Even though my garden is only 12′ x 24′ and has only three tomato plants in it, which, including trips to the farmer’s market (which I would never want to stop doing), is plenty for us; and even though our mint is out there in a pot and there are only two Swiss chard
plants and one big clump of flat-leaf parsley; when we pull out the shovel and dig a hole, or plant tiny seeds, we like to think we have a little farmer blood in us. Of course that’s ridiculous, when you think of the work done by a real farmer, but we like to think it anyway. We have a barn you know. So what if it “came with the house.” And, more proof of farmer credentials, we make compost. Here it is . . .
I think this photo looks healthier and possibly more delicious than some dinners I’ve had! Except for the egg shells. 🙂 I was permanently hooked on composting when I saw the difference in my tomato plants and roses, those grown with compost, vs those not. Night and day. So we keep this soup pot (with a lid) underneath our sink and into it goes all our fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells, & coffee grounds. It’s green – green – green, saves money, makes you feel like a good person, makes your garden beautiful. I’ll give you a link at the bottom of this post, for a web site that gives composting info — it’s so easy, even we busy farmers can do it.
This year our compost heap took off in new unexpected ways. This grew all by itself. First grass grew, then this mountain of what we can see now is squash. We keep going out to admire it, Joe calls to me through the kitchen window from the barn, “Have you LOOKED at the compost heap lately?” I think it’s only going to get bigger. I hear thunder right this moment, that means rain, and these things LOVE rain!
It’s taller than the back of the arbor! Some might think we should weed it; but not us. Crazy talk. It’s done so well as is, why fool around with Mother Nature. ♥ We feel a little sorry for our neighbors that are about to be inundated with free squash. We see these plants as a kind of evidence at a crime scene. The questions are (were) — where’d it come from and what kind of squash is it? The prayer was, please don’t let it be zucchini. We’ve done zucchini, we’ve been eaten alive by zucchini, we know what one little zucchini plant is capable of. The other day, wandering through my photos, we solved the crime. Aha! This is our compost heap late last fall; the culprits look so picturesque and innocent just sitting there:
Nature has done her magic and we’re pretty sure what we have is a pumpkin patch! See what I mean about things grown in compost! We are pumpkin farmers. This is the best looking crop of anything we’ve ever grown. So here’s to all of us farmers . . .
Let the wealthy and great
Oh we did both squash AND zucchini in our garden this year. I was afraid the neighbors were going to start running from us. LOL! My hubby was taking it to work and pawning it off and this is after we ate tons and froze some. OY! Definitely not planting so much next year. Ha! Ha!
And we feel the same way you do when we plant a little seed and watch it grow. I think there is a little farmer in all of us!
Have a blessed day!
I saw the cutest thing on a blog once; someone had taken photos of their squash, no words, just squash: sitting in the drivers seat of the car, coming out of dresser drawers, hiding in the knitting basket, under the covers with its “head” on the pillow, just the funniest places! I laughed at your neighbors running from you. So true!
Susan,
Love the post and the photos. What a lovely pumpkin patch too, think of how proudly you can stand with crossed arms and pitchfork in hand this fall. I say, “Amen to those who toil in the soil!”- No matter where or how. You should see the amazing tomatoes I have in pots on my deck this year, think of it as “creative farming” ;).
Best,
Jeanette
Here in Florida we can get that same zucchini effect with eggplant.
You and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm made me smile this morning! Just think of the pumpkins you will have – independent, self-starters. The Great Pumpkin will be proud.
I can’t believe it! I just bought an antique mush cup at an estate sale the other day with that exact poem on it! Our abandoned compost bin (we have a newer, fancier cedar one now) has yielded pumpkins and tomatoes one year and this year onions and dill. We always think about tilling it over, but it always gives us such precious gifts, we are reluctant to do it.
you know that pumpkin plant will be the best pumpkins because its a volunteer plant,, its not a companion plant but one that chose to give you its very best.It looks so darn healthy, my Dad alwyas threw a few pumpkin seeds in our old compost heap on the farm, that also was a manure pile in the past.The pumpkins always did well in it, your friends next door will surely love the invading pumpkins,, how cool is that!
