Pumpkin Patch (Pumpkin Sex)

Here are photos of my pumpkin patch at the beginning if summer. Notice how lush the leaves look. So healthy and green. Notice the pretty yellow flowers. These are the male flowers. The female flowers are lower, under the foliage. My guess is that the grand design was to attract the bees with the longer stemmed male flower, then the bees will pollinate the female flowers, and what you get are beautiful pumpkins by the end of summer.


Past experience has taught me that sometime Mother Nature needs a little help. Hence, pumpkin sex. When I noticed the female flowers finally blooming, I would break off a male flower, tear off it's petals and swirl it around inside the female flower. And voila! Pumpkins

Starting to turn color.

Taken this morning. The leaves are dying but the pumpkins are almost ready to harvest and cure. Hopefully they can hang on till Halloween. I will cure them by cutting them from the vine about four inches from the pumpkin and put them in the green house for about ten days. This will cause the shell to harden and keep the fruit fresh for a longer time (4-6 months) if kept in a cool place not touching each other.











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