Pumpkin Pie

The pumpkin plant found its way into my garden on a whim ... just something to do with the space left after I harvested the potatoes. Serendipity -- What amazing results. From this one plant, I have:

1. learned that I am not a disciplined gardener (see blog post below). I aspire to do better.

2. grown a birthday present for my 23 year old niece that she is tickled to receive. (Who knew?!) Her present is to come over and pick a few.

3. free fall decorations. Add a couple of pumpkins to a bale of hay or two -- Happy Autumn! Too bad I gave the corn stalks to the goats to eat.

4. tackled a fear. I hate to admit that I fear most new experiences. Mental self-arguments over the irrational nature of the fear do little to overcome the paralysis. Yet, I took pumpkin and knife in hand and set out to make a pumpkin pie from scratch. I am inordinately proud because the outcome is so much more than a delicious pie .. it is a victory for my self-esteem. Riding on the tide of this victory is my venture into uses of banana peppers which are growing even better than the weeds in my garden. I hope to blog soon about crab-stuffed baked peppers that are on the menu for tonight.