Where did all the colorful varieties of pumpkins come from?! If you do a search on the internet it can be interesting to see who says what about this or that variety. I remember growing up thinking all pumpkins were orange. Really now, were there other varieties out there being sold in the US, but we somehow missed them in all our travels?
Then I discovered the Lumina pumpkin while leafing through my seed catalog one frosty January day in North Pole. Oooooh, I thought! White pumpkins with a bright orange flesh. Supposedly tasty pumpkin as well. I found out that I could grow the Funny Face bush pumpkins easily in Alaska, but for some reason it doesn't matter where I am, either here in Utah or there in Alaska, I just can't get a Lumina to grow. I did get a tiny Cotton Candy variety to grow last year, but it wasn't any bigger than an apple. Not quite what I had in mind.
Over the past 5 or so years, I've seen many different varieties and colors of pumpkins which for someone who loves color, I'm thrilled! I can't believe we've not seen these before so I'm just guessing living in Alaska for 20 years and living in the west desert where nothing is grown except by a few of us brave souls, kept me in the dark until now. I really love the different colors, from the blue green Jaradales, to the creamy white Lumina and Cotton Candy, to the multi color miniatures that are out there. Martha Stewart had a magazine spread a couple of years ago with some very rustic burnt orange and brown pumpkins as well as the above mentioned. I want some of those! Yes I love the traditional orange pumpkins but it's fun to have a choice of color and shape. Are you a traditional pumpkin lover? Does it matter?
With all that in mind I tackled a painting that's been waiting to come out from the recesses of my tiny brain into the light of day. The colors show up brighter than they actually are, with the blue having more of a soft tint of green as well. I picked my favorite colors of pumpkins and let my brushes do the rest. A fun labor of love. I hope to create more, but we shall see.
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I must admit that I didn't realize it was Earth Day until I saw Carries' blog at Snippetgirl. But I've been celebrating all day! I worked on a cloth and clay doll creation this morning, that will have a patriotic theme. The painted wood you see in the front of the doll will be a part of her finished creation. It was a piece off of a cable spool, that I found on the ground. Was too cool to walk past and leave.
Emmett and I spent a good part of the morning planting as I'm getting starts going to take with me to Oregon in 3 weeks. My trunk will be full of seedlings. I can't just plant one you know.
Here's a bed of peas, garlic and swiss chard. The neighborhood cats would love to use these as litter boxes so I keep chicken wire over the beds.
My Rosemary, Oregano and Chives are doing quite well and could use some trimming back.
And last but not least, some tomatoes, herbs, peppers and cauliflower almost ready to transplant. Perhaps you noticed that I've used cardboard egg cartons, and cleaned up meat trays for some of my starts. I also use toilet paper rolls for collars for my little starts to help keep the cut worms and such away. The nice thing about them and the egg cartons is that they will break down and add to the soil. They are considered "brown" compost material as they are created from recyclable material. So here's to Earth Day!
