For most people I know, fall is their favorite time of year. And it looks like from your comments, most of our readers agree. And although I love many things about Fall (mostly my Broncos), I love summer. And it's really hard for me to say goodbye. But I have one remaining item from this summer. This is it:
A pumpkin. One pumpkin. There is a story that goes with this. I think it is pretty funny so I will give you a short version of it.
Back in the beginning of May, my husband and I were in Lowe's. That could be a story in itself because my husband doesn't go to Lowe's. He doesn't go to any stores. Ever. Unless he is with me and I absolutely need something. I can't remember what I needed that day, but my husband immediately found something that he fell in love with. The garden seed display.
He had big ideas. Really big. He chose about 26 different seed packets. It included everything from sweet corn to cucumbers, radishes, green beans, lettuce, peas, watermelon, carrots, peppers and pumpkins. And we had to have different varieties of each of these. He was so excited about this gigantic garden we were going to have that I didn't even mention that I really didn't have time for another job. Which I knew I just got.
Before I go any further with this story, an important part is to know that he is a farmer. A farmer with a capital F. Not just "I have a few acres" kind of farmer. A huge farmer. That is what he does for a living, and he has been doing it since he was about 4. A backyard garden should be easy, right?
Wrong. Everything that could go wrong with this garden did. A few highlights:
- We have about 3000 bunnies. That might be an exagerration, but not by much. We knew this going in. That is why we put up a bunny-proof fence. Well the bunny fence was about as effective as air. They ate everything just as it was coming up. Didn't get a carrot, radish, pea or green bean all summer. They got them all.
- The bunnies didn't seem to like the pumpkins, so we had hope. Until a wind storm in early June wiped out all the pumpkins. We then had to replant. And again they got a very good meal.
- The most important part of the garden was the sweet corn. My little boy loves sweet corn and that is the only crop he cared about. The day we planted, I counted 216 corn seeds we put in the ground. 5 came up. We couldn't figure out what happened, but some kind of animal kept eating the seeds. Every morning, we could see little holes in the ground where they snatched them out.
- So at least we had 5 corn plants. When we saw that the few ears were getting ready to pick, my little boy and I decided we would do it the next morning when my husband was there. Well, our freindly raccoons decided the corn was ready, too. By the next morning they had them all. Except for one little ear left on a stalk. My little boy grabbed it, cleaned it a little and ate it right there. He didn't even want to cook it. I think he was afraid a raccoon would come back and snatch it out of his hand.
A lot of other things happened, but those were the biggies. So we are left with this one pumpkin. The prize of the summer. And I am thankful we have it. My little boy thinks the garden was a huge success because of this one pumpkin.
So my plan next year- keep my husband out of Lowe's. Just kidding. He will have big ideas again. And we will try it again. Goodbye summer. Can't wait to see you again.
As for our contest last week, we have a winner:
Mary Ann who wrote:
EVERYTHING !!! I LOVE EVERYTHING about Fall !!!!! The colors, the weather, sweaters, wool plaid skirts, knee socks , the food !!! NO HUMIDITY !!!
…. and I LOVE every single thing you gals come up with !
Congratulations, Mary Ann. Just e-mail us and we will get the scraps to you.
Hope you had a great weekend. I did. The Broncos won and everything is right in my world once again!