Pumpkins are a no-show

But I only planted them on a whim, so I’m not broken up about it.  I knew I got them in the ground about a month too late, and the ground itself was almost sterile in terms of organics.  I would have been better off planting beans of some sort, and then turning them over in the fall.  But I planted pumpkins because I was excited and impatient, and so I got nothing but male flowers.

Am I upset?  Gosh, no.  I still had fun tending them.  It’s a lot like writing.  If I jump in on a whim with no thought or preparation beyond “I have a sunny spot on the yard.  Pumpkins would be fun!  I know how to grow pumpkins!”  Then I get a bunch of flowers, not three or four sturdy fruits.  Or in other words, if you try to write with the mindset of, “I have a great idea!  I know how to write!” and don’t have the stamina (light), drive (fertile soil), determination (seeds), spousal support (timing) or peers to urge you on (a good hoe to get the weeds), then all you will get flowers.  Pretty, but not what you were looking for.

Notice I didn’t put the limitation of time in there.  Time is obviously important, but a page a day will get you a manuscript in a year–if you have good soil, light, space, and a good hoe.  I wrote my first seven manuscripts while working part-time.

So no home-grown pumpkins for me this year.  I’m already planning on what I can do to amend the soil this fall. Because growing seasons are like ideas.  There is always another one next year.  😉  Sometimes it just takes a little more planning to get the result you want.  And sometimes . . . you get lucky.  My neighbor has five pumpkins growing out of his compost pile from where he dumped his pumpkin guts last year and ignored them for eleven months.  (I can’t help but laugh . . .)  Next year . . .  Just you watch.  I’ll have pumpkins coming out of my ears!