There is beauty in the ending.

Well, it's the end of the summer, and this will be my second to last update about this year's black plastic pumpkin patch.

The leaves are lookin a little... yellow and mildewy.  Not to fear, this is normal.  It is called powdery mildew, and while you can try to fight it, in my humble opinion, you will never win.  As long as it stays away until the fruits are pretty established, there is no need to worry.

If it hits in July, you can pull off the affected leaves.  Put them in the yard waste bin, not your compost!  The spores build up in the soil, and will hurt next years crop if too many spores build up.

This is why we rotate crops.

Pulling affected leaves will slow it down.

The pumpkins are effectively grown up.  They are bright orange and will not grow any larger.

But we are going to leave them for a few weeks yet, because what is happening is that they are curing.  The weather is hardening the outer shells so that they will last all winter and into the spring if need be.  (Although if we wanted to harvest one for cooking now, that would be fine)  We will let them hang out on the vine until we feel a snap in the air, and until their stems are brown and hard.

My guess is that there about 20 pumpkins in this patch, although who knows what the final number will be.

I have a feeling there will be one heck of a Halloween party at my friend's house :0)  Until then, it's time to prepare for the new school year.

This is such a bitter sweet time of year, don't you think?