harvesting

Remember our sad attempt at a garden last year? It was actually our second year to try planting a garden and the second spot in my dad's yard. Being the persistent people that we are (and by "we" I mean Harland with a little help from the rest of us), we planted in a new spot and tried again this year.

Third time is a charm!

2 zucchini plants = beautiful golden zucchini. Lots of them!

Cucumbers. Did you know they have tiny thorn-like spikes before you wash them?

Soon we'll even have corn! (Emma's pointing at the silk)

Our own little pumpkin patch for this October.

Our First Harvest!!!

Har found a vine from the cucumber (the spikey looking nubby thing) plant that weaved it's way up into one of the tomato plants. We've got lots and lots of green tomatoes. Can't wait for them to get ripe! Tomatoes are our quite popular around here.

My favorite gardener and his blue ribbon worthy golden zucchini.



Garden at Grandpa's

My dad has a nice backyard. Since we live in a condo and share our "yard", visiting him has it's privilleges. We bring our dog, Lula, and she gets to run free. Plus, for the second year in a row we planted a garden. It's hard work....for Harland.

This year we planted pumpkins and watermelons. Recently (ok, so it was 2 months ago, but whatever!) we went to Grandpa's for grillin and chillin and to check out the progress of our future jack-o-lanterns. This is what we found.

It was exciting to see we grew a watermelon! Last year we had 2 small pumpkins, but this year we grew a watermelon!

...or did we? Look closely at the picture below.

Yes, that IS a sticker you see on that melon. My dad thinks he's soooooooo funny. Our one pumpkin didn't get carved. It's sitting on the counter as Thanksgiving decor. And the ??? well, they looked like tiny watermelons but when we cut them open...pumpkins that stalled in the early stages. {Sigh} Maybe next year.

Best Vegetable Ever

As we walked up to D-man's school with an armful of these fall veggies (teacher requested for an activity) we could see the kids eyes get as big as saucers and hear their excited whispers of, "Pumpkins!"

What other vegetable gets such a hallowed reaction?

We enjoy pumpkins so much that last Spring we planted our first garden. All pumpkins. 3 different kind of seeds. 15 square feet in Grandpa's backyard. A few months later we had this beautiful full vine with lots of blossoms on it. Our anticipation grew exponentially as the vines began to take over the side yard.

Fast forward to October. My dad brought the entire harvest from our pumpkin garden to our house on one of his weekly visits.

The white one is smaller than my fist. At least our one orange pumpkin has an interesting shape and a cool stem!

Do you know how hard it is to pay attention to General Conference* on TV at home when you're a kid? This year I had a plan, a knitting plan. Dedan loved making this cute little faux harvest guy on a loom. Emma used needles and started her own scarf (it's not finished yet). Something to do with their hands really helped my kids sit still. Probably the most peaceful Conference weekend we've had. Dedan was so proud of his crafty skills he took it to school and shared it with his class. Confidence building vegetable craft!

Come October who doesn't love pumpkin treats?....other than my husband, I mean. I found a couple of recipes for my Have To Try This file here and here. But my Chocolate Chip pumpkin bread is a must have in our house. I like you so I'll share my recipe.

2/3 c Butter flavored Crisco

2 2/3 c sugar

4 eggs

1 lb pumpkin, canned or freshly cooked (here's how)

2/3 c water

Mix it well!

Add:

3 1/3 c flour

2 t baking soda

1 1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking powder

1 t cinnamon

1 t ground cloves

Mix it up!

With a spoon stir in:

1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

Divide into 2 greased bread pans. Bake @ 350 degrees for 70 minutes. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Tomorrow Nash & I are headed for the pumpkin patch with our buddies. A whole activity planned around pumpkins! I haven't even mentioned jack-o-lanterns or my mom's famous Dinner In A Pumpkin....

______________________________

*that's Mormon for our bi-annual broadcast from church leadership in SLC. 4 different sessions. 2 hours each.