Fenton Friday: Picking the Pumpkin

The big news this week is that the garden is getting a new deer fence. The old one was there for 11 years now and was really very patchy/saggy, so this was overdue. I've been trying not to look out and watch the workers installing the new one over the last few days as it is really quite distressing. They leave whole sections of fencing down overnight or on their breaks so that anyone can just stroll on in -- deer or human. There is not much to steal at this point, but I DID have my one big prize pumpkin still growing and I was so paranoid about it getting taken by someone or damaged by a marauding buck, so I went today and brought it home. It is still green on the bottom, but I think it will cure okay inside my sunroom. I tried to weight it, but I forgot I gave away my bathroom scale! It is very dense and heavy and comparing it to my cats, I'm guessing it is 15-20 pounds. Pictured above are my two 6-month old kittens, Kimba and Fancy, checking it out. I'm very pleased with the pumpkin considering we planted it so late in the season (mid-July!). The variety is is Rouge Vif d'Etampes, a French heirloom. I got the seeds from Renee's Garden.

For size-comparison, those white kitty litter jugs hold about 14 pounds.

It was a VERY rainy week thanks to Hurricane Ian's remnants here. I finally got over to the plot today and all the  cool-season seedlings put on good growth again this week -- that includes the Golden Chard, Kale, Broccoli, 'Round Black Spanish' Radish, Bauer' Lettuce, and 'Snak Hero' Snap Peas.

We are still picking a few handfuls a week from the Cucamelons (Melothria scabra), cherry tomatoes, okra, and peppers -- along with cutting small bouquets of the Dahlias, Zinnias, Celosia, Marigolds, and Tithonia. 

The Holy Basil is now splitting and resting on the ground so I will collect the seeds and yank it out soon.

I plan to pull the Tomatoes soon and sow a cover crop in that bed. Soon it will also be time to pull the Peppers and okra and plant the Garlic.

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 11th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.