Saturday, June 09, 2012

The Compassionate Pumpkin


This is a repeat post from 2007 but I thought some of you new readers would enjoy it. That was the year that a very early Spring, followed by a severe frost, played havoc with our state’s fruit trees. My son, for instance, has over 40 blueberry bushes. They are great producers and he always has more than he can possibly use, but in 2007 he didn’t harvest enough to fill a quart jar.

So, it was not a complete surprise when I visited friends in Blowing Rock, North Carolina and saw that all their apple trees were devoid of fruit. They said the trees had produced a few wrinkled and sour apples but nothing worth eating or putting into a pie.

The strange thing, however, was what did manage to survive. In hopes to buffer the effects of the freeze they had used a mixture of compost and loam around the trees. This didn’t seem to work but, much to their surprise a healthy and robust vine started to grow from the base of one of the apple trees. The tendrils wrapped around the trunk and moved protectively up into the branches and, as the owners watched in amazement, a seedling appeared far up in the crook of the tree limbs.

Nothing could stop the progress of that hardy little guy and it wasn’t long before the seedling took on shape and color. IT WAS A PUMPKIN … growing larger and happier with each passing day,

My friends were thrilled and dubbed it “the compassionate pumpkin” who couldn’t bear to leave the apple tree fruitless.

10 Comments:

Blogger Bonnie Jacobs said...

What a great story -- and picture! Thanks for sharing from your srchives.

5:45 PM  
Anonymous schmidleysscribblins,wordpress.com said...

A sweet story and maybe spicy too.

7:48 AM  
Blogger Arkansas Patti said...

I love this story!!! That was really strange but sweet. Thank goodness they got a picture of it.

1:51 PM  
Blogger Diana said...

That is such a neat story Ginnie. That must have looked beautiful.
Love Di ♥

1:53 PM  
Blogger possum said...

For real?
What a cool story!
A Buddhist pumpkin.

2:49 PM  
Blogger Anvilcloud said...

What a delightful anecdote, Ginnie.

5:26 PM  
Blogger kenju said...

A very nice story. Maybe all pumpkin seeds should be planted at the base of trees. It would make for pumpkins with no blemishes (from laying on their sides.)

8:31 AM  
Blogger Beatrice P. Boyd said...

A charming story and even better, a true one. Thanks for sharing.

6:57 PM  
Blogger Syd said...

Great story! That little pumpkin was a miracle of sorts. How does your son keep the birds off the blueberries? I think next year, I will have to net the bushes. They were loaded and the birds ate all the berries.

5:28 AM  
Blogger Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

This is a charming little story with your interpretation of the event.

Sadly, this year has seen the destruction of most of the apple crop in the North East, US and Canada. this is a result of an early warm Spring and then a deep frost as the flowers bloom. Such unusual events may become more frequent with the changing weather patterns.

It happens here occasionally with the wild blueberries. When their blooms are killed with frost the Bears have a difficult time finding berries.

12:01 PM  

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