Small Front Porch: Fall Makeover

Fall is such a beautiful season in Minnesota. The colors are spectacular so of course the front porch has to reflect the changing colors and beauty of the season! This is the first year that I planted pumpkins, and it was so exciting to be able to decorate with them and not have to worry about a budget! The only thing that I didn’t have on hand were the mums! As a flower and plant lover, mums are a must for Fall! Maybe I will try planting those next year, too!

First of all, the shadow in the window would be Cara! She was not happy that I was spending time outside without her! Also, the pumpkin in the front has become food to something, so I am leaving it in hopes that they will leave the other pumpkins alone!

I attempted to keep the design clean and simple this year. I used three of the pots that I had filled with petunias and snapdragons this summer for the mums. I like how they have somewhat of a wicker appearance (they are solid plastic) which I tend to associate with fall. I have had these colorful leaf garlands since I was in college. I believe I got them at the dollar store! I don’t generally like to decorate with “fake” things just because I like to try to use what I have around, but I had used them in my dorm and I think they helped to pull more fall color into this arrangement!

We had these orange lights from a couple of years ago when we decorated for Halloween. I wanted to find a way to mix Halloween into my fall decor without being “spooky.” I feel like the lights and the light up ghost fit in okay with my other decor…

The larger pumpkins (the one that has been eaten from and the one up by the ghost) are the Big Max variety. They don’t have a ton of texture but they get some personality to their shape. I honestly don’t think I will likely plant this variety again because they are really smooth and don’t seem to have very hardy skins compared to the other variety I planted. I don’t have a lot of experience growing pumpkins though, so we will see what I feel like when we buy the seeds next spring!

The smaller, more uniform pumpkins are the Jack-O’-Lantern variety. They are all very similar in size, shape, and color. They aren’t huge, but they are a great medium sized pumpkin variety. We plan to carve some of these… mainly so we can cook up the seeds 🙂 Caleb also made a pumpkin soup from one of these that turned out really well! If/when that recipe is perfected I will be sure to share it with you!

As far as planning for next year, I think I will try growing my own mums and some additional varieties of pumpkins just to add a little bit more character and interest. But, overall, I’m happy with how it looks this year and I can’t begin to explain how rewarding it was growing and using my own pumpkins! Grow a garden, y’all! Happy Fall! 🙂