Saturday, September 26, 2009

Pumpkins

This:became this:
thanks to this:
In particular, this:
and a little bit of human intervention.
The first season we were bewildered and confused
by our lack of pumpkins.
This season, we were ready.
Here's what we did:
1. Stripped all the petals off a male flower.
Poor guy. Pretty undignified. 2. Found a beautiful little lady in waiting.
See that baby pumpkin at her base?
3. Gently brushed pollen onto the stigma of the female flower.
4. Then waited and watched as beautiful pumpkins grew.
Here is our first harvest, and more are on the way.
(Lots of mums in my garden so I can make a Mumkin!
Thanks for the inspiration, Suzanne.)

16 comments:

Debbie said...

I am extremely impressed! And I had no idea that you had to "help the pumpkins along" in the reproduction department. Is that sort of like pumpkin in vitro fertilization?

Elle Bee said...

Debbie, I don't understand why we have to give our pumpkins IVF. :o) We've got lots of bees and other flying insects, but for some reason, our pumpkins don't get pollinated on their own. So we take matters into our own hands. It's Pumpkin Romance
101. :o)
Elle

Janene said...

Excuse me...but isn't this suppose to be a "G" rated blog?
No flower porno allowed! LOL LOL
I love those white pumpkins. I can never find any here where I live!

Flat Creek Farm said...

Elle, my dear, you helped to birth some beautiful punkins there :) I am completely impressed. I really think I could have helped mine along too...had I known. We had hundreds of blooms and only a handful of pumpkins. Next year, I will take a lesson from you. Also, I'm moving my pumpkin patch a little more into the sun.. just a bit. Enjoy those pumpkins & mums! -Tammy

Dandy said...

I feel like there should be some cheesy music in the background of this pumpkin porn...

I never knew you could do this! Those pumpkins are sooo cool. I'm so impressed!

WhiteStone said...

Aha! Maybe that's why I got only a dozen potimarron squash off several long and healthy vines! Perhaps they needed a bit of help. Not many bees around here this year.

Christina said...

How fun! My kids would love to do something like that. Last year we bought some and made homemade pumpkin puree...that was an experience. Oh, my. But growing your own? That's beyond me, even with the tutorial!

Lani said...

Haha! I agree, you should have some bow-chicka-wow-wow music that plays with this post:)
That is great.. I have been so busy I haven't even looked at my garden this week. I'm afriad to go, it's going to be a mess!

teamkyte said...

MY EYES MY EYES!!! I feel like this post should have started with a warning! Your pumpkins are beautiful!!! I LOVE the white ones! Did you see the Better Homes & Gardens Halloween magazine?? They had some cool ideas for the white pumpkins that I think I might try this year......

Unknown said...

I never knew that there were male flowers and well, females and that the females had to have a pumpkin already in the hatch. How did you figure this one out and how did you tell Bug?

What do you do with all the pumpkins?

I'm so impressed. I've never planted pumpkins before but then again, if I knew that it would need a little, ahem...assistance, I would've failed terribly anyway.

Salitype said...

impressive! and looked what you've got,huge pumpkin to boast!..

very inventive!

CottageGirl said...

Now that's what I call giving mother nature a hand!

I bet you were a very successful farmer in a past life ... Those pumpkins are great! You will have all kinds of fun with them and your mums ... and I love the MUMPKINS! What a great idea!

I know that your children are learning so much from you going the extra mile in all you do!

Meghan said...

I LOVE pumpkins!! And your's look so great, like you just got them at the pumpkin patch. OH! We are going to the pumpkin patch next week I think and I cannot wait! I love fall.

Sarsa said...

I didn't know you had a pumpkin patch! I love it! I love the combo of the white and orange pumpkins. Who needs to spend tons of money in a pumpkin patch, when you can grow your own. Does Peter rabbit like the pumpkin patch?

Relyn Lawson said...

You know... I'm thinking all sorts of puns and innuendos. I think I'd better just keep my thoughts to myself.

NKP said...

Pumpkin pimps!
So great that you helped out mother nature. Now I want a pumpkin patch. I wonder how attached hubby is to the front lawn...?