Friday, July 22, 2011

The pumpkin vine that took over

Did you ever think it would be nice to grow a little pumpkin for your kids?












One vine. Just one vine. How much room could it possibly take up in the family garden?

Farmer Dad and I argue over this each and every year as the seed catalogs start arriving.

Me, "Wouldn't it be nice to have an Autumn party here for all our friends with children and

let them pick their own pumpkins?" Him, "We don't have the room for that. Pumpkins take over the whole yard!!"

Me, "You're crazy! One little vine. How much room could it take?"

Well...this year I grew a pumpkin. Because I am the one who starts most of the seeds anyway.

It grew. I tried to figure out where to put it. (Farmer Dad usually gives them away when I grow them.)He told me this year I could plant it in the space between our yard and garden and our next door neighbor's yard and garden.




Can you see it? I thought...the ground hog might destroy it being outside the garden fence and all,but it grew survived the various animals (bunnies,ground hog,raccoons etc) and it grew.Sometimes I remembered to water it and it kept growing. Now, I had in my mind that this vine would crawl slowly along the side of the garden and gently turn into the side, depositing pumpkins onto the lawn (I am not a fan of the lawn anyway) and it did. It also grew back towards the lilac tree (and up it)In fact, up is where it wants to be.Up the garden fence, and up over my tomato plants.Can you see the "mass" of green that is the "one little pumpkin vine" I planted?Little adorable pumpkins started growing.

They are so cute!! Do you think I should admit to Farmer Dad that he was (gasp!) right about the pumpkin vine taking over??

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Someone new moved in



We have a relatively small backyard in the suburbs, but we have always had a lot

of wild life we are happy to share our little corner of the Garden State with.

Last week there was a bear in our neighborhood. Yesterday we discovered someone

new moved into the cherry tree in our back yard.


Just when I thought I had outsmarted the bunnies and the chipmunks were my biggest problem this year. (the chipmunks are KILLING me right now!)



I guess we will get used to him just like we did the Opossum family,snakes,hawks,owls,woodpeckers,cardinals,doves,bugs,rabbits,bats,chipmunks,squirrels and occasional deer and wild turkey, and all the neighborhood children.


I love my wild life, but I am missing the neighbor's old cat,George who did a lovely job keeping the chipmunks under control until he passed away this spring. I guess we will get used to our little racoon as well. Do you consider such creatures pests or neighbors?