Pumpkin Update! 7/15/17

I've grown my own pumpkins for the last 3 years, and this year's first is almost ready to be cut from the vine! I am growing 3 types this year. 

1. The giant kind you see at the fair. When I see the ribbon-winning pumpkins at the fair, my Halloween season officially starts! None of mine are growing on the vines yet, but it is getting flowers and I see bees out there every day.

 2. Mini pumpkins! These I think are technically not pumpkins, but they look just like them! A mini pumpkin is the first one that is almost ready to be picked! 

(hand in shot for size reference)

There is a 2nd mini pumpkin about the size of a grape tomato! 

3. Regular-sized jack-o-lantern pumpkins! These are the pumpkins I've grown every year! I planted seeds I saved from last year's crop. There are two pumpkins about the size of promotional mini basketballs or a decorative foam skulls from Michael's. They're still as green as watermelons, so they'll be much bigger by the time they're ready to be picked!

I am so excited for Halloween season this year!

Here are all 5 of my Pumpkin Carols (songs I wrote about pumpkins)!








I hope to someday make 7" records of my Pumpkin Digital 7".

Read more about it here!

Pumpkins!

Day 243 - Homegrown Popcorn! - 9/1/2015

This is the second year I've grown pumpkins in my yard for the Halloween season. But this year is also a year of firsts!

Well, one first.

This year I am also growing popcorn!

Popcorn is my absolute favorite food. And since Orville Redenbacher popcorn is grown in Indiana, I decided to buy some air pop popcorn from the store and try my luck!

Here's the first ear:

 I picked it a couple weeks back because the stalk was broken and dying. I think I hit it with the lawn mower. Oops.

It looked like something had gotten to it or it hadn't had a chance to grow all of the corn kernels. But rather than throwing it away I decided to pick it and see how it dried and popped!


Today I saw that another ear looked most of the way dried out.

I picked that too! That one should pop up nicely!


Anyway, back to lil' ear.

I put it in the only paper bag I had and popped it (ha!) in the microwave.

Right after it started cooking I could smell a cooked corn smell that I don't usually get when microwaving popcorn.


Then it started smelling burnt.

It was still popping so I let it keep going until the programmed Popcorn time ran out.

Near the end white smoke started coming out of the bag.



I opened the bag to find...

Most of it popped!

The cob burned up, but the popcorn looked like popcorn!

I tried a couple pieces and, yep, that's popcorn!


I'm so proud of myself!

So proud I recreated my byline banner picture!

I found a new pumpkin today!

So excited!




Here's another picture of me where I'm not making a goofy face.