Last Thanksgiving I decorated our table with those cute little pumpkins you find at the markets. Some were ornamental gourds, some were sugar / pie pumpkins, and some were jack-o-lanterns. After all the dishes were washed and leftovers put away, the pumpkins were sent to look pretty on a hay bale in the yard. A couple of months of freezing nights and chilly days later, the pumpkins had collapsed and almost melted into the hay.
So I scraped them off and threw them on the burn pile. Little did I know what would happen next! Five or six weeks ago, I noticed that our burn pile was full of pumpkin vines. We started a new burn pile to give the pumpkins some space, to see what would happen. But being a confirmed derelict gardener, that was the only help they got. No water, no pruning, no good stuff around the roots. Just allowing nature to take its course.
The result was the most prolific home pumpkin patch I have ever had. We’ve already picked them once, and there must still be 50 little pumpkins on the vine, along with dozens of blossoms.
A word of warning: My pumpkin patch is full of buzzy flying things – beetles, a few wasps, and a lot of bumble bees, which I understand are great pollinators. I got out uninjured, but I am sure if aggravated, they can inflict a powerful sting.
