The Journey. . .

This is all about my self-sown pumpkin.  I found the self-grown seedling of a pumpkin near my compost bin and a lot of them.  I decided to move a few of those seedlings to the vegetable patch, as I thought they would be happier.  They have been growing well there, and they are spreading everywhere.  One of the pumpkin vines with its fruit is climbing over the fennel plants, and now it is reaching out to the branch of my climbing iceberg rose.  How Dare!

The Pictures of the Climbing Pumpkin and the fruit-the baby pumpkin.

The pumpkin vine with its fruit climbs up
to the tall Iceberg rose unashamedly.
How Dare He!

The pumpkin-the baby fruit
 up the top

(Rayner suggested: pumpkin is an It not He or She).  Sure he is right!

From the picture above, you could see the vine growing so long (the leaves are wilted due to the hot sun)  and climbing up to the fennel plant and continue to reach the iceberg white rose climber.  The next picture is the snapshot of the detail (the very top of the pumpkin plant with its fruit-the baby pumpkin).
 For your information, the baby pumpkin did not make to grow any more significant, it becomes yellow and rotten.
There is one fruit on the same vine, and it sits in the bottom but above the ground.

One pumpkin is growing very well, and getting bigger every day, it is the family of Grey Pumpkin, the colour of the skin is bluish-grey.  The good think about this pumpkin is, it has thick and healthy skin, which is excellent for storage.  The set back is not easy to cut and to peel.

The Proud Gardener and the Pumpkin
The pumpkin appeared at the end of January and now is early of April, about nine weeks old approximately.  I think to get mature for a pumpkin takes around 90-110 days.  The first crop could be ready by early or mid-May.

Self-sown Pumpkin in the vegetable patch, the vine and the leaves are everywhere and taking over space. This picture was taken in early March 2019

Pumpkin No 2

Pumpkin No 3

This pumpkin which is hanging above the ground needs a chair to sit on (pumpkin no 3)

It grows alright, and now it has a place to sit on.  The pictures below are telling you how big it is now.

The photo was taken on
5 of April

 It has a place to sit on

The photo was taken, the 22nd of March.

The photo was taken on
5 of April happily sitting on 
it's place

Another Pumpkin Plant.
The first and the only one of the third vine pumpkin plant which is growing under the apple tree is very small, I don't think it is going to grow bigger to harvest.  This pumpkin no 4 is never going to make it, the weather is getting colder every day.

These pictures were taken on the 6 of April 2019



Their journey of the pumpkins is smooth enough during their growth.  They have plenty of water to drink enough light from the sun, they got everything.  Living thing depends upon other living, in that case, the gardener has been kind to the pumpkins, to care and to feed them.

What would you do with 'pumpkin'?  In term of cooking.  Plenty, it's a fantastic vegetable, even the colour is gorgeous, bright orangy yellow.  Cooking pumpkin is the joy for the cook, you could do so much with.
Lots of cooking and baking I could do with the pumpkin, dishes that I cooked of a pumpkin. From pumpkin soup, scone, pie to cake I did in my kitchen.

Roasted whole pumpkin is very handy to do, you can use half roasted pumpkin for garnish and presentation of a meat dish, vegetable, and so forth.  The rest can be used for further cooking such as soup, cake, pie, and so forth.

Of  Older Posts

From the Top to the Bottom Bellow.

Rack of lamb on halved roasted pumpkin and dressed pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin soup with roasted kiwi fruit

Preparation of the pumpkin confit

I mentioned before that I don't do much cooking these days, so any information or pictures about cooking I refer to my older posts.

I always follow my instinct in cooking, work with fresh ingredients as possible and add lots of love,  it works well, enough to surprise myself.

Growing pumpkin is not hard, I had the experience before, the fruit-pumpkin takes time to be mature, but when it is ready to harvest can be kept for a few months.
I am not familiar with pumpkin for the Halloween, it 's a particular breed/family that is suitable to be crafted.  Am I like to grow it?? It Remains a question.


The story of my previous self-sown pumpkin.
It was a few years ago, I had a good harvest of the self-sown Jap pumpkin enough to be shared around with.  A friend comes for morning tea, she was a neighbour, my regular visitor really. She loves to chat, and she loves my garden just about everything in it. The time, before she left, I offered her a pumpkin to take home, and she said yes, happily.  Afterthought, especially when I saw her walking across the road pushing her walker, OMG, why I did that. How is she going to cut the whole pumpkin, it is hard, not easy even for me, and she's eighty-nine years old. The next time I saw her, I asked her about it, she said that her son came over to help.  I miss her, my quality time with her is no longer here any more as she has moved to Dalkeith, her new home.
Think Properly Before You Act that is an important message for me.

This year the pumpkins in my garden are healthy looking and growing well.  The three pumpkins, after the harvest, their journey continues. . . . . .



More Posts to Come
Susy