The newest member of our family ...
The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ July 22nd

Pumpkins in my Garden~

Before Bill left for work this morning, I ran out to fill the feeders and check on our sugar pumpkins. (Came *thisclose* to hand-feeding a chickadee, too!) Please let me share a few pictures - this is the first time we've ever grown pumpkins and I am just thrilled!

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They look pretty good, don't you think? I have these guys to thank, of course:

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I was pretty much swarmed by honeybees while I was snapping my pictures - they were everywhere, all over the pumpkin blossoms - impatient for me to get of their way, lol! Godspeed, little fellas - and thanks for all your hard work! :)

(A question for more experienced pumpkin growers: though for the most part our vines appear healthy, there are more and more withered yellow leaves showing up. Does this mean too much water? Or not enough? Do they need some compost added? Or, heaven forbid, could there be unfriendly bugs? Any advice is appreciated - I really want to keep these plants healthy!)

You know, as I've been working on Earlybird's kindergarten ideas - and to answer a few readers' queries - yes, I will definitely be sharing those ideas very soon! - I have been working all kinds of seasonal things into our plans. Or I should say, I've been working our plans around the seasons. :) I have lots of "pumpkin things" planned for October, but I can see it would be very timely to start discussing pumpkins now - while we have all these weeks ahead to observe their growth and changes. (Nature notebook, anyone?) And I actually think these pumpkins will be ripe by Labor Day, if not before!

So, while I'm thinking of it, here are a few of our favorite pumpkin books:

It is my hope that we will be able to harvest plenty of sugar (or pie) pumpkins - bake them up and use them in delicious autumn recipes like pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and a spiced pumpkin butter, too!

And speaking of pumpkins, my friend Lisa recently started a new nature blog, and it's called Around the Pumpkin Patch. I've added a handy-dandy widget just below my Nature Corner that will keep us up to date on all her posts. :)

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope wherever you are, you keep cool and have fun!

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