I Refuse to Spend $50 on Pumpkins

You'll learn this about me: cost is often the thing that finally motivates me to do something myself.

Let's talk pumpkins.

Last fall, I think we spent somewhere around $50 on a couple of pumpkins.

For pumpkins?!

Something we're not even going to eat? Something that literally grows out of the ground?

I remember getting to the register at our local farm and looking at the total with my jaw on the floor. Anyone else?

So this year I decided to grow my own.

How hard could it be?

Do pumpkins really need all that space?

From what I've read, pumpkins want two things I don't have a ton of: space and a big hill to grow on.

The seed packet had some fairly generous spacing recommendations.

Naturally, my first thought was: Do they really need that much room?

This is another thing you'll learn about me. I question instructions.

Do I really need to space them four feet apart? Does this hill really need to be two feet wide?

Let's find out.

This approach is occasionally how I end up disappointed, but at least then I know.

So far, they're growing

I planted the seeds back in July since they'll need about 120 days before they're ready to harvest.

I lost a couple of the first seedlings to the deer—of course—but replanted them, and they're now safely tucked underneath one of my bamboo cages.

And one of the plants has two flowers.

So I'm cautiously optimistic.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that sometime this fall I'll be walking outside to cut pumpkins that we can pile on the steps instead of handing over $50 at the farm stand.

And if this actually works, maybe we'll even have a few to give away.