Hello, ‘Gourd-ous!’ Life Lessons From the Pumpkin Patch
My husband is a pumpkin farmer in his 21st year growing the popular squash.
As he explains it: “It began when I wanted the children in our son’s kindergarten class to be able to visit a pumpkin patch and take home a pumpkin. I’ve been growing them ever since.”
Every year has been different. He has planted different varieties, used different fertilizer combinations,
gone organic to protect the honey bees, and gone to war fighting the fire ants. He plows, tills, hoes, and ruminates on how to eliminate morning glory vines, stickery weeds, and borer worms. Many years have produced an overwhelming pumpkin harvest, other years have been a bust, with disappointments and questions about what has gone wrong.
There have been some years when brutal droughts dehydrated the plants and dwarfed the crop, while other seasons brought hurricanes that dumped so much water on the field the pumpkin plants drowned. But this year was perfect. The pumpkin farmer decided to adhere to the seed company’s instructions: “Plant three seeds to a hill, then thin to one plant after the seedlings have three leaves.” Easy to say; very hard to do.
Anyone who has planted seeds knows the arduous task of “thinning the seedlings.” Each seedling holds potential pumpkins, and to simply pull them up when they’re so young and vigorous seems counterintuitive. This year it paid off. He harvested a bumper crop of beautiful pumpkins.
I am the harvesting helper. I enjoy this annual duty. Moving the pumpkins from the field to the pallets not only helps my daily step count, but it gives my arms, shoulders, and back a good weightlifting workout. It is a cool phenomenon to experience the sensory event every year: finding the pumpkins hidden among the umbrella-like leaves like oversized Easter eggs; smelling the late summer aroma of ripening fruits; hearing the buzz of the bees and the crunch of the soil underfoot, and feeling the sturdy stems as I lift them from the field. It’s a marvel that in less than 80 days these amazing plants produce such beautiful, colorful fruit.
As I witnessed the whole pumpkin patch process this year, I was inspired to consider how a field of orange, white, yellow and green pumpkins, of many sizes and shapes, can offer a kindred likeness to life, with colorful hues of enlightenment and insightful counsel on living well.
Here are some lessons from the pumpkin patch:
Clear the Clutter. Before the pumpkins can be planted, the field has to be prepared. Plowing and tilling rid the ground of grass, weeds and the occasional rock. Decluttering our spaces, homes, offices, and brains, likewise, is essential for healthy living. Clutter, the first cousin to hoarding, creates stress. Stress produces a hormone called cortisol and cortisol can literally change the shape of our brains and the way we feel. Author Tisha Morris refers to clutter as “stagnant energy.” She says, “Where there’s clutter in your home, there will be clutter in you — either physically, mentally or emotionally.” Our environment is a feedback loop. We build our clutter around some psychological component — impulses, sentiment, memories, fear, guilt, or an ideal version of ourselves. Then the clutter itself results in negative psychological effects of stress, feeling bad about ourselves, having short attention spans and focus, and leading to undesired behaviors, like procrastination, apathy, and interfering with our relationships. 1 Clear the clutter.
Thin the Seedlings. Pumpkins thrive when there is less competition and room to grow. For humans, this is giving oneself permission to “thin out” the relationships that may be competing for the same space. Simply put: establish better boundaries. Say, “Yes,” when you want to say, “Yes,” and, “No,” when you want to say, “No.” Saying, “No,” on the inside, but, “Yes,” on the outside is a set up for frustration and will sap your time, energy and, likely, money. Set and keep the healthy boundaries.
Use the Right Fertilizer. Eating well is fundamental to good health and well-being. Healthy eating helps us to maintain a healthy weight and reduces our risk of Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and some cancers. Healthy eating has many other benefits. When we eat well we sleep better, have more energy and better concentration — and this all adds up to healthier, happier lives! 2 Be intentional about making healthy nutritional choices.
Let the Sunshine In. According to “15 Benefits of Sunshine,” by Nicole Dossantos, when natural sunlight hits the skin, it triggers the body’s production of vitamin D. Vitamin D is also known as “the sunshine vitamin.” It
is a crucial ingredient for overall health; protects against inflammation, lowers high blood pressure, helps muscles, improves brain function and may even protect against cancer. Low levels of vitamin D can cause heart disease, prostate cancer and dementia. Your body is meant to be in the sun, and exposure to
sunlight during the day is crucial to your well-being. In fact, it is advised to get at least 10-15 minutes of sunlight daily. Exposure to sunlight has a huge impact on depression, seasonal affective disorder and sleep quality. Adding a little sunshine to your life can even promote weight loss. Sunshine allows for fun outdoor activities: Go on a hike, take up a new sport, go for a run, bike around your neighborhood or even plan a camping trip. You will be surprised to see what spending a little time outdoors can do for your health. 3 Get out and soak in the sunshine.
Shine from Within. In addition to decorating for the fall, carving pumpkins is a favorite activity to do every year. Cutting through the thick skin and removing the seeds and pulp is messy, but it’s a reminder to remove the yucky things from our lives. This gives us the opportunity to shine from within, with the same glow as the
candle inside a Jack-o-lantern. In the annual cartoon favorite, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” Linus says, “I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one.” With these simple life lessons from the pumpkin patch, the sentiment rings true even more. Living these lessons with sincere intention will produce a bumper crop of bountiful blessings!
Notes
1 “Massive Psychological Effects of Clutter, According To Science.” Mia Danielle
2 “Why Healthy Eating Matters, Eating Well is Fundamental to Good Health and Well-Being.”
Food in Care
3 “15 Health Benefits of Sunshine.” Nicole Dossantos
