pumpkin plant

Several weeks ago, my daughter planted a vegetable garden in our front yard. This is the third year Justine has done this, and she has gotten pretty good at it. Her raised garden beds, trellises, and irrigation system are impressive, and she did it all by herself. We have tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce, and peppers galore.

Not long ago we noticed something growing outside one of the garden beds. At first we didn’t know what it was, but eventually we realized it was a pumpkin plant. This is a little strange, because she did not plant pumpkins this year. In fact, in all of her past gardens she has never planted pumpkins. We decided to let it grow just to see what would happen. The thing is HUGE! It looks like it is on track to cover our entire front yard.

A closer look this weekend revealed that this plant has several small pumpkins developing. Little green orbs about the size of a ping pong ball. We have already decided how to carve them for Halloween!

We have no idea how an errant pumpkin seed found its way to our front yard. Maybe a squirrel dropped it while nibbling on somebody’s Jack-O-Lantern. Maybe a bird dropped it while carrying it to its nest. Or maybe the Great Pumpkin planted it there so Charlie Brown would have a place to hang out on All-Hallows Eve.

Isn’t it odd? You can plant seeds, pull weeds in the hot summer sun, water them every day and your plants still die. The deer will get them, or the drought, or the hailstorm. And then when you least expect it, a plant comes along that practically grows itself.

Life is like that, isn’t it? Sometimes all the work in the world leads to nothing. All your efforts are like banging your head against the wall. But then something happens that is quite unexpected. Something effortless and beautiful and intriguing. A gift from God that puts a smile on your face. I don’t know if this plant will survive the summer. We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, does anyone have a good pumpkin pie recipe?