Grow Your Own Fall Display Start Today!

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1 Grow Your Own Fall Display Start Today! I love the fall season of the year. And after you grow your own fall plants, you will love it even more. As the temperatures drop ever so slightly making the nights a bit crisper, the leaves begin to change. This creates a kaleidoscope of colors in just about every landscape. My favorite part is, I can grow everything I need for my own fall display right in my own backyard. Grow Your Own Fall Display I love mixing and matching the colors of pumpkins, squash and gourds along with corn stalks to really make the porch standout. With the vast array of choices you have when it comes to these items, your decorating possibilities are truly endless.

2 Corn Stalks Corn can serve a dual purpose in the home vegetable garden. The first purpose, being the obvious, is to grow your own corn. The second is to save the stalks for your fall display. When given a good amount of space, corn stalks can grow upwards of seven feet tall with varieties such as Silver King or Queen. I was just at the store the other day and they wanted $6.98 for 3 stalks! To me that is outrageous. You can grow 3 stalks of corn for about a quarter. Pumpkins Larger pumpkins can be a bit tougher to grow since they need plenty of room and lots of water, but in my opinion they are the most fun because they are challenging and they are immediate conversation starters when the neighbors see them growing. Good larger varieties to grow at home for your fall display (and Halloween carving purposes) are Connecticut Field

3 and Jack O` Lantern with Autumn Gold being an excellent hybrid choice. With proper care, you can get pumpkins up to twenty pounds. Don t count out smaller varieties of pumpkins like Jack Be Little or Baby Boo. They fit in the palm of your hand, come in white and orange and are prolific producers. While they are only grown for fall display and decorating purposes, my kids love growing the smaller pumpkins because they grow rather quickly and they love the size. Gourds It would take me a lifetime to describe every single option you have when it comes to the gourds that you can grow. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some are edible, although most, like the smaller varieties are for decorating purposes only. You can even grow a few to make your own birdhouses. What I like to do when it comes to gourds is hit the local farmer s market and choose a few that I like. When the fall season is over, I will save the seeds from those gourds and grow them at home the following year in my home garden. The seeds are easy to save, and I am yet to not have them come up the following season. Don t be surprised though if the seeds you save produce a different type of gourd, as many can be hybrid varieties. As long as you keep saving the seeds every year, you can grow your own gourds. You could easily pay over twenty dollars for your own fall display for the front porch. However, you can also save that money and grow those items yourself, making your front porch autumn display, truly home grown.

4 About the Author Mike Podlesny is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person as well as the creator of the Seeds of the Month Club. Mike is a member of the Garden Writers Association and you can listen to him each week on the Vegetable Gardening Show where he interviews gardening industry experts. <! Begin TodaysMama TimberCreekFarmer_ROS_BTF_728x90 > <! End TodaysMama TimberCreekFarmer_ROS_BTF_728x90 >

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6 5 Fall Decorating Ideas Here are a few display ideas you can use to make your fall decorations Pop! I love decorating for fall. I also think that I keep my fall decorations out longer than any others. I do enjoy Christmas decorating too, but fall is more my style. Those warm earthy

7 colors just hit home for me. My decorating style with seasonal decorations has evolved over time. I have worked in retail and while it is not exactly the same, the ideas behind creating an eye catching display are similar. 5 Fall Decorating Ideas 1. Clean up old seasonal decor. If you had a lot of red, white and blue out for the summer, or bright floral arrangements, consider putting them away for the fall and winter holidays. Do the same with knick knacks that just don t go with the season. Sea shells mixed in with fall leaves, just isn t going to catch the eye in a good way. Give the table or sideboard, front porch or wherever you are working a good sweep. Then start to gather your decorating material. Before Wreath by Tranquility Designs and Decor by Aney

8 2.Pumpkins will probably play a large staring role in your fall decor but don t stop there. Mix in some old and new items with the pumpkins. Try to gather some items for texture, color and different heights. Add a surprise color into the scheme, like eggplant for example. If you have trouble mixing colors, google search for a color wheel and look for complimentary colors to the dark orange of pumpkins. 3. Go a bit overboard! We grew lots of pumpkins this summer and gourds made a surprise appearance, also. Try to gather the things you love and go as big as you can. A potted mum is a pretty thing all by itself, but it can be breathtaking if surrounded by the right complimentary objects. I like to use all of the fall items in my displays Mums, Pumpkins, gourds, straw, cornstalks, all have a place in my displays. If one pumpkin looks lonely sitting on your front porch, grab a few more and display them in a shallow basket or grouped on a bench. Add a mum to the grouping. Growing your own fall items is easy but if you haven t thought of it until now, its too late for this year, Next year, you can use the tips from this post, but this year, visit the local farmers market and pick up what you

9 need for your decorating. Gather your materials, use many different types of things.

10 Use smaller items such as leaves or small gourds to fill in low spaces

11 4. Think high and low. Filling in the spaces with smaller items will round out your display. If you have some beautiful fall leaves in your yard, scatter a few around the pumpkins on the porch. use a dot of glue to make them stick where you want them. Use an old ladder or cornstalks to add some height to your display. Decorative flags are also a nice addition. 5. Use unconventional items in the display. Do you have an interesting pitcher or vase? dried grasses or flowers might add some height to your display. How about a family photo in a frame as part of the scene. I like to add in vintage kitchen items, wooden crates, baskets and something made of glass. Mixing all the different textures makes me happy. If you don t like the rustic look of lots of vintage items grouped together, you could achieve an eye catching fall theme by just using one or two colors in a more monochromatic look. Try mixing in one medium size white pumpkin with an assortment of sizes of orange pumpkins. Place the pumpkins at different heights to make it eye catching. Take a look at some of the decorative ideas I used in our home this year.

12 Start with a clean slate

13 There is a large sideboard that sits near our family dining table. Usually it hold various knick Knacks that I like to display. But, for fall, I cleared it off and put together a big fall display.

14 Start by putting down a protective cloth in case the pumpkin begins to ooze or sweat. Almost done. But it needs something else. Adding in the silk leaves and a couple of small signs, filled out the display. You can also use pretty leaves from your yard.

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16 I am loving the ornamental cabbage color in my fall display

17 After Picture Beautiful Mum plants from David s Natural Market in Gambrills,Maryland.

18 Our back entrance has steps so I used the steps and the mums from David s Natural Market in Gambrills Maryland, to direct the eye up the steps. Adding in the pumpkins, gives the display more texture and interest.