SUCCESS!! It is day 80 in our Pumpkin Chronicles and, as you can see, we have a pumpkin! Today I was wading through pumpkin patch central and thinning out some of the vines that had not yet produced any blossoms. I should have done this weeks ago as the vines are growing all over each other and some of the ones on the bottom are dying. Anyway, as I was doing that, I finally discovered our first pumpkin. I felt a little like a gold miner, sifting through pan after pan of river silt and finally finding that first bit of color. It was a pretty exciting moment. This little guy is about the size of a racquetball right now, or a bit smaller than a tennis ball if you prefer. The surface is very green, smooth, and shiny. I was beginning to worry because we’ve been getting blossoms for a few weeks now but I haven’t really been finding many female flowers, if any at all.
And speaking of female flowers, here’s a good example of one. Once I really got to looking, I found this one in pumpkin patch east, and later found a couple more over in pumpkin patch central. As you can see, the female flower forms right on top of a big bulb on the vine. That’s kind of like a little pumpkin egg just waiting to be fertilized. This flower hasn’t opened yet but it should open tomorrow or next day. Then, as long as a bee brings in some male pollen, this little guy will soon begin to grow into a pumpkin. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one over the next several days. Isn’t this fun!?
YaY! You got a pumpkin. :)
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