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Pumpkins & Gourds 
Save Pumpkin & Gourd Seeds Remember to save your favorite pumpkin and gourd seeds to plant in the spring so that you can have your very own fall harvest next year and kids just love to watch them grow all summer.
Pumpkins are great bases for fall topiaries. Just put a branch in the top of a sturdy pumpkin, put a Styrofoam ball on top and cover with leaves, apples, pears or even white lights. They really stand out if you can put them on top of a clay pot or plant stand by your front door or by your fireplace.
Decorate Pumpkins & Gourds There are plenty of ways to decorate with pumpkins and now with the new varieties of different colored ones, especially white and pale green ones, even if you don’t like orange for your décor, you can still decorate for fall. Draw your design on your pumpkin, cut the bottom off instead of the top and clean out the seeds. Use a drill to poke holes in the pumpkin where your design is and you can either put white lights inside and poke through the holes or just put a candle inside on the bottom piece of pumpkin that you cut off. Of course you must add some mums for that burst of color that fall is all about.
For holiday decorating, take the small green and white gourds and line them up across your mantle (remember to use an odd number). Fill a bowl with mixtures of gourds or fall fruit and put them on your coffee table or in a basket on your porch. Put small pumpkins or gourds on your dinning table in the center or at each person’s place setting, cut a small hole in the top the size of a tea light candle and put the candle inside for a festive look, you can even use apples. For an additional touch, tie a stem of mums around a napkin with some raffia.
Recipes, Crafts, Etc... In the fall, my children love to make things for the birds to eat for the winter. We make wreaths out of dried sunflower seed heads and other items from the garden that they will eat. We make garland out of dried fruit, popcorn, orange slices, suet covered cut –out shapes and whatever we can find. And of course we cover pinecones with a peanut butter, shortening mixture that gets devoured quickly.
Let your garden go to seed and as hard as it is for you, leave the seed heads for the birds for winter, you will be amused at the antics the birds go through to land on the seed heads. Some flowers that are particularly appealing are sunflowers, coneflowers and just about anything with a substantial seed head.
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