Growing Pumpkins in Small Gardens

The first pumpkin makes an appearance by early August. This is my second year of growing pumpkins in our small garden, and while I had a success last year - one good size pumpkin ready in time for Halloween, several others were nibbled by squirrels and destroyed before the vine wilted and died entirely.

We have 2 good vines growing this year, winding their way down through the corn and along the stone wall, and already have several little pumpkins forming. But the wet summer has not been kind to our pumpkins, and I'm already seeing signs of yellowing leaves.

I took a hint from a gardening book and pruned off every few leaves on the pumpkin vine to try to improve air circulation. We'll see if they make it to October

Three sisters garden (corn, beans, squash)

When the corn was up 4 inches or so (around June 8th), I thinned the corn to about 12" and planted 3-4 pole beans seeds at the base of each stalk (a mix of Kentucky blue and haricot verts). 10 days later, the corn has survived a rabbit attack and the beans are starting to sprout.

I also planted pumpkin at either end of the corn bed. This is the "three sisters garden", a supposedly beneficial planting arrangement where the beans climb the corn stalks and the squash, in this case pumpkins, fill in around the base to form a natural mulch. Greg normally does not go for such promiscuous co-minging of plants, so I've never tried this approach before.