This past Easter the Plantswoman, aka G-ma, sent E and Little Chef (my 5 and 3 yr old) some pumpkin seeds in their Easter baskets. Seeing as it was warming up outside but not quite warm enough to plant directly into the ground we started the seeds inside. Little Chef and I planted his seeds on a warmish afternoon while E was in school.

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Susan sent a few different varieties and marked the seeds with a marker making it very easy to tell which ones were which.

PlantingPumpkins 001PlantingPumpkins 005Once the seeds were in the soil, however, it wasn’t so easy to see. I attempted to label them with file labels and toothpicks but soon figured out that system was a little too cumbersome. Once the pumpkins arrive I’m confident it will be pretty easy to see which ones are which.

PlantingPumpkins 004We picked up the seedling container from the local hardware store in their garden section.  Little Chef enjoyed planting his seeds and the seedling container was a great way to contain the mess.  Once the seeds were all planted we put the container on the window ledge of the south facing windows in our dining room. In about a week and a half we had green!

PlantingPumpkins 007In a few more days we had quite the shock of green coming out all over the place and let me tell you my kids were so excited! Watering the seedlings is a treasured job in our house right now.

PlantingPumpkins 008Did you notice the one really tall shoot in the back of that last photo? He was the first shoot to escape. When we planted our pumpkins I didn’t really help Little Chef put the seeds into the potting soil. I just let him plant them and moved on to the next thing for the day (I did try to help him but got the requisite “I do it momma” and let him be). When I noticed the first shoot of green pop out I started worrying about the other seeds. Why weren’t they popping out too? I waited a few more days and checked them again, there wasn’t any green but I did notice the little pods were taking on a new shape. I picked one up to take a closer look there were lovely white roots shooting out of the bottom. Something was growing in there but I couldn’t see it yet. A quick call and photos to my Plant-lady confirmed the seeds were growing upside down. Susan assured me they would find their way out and said if I wanted to help them out a little I could. So I cut the edges of the little pods to let the seedlings find their way a little easier. With in a day or two the rest of the little guys came out to say hello. We planted E’s seeds about a week later than Little Chef’s but they came forth like gangbusters and were ready to go out into the garden before long.

We have so enjoyed growing these pumpkins from seed. I highly recommend popping some seeds into Easter baskets or any gift given in the spring-time. It’s such a wonderful way to be a part of the earth’s awakening.