Matt's Plants & Co – Australia

We harvested our first Waltham Butternut pumpkin of the season this week – coming in at 911 grams.

Plus, there’s another one coming through which we think is even larger (pictured; we forgot to take a photo of the first one before digging into it).

And, given it was the first time trying to grow pumpkin, we’re happy with the fruits of our labour.

So, how long does it take to harvest a pumpkin? How do you know when a pumpkin’s ready to be harvested?

Care

We planted two seeds together in early November, so it took three-and-a-half months from the moment we popped the seeds in the ground to being able to put pumpkin on our dinner plates.

The pumpkins appeared back in January. At the time, I pulled one of them off because it was trying to grow behind the tomato plants and it just wasn’t getting enough sun.

It’s good to add here that we really didn’t do much with the plant. It got a sprinkling of general fertiliser and was kept well-watered, but that was about it.

Fast forward to February and we knew the first one was ready because when we knocked on the pumpkin, it made a hollow sound. It also easily came off with a gentle tug.

Costs

Gardening isn’t all about saving money – there’s also the sense of pride in growing something and many gardeners will tell you it just tastes better homegrown, amongst other benefits.

But it is good to highlight the return on investment when it comes to growing your own produce.

I spent $1.50 at The Seed Collection for 10 Waltham Butternut Pumpkin seeds (and I have eight seeds left). If I use the actual cost per seed – 15 cents – then I’m looking at $0.30.

There are also costs associated with water, soil and fertiliser, but I would estimate these come to less than $1.

A whole Coles Butternut Pumpkin is $3.50kg and I reckon the other pumpkin coming through will bring my total to 2 kilograms’ worth of vegetables.

So, there’s a return of $7 from a $1.30 investment. It’s even higher if you compare it to the organic variety, which is $6kg.

Of course, there is also the time you put into the vegie patch, but it’s not really work when it’s in the garden, is it?

Let me know in the comments how your vegetable garden is going.