Sometimes the most productive plants in the home garden are the ones we don’t plan on growing.  Such is the case with the pumpkin vine that volunteered in my front planter box this summer.

I planted marigolds in the box for the summer and at one point in July I top dressed with compost from my home compost pile.  In late July a curcurbit of some sort sprouted.  I let it grow just to see what it was and it quickly dominated the marigolds.  A few round squashes started to develop but the local squirrels got most of them.  I managed to keep this one.

By the end of October, I had a unique fall pumpkin display.

I finally harvested my pumpkin after the first hard frost in the middle of November.

Closeup of The Pumpkin

Pumpkin on a scale

So now I have a 24 pound pumpkin and I’m making pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving Day dinner later this week.  That’ll use up 8 ounces.  Now I have to figure out what to do with the other 376!