Last weekend I did some real gardening in my little vegetable garden. The pumpkin patch had really gotten out of control. It was climbing into three beds and through the fence and down the wall. It was simply taking over. So Tali and I went out to give it a little trim. We brought my pruning shears and some baskets to collect the trimmings. She also took along her shovel, magnifying glass and a pail.
So I went to work trimming away while I let Tali dig and play in one of the empty beds. Eventually, she got bored digging (half the dirt was on the gravel!) and so I asked if she'd like to learn how to use the pruning shears. She of course said yes and so we pruned together. I should mention that I have NO IDEA what I am doing. What I did last weekend could kill the entire plant, for all I know. But, I decided to learn by experimenting and snipped away. At the end of our session, we'd stuffed two large baskets full of pumpkin stems and collected a number of pumpkin flowers to cook.
(A note about the flowers: I had a few people tell me that cooking pumpkin flowers are a delicacy. So after cutting them, I looked it up. Turns out, they should be picked in the morning while they are still open so that you can ensure no bees were trapped inside. Also, you stuff them with cheese and deep fry. I'll try it next time.)
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| Happily digging away. Those are two large weeds that I pulled later. |
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| Pumpkin flowers from the stems that we trimmed. |
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| Our trimmings. |
Fast forward to a week later. The pumpkin is continuing to grow but none of the other "potentials" have turned into anything. All we need is one, though. The peppers have started to grow (more on that later) and the basil looks fantastic, even after a trim for last night's pizza. Still very proud of myself.
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| The pumpkin today. |
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| Peppers are starting to grow! |
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| Basil after last night's trim. |
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