It could have been an animal rather than a person, but it will be interesting to see what your trail cam records.

Get one of those motion-detector sprinklers used to ward off deer. Did you see footprints in the pumpkin patch?

Brilliant idea to put your address on the bottom! I should have done that in our old neighborhood when kids were stealing jack o lanterns.

Fun, it isn't an animal. They leave at least pumpkin crumbs and the stem behind. It was definitely taken.

Bpath, no water handy. The patch is 300 yards from the house and across the road. Good idea though.

You can't see footprints. I have straw down in the patch. I walk in their so I wouldn't be able to tell.

Yes to cameras. We have them on multiple properties. Police have used our tapes to solve crimes.

Hopefully you can get to the bottom of this.

I used to put cute little light up Halloween ornaments on my porch. One was taken. I no longer bother.

Always put up cameras. I get why you are mad. When we still lived in a neighborhood my tomatoes were stolen. Every one. I had huge tomato plants and as soon as one started to ripen it was gone. It was a bunch of little kids. People thought I was crazy because I was so mad that some kids were stealing my tomatoes. But they were MINE! Grow your own or ASK you little deviant. Why do some people think is okay to trespass and steal?

Same problem at work. I grew tomatoes there too and never got one. They were eaten by what I call tomato weasels. Again people thought I was overreacting. I bought the plants, the pots,the dirt, the fertilizer,the cages. Why is it okay for people to steal the fruit? Plants are NOT free.

But again, cameras. If you know can see who stole it,print out a picture of the thief and go ask their parents for it back politely.

A sensor ghost that jumps out and says BOO!

I'd say cover them with powdered dye - but you probably want orange pumpkins, don't you?

I am so sorry, I would be upset as well. I hope the camera works and puts your mind at ease, it would be terrible if some two bit no good thief stopped you from growing in the future.

I too would be mad. Any time someone helps themselves to something that doesn't belong to them, I'm really offended. My SIL and her husband are gone a lot. Ever since she had a package valued at several hundred dollars taken from her door, she's had all she orders delivered to our address down the street. Our house is set back farther from the street and someone would have to walk in the circular drive to notice a package at the door.

I'm trying to think of something really disagreeable and inconvenient you could use to booby trap your pumpkin patch, but without power or water there I'm not coming up with anything. ;0)

A thief! I'd be PO'd too.. How about a door stop siren? Click on that link. Put it under the pumpkin, when the pumpkin is lifted, the siren goes off. It would scare the YAyA out of your pumpkin thief. lol :0) Note: Ebay sells them too or your local hardware store

I would think that a thief would simply remove your address label from the bottom of the pumpkin. It might be late for cameras. The thief may not return. In the future though, a photo will catch them in the act! It would be great to see them jump up in the air when a siren went off. :-)

Maybe some really strong disagreeable smell?

I saw white pumpkins for sale at the store yesterday, beginning at $10 for a SMALL one. I get exactly why you're p.o'ed!!!

All the time & effort put in to growing them, and then having the reward snatched right out from under your nose. It's flat out WRONG.

Wouldn't surprise me if it were an adult stealing them, rather than a teen.

Trail cam is a good start!!

Thank you to those who understand. Flowers, vegetables, trees, or shrubs, there is something about nurturing a little seed or plant to watch it grow and develop to its full potential. Only to have someone take it from you.

I could just go buy a white pumpkin, but I want my white pumpkin.

I thought of dye, but then I would get it all over me when I went to harvest them. Plus the rain would wash it away.

I used permanent marker to label the pumpkins.

I love the idea of a strong smell. Some rank smelling cheese. Or break eggs to rot on the pumpkins.

I hope the stolen pumpkin rots on them, and makes a mess because it wasn't cured yet.

I would be pissed too. Nothing worse than a thief.

Oh, I'd be annoyed too. I'm not a very good gardener, but I've been nurturing pansy seeds since June and the plants are almost ready to bloom now. I'm hoping I'll get some flowers before the first frost kills them. If someone were to take my plants, I'd be quite upset about it. Stealing is stealing.

As far as what you can do - would it be possible to plant them closer to your house? That might allow you to keep a closer eye on things and the thief might not be as bold about coming near your home especially if you have a dog that barks.

I'm sorry that happened to you.

I too am sorry this happened to you! I don't like thieves either and I don't like the feeling that my yard or home have being invaded. It is a yucky feeling.

Dawn, I might plant the special pumpkins next year in a area where we just removed a pine tree in our backyard. Pumpkins take a lot of space. Even though I got the space I really don't feel like digging up the yard. The spot they are in now is perfect. It was a compost pile at one time so the ground is really fertile and since it borders the field the pumpkins can run anyway it wants to.

There is no trespassing signs on each side of the patch and it is very dark at night. No lights anywhere and we have skunks. I wouldn't even go up there at night. We live in a low crime area on a private road and there is tall flowers hiding the patch from the road. Someone had to be trespassing during the day to even see the patch and the white pumpkin in the first place.

