I haven’t posted many updates on our giant pumpkin growing season because there’s not much to tell. We definitely won’t have any record-breaking 1,000+ pound pumpkins.
What a week of no water looks like
The season started great and the plants had never looked better prior to pollination despite a month of non-stop rain. Then due to a plethora of reasons like cracked vines, dogs eating the pumpkins and other fun things, pollination on the plants was late, which means we’re really far behind on growth.
The first pollination (early July) was cranking along nicely and then one day, dropped off dramatically when Jamie figured out the sprinklers hadn’t been working for an entire week! The second pollination was super late (only two weeks ago) and the pumpkin is only the size of a volleyball right now–usually our plants should be gaining 35-40 pounds per day.
Oh, the heartbreak that is Giant Pumpkin Growing.
The kids’ plants aren’t faring much better. Bode’s pumpkin was pollinated a week before Hadley’s but her pumpkin is rapidly catching up due to good genetics and the fact she actually weeds her patch. Though Bode is diligent in watering, he was on vacation for the entire month of July so his patch is a jungle–there are literally weeds as tall as he is. I helped him weed this morning and it was nearly impossible because many of the weeds are actually wrapped around the pumpkin vines so I was nervous to pull anything that might be detrimental to the pumpkin’s growth.
Weeding was a tedious, thankless task. It’s a good thing Bode is smart because he was not made for manual labor.
“Mom, I want to have a butler like Aunt Lisa.
“Aunt Lisa has a butler?”
“No, I want Aunt Lisa to be my butler.”
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 