I'm giving out tiny pots of planted pumpkin seeds this Halloween.
Last year, I saved the seeds from pumpkins when making jack-o-lanterns and dried them. We roasted and ate some, planted others in our vegetable garden and saved the rest.
You can buy either the biodegradable planter containers or just cute little pots at the collar store, fill with earth, push in a seed, water and cover with plastic. Then you've got your unique "treat" for trick-or-treating this year. The child can transplant the seedling, and watch his or her very own pumpkin grow big and round!
Just a few weeks ago, I planted pumpkin seeds and loofa seeds in the house. I just planted the seeds, covered with plastic, and now I have a bunch of plants starting out.
My daugher got a greenhouse kit for Christmas. In that we planted cotton seeds and something else.
I live in Ottawa, Canada and the winter is here to stay for awhile. I figure that the pumpkins and loofa should be big plants by the time spring planting comes about. Sure is a lot of fun planting now and now having to wait for the spring to enjoy playing in the "Mud".
One year, in med school, we all sat on our balcony, eating watermelon and spitting the seeds onto our purported "lawn" below. The next summer, there was a watermelon patch covering the whole lawn. the landlord was baffled. We weren't.
Here in Manitoba, Canada, Halloween is usually on a very cold night. If I gave plants to the kids they would have to keep it from freezing on the way home. Then the parent would have to keep the plant alive in the house until spring, which would (with a pumpkin plant that can not have any frost while growing) mean that the pumpkin plant would be 7 months old and probably very large by the time it could be planted outside. IMPRACTICABLE here in Canada in a zone 3. What zone are you in Stephanie? Then again, if I gave the kids a "kit" with a plant pot, soil, seeds and instructions on how to grow a pumpkin, THAT would be practical. This way the kids could start the seed in March or April and be ready for transplanting in May, next year.
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