gives new meaning to the saying… “bloom where you are planted” 🙂 🙂 🙂
Oh my gosh Susan, that’s so great, free pumpkins!! I would be so excited to see those growing in my compost pile! So you know what this means —-Everyone is going to be waiting for you to make a pumpkin pie this fall and show it to us on your blog! At this moment I am competing with a daring groundhog I think is living under the barn who has literally chewed down all the delicious lettuce in my garden. The only other thing I planted this year was tomatoes, so hopefully he doesn’t have an appetite for those, too! Thanks again Susan for your wonderful blog. I read it faithfully every day and I love the recipes and great pictures and your beautiful art!
I must be the only “farmer” who can’t grow a zucchini. Three years ago I tried for the first time and when the first squash matured, the plant was overtaken by a borer type bug and died. Last year I planted 3 plants and only saw flowers – no squash. I read that this meant they weren’t getting pollinated and even tried their suggestion of doing the pollinating myself with a Q-Tip :). All to no avail. Not to be defeated, I planted 3 plants again this year and despite adding compost to the soil and making sure they were watered, they have died one by one. I am currently waving the white flag ~ I surrender!!
I do have tomatoes, cukes, herbs and pumpkins growing. I purposely planted the pumpkins. They have lots of flowers, but no little pumpkies yet. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Your plants look so healthy and what a fun surprise to have them volunteer like that.
Enjoyed your post and also the ShirleyTemple clip. Soo sweet!!
Love the blog this morning, Susan! (well…EVERY morning is great!) Will look forward to seeing what fun, creative thing you do with those pumpkins this fall. And by the look of the size of them already, they may just be trailing their way right into your kitchen! (And what book was the Beatrix quote from?)
Oh Susan I love your blog, it is so fun to visit your garden & your compost pile! ~smile~ isn’t God amazing? He knew you would love & cultivate his little pumkin seeds! After all he knows what wonderful “farmers” you guys are!
Always enjoy you & your blog…great visiting with you!! Bye for now!
Blessings..
xoxo Gert
Susan, I so look forward to your posts! I read alot of blogs each morning, but yours ALWAYS makes me smile! Keep them coming!!
Our compost has given us a few surprises this season, too. When my husband has used it to enrich the garden, there have been several “volunteers,” mainly in the squash family, but the pumpkin seems to be doing better than the others. It’s such a rewarding feeling to view the table at dinnertime and know it all came from the soil in your own garden. Keep up the good work, Susan!
You have to read “Too Many Pumpkins” by Linda White. That is best book about an unexpected pumpkin harvest and what the lady who hated pumpkins does with all the pumpkins. My kindergarten kids love this book!
OH if you need a good squash recipe (or two) let me know! In the South we are over-run with zucchini and squash, so there are lots of things to do besides sautee them or batter and fry. 🙂 Although, battered and fried is still my favorite.
Too funny! We were always amazed at what would pop up next from my dad’s compost heap…not amazed by those freaky grub worms though..ACK! ;}
m ^..^
Susan, Your blog, photos and information always make me smile. Its onl 7 here in sunny California so I’m out to water my garden. We tried planting pumpkins but our dog dug them up. We’ll try again next year. Have a great day!
I live in NYC, so my backyard is postage stamp small, yet I have to grow something every summer as I have “farming” in my blood! I have tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and herbs all growing in large containers. It is such a feeling of satisfaction to see them grow! I’d love to add a compost bin next yearn and do what you do in a modified way.
I love your pumpkin patch! What a fun surprise to find in your compost!
Oh my. Even your compost is pretty.
One year we had melons in our compost bin. Lovely cantaloupe melons volunteering all over the place. It hasn’t happened since, but we get tomato and squash volunteers. Compost is an amazing process. Can’t wait to see the pumpkins you’ll have!
