We've had pumpkin vines in our yard in the past that came as a result of an old pumpkin being tossed into our compost pile but every time we had a pumpkin form it rotted or the groundhogs got to them.

This year we noticed a vine in early June and thought what the heck. Lets see what happens. This vine grew longer and larger than any in the past although we only got 2 pumpkins to grow. This morning I noticed the groundhogs checking out this particular pumpkin and sent our dogs out to chase them away. Well the dogs ran across the vine to go after the groundhogs and the vine snapped right at the stem of this particular pumpkin.
As you can see it still has a little green to it. It is much deeper orange in person than the photo shows. So I put it on top of a chair in a sunny spot so it can ripen up a little more.

It surprised me that the side of the pumpkin that was on the ground (not shown in the photo because its in the back) was actually riper than the rest of the pumpkin.

I'm tickled that it looks so good. After several years of getting a pumpkin vine out of our compost pile and not having anything to show for it this is very exciting for all of us.

I'm going to save some seeds from this pumpkin and plant them in a container around May to get them started next year and then plant a couple of vines in the hopes of maybe having a few more pumpkins. Maybe with 2 or more vines side by side we'll get more fruit. This year and every year in the past we've only ever had one vine with little to no pumpkins.

Has anyone else ever picked a pumpkin a little early and have any luck with it ripening up afterwards? I think my husband would have freaked out if this one ended up groundhog food. He goes out every morning checking on it and tells everyone how he has 2 pumpkins in the yard and talks to his friends about their pumpkin vines and how well they're doing.