place of honor for our great pumpkins. You can view the pumpkins seated on the bench from the street. It will be the perfect place for the Jack O’ Lanterns once carved.

Today we harvested the last five pumpkins, making room for the winter garden. My seeds are calling me. Time to get busy!

Go to the SummerWinds Almaden Nursery Facebook Page for updates on sales and plans to rebuild.

September 17, 2012 by Born To Organize

The Other Pumpkins

Sure, I made a big fuss yesterday about our great pumpkins, but we love all of them. How could you not delight in the uniqueness of each one?

The larger pumpkins have peach-colored shells with a flame orange skin just below the surface. The rest of the pumpkins took on a more traditional color and grew to about half the weight.

Trio of Pumpkins

The pumpkin, below, is smooth and typically formed on one side, but something went wrong somewhere along the way. It already looks like it has two eyes and a mouth. No carving necessary.

We won’t need to carve this one. It’s already wearing a mask.

One of the earliest pumpkins started in an acorn shape. As it grew in size, the small scar opened up, leaving the insides exposed. Although it continued to turn orange, the rotting process started the minute it was off the vine. Then an amazing thing happened. I left it in the corner of the deck, figuring one of the night critters would simple eat it. Instead, the pumpkin warmed in the sun, creating enough moisture for the seeds to sprout. I tore it open, thinking I would compost the rotting skin, only to find a handful of seedlings.

Self-seeding Pumpkin

Rounding out the eclectic group of pumpkins, this little fella survived the expanding girth of one of the greats. When I pulled away the 50-pound pumpkin, this was growing just below.

My guess? The weight of the growing pumpkin slowly split the sides of this one, giving it time to scar over as it continued to grow. Unlike the cousin above, it’s completely healed over.

We have about five pumpkins yet to harvest, still yellow or green. We’ll see what nature has in store.

September 16, 2012 by Born To Organize

Great Pumpkins Weigh In

Last night, while the sun was setting and the earth still warm, we harvested our big pumpkins. We ended up with four, one for each family member. I love how that worked out.

Harvesting Pumpkins is a Family Affair

We cut them from the vine and brought them indoors. The plan was to weigh each one on our Nintendo Wii Fit, the only reliable scale in the house.

Carrying the pumpkin to safety

As we made our way inside, my friend Betsy and her two lovely daughters dropped by bearing gifts: a beautiful white oleander. What timing! We invited them to join us for the great pumpkin weigh-in, a comical endeavor when you’re using the Wii. My son created a character called “Pumpkin,” then placed it on the scale. Everyone took turns guessing Pumpkin’s weight. We belly laughed for half an hour at all the silly assumptions the computer made. Our great Pumpkin had a BMI of 99.99! When we weighed a second pumpkin, it would suggest that “Pumpkin” needed to put on some weight…or lose weight, or get more exercise. Laughter is contagious. One person laughs and the room laughs with them. It was such good fun.

Wii Fit Weighs In

Every year, no matter what seeds we plant, our pumpkins surprise us. Last year we had an eclectic variety of pumpkins; one year we had several small ones. This year’s crop produced the largest we’ve grown. The fab four all grew from one vine, self-seeded by a bird or squirrel.

Our 4 Great Pumpkins

Here’s what we named them and how they stacked up:

Cinderella Carriage – 42.8 pounds (19 kg)
Craig – 53 pounds (24 kg)
Stalky – 51.9 pounds (23 kg)
Big Mac – 60.8 pounds (27 kg)

That’s a combined total of over 200 pounds of pumpkin goodness.

“There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”

-Linus, from It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles Schultz

September 9, 2012 by Born To Organize

Harvesting Pumpkins: Three to Get Ready

Slinky is ready for Halloween

What a joyous day! Fall is in the air and pumpkins are in my house. We harvested three orange lovelies this morning, then brought them indoors for safe keeping. Two have been ready for a while but I left them on the vine for up to the minute ripening. The third pumpkin was a surprise, in more ways than one.

We still have four extra-large pumpkins on the vine, hoping they’ll turn a bit darker. Currently they have a peach complexion. I lifted one of these large pumpkins away from the beds to give it more sun, and discovered a smaller pumpkin had been growing just below. It has multiple cracks in an interesting geometric pattern, but each of the cracks healed over. I can’t wait to take a picture and share it with you. We’ve never seen anything like it. I’m wondering if the extraordinary weight of the pumpkin above caused it to slowly crack, giving it time to heal as it split. My husband and resident carver is looking forward to hollowing it out. He thinks it will look like a star burst. We’ll restrain ourselves until Halloween.

Do you think she’s waiting for The Great Pumpkin?

The plan is to give each of the larger pumpkins a name on our Wii Fit, so we can weigh them one by one. Won’t that be fun?

Meanwhile, I’m practicing sitting on my hands. Every time I go out there I want to harvest the fruit and make way for the winter garden.

Ò Ó Ò

August 25, 2012 by Born To Organize

Gifts from the Garden: Late Season Surprises

I love receiving gifts from the garden, little treasures and discoveries I didn’t expect. Here is what she offered up this week.

Turning Orange After All

This acorn-shaped pumpkin was doing well, when a scar on the skin opened into a small wound. With the fruit exposed to air, I assumed that was the end of it. How disappointing.

To my delight, it continued to turn orange.You can see right through to the inside of the pumpkin, so I’m surprised at this development. It’s a gift!

Raspberry Redux

We devoured raspberries for several weeks this summer, eating them straight off the vine. Eventually they stopped blooming and I cut back the vine. This week, they are at it again. Fresh berries in August. Yum, yum, yum. Thank you berry vine for your generous gift. How sweet of you!

It’s a Whopper!

One of our pumpkin vines produced three large gourds in late July. They’ve put on weight daily, though the pumpkins to follow mostly shriveled and died on the vine. In what seemed like an overnight sensation, we now have a fourth still-yellow but equally large pumpkin on the vine. I hope it stays warm enough for the fruit to turn orange. Occasionally the size of the gift is important.

Unexpected Sunflower

I planted Evening Sun and Mammoth Russian Botanical Interests® sunflowers, so imagine my surprise when a third variety appeared this week. I love the shiny yellow flowers and their perfect little centers. Who doesn’t love a gift out of the blue?