GIANT Pumpkins

Since I'm talking about gardening this Memorial Day weekend I can't leave out the year we grew GIANT pumpkins!

The topic needs its own blog because it's so GIANT.

It all started when I did a feature story for the TV station about

Johnson's Giant Pumpkins.

I happened to be driving by the farm while in the news van and was mesmerized by the   whopper orange pumpkins glowing in the field.

I interviewed Gerald Johnson who owns the farm.

He told me that the giants grow so fast they can gain 10-pounds in one day!

They usually grow at night, and Gerald said he loved walking through the field after sundown with his three daughters because the field CRACKLED...

actually the sound of the pumpkins wildly expanding and snapping the vines.

I couldn't wait until the next summer when I would plant the giants with my own children.

I envisioned the vines stalking the entire back yard and winning a prize in Gerald's BIGGEST pumpkin contest.

The next spring, we planted four little seedlings. Hubby confined us to a long landscape bed against the back of the house.

Within a few weeks, the bed was crammed with vines and sneaking onto Hubby's sacred lawn!

I was insane with excitement!

Several times a day, we peeked under those big leaves looking for flowers with little green balls beneath them. Each new ball meant a new GIANT pumpkin!

 

The kids enjoyed our green ball hunts, but I was obsessed.

Each one was like a new child in our family, and I would lovingly talk to them.

I just knew we would soon be strolling through the pumpkin patch at night hearing the

CRACKLE!

Heck, I was willing to plop a sleeping bag by the pumpkins to hear that mighty sound.

After daily checks, and still no crackling, I added singing to the love roster.

I was a sicko!

I was also thoroughly perplexed when we harvested this basket of

GIANT pumpkins:

I called Gerald to have him take us out of the running for BIGGEST pumpkin.

"Do you have a smallest pumpkin category?"

Puzzled, I returned to the farm that October to do another story.

Gerald told me to determine which pumpkin is growing the best, then remove all others.

This way the nutrients go into one pumpkin.

I was okay with our puny pumpkins. I knew I couldn't cut the umbilical cord on any of my children.

Gerald also told me about etching:

In August, Gerald goes into the field and carves designs on the pumpkins.

By October, the design "scars" into an etching.

We had so much fun growing the pumpkins, I sowed..er, sewed  the kids into

pumpkins for Halloween.

The littlest pumpkin protested, so I had to remove the padding for

the trick-or-treat rounds.

I'm telling you all this in case YOU want to try growing GIANT pumpkins this summer.

You can find a plethora of web sites about how to grow them BIG.

I would suggest starting with one or two seedlings planted FAR apart.

You can see how much our four seedlings grew.

Now, if we want to see GIANT pumpkins, we just go to Gerald's farm.

Let me know if you get a WHOPPER...

or hear the CRACKLE!

I'll set you up in Gerald's BIGGEST contest.

You Reap what you Sow

Memorial Day Weekend is traditional summer planting time here in Michigan.

Last weekend, Hubby and I visited the farmer's market to pick up some items. We didn't have to buy much because a few years ago, Hubby planted carefree rose bushes and rocked in around them, so no weeding, watering or tending.

For many years that little landscape bed by our back porch was our garden.

I had never grown a garden in my entire life.

I think my mother thought growing five kids was enough.

We never even planted flowers at our house. My dad and brothers grumpily cut the grass and Dad hacked down the bushes out front when we could no longer see out the windows.

So, I was thrilled when we had our own children and Hubby took our two and four year olds to pick out vegetables to grow.

I think I was more excited than the children.

Every morning I crawled next to the garden looking for signs of growth.

I was shaking like a leaf when I saw the first carrot sprout.

Here are the kids with the ONE carrot that actually grew into a carrot.

We shared it in a salad.

One day in late July, my husband heard loud screaming and rushed to the back yard to investigate.

He found the kids and me by the tomato plants.

"WHY are you screaming?"

"Look! Look," Lindsay pointed to a teensy tomato the size of a marble.

I was totally tantalized. Heck, I thought vegetables came from the grocery store.

At that moment, the toddler rushed over and grabbed the green ball off the stem.

We were numb with horror...he was so proud.

Before long, we were harvesting LOTS of plump, juicy tomatoes.

We should have let the toddler pick more green ones because we ended up with so many tomatoes, we couldn't give them away. 

I was so excited, I thought of opening a roadside vegetable stand, but our green peppers failed to thrive and we had already eaten the carrot.

In later years, we grew a variety of vegetables including sweet peas...

A BIG zuchini we left in the garden too long because

a little boy thought...the bigger the better...

And, a HAPPY sunflower that Lindsay chose to grow.

One year, we planted strawberries!

The garden provided wonderful memories and the opporunity to learn.

