Halloween is upon us, a well liked American holiday growing in popularity in Ireland. For me, its time to clear leaves in the garden, relax by the fire at night, and sip warm drinks such as hot chocolate or mulled wine.
Growing pumpkins has not been an achievement of mine. Instead I visit a pumpkin 'farm' (don't think they're grown locally) and choose one or two to carve for a bit of night time Halloween atmosphere.
Can't believe its almost November and I've still loads of weeding and tidying to do in the garden. I'm thinking it may be Christmas before I take a break from all the outdoor chores. When do you take time off from the garden and hibernate a bit over the winter?
Can't believe its almost November and I've still loads of weeding and tidying to do in the garden. I'm thinking it may be Christmas before I take a break from all the outdoor chores. When do you take time off from the garden and hibernate a bit over the winter?
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| Happy Halloween! |
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I'm with you in having never quite managed to grow a pumpkin. It nearly happened this year but the slugs nibbled the bottom of it & as the pumpkin grew so did the hole.
ReplyDeleteInteresting pumpkin! Now, I only plant little variety of pumpkin, cause I just have a small space for gardening. Local variety pumpkin usually have big fruit more than 5 kg and grow so easy and fast, but they need wide space.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the tradition over in Ireland was before the pumpkin became popular - over here it was carving out Turnips. We never see the turnips now, which is a shame that this tradition is lost.
ReplyDeleteIn the garden, I've started doing a few things but very few leaves have fallen yet, so I foresee it will be a while before I give the garden chores a rest.
Happy Halloween Kelli!
We've slowed down on the gardening front but will keep doing bits as the weather allows. WE have some winter projects lined up if the weather allows!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Kelli, we have grown pumpkins the kids loved the idea and watched them carefully for Halloween but they never grew huge. Where is the Pumpkin farm?
ReplyDeleteSoon. I hope. The weather has been very wet, so after everything froze we have a mess. The tomato vines have been removed, but there is more to do. And I thought that Halloween originated in ancient Ireland and that turnips were first used. I'll do some reading and get back to you on that.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to hear different country's traditions. The best thing, to me, about pumpkins is all the delicious things one can make with them, such as pumpkin donuts, pumpkin cheese cake, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake and even pumpkin scones. Yum to all that!
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