Pumpkins a'Plenty

These beautiful orange orbs are pumpkins, which according to the seed package shouldn't be ready for another thirty days. The organic seed was direct-sown the first of June with the knowledge that they needed 110-120 days to mature. If I did the math correctly, I would have harvested in about three and a half months.

In the photo, you can see that the dreaded powdery mildew has crept along several of the vines. The weather here for August has been highly unusual. Humid, which mildew LOVES, hot, then wet and cool back to hot. Since we have a forecast of sun for at least the next five days, I took a chance and sprayed some Neem on the leaves this morning.

I really didn't want to harvest these until the end of September, but I wouldn't want them to start to rot in the field. Hmmm. Nature has a different plan. I like this part of gardening--thinking that we know the proper timing for plants, and then getting that big surprise. Time, after all, is only a human concept to which the rest of nature is oblivious.