A Pumpkin Tale

Once upon a time there were some pumpkins.

Pretty light blue and green pumpkins that were lovingly placed directly on paper placemats on wooden shelves along with various and sundry other paraphernalia as part of an Autumn/Hallowe’en/Thanksgiving seasonal tableau.

Those holidays came and went. Christmas and New Year’s came and went. The pumpkins, long forgotten, that were sitting on the wooden shelves so patiently began to rot and ooze. They were remembered as a strange odor began to permeate the air of the dining room. The carcasses were tossed outside under the arbor where the ground needs leveling, where weeds and clippings that are inappropriate for the compost bin are thrown. The wooden shelves need sanded and refinished but for now a little furniture polish will have to do. Soon, there was germination under the arbor.

The vines grew and flowered.

There was pollination.

There was a joyous result of that busy buzzing bee bumbling around the private parts of the pumpkin flower.

The leaves and tendrils continued to expand.

The young cucurbit grew plump and blue.

A little later a sibling was spotted elsewhere amongst the vines. Both of the rotted pumpkin’s seeds must have germinated.

Having conquered the ground, the pumpkin plant had high hopes of reaching the peak of the ten foot tall arbor, but couldn’t quite make it over the top.

Until the kindly Cobaea scandens offered a helping hand, er tendril. The vine had reached the heights and could now bask in the first crisp rays of the rising sun. Oh glorious orb of warming light, I feel your presence and am grateful, so says the pumpkin leaf.

Little Blue and Little Green have joined the other farmer’s market pumpkins to make a fine show for this year’s holidays. Outside.

Note: In the first and last images the yellow fellow is a gourd purchased at the large farmer’s market in Asheville during our recent trip there, along with the dusky pumpkin directly behind it. The rest are from our local markets. I suppose the opening sentence should read: Once upon a time there were some pumpkins and a gourd, but it doesn’t.

Frances