We’ve got the volunteer pumpkins from our compost pile too. We also have 2 zucchini plants that are going great guns which we planted with seeds from Italy, so they produce an abundance of flowers that I’m going to try stuffing and frying. I saved a recipe for zucchini cakes which are supposed to be like crab cakes without the crab, and I’ll be trying that tonight. We retired last year, and are now trying our hands at Urban Farming. We have 4 chickens which should start laying in August, and have raised beds of San Marzano tomatoes growing in the front yard which look like they will give us much to make marinara sauce to can this fall. One of my neighbors asked if I grew up on a farm – but no – I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, but the earth has always called to me. Love the blog Susan. Miss it on the days you don’t post. No pressure though :o)
Love your new Peter Peter Pumpkin Patch. Here in South Florida it’s almost impossible to grow anything during the summer months. Sounds weird right? Our best growing months are November to April.
Oh, by the way I always fancy myself a farmer, living the simple life…I WISH!
Hi Susan..Loved the photos of the “Sincere Pumpkin Patch”. It reminded me of the time an industrious chipmunk buried squash seeds in our compost pile..only to have the vines stretch halfway to the river..the Susquehanna River is in our backyard..and produced huge 40 lb. winter hubbard squashes!! They were amazing!
We luckily found an elderly cancer patient who was raised on a farm and was hungry for some homegrown squash. Her daughter cooked and canned all she could carry away..after having my folks cut them in two with an ax or saw..tough skinned devils..and enjoyed a taste of home all through the winter as much as we did. You should still plant green and yellow beans. Make a furrow and sow them thick..the thicker the better. Within a week you’ll be on your way to luscious beans and potatoes with cream, butter, salt and pepper! You can even plant the seeds in a porch box for those with no garden plot. I have a great recipe for “Dilly Beans” to can and enjoy when the snow gets high. Sharon from Maine, try hanging a couple bars of “Irish Spring” soap at the perimeter of your garden.
I bet goofy groundhog won’t like it…deer don’t either. Anyone for fried squash blossoms?? Ohhh, I can taste them already..and if you eat the blossom, that’s one less zucchini you have to find a home for!
Love your blog and look forward to my daily lunch breaks and reading your blog.
We had pumpkins growing in our compost last year as well. Too funny!!
Question about the compost snapshot…what is the white item in the compost bowl (on right side of bowl)? Is that cheese? Can you compost cheese???
No, no cheese or meat, or bones; not supposed to put protein in a compost heap (but egg shells are OK); that was a cabbage that had seen a few too many days in our fridge.
Wow, your garden is super cute. Your compost looks pretty good, too. how often do you toss it outside or wherever you keep it to break down into compost? Oh, I LOVE zucchini, but I”ve never actually tr ied gr owing it. I can imagine it grows fast and BIG, too. Now pumpkins, pumpkins are great…and it looks like yours will grow fine. One of my friends is a farmer and she said the pumpkin plant has to have male and female flowers in order for the pumpkins to grow. I’m not sure how to tell the difference, but she can 🙂 🙂 You’ll have pumpkins for fall 🙂 🙂 Have a lovely day. Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather 🙂
We take it out whenever the pan is full. Mix it with leaves, grass or dirt, dig it in once a week. You wake up one day with a zucchini and it’s about the size of your finger, the next day, you swear this is true, it’s as big as a leg. Someone mentioned that their flowers all fell off. Now that I’m so proud of my pumpkins, they will probably have to teach me a lesson! I hope they do OK, would love to see orange pumpkins all over the place. Might not even BE pumpkins! The mystery continues.
You will have the most amazing fall decorations with your pumpkins! I can just see the 2013 calendar, borders of pumpkin vines everywhere. Pumpkin recipes, yum yum!
Good idea, I’ll have to paint it! You just made me sort of long for fall!
DH and I have a large garden! We can most of the food from there for the winter! I love opening a jar of veggie soup on a cold winter day and smelling my garden all over again! Thanks for such a great blog Susan! You’re super!
Can hardly wait to see how the pumpkins turn out! We had volunteers come up in our compost pile one year and they were a cross between a pumpkin and acorn squash! Kinda’ funny looking!
