Big Pumpkins!

A co-worker of my DH's gave us some seeds from his ginormous (is that a word?) pumpkin from last year. We got the area all ready, fertilized it, added some good soil and planted the seeds. About a week later, there were little sprouts! For a long time, we just had big leaves, then some vines, then some flowers...now we FINALLY have a little pumpkin! It's about the size of a ping pong ball right now, and hopefully growing everyday. Keep in mind that we planted these things in June. It took long enough to get one little guy, now were worried that we won't have a normal sized pumpking in time for Halloween. I'll probably end up buying them again this year.

That would kill me though. Last year, I took my two peanuts to a pumpkin patch. "Have at it!" I said, turning them loose! "Pick out your favorite!!" I grabbed the little wheelbarrow and followed them around until they picked the perfect gourds. Peanut #1 picked a pretty good sized one. Peanut #2's was a little smaller. I picked a nice medium sized one for the front porch. We proudly wheeled them to the cash register. The lady took one look a them and said, "That'll be $65.00".
Huh?
Seriously?
Really now, for 3 pumpkins?
I could get two really nice pairs of shoes at Steinmart for $65. I could get a haircut for $65. I could get a mani-pedi for $65. When in doubt or in a precarious situation, blame Dad.
"Wow," I said. "Kids, Daddy will have a heart attack if I tell him we spent $65 on pumpkins. Whaddy say we go to Albertson's and look through the $10 bin in front of the store?" I said this so the lady would hear me. It was, after all, the day before Halloween. What else was she going to do with a field full of pumpkins on November 1st? They should have been on sale like all the other Halloween decorations at Michaels and Target. Luckily, the Peanuts agreed with me and we went to the grocery store to get our pumpkins.

Did I mention that while we were at the Saks of Pumpkin Patches, I got some great fall pics?! Ha! on you, Lady!!

Anyways, DH was talking to the seed guy last week about the proper care of pumpkins. Turns out the guy put down 4 feet of manure before planting the seeds. Holding back on us isn't cool, man! We're rookies here and he's laughing while we struggle! Now we know. I guess he didn't want anyone to show him up. Now I'm fertilizing about every other day. I'll post pics as the ping pong ball turns into a bowling ball, and hopefully into one of those big rubber work out balls!