• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • The Gardenangelists Podcast
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

What Goes Around, Comes Around

July 21, 2007 By Carol Michel 8 Comments

Earlier this spring, I was at Lowes with my youngest sister and my nephew and I saw a packet of seeds for Atlantic Giant pumpkins. I’ve always wanted to try to grow a ginormous pumpkin, but I just don’t have that kind of space in my garden. Those vines can grow everywhere and won’t be contained to one raised bed.

So, I grabbed the packet of five seeds and said to my sister, “Will you grow these in your garden?” “Hey”, I said to my nephew-who-is-five, “how would you like to grow a pumpkin that is as big as you are?”

My sister responded, “Sure!” My nephew thought it would be fun and laughed at the idea of it.

I felt a little evil about it, knowing how big the vine would get, but brushed those thoughts aside.

How exciting this would be! My sister would have the sprawling pumpkin vines all over and I would get to occasionally visit “my” pumpkins and see how big they were getting. I realized that we wouldn’t grow any record breaking sized pumpkins, but we should get some big ones. And I keep saying “we” because after all, I bought the seeds!

Yes, I was all smug about how she would have the big pumpkin vine to contend with and I would have my nice neat vegetable garden with the freshly mulched paths, everything weeded, all the plants more or less staying in their own raised beds. I like some vegetation to spill out along the sides of the beds, but not so much that they block a path through the garden. That picture above is of the pumpkin vines about 3 weeks ago in my sister’s garden, freely growing wherever they wanted to grow, heading out toward her lawn.

Did I mention I planted a two hills of spaghetti squash in my own garden?

When I ordered the seeds for spaghetti squash last winter, I was only thinking that I love spaghetti squash and decided I should grow some. I gave no thought to what size vine it would be. I knew it would be a bigger vine, but I thought I could keep it in one raised bed.

I was wrong. I have as many spaghetti squash vines taking over my garden as my sister has pumpkin vines taking over her garden.

Now I go out to my garden and I think about my sister’s pumpkins and realize that what goes around, comes around.

Next year I might just give in and grow my own pumpkins.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: family, vegetable gardening

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    July 21, 2007 at 3:14 pm

    That’s what happens when you try to get sneaky. Are there any pumpkins growing on the vines?

    Reply
  2. Gina says

    July 21, 2007 at 4:51 pm

    have you seen michelle’s “big pumpkin” at mygrandpasgarden.com? it’s kinda scary

    Reply
  3. Annie in Austin says

    July 21, 2007 at 8:20 pm

    The kids will have fun watching the pumpkins grow and I hope they’ll be shared with Aunt Carol! But as for a trade in field crops for next year… somehow it doesn’t seem likely that your nephew will get excited about growing spaghetti squash.

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

    PS What kinds of recipes do you use for the spaghetti squash?

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    July 21, 2007 at 8:35 pm

    Last year I planted pumpkins. They got some kind of squash bug, a flat white thing. They destroyed all the pumpkins, even though I did all I could do to keep them away. I didn’t grow any this year. We might go to the apple orchard again to get them out of their field. (Do you think the youngest sister will get suspicious now when you ask her to plant something, after reading this blog?)
    Kathy, the older sister.

    Reply
  5. Andrea's Garden says

    July 21, 2007 at 11:15 pm

    Thanks for sharing your story. It was fun to read. 🙂 When my boys were little we tried to grow pumpkins, but weren’t too successful at that. Greetings from Germany, Andrea

    Reply
  6. Robin (Bumblebee) says

    July 22, 2007 at 12:33 am

    Personally, I think a little untidiness in the name of productivity is a good thing. : )

    I am always suspicious of too tidy gardens. Nature just doesn’t work that way.

    –Robin (Bumblebee)

    Reply
  7. Unknown says

    July 22, 2007 at 3:02 am

    My pumpkin plants got dug up and eaten last year by something, before I had my new and improved veggie garden, more heavily fortified. But you should see my watermelon vine. Good lord, its out of control. Can’t wait to see what size pumpkins “you” end up with.

    Reply
  8. Silvia Hoefnagels . Salix Tree says

    July 22, 2007 at 11:46 am

    I’d love to be able to grow pumpkin. I try every so often, but I think it’s too cold or wet here. So the plants just sit and sulk. I love the way the vines look, very exotic with thier big yellow flowers.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,053)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Newsletter Archive

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT