Backyard Pumpkin Patch

I have always loved pumpkins & gourds so I thought it's be fun to try and plant some of our own this year. Jaxon has helped w/ the planting, watering, weeding and finally the harvesting. Our pumpkins haven't done too well and I'm afraid that an early frost might get them before they are ready, but our gourds have done quite well.

Jaxon has been asking for weeks "can my pick one Mommy?" I was afraid I'd go out one day and see that my little helper had picked them all early but luckily for me, he actually listened this time! Yesterday I told him that we would pick a few and put them up in the barn to dry. He was really excited & so was I!

We went out after lunch w/ our cardboard box and pruning nippers and picked and picked and picked! We filled our box and there are still more out there that are growing! It was fun to watch Jaxon get so excited about something that he and I had done together. He was telling the calves all about how he had put seeds in the ground and these beautiful "balls" came out that we would eat! After explaining that we don't eat the painted variety, we put them up on a shelf in our garden shed to dry.

When we went out this morning to do chores, Jaxon could hardly wait to show Daddy what we had picked. If someone had told me ten years ago that I'd enjoy planting gourds someday, I would have laughed in their face! We have already decided to plant more next year and to try a few new varieties of gourds and pumpkins. Who knows, with our "petting zoo" and gardening skills maybe one day Jaxon & I will run a Pumpkin Patch in our own backyard!