The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

Looking out my kitchen window I see orange. The orange is moving and it is kittens as mama cat has brought her kittens to the garden to drink out of the bird bath. The kittens play and climb on the orange pumpkins placed among the flower plants.

It's pumpkin time out my kitchen window and while I don't welcome cats to my garden, these are adorable. They travel under the peony bushes crouching as they sneak from one area to another waiting to pounce on a sibling kitten.

It isn't long before they return to mama cat and snuggle while she lovingly grooms them. The kittens tire of the attention and find more tunnels of vegetation to explore ending on the far side of the flower garden as they jump on a bench and peer over the area from above. The kittens soon find new sites to explore and my view is again of a still garden looking ever so much like Fall.

The orange spots in the garden include not only pumpkins that have been placed there but also orange and red zinnias, yellow marigolds and deep purple leaves of sweet potato vine.

Fall colors remind me of previous pumpkin times including when a now-grown grandson traveled with us to a pumpkin patch, excited that he was going to find the biggest pumpkin. I remember the seven year old red faced from toting a huge pumpkin proudly to the hay rack.

There are memories of a delighted granddaughter as we grew a huge variety of pumpkins and gourds for her October wedding. We were so thrilled when she told us that her decor turned out just as she had imagined.

It seems so easy to select a pumpkin. Growing them is another thing. Pumpkins can present some challenges. Among them is squash bugs. You may be looking at a beautiful pumpkin patch but underneath the canopy of leaves the bugs are chewing away in the vines.

Then there is wilt. One day the plant appears healthy and the next it is wilted and you know there is no hope for pumpkins.

In our pumpkin patch I try to stay ahead of the hungry squash bug by spraying around the very young gourd and pumpkin plants with systemic until I can no longer walk through the patch. The past couple of years I have won.

Cleaning up a pumpkin patch after harvest is equally important. Tearing out all dried vines and hauling away any left over pumpkins, even those that are rotting, helps with disease prevention for the next growing season.

If space allows it doesn't hurt to rotate crops year to year. That isn't always so easy as vine crops take a large area.

Memories seem to grow with pumpkin patches. The patch doesn't have to be your own.

If you have an opportunity I recommend growing pumpkins. It is ever so fun to watch them grow through the summer and anticipate just what is under the canopy of green leaves.

It is also fun to visit pumpkin patches. If you don't have a child to take with you that is just fine. Pumpkin patches are for all ages.

I have always liked selecting a favorite pumpkin to put out my front door and to decorate the garden out my kitchen window.

I can't name my favorite pumpkin as the varieties are endless. I won't even begin to name them all. Pumpkins can be used in a huge assortment of ways to be decorated but there is nothing that says Fall like a bright orange pumpkin.

Here's hoping you can find the best pumpkin for your home or office and hopefully you won't be red faced from carrying it.