Earlier this year I expressed an interest in gardening. Trouble is, my love of gardening is far exceeded by my complete and utter suck at gardening. It's been an adventure this summer, one that has had its ups and downs, but ultimately I am falling back on Rule One of the brown-thumb, namely:
Watch what does grow...and take credit for it!
And this year, my backyard seems to be the perfect place to do just that. Left to its own devices, it quickly becomes a lush wild jungle of foliage. Nothing that I planted myself was willing to stick around too long, but the yard has grown flush with interesting and unexpected flora. And so, I therefore declare myself Master Gardener of dandelions, Duckfoot and English ivy, the occasional random wildflower, poison ivy and oak (yikes!), and - this is absolutely fabulous -
PUMPKIN.
This caught me completely off guard. My neighbor failed to dispose of her Jack O' Lantern last year, and over the winter months it essentially folded into itself and became a puddle of seeds and pumpkin mush. Combined with a large squirrel population, this became a recipe for the surprise I got this summer when pumpkin plants began taking over my yard.
Now, I'm a city girl. Raised in a metropolis. Pumpkins come from the store, right? I'd certainly never laid eyes on a pumpkin plant before. These things are HUGE. And startlingly aggressive. According to sites on the Web, they can grow up to six feet per day if you let them. I've scaled this back a bit...but it has still consumed Duncan's little garden bench.
And I thought, How freaking cool is this? I pictured my yard at Halloween, filled with my own pumpkins. Friends joked to me about how we could sit out on Halloween night and await the Coming of the Great Pumpkin.
But alas, it is not to be. It's a long story, but I'm moving this weekend. Not far - just to a bigger house a couple of blocks away. Opportunity knocked, and I answered. This time next week I shall be plagiarizing other plants, far from my pumpkin patch.
I wonder what I shall be a whiz at growing there?
Watch what does grow...and take credit for it!
And this year, my backyard seems to be the perfect place to do just that. Left to its own devices, it quickly becomes a lush wild jungle of foliage. Nothing that I planted myself was willing to stick around too long, but the yard has grown flush with interesting and unexpected flora. And so, I therefore declare myself Master Gardener of dandelions, Duckfoot and English ivy, the occasional random wildflower, poison ivy and oak (yikes!), and - this is absolutely fabulous -
PUMPKIN.
This caught me completely off guard. My neighbor failed to dispose of her Jack O' Lantern last year, and over the winter months it essentially folded into itself and became a puddle of seeds and pumpkin mush. Combined with a large squirrel population, this became a recipe for the surprise I got this summer when pumpkin plants began taking over my yard.
Now, I'm a city girl. Raised in a metropolis. Pumpkins come from the store, right? I'd certainly never laid eyes on a pumpkin plant before. These things are HUGE. And startlingly aggressive. According to sites on the Web, they can grow up to six feet per day if you let them. I've scaled this back a bit...but it has still consumed Duncan's little garden bench.
And I thought, How freaking cool is this? I pictured my yard at Halloween, filled with my own pumpkins. Friends joked to me about how we could sit out on Halloween night and await the Coming of the Great Pumpkin.
But alas, it is not to be. It's a long story, but I'm moving this weekend. Not far - just to a bigger house a couple of blocks away. Opportunity knocked, and I answered. This time next week I shall be plagiarizing other plants, far from my pumpkin patch.
I wonder what I shall be a whiz at growing there?
2 comments:
take a flower from there, and place it in a glass. likely won't grow a pumpkin, but you can at least say that you grew the leaf that came from. :O)
kind of fun having a garden or two isn't it??
...so sad...I still think you should go there and wait for the Great Pumpkin, even if it isn't your place anymore.
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