So, it seems that we didn't quite succeed in growing a giant pumpkin. This little cutie was grown from seeds we specially bought online from a very reputable seed company in the States, which promised us it'd produce a great quantity of large pumpkins. I'm quite sure there was nothing wrong with the seeds. However, despite our faithful watering and weeding, our vine came up with this: one lame little pumpkin. We kept waiting for it to grow more, but it seems that this was all the size it could manage under the circumstances. Tanzanians grow pumpkins here, so it's not like it can't be done, but we wanted big, orange (local pumpkins are green on the outside) pumpkins. We've attempted peas, zucchini, pumpkins, and quite a few other things that really should grow here, but nothing really does, with the exception of basil. Our basil plants are doing well - one success! I think we've learned our lesson - only local stuff grows locally. Don't mess with the natural system. I guess the application of this will have to come in Pennsylvania, where we'll need to figure out what grows there and stick with it. I have a feeling it's probably not hibiscus flowers, which do amazingly well here. For example:
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| One of our many hibiscus bushes around the yard, all of which nearly always have a lot of flowers year-round |
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| Stuff DOES grow here - grass doesn't do well, but check out the foliage elsewhere in our backyard! |
This is a lily plant, another one that does well here. We've got some beautiful, huge lilies! Zarya loves walking around the yard, going from flower to flower, checking on all of her friends. This one wasn't in bloom this day, but she wanted to examine the leaves after admiring the red flowers next to it. We might not be able to grow a basic pumpkin, but we enjoy fresh tropical flowers, so it's a pretty fair trade-off. We, especially Zarya, will miss the daily backyard flower tour.
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