This of course flies in the face of traditional pumpkin growing, which states that they need to be hilled. Not so. In the heat of summer, it is very nice to be able to water these gourds while I'm close to the house and even able to stand in the shade, something I'm not yet able to do down in the pasture.
If you notice, in these pics you will sometimes see some old, broken kitchen tiles sitting under each pumpkin. This is to keep them looking good, even on the side that is facing the ground. (I may use some for decoration before cooking them for soups and pies). The tile is smooth and will not make a groove in the pumpkin's skin or allow it to sit on the moist ground and become discolored or rotted.
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| Overflowing into the shade. |
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| Almost there! |
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| Coming along. |
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| Little Green. |
Pumpkins are so damn cute! What are you cooking with yours? I bought four at the market this morning, and am not sure what to do with them aside from the obvious...pie! I'm impressed you grew these. I've only tried once. Failed miserably! My experience is that squash would rather be planted late directly than seeded and then transplanted. Have you found that too?
ReplyDeleteI have done mine as transplants for two years and have had no problems. The trick, I think, is to transplant them before they have a very large root ball on them. So I transplant them roughly three weeks after they sprout. I love pumpkin pie and always use some for that, but also love, love, love pumpkin soup -- so lovely on a cold night!
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