Wow, I had no idea how much fun composting is…. I had better get started right now. Wonderful that your sprung a mystery vegetable, hope it’s pumpkins. They will look so cute growing all over the place and you won’t have any shortage for fall decor. I thought composting involved worms and a bin and I was sure if I tried I would end up with a big smelly mess the neighbors would hate ( and me too!). Going to find out more about it at link you provided. I’m on septic so all my waste goes into garbage, what a waste. I could be enjoying lovely compost that I’m paying for now. Thank you so much! It’s such a treat to visit your yard via blog. xoxo
Good Afternoon Farmer Sue! lol Omggggggggggggg I Love this Newest “Blog” Post…I just read it Out Loud to Herbster…omg We Can Relate…We Too are “Farmers” 🙂 We Live in a Town~House so Our Yard Is “Limited” in Sapce to Plant… Herbster is a Brilliant Gardener…& He Plants Many things in Pots…& Raised Beds too…lol We Have 4 Tomatoe Plants & Herbster Has Every Herb one can Grow (It is His Name)lol & for 7 Years Taylor & I Have Dreamed of growing Our Very Own Pumpkin~Patch…I even Save The Seeds from Every Jack~O~Lantern We have Carved…but alas… Papa Herb tells us that We do not have the Room to grow Our Own Pumpkin~Patch :*-( Poor Us…lol but when I showed Herbster Your Gorgeous Pics He Said…Yep That Looks Like a Pumpkin~Patch! Oh Sweet Sue You are gonna Have The Best Pumpkins for this Autumn! & I Love that Pic with your cute little Pumpkins sitting in The Snow…”Frost on The Pumpkins” omggggggg…it Reminds me of this quote from Your Magical “Autumn” Book…Page 52…”My Favorite Word is “Pumpkin”. You are a Pumpkin. or Your are Not. I Am” (Harrison Salisbury) Brilliant! & I Know You are Sweet Sue & So Am I! (Pumpkins!) :-)Yay! Twirling in Your Magical Pumpkin~Patch!…& Via You…”To Plant a Seed is a Hopeful Deed” ahhhhhhhhhhh Thanks for putting a Huge Smile on My face Today! Love & Hugzzzzzzz & Friendship Everyday Sue! ( & a Little Orange Pixie~Dust for Your Pumpkin~Patch!) xoxo Poof!
Hope someday Angie you get your patch’ oh pumpkins!!! part of the fun is waiting for the day to happen! For some reason pumpkins makes one smile.
Must be the color~smell~&seeds.
Does your fence keep the animals out of the garden, is it tall enough? Everything I plant gets eaten and I have wondered about doing a kitchen garden a la Susan Branch :), but worry if it is tall enough to do the trick. We have deer, tons of bunnies, raccoons, etc… and they eat everything.
We don’t have deer because we live in a neighborhood, which is a biggie, and Joe added about two feet high chicken wire around the inside bottom of the fence and that works great keeping out the bunnies. Raccoons in our neighborhood are having too much fun playing in the trash to worry about the garden. So our garden just relies on beetles and tomato worms to destroy it. In California, there are gophers, the scourge of the west. We had deer there too, but I made a mixture of cayenne and liquid soap and put it on the roses they’d been feasting on the night before, I don’t know if this was why, but they never came back.
Those look like pumpkin leaves to me!
I’m not a farmer, but a first grade teacher. We know a lot about pumpkins!
Then I’m going with it!
When you start stuffing zucchini in peoples’ mailboxes, you know you’ve got too many plants. Love your pumpkin patch compost pile!
Yes, that’s a good clue!
Love the post! My neighbor has a pumpkin vine that did the exact same thing but… he has so much growing that he didn’t notice at first that… it went around the back of the garage and is running in the space between the yards behind the garages – it’s almost to the end of the block 3 houses away now! it’s very healthy, and he hopes to harvest the pumpkins in the fall 🙂
thanks for always brightening our days with a new and fun blog posts and pix!
Yikes! I love your pumpkin patch! We have 28 tomato plants growing in pots in our townhouse “deck garden”! Of course, we have 3 plants in each large pot. We grow them for a “privacy fence” as much as for the tomatoes. Each year I can tomatoes and make salsa. I’m inspired to try growing blueberries in pots next year…I try hard to not be envious of your garden space, but I am. Love the picket fence garden. If we ever have a house with a yard before we are too old to care for it, I’d love to have that kind of garden…you inspire me! 🙂
28 Tomato plants is saying something! Blueberries, I think are pretty easy, if you give them good acid soil. We grew them in California where there was no freeze at all. Dug a big trench and filled it full of acid soil and put them in it. They loved it.