As the kids grew older they wailed about the weeding and watering and I was mighty weary, too.  It was a relief to rock it in with the rose bushes.

But this year, I told my husband I missed walking out my back door and picking tomatoes for dinner. I also wanted to grow some fresh herbs especially sweet basil.

The next day, I heard pounding in the kitchen and found this:

The sweetest and cutest husband in the world bought me a special planter.

He put it out in the garden...

And, we planted tomatoes growing DOWN.

No weeding or slugs eating them for lunch.

(Has anyone ever grown them like this? Does it work???)

On top, we planted herbs.

I chose rosemary, cilantro, chives and LOTS of sweet basil!

Probably too much basil, but I was SO excited!

Now, I love looking out the kitchen window at our beautiful new garden!

Best of all...

VERY LITTLE MAINTENANCE!

I'll let you know how the upside down tomatoes do as the summer progresses.

I wonder what else I can grow upside down???

Actually, don't plant any more ideas in my brain!

Last Day of High School

             Last night, my husband asked me to leave the camera on the kitchen counter. He wanted to take a picture of our son Mark on his LAST day of high school!

We just can't believe he zoomed through school so quickly.

We remembered back to when we took him to preschool at the age of four.  He was excited about his new lunch box and especially the cookies inside, but when we opened the front door of the school, he froze.

Then he leaped into my husband's arms and clung to him like a wet bathing suit, splashing terrifed tears all over the little classroom.

Hubby motioned for me to leave. No need for a hysterical mother, too.

Of course, I planted myself near the closest window and watched as my husband scraped the screamer off his suit, bravely kissed him goodbye and left!

Mark ended up loving preschool, but

every morning when I dropped him off, he ran to this window to wave goodbye to me.

It seems like yesterday he nervously sat on my lap for this picture taken on his first day of Kindergarten:

I was so happy because after working as a news reporter for eighteen years,  I didn't want to miss any more fun with my kids, so I quit working full time and stayed home to write books.

Mark attended afternoon kindergarten, and I cherished every morning with him,

our special time.

I loved watching the kids scamper off the bus in the afternoon.

Those school years hold such sweet memories.

On the first day of every school year, I took their picture.

and, time started to ZOOM!

And, zoom...

And, ZOOM!

That's how fast it whizzed by!

He grew up right before our very eyes.

He went from the school scaries to the Principal's Honor Roll.

So as Hubby snapped his picture pulling out of the driveway on his LAST day...

Hubby was sad.

But, I must admit...I was a wee GLAD.

I'll never have to trip over his bookbag again!

We gave it our heart & soul.

We raised two kids!

We're ready for the next step...

The Good Sports

Welcome to our world for the last 15 years!

Bundled up in blankets on the sidelines watching our kids play sports.

Actually, this was the LAST time we will do this...the LAST game was played LAST night.

Our son graduates from high school in a few weeks.

It started way back when he was born.  When sonny was 3 days old, I was setting up an adorable picture when my husband added a football. 

The kid was about 2 inches larger than the ball, but as an avid athlete, Hubby couldn't wait for our children to start playing sports.

I hated to deflate his excitement, but I couldn't help wondering about the gene mutation that I inherited. I think it's called the "Athletic Alienation" gene which means it alienates any athletic ability from all DNA in my body, and if I try to play sports, I look like an alien.

"I know YOU aren't athletic," Hubby said, "but can't you think of anyone in your family with a little ability?"

"Well, we think one of our early ancestors won a watermelon seed spitting contest, but that hasn't been confirmed.  Then my sister did six somersaults in a row in the second grade...the family still brags about that.  Oh, yah, my mom once carried in 10 of those full plastic grocery bags at the same time.  Of course, she did get a crick in her neck."

"Does this mean Lindsay will never be a cheerleader?"

"Ummm, when I was in the 6th grade, I was eliminated in the first round of cheerleading tryouts," I explained. "Something about me not keeping my legs straight during my cartwheel. The splits gave me a bit of a problem, too. I couldn't get up once I got down. They had to drag the alien off the field.

My husband wanted to hire a genetic specialist to determine if our children inherited this faulty gene, but we waited it out and lo and behold...they didn't!!

 

Soon they were off and running...

and kicking...

BALLS in every size and shape...

They batted and bowled them...

Bounced and whacked them...

And, they won lots of trophies...

Heck, I've never won a trophy in my life!

Some were almost as big as them!

Hubby happily coached...

I worked at the concession stand...

Through all the hills...

The thrills...

and, spills...

We were there...

on the sidelines with all the other parents...

in rain, snow, sleet and hail...

I adored watching my children all these years and love that they inherited Hubby's talent.

A wave of nostalgia engulfed me as I revisited those pictures.

But I did feel a tad relieved LAST night...at the LAST game...

I think I deserve a trophy...

for being a good sport.