Giant Pumpkin Guide to Colossal Joy

This fantastic display was in front of the historic Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  I'd seen seeds in gardening catalogs for giant pumpkins, but never imagined them with appropriate awe. The cut stem was about eight inches in diameter. If hollowed out the pumpkin, I could have crawled inside. 

You can't get this result by overwatering an ordinary pumpkin. They're grown from special seeds, bred for size. Additionally, the plants need plentiful sun, fertilizer, water, and vigilance. 

They take careful tending. The vines should be a certain size before you  manually fertilize the female flowers. Roots have to be pruned to allow room for growth without damaging the vine. Then pinch off the tips to allow the nutrients to concentrate on the chosen fruit. 

During their peak growth time, huge pumpkins can grow two inches in circumference every night. A friend told me that if you listen, you can hear the actual sounds of growing. 

Perhaps if we nourished gratitude with intention and attention all year long,  our Thanksgiving joy would be as colossal as this pumpkin. I hope yours is!






                

Make a pumpkin vase for Thanksgiving

My grandchildren enjoyed creating this table decoration. 

First they scraped out all of the seeds. We cleaned and roasted them. 
They really were delicious.

Then, we walked through the neighborhood clipping little pieces of greenery and dried grass to add to the flowers. (It's okay, we didn't go into anyone's private yard.)

Finally we put a jar inside the pumpkin filled it water and created our floral arrangement! It lasted for three weeks.

The Betther Homes and Gardens website has some lovely ideas.