Remember, the tomatoes are 3 to a pot. They do extremely well but get all afternoon sun plus hot reflection from the house. I suppose they compete for space to grow like crazy. We water each pot with a gallon of water each day during the hot part of the summer. I think the U of MN developed a hardy type of blueberries for the Minnesota winters. There are several berry farms near us where a person can pick strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries but would be fun to have a couple of bushes here. We winter over daylilies in big wooden pots so hopefully the blueberries would do the same. I heard that a person can put coffee grounds on the soil to help make it acidic–do you think that would help? 🙂
I found blueberry bushes adapted to where we live in CA — I think you might look for the same where you are, and ask your nursery people…blueberries usually like a good freeze, although what you’re talking about might be more than that?
Oh yes, in central MN we can get to -20 at times in the winter. Growing up in Iowa and MN, I never realized the weather extremes but have become more aware of them now. 🙂 We have 98 degrees predicted here for the weekend–so just think of the temperature change that the trees and other plants endure! But the tulips, daffodils, day lilies, etc. come back every year…miracle that it is! 🙂
Your compost bowl looks like vegetable stock in the making. Last I counted, I’ve planted 47 various tomato plants, 80 pounds of potatoes, 2 kinds of watermelon, pickling cucumbers, radishes, purple cabbage, squash, zucchini, ‘lopes, beans, corn and can’t remember what else.
I freeze zucchini in 2 cup portions and make zucchini pineapple nut bread all winter long…when it’s better appreciated than in summer -smile-.
You always have the *best* quotes; thanks!
I think I would like to eat at your house this winter. Eighty pounds of potatoes! Do you have a farmstand?
We, too, had volunteer pumpkins one year. I agree, it is the best fun to watch them grow. Our autumn pumpkins that year came up and out of a goldenrod patch!
Hooray for free Jack-O-Lanterns!
I love your blogs/letters/books so much!! You are the most delightful person, and you always make me laugh!
I watched “Falling For A Dancer” on your recommendation and loved it! Then I had to buy the book and I loved it, too! Also, I was delighted to see that ENCHANTED APRIL if one of your favorite books, too! You’ve seen the wonderful movie, I hope? It’s my favorite movie! As I read your blogs and letters, I see so much we have in common – I am amazed!
Visiting the East Coast is one of our goals (we live in CA). Hopefully, we will before too long!
Blessings!
Oh yes, Enchanted April, that movie is so good! Wasn’t Falling for a Dancer amazing? I haven’t read the book, it’s good huh? Can’t wait!
Yes, the book (FALLING FOR A DANCER) is wonderful!! I bought my own copy, then bought another to give to a friend for her birthday!
Years ago we had pumpkins in our compost pile and the vine grew like a weed. One day I looked out the kitchen window and it had started to grow up the wood pile. We were gifted with the biggest most beautiful pumpkin we’ve ever seen. It was just wonderful to have it out there so that every morning during Autumn I was greated by the sight of my garden gift. It was a wonderful way to start my day! It grew so big I couldn’t even pick it up! I have to go look for the pictures I have of it. I’m thinking I might put them in a frame and hang them in the house here during this fall season. Isn’t that great that I can still receive the joy of seeing that pumpkin from so many years gone by! Thanks for the post about your pumpkin that brought back to mind, mine! ~ Doreen ~
I’m getting excited…you painted a beautiful picture, hope our pumpkins do what yours did!
So do I Susan! ~ Doreen ~
Your blog is such a delight! And pumpkins, too!!
Doesn’t get much better. 😉
♥ Carolee
That poem at the end brings back memories! I think my grandfather had that poem on a coffee mug, and I remember my mom reciting it.
