Surprise!

We totally have pumpkins growing wild in our side yard! What a delightful surprise! This is somewhat of a childhood dream come true for me. I mean, who WOULDN'T want their very own pumpkin patch? We have a large lot adjacent to our driveway that is the perfect size and shape for a really great garden, but we just couldn't quite get it together in a timely manner this spring. Technically, the lot belongs to our neighbor, but he seems to have forgotten it exists, because he plowed it once right after we moved in, and then left it to the weeds and goat-head thorns to run rampant.

So, we're reclaiming the land for our own, a la Far and Away. A couple weeks ago, I noticed several different large plants sprouting up and noticed beautiful big yellow flowers which, naturally, I assumed were zucchini.

After some thorough investigation, internet research, and discussions with my father, Farmer Andre, we realized that these are not zucchini or even summer squash. What could be better than zucchini growing wildly? Pumpkins, baby! Aren't they so cute?

We're so proud of our new family members!


AND, I cannot believe how quickly they are growing. I'm serious, these pumpkins are quite self-sufficient considering there's never been any watering or fertilizing or any sort of general pumpkin T.L.C. Just a couple days ago, I went out to take pictures of our new discovery, and then went out again this morning to take a couple more pictures. They have practically doubled in size in that small time span. Apparently my green thumb has become so proficiently savvy, that all I have to do is look at soil and BAM! A pumpkin patch appears.

Maybe if we play it smart, there will be time to enter our pumpkins into the County fair and win some sort of blue ribbon prize for having the prettiest and biggest pumpkins, and we will get a good laugh when people interview us for the 6 o'clock evening news or front-page newspaper articles, and ask things like, "Mr. & Mrs. Dewig, what's your secret to such fantastic pumpkins?" To which we'll reply, "We really can't divulge that information. It's an old family secret that goes way back to our ancestors who had the pumpkin growing and harvesting expertise in their blood, and they sacrificed many tears and sweat droplets just perfecting the rich annual pumpkin harvest." And then we'll have to sign hundreds of autographs and hire bodyguards and a publicist. (Alicia, I'm offering you a job).

Except you will all know that the real secret to our sudden & unexpected pumpkin achievements was a mixture of complete ignorance combined with a whole lot of standing by, watching these cute little pumpkins do their own thing, all by themselves. Go figure. Nature is so smart!

And so, I've spent much of the weekend thinking about our new-found organic pumpkin patch farm, wondering what we're going to do. Obviously, there will be pumpkin pies in our future, and I'm pretty sure I should get going on some fantastic roasted pumpkin seed recipes. What else? Is there such a thing as pumpkin soup? And I KNOW there's such a thing as pumpkin butter, so you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be looking into that. I think that perhaps the carving will begin mid-September so that we have our craft perfected come late October. We are currently accepting any and all great pumpkin ideas (please, help us figure out what to do with this new-found jackpot crop), and who knows- we'll probably even share a roasted pumpkin seed or two with you.

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