Swell News From The Pumpkin Patch

Look at that goofy cat. It looks like he's wearing a pumpkin leaf
mask over his eyes. Now no one will know his true identity!

The vines gone wild continued to ambitiously set several fruit within inches of one another, but ultimately could not support so many pumpkins. I pinched off the aborted fruits and tried to help the vines focus their energy on fruit production by pruning and burying the ends of the vines. This method seems to have paid off; the remaining fruits appear healthy and are expanding quickly. I now have a small number of steadily swelling yellow globes visible from my living room window. These plants must be of the Big Max or the Jack O' Lantern variety. I'll probably use them for carving, though I am curious about the difference in flavor between these and the Small Sugar Pumpkins.

Speaking of Small Sugar Pumpkins, here they are, all colored up and ready for harvesting! I did the fingernail test and my nail did not break the skin of either of these fruits, so I think that they can now be cut from the vine and set in the sun to cure. Or, since I intend to use their insides for food and their outsides for compost, I think I can skip the curing step entirely. I don't want to make pumpkin pie for another month or two, so I guess it's about time to bust out the blender and do the ol' puree-and-freeze. I'm just so nervous about cutting these little beauties from their vines. They aren't as big as they're supposed to be, but that's probably because I made a lot of lazy beginner mistakes with these plants. Leaving them on the vine won't make them grow any bigger. From everything that I've read, pumpkins are done when they're done. I just hope I'll have enough for a pie. Wish me luck!

Oh, Garden Gods, please grant me enough tasty pumpkin flesh for just one decent pie!