Sad News About My Pumpkin

My poor pumpkin plant recently became infected with something called powdery mildew. I have to be honest here and say that I noticed it a while ago but didn't think much of it. Since I know NOTHING about gardening, I made a mental note to look it up but then repeatedly forgot to do so. In recent days it got so bad that entire leaves turned white.

H finally took it upon himself to look it up and the news wasn't good. Any leaves affected must be removed immediately. It's very damaging to the plant and was most likely caused by all of the rain we've been having. Once he sent me this information, I took to the garden with my shears and a bucket to trim off the affected leaves. Unfortunately, by this point, ALL of the leaves had at least some white on them. So they all had to go. I was hoping to save the pumpkin but I'm not sure if I did. 

I have said all along that this is a learning experience for me. If something actually grows, I'll be excited. If nothing grows (as I was expecting), then at least I'll have learned a few things. But, honestly, I'm a little bummed about the pumpkin. I was getting excited for it. It's my fault for not taking care of it sooner. When I put things into perspective though, and think about all of the farmers this year that have lost their entire crop to drought, I snap back to reality. I've learned a lot and next year I'll be more careful about things like this.

A little more trimmings than my one bucket could handle.

Jackson, looking just as sad as me that I had to cut all the leaves.

My pumpkin, all by itself now. Not sure if it will survive.

A completely covered leaf.

What the leaves looked like when I first noticed the white spots. Should've done something then.

The squash got it also, though not as bad. I did have to trim that entire plant as well.

A baby squash growing that I had to remove. How sad.

What's left of my squash plants.

I stuffed four garbage bags full of infected leaves.

 
On the bright side, my peppers are really starting to thrive. Each plant has lots of little peppers now. Let's hope nothing damages them. I'd love to harvest, and share, peppers this year.

That's just one pepper plant!

More About My Pumpkin (And Peppers And Basil)

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.)

Happily digging away. Those are two large weeds that I pulled later.

Pumpkin flowers from the stems that we trimmed.

 

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.

The pumpkin today.

Peppers are starting to grow!

Basil after last night's trim.

My Thumb Looks A Little Green

Although my mom, grandfather and uncle all have a nice green thumb, I've always thought mine was a lovely shade of brown. That is, until very recently. H had the brilliant idea to (have our contractor) build me a vegetable garden. I excitedly went along with it, secretly praying I wouldn't regret it. In the early spring I spent countless hours doing seed starters in the house and caring for them. But I was so busy that I didn't tend to them as often as I should have and not everything survived. What did survive, I planted in my new garden. Sadly, most of that died. Almost everything planted way too late in the season. But, a few things have flourished!

To date, I have one pumpkin growing and many more potential ones just waiting to be pollinated, three butternut squash, one bunch of Swiss chard, one basil plant and six pepper bushes. Believe it or not, I still have plenty that died and one bed that's completely empty. But, as I set my expectations very low this year, I am thrilled.

My pumpkin patch - it's gotten so big and this is all from ONE seed!

The one pumpkin growing in that huge patch.

Another view of my lonely little pumpkin.

Some potential pumpkins. These are female flowers - you can tell by the small ball (that's where the pumpkin would grow) directly underneath the flower.

My pepper plants (in the front).

The basil.

Swiss chard.

Butternut squash - bad angle, sorry!

These pictures were all taken last weekend and things have actually progressed nicely since then. The pumpkin has gotten bigger and two peppers are now growing on one plant. I snipped some basil this afternoon for our pizza tonight (it was excellent) and I've cut the chard to eat at some point soon. To be honest, I haven't taken too much care with any of these. With the exception of the occasional organic fertilizer and some weeding, I've pretty much left them alone. But, I'm still going to take credit for them. I can see that green thumb getting brighter and brighter every day.