Dear Susan, I have a request. I am a new president of my local gardening club. I am writing my president’s letter with a theme for our yearbook (which is a program guide/membership listing handbook – sort of our little club bible). It is a quarter-size book printed out to give to the club members only; it isn’t sold or used for advertising or used commercially. I was looking for inspiration and found a line in the DAYS from the Heart of the Home by Susan Branch calendar/diary that says “All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today” which wasn’t attributed to anyone so I assume it is something you wrote. That line encapsulates a theme I believe would be perfect for our club year, as we are always working on projects or the seeds of plans that may not come to fruition immediately. Would you please give me permission to use that line in my president’s letter? Signed, hopefully, Thea
Yes, that will be fine.
Thank you So much! I very much appreciate it! thea
Your garden is lovely!
My own vegetable garden is dismal, to say the least. We’ve had dreadful weather and it got a very late, and unpromising, start. But! Like you, it’s the “volunteers” that took off. Write in the middle of my rose beds, I have some hollyhocks that are about to put on a huge show! Unfortunately, I didn’t plant hollyhocks there. Where I did plant them, they have done nothing… Maybe I need more compost!
Take care!
Jake
I love heirloom pumpkins and squash! Had to laugh when I read about your zucchini. I remember having so many one year, I bagged them up , left them on a neighbor’s doorstep, rang her bell, and ran!
We are California ‘farmers’ too. Small patch in the backyard but it’s growing well. We have 1 and only 1 zucchini plant( having learned our lesson). Green and red bell peppers, jalipinio (sp) , green bush beans, tomato plants, and broccoli. It has always amazed me that you can put a little seed in the ground and God gives you food. What an amazing world we live in. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, and sometimes you don’t even have to put the seed in!
Oh Susan~
Evidently the farmer blood is not in me this year-
I actually PLANTED pumpkins this year, and let me tell you, they look nothing like your beauties in the heap! Mine seem to be enjoyed by a legion of pesky snails . . . wish I could be your neighbor ’cause I would invite those gourds with open arms! 🙂
Alrighty know kids…with all this talking about pumpkins and Autumn, I have to tell you what I did today. I had a box of Yankee Large Jar Candles that I had gotten as gifts and really didn’t like the scents of them. So….my husband Richard and I took them to the Yankee Candle store in the mall and returned them for candles to burn in the fall. I got 2 Cinnamon Stick, 2 Mountain Lodge, 1 Autumn Harvest, 1 Midsummer’s Night and 1 Over the River. I think that’ll do me for awhile. Now I can’t wait for the fall to come so I can burn them. Rich told me to turn the AC on high, burn the candles and make believe it’s that wonderful time of the year. I think I ‘ll just take it slow and enjoy the Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer knowing all along the way that Autumn is stirring deep down in the hearts of those who will be enchanted with all of the beauty is has instore for us! I’m just going to close my eyes now and make believe I’m in a big hay field (on a farm) laying on one of my quilts and as I look down the dirt road which runs along the field I’m in I’ll take in the beautiful sight of the big oak trees who’s branches reach over the road creating a beautiful arbor of green that will in several months go through a metamorphsis and become a beautiful canopy in the sky of beautiful rusts, golds, orange and greens. Ohhhhh (yawning) life is grand! 😉 ~ Doreen ~
Our compost pile breeds its own squashkins! We keep our compost bucket on the side porch and critters sometimes take samples. I put some leftover carrots that were cooked with a roast in the bucket last winter and we caught the neighborhood’s biggest feral cat dragging a huge piece of carrot away as we were coming out the door. He was so happy with that carrot! I got the rest of the carrot chunks out of the bucket for him to snack on later. Lots better than a cold mousie on a winter morning, I bet, but I never would have thought the tough old guy would eat vegetables! Whether the compost helps plants or critters, it’s just as effective, I think!
I love your books, and your blog, and your calendars, and everything you do. My mom has made a tradition of giving me one of your calendars every year for Christmas. 🙂
Oooh…Fall. Farmers used to burn their grass fields here around this time of year, and that was the signal for “back-to-school”. They don’t do that anymore, so Fall always sneaks up on me! The Maple-Walnut candle will be calling me soon…
xo,
Noelle