I went out to the garden today to find my little pumpkin on the ground, the vines are just dead. There is some green on it still...don't know if a few days will ripen it without it being on the vine or not. But I just wanted to rescue it from the squash bugs since their is an army of them out there now!
He is about 4 1/2 inches wide and about 5 inches tall.
I have never used a fresh pumpkin for a pie but I hope this will be enough. I am gonna have to start researching what to do and how to save it if I can, till Thanksgiving! For instance, should I just leave it as is, or cook, puree and freeze it? I bet Granny knows!
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In other gardening, the veg garden appears to be on its last leg. There is still a couple of Accorn squash toughing out the squash bugs. The tomatoes are still producing well. Serrano peppers are turning red. There are still beans producing, but for some reason they just don't taste as good as the first round, the plants don't look as good either.
I pushed the dirt away to find some pretty purple carrots are growing in the tall box! Only a few though. I wish I had read granny's advice about gluing the seeds to a paper towel before I planted them! I will try that next time!
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On the advice or request of my family I decided not to plant anything for the fall! So my garden is going to be winding down quite a bit from here on out. Which is ok, cause my mind has been focused on preparing for baby lately...and not much on the garden. Except, next summer, I hope to use FRESH VEGGIES from the garden to make his baby food! Won't that be great! And SO healthy! I am glad that there will be even more uses for my garden harvests!
If you want to freeze the pumpkin, see http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2009/08/august-5-2009-its-pumpkin-day-in-august.html
ReplyDeleteIf you want to keep it until October, leave it outside for a few days (mine have been out for a few weeks!), then store in a cool place. Dan of Urban Veggie Blog says he kept his on the kitchen counter all winter, then cooked it in the spring. This is the first time I've ever grown pumpkins, so it's a learning experience for me too. I'm trying to keep all but one of mine to give to the grandchildren in October.
How are you feeling? Isn't that baby due quite soon? I just sent three containers of pureed butternut squash over for my grandbaby. She loves it, and she also loves the pumpkin puree. She has four teeth now, so she gets to eat whole green beans and melon chunks, too. The only time I ever fed any of my kids baby food was when my youngest was at the age for the toddler foods. I did it to get the jars, which were a perfect size for freezer jam!
Forgot to comment on the carrot seeds. I had better luck gluing them to cheap napkins, the kind that fall apart when they get wet. I'd say I got almost 100% germination from that method. I had some seeds left that I just scattered, and very few came up.
ReplyDeleteI'm really not sure if the pumpkin will finish ripening, or not....Did you say squashbugs? Oh, i'd massacre them all! Send 'em to me....heh.The prepping of the pumpkin for making pies with is easy, and granny helped me with mine.
ReplyDeleteThanks Granny! Ya, I never fed the twins ANY jarred food! I made it all, but it was from the produce dept, not my garden!
ReplyDeleteAbout 5 more weeks! I am scheduled for OCT 26th!
EG, anytime you wanna come kill squash bugs be my guest! I think there are like a million of them out there! I just don't have the ability right now to hunt them all down and squish them! I did earlier in the year before everything started to hurt from this growing baby! Having DH go out there with the sevin once he pulls up all the dead vines almost sounds like a good idea...I don't want this many next year! Do they come back in full force?
They overwinter in the ground, at the point of where the dead vines are laid. The key is to locate the adults early, and keep them from reproducing. I would use Spectracide "with Triacide" before sevin, because it really does a number on them!
ReplyDeleteoops, "triazide"
ReplyDeleteThanks EG, do you do that in the spring or fall?
ReplyDeleteYou'll be having that baby right after I get to AZ. I sure hope I have an internet connection so I can keep in touch with you. Tiny town, if the library can't keep their wifi going, I have to drive 25 miles to pick up a signal from a motel, while parked in their parking lot!
ReplyDeleteOh, this was funny...my verification word was "placenta"...LOL!!!
lol Granny! I hope so too!
ReplyDelete