From top left: blueberries, marigolds, banana peppers, mint, fuchsia, petite bell peppers, gypsy peppers, squash and pumpkin.
In case you were like “KA, I didn’t know you were growing pumpkin!” Guess what? Neither did I.
A few weeks ago we noticed a large, vining plant growing next to the garden underneath our back porch.We had no idea what it was or how it got there but we assumed that Scarlette had accidentally planted it there, on account of how there are random patches of squash scattered through the garden thanks to her “helping” when we first planted it.
And by “helping” I mean that we gave her a bucket of dirt and let her play while we worked only to discover that she was stealthily going behind us and digging up what we had just planted and then re-planting it in random spots. So naturally we assumed this is what happened with whatever was growing under the porch.
We’ve been watching it and wondering what it would turn out to be, thinking that its leaves looked the most similar to the cantaloupe that we planted. But when I came home from my trip I went outside to check on the garden and discovered that the plant had grown huge, with leaves larger than my head and curlicues sprouting everywhere. “That’s weird, I commented, it looks like pumpkin.”
“OH MY GOSH, I KNOW WHAT IT IS! IT’S PUMPKIN!” I told Jeff. To which he replied that maybe I should read some more books about gardening because we hadn’t actually planted any pumpkins.
And that’s when I informed him that this past fall when we were finished with the pumpkins that I had purchased for decoration, I tossed them under the back porch. Right under the spot where Scarlette plays with her water table.
It’s the best growing plant in the entire garden. You know, the one plant that WE’VE DONE NOTHING TO AT ALL.
(Here is what the garden looked like 2 weeks ago. I was getting ready to weed the garden after a big storm last week and thought it would be fun to take some more pictures so that I can sort of keep a little journal of how it grows. These are just a few of the things we have planted.)
