Pumpkin Thief - Meep Meep!

Cinderella Pumpkin 2018

Cinderella pumpkins were nurtured from seeds sown during Memorial Day weekend 2018.  Young plants thrived well enough to enable me to share a few with some work associates for their young children to enjoy the process of growing their own pumpkins for Halloween.  The balance of the plants went into the Pumpkin Patch - Bed #1.  As the summer heat increased in intensity, sun umbrellas had to be installed to relieve the drooping leaves and encourage pollinators to enjoy the shade. 

Sunflowers, zinnias, and morning glories for pollinators, people, and birds to enjoy.

Sunflowers, zinnias, and morning glories were planted to encourage those pollinators to stick around awhile.  Sunflower seeds are now drying for the birds to enjoy.  Zinnia seeds have already started to germinate for one last blast before frost.  Morning glory seeds are sprouting too but most will just be wildly sprouting in the spring.

Immature Cinderella Pumpkin

The pumpkin plants were blooming and producing many fruit throughout the summer.  It was bound to be a bumper crop this year.  But wait.  Soon after fruit were about golf ball size, they disappeared.  Did they wither from the heat?  No.  Did insects ravage them?  No.  How about some pest like a possum, raccoon, or rat?  No evidence.  The fruit simply disappeared without a trace.  All that work all summer long only brought 4 pumpkins to maturity.  FOUR?!  Unacceptable.  My work associates had experienced the same thing.  This mysterious thief must be found.  Time passed without a clue.  The vines were withering.  It was time to harvest and get that bed ready for winter veggies.

Farmer MacGregor did the heavy work on 3 of the 4 beds then I smoothed and planted.  It was still hot; so I was under the shade of the patio admiring all our hard work when a bird shwooshed in to the shade tree, dropped down to the lawn then jumped over the plum tree and into the former pumpkin patch.  It looked around quickly sizing up the change of the place then jumped up on the fence and moved on to the neighbors' yard looking for groceries.  The bird?  It was a roadrunner!  THIEF!

Roadrunners are not new to Bakersfield.  In fact, they are the mascot for the local university.  They ARE rare in suburban neighborhoods - I thought.

With this discovery, I went to the internet to learn more.  These guys eat anything.  Anything.  The internet also provided inspiration for a roadrunner feeding station that might help eradicate this problem in the future.

Cinderella Pumpkins

Last year at this time I was enjoying a bounty of Cinderella Pumpkins.  This October…zip, nada, zero.  I experimented with the six leftover seeds from 2009 that had inadvertently been left in the house while it was being fumigated in March.  The seeds were planted in July and a three of them germinated, grew, and bloomed. The pumpkin patch was plagued with squash bugs.  By the time the plants were ripped from the ground there was only one very small squash at the end of one vine.  Oh well.  It was only an experiment.  The hypothesis was that none of the seeds would germinate.  The conclusion is the hypothesis was wrong.  I don’t know whether to blame the fumigation, the planting schedule, the age of the seeds, or the squash bugs for the failed production.  Pumpkins will most likely be planted during summer 2011 simply because I love the fall – October specifically.   Happy October!

PS It rained today!  Dang it.  That’s so great.

Why Do Aphids Love Pumpkins As Much As Me?

The Cinderella Pumpkins are beginning to bloom.  I didn’t expect anything so this is a bonus.  If the squash set, there should be pumpkins for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Last year my pumpkin patch was overrun with aphids.  (Note to DBE gals:  click on the word aphids to see the problem I had last year.  A new window should open with that post.  The window you are currently reading should stay open.  You can return to this window whenever you like.  Lesson over.  Let me know if you have any trouble.  I’m happy to help.) The same is true in 2010.

In the morning, I give the underside of the leaves a blast from the hose to get rid of the aphids and eggs while irrigating.  This does the trick for now.  I may need help from some ladybugs.  The leaves look a bit wilted after this treatment…

…but they bounce back as the day wears on.

Seed Alert!  Seed Alert!  My seeds have arrived for fall planting.  I’ll post about them soon.

Pumpkins & Butternut Squash

Earlier this spring my house was tented and fumigated for termites.  Termites flourish in this area.  We do what we can to protect our dwelling from an invasion; but it happens every once in a while.  We packed up and gave away anything perishable, boarded the garden kitties, and went to Sonoma for a few days.

Everything went smoothly.  One thing.  I forgot to store my seeds out in the shed instead of inside the house under the big tent.  Dang!  I didn’t dispose of the seeds.  The packets have important information so I bagged them up for future reference.

Rip a load of calendar pages off and move forward in time to the 4th of July.  I needed to plant some pumpkins but forgot to order any seeds from my new favorite seed company in Arizona, Terroir Seeds.  I opened the seeds that were exposed to fumigants and pulled out my Cinderella Pumpkin seed pack.  These will only be used for decoration; so I proceeded to experiment. 

There were 6 seeds leftover from last year.  I made 2 hills and planted 3 seeds in each hill.  I was surprised that the seeds germinated in just a few days.  Unfortunately I didn’t record the date – but it was a matter of 3-4 days.  Only 2 plants sprouted from one hill.  I was happy to have 2 germinate.  Earlier this week, 1 seed germinated on the 2nd hill.  Crazy.  I now have 3 Cinderella Pumpkin plants that I never expected to do more than become compost.

Here they are almost 20 days after planting.

The seed packet lists maturity at 110 days.  That hits right around Halloween.  Anything these plants produce will be more than I ever expected.  This variety makes great decorations that keep throughout the fall season – my favorite time of year.

          I wonder if I have enough time to order and plant some butternut squash.  While we were up Sonoma way, I had a wonderful butternut squash ravioli with toasted sage and walnut brown butter that I would like to try to master.  I found a recipe from Emirl Lagase that should work.  Waltham is the variety I would like to try.  Perhaps I’ll just settle for whatever seed variety the local hardware store is carrying then expand from there.

Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli with a Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2000

Prep Time: 25 min

Inactive Prep Time: --

Cook Time: 10 min

Level: --

Serves: 4 appetizer servings

Ingredients

• 9 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1 cup roasted butternut squash puree
• Salt
• Freshly ground white pepper
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus 2 ounces
• Pinch nutmeg
• 1 recipe pasta dough, rolled out into wide ribbons, about 1/4-inch thick
• 12 fresh sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

In a large saute pan, over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the shallots and saute for 1 minute. Add the squash puree and cook until the mixture is slightly dry, about 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cream and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 tablespoons cheese and nutmeg, to taste. Season with salt and pepper. Cool completely.

Cut the pasta ribbons into 3-inch squares. Place 2 teaspoons of the filling in the center of each pasta square. Bring 1 corner of the square to the other, forming a triangle and seal the pasta completely. Add the pasta to pot of boiling salted water. Cook until al dente, about 2 to 3 minutes or until the pasta floats and is pale in color.

Remove the pasta from the water and drain well. Season the pasta with salt and pepper.

In a large saute pan, melt the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter. Add the sage to the butter and continue to cook until the butter starts to brown. Remove from the heat.

Place some of the pasta in the center of each serving plate. Spoon the butter sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle the 2 ounces of cheese over each plate and garnish with parsley.