2 weeks ago I did catch two grown teenage girls on our tire swing up there. I nicely explained that they were on private property and they apologized and left. I really didn't care that they were on the swing, but if they got hurt guess who would of got sued.

Late in the Dirty Thirties depression, or during World War II, Dad saw a car a bit over a quarter of a mile away, by the small orchard at the side of our gravel road, part of our rather large farm, a couple of miles from our village and about eight from the city. Going back there, Dad saw a fellow picking windfall apples into a basket so asked him what he was doing. The guy said that he was just picking up a few of the many apples lying there. When Dad spoke of this being private property and that the owners had full right to the apples and need of them, the fellow said that he was only taking a few of the many there. When Dad asked him if he had a garden or a flower bed in his home, and he said that he did, then when Dad asked how he'd like Dad to come pick some of his veggies or flowers, he became quite incensed, saying that they were his property and Dad would be quite out of line: a thief ... he found it rather difficult to understand/admit that the situations were the same.

ole joyful

Joyful, That guy was lucky your dad didn't have his shot gun on him or he would have been taking pieces of lead home.

Make a sign that says "please do not steal this pumpkin!" Place it next to the pumpkin.

I love your heading and it makes me laugh! I do know the seriousness of it, I just find your heading cute.

I too would be pi$$ed. Anything that isn't yours, is mine. Period.

A white pumpkin arranged with orange ones looks nice, and yes, they're expensive. Best of luck, I like the idea of the camera and your address written on the bottom!!

It might not be a teenage thief

Joyful's story reminded me of learning about the Great Depression from my grandmother and her sister (both deceased). When I was in college, I was home visiting, and we sat in my grandma's living room talking. They began telling stories about growing up on a farm during the Depression and how fortunate they were to be able to grow their own food. They talked about how once in a while a chicken or pig was stolen, vegetables went missing, etc. They just talked rather matter-of-factly about it. I asked if these people stealing their food made them angry, and they just looked at me with blank stares. "No. They were hungry."

But back to Function's situation, assuming the stealers weren't just "hungry" for pumpkin... this would make me furious. The white pumpkins are special, and not having mine that I had grown myself would be disappointing. It has to be someone who knows your property very well. Can you send a note around to the neighbors asking them to be on the lookout, so they're aware that you know and are keeping an eye on it?

I hope that whoever stole it has some semblance of a conscience right now and isn't able to fully enjoy your white pumpkin out of guilt.

Another approach: post a sign saying something like "We're growing pumpkins for grandkids*. If you want a pumpkin, stop by the house and ask first so you don't take a 'special' one. Thank you"

*might or might not be true, but come up with something to prick a teenager's conscience, assuming it's the two girls you saw earlier and they aren't beyond hope.

Graywings your comment made me laugh. I was perusing the Internet last night for ideas. One person put out a do not steal sign in their garden and someone stole the sign.

Feathers, I'm 99 % sure it wasn't one of the other 3 neighbors. It could be one of their visitors though. Who knows. Yes, someone has to of been back here. We are off the beaten path.

I don't think petty thieves have conscious. In their minds they reason why it is ok to steal. " They arn't going to use them all "., "They have so many they wouldn't miss one", " They can afford it",

Yinz got me wondering what white pumpkins do cost. I never priced one. We are taking the granddaughters to a local pumpkin farm in a few weeks I'm sure they will have some for sale. Our run of the mill grocery store carving pumpkins are running $6 this year

I'm so sorry this happened! I treasure, ridiculously so, each of the Cinderella pumpkins I grow. I haven't tried growing white pumpkins yet--but I'm sure it was amazing, and that you were looking forward to enjoying it as part of your Fall season :(

You could make a make-shift cage out of chicken wire. All you are looking to do is make it more difficult to steal. Gardener's Supply sells a cloche to stop animals from nibbling, but it is so darn cute, someone is likely to steal it too. Edited to add: thanks for catching my typo, Elmer. :)

I grew some very hard skinned, orange squash in a garden plot at iur lake home. Garden was not visible from the road, so you had to tresspass to know it was there.

One year I was harvesting a couple dozen (I have to grow my own food due to food allergies.) Along come two twentysomething people with a small knife in their hand. I surprised then because I was cutting up vines behind some bushes. They said, "Nice pumkins-can we have a couple?" I told them "Sorry, I need these for food." One guy got mad and started swearing at me calling me greedy, then he stopped short when he saw the garden machete in my hand down by my leg. I raised it up and told them to head back down the road.

From that time on I always carry some form of protection when away from my cabin-blade, gun, or walking staff. Only ever used one against an aggressive dog, but living near a summer resort, we've had plenty of bored teens and drunking wandering around our 2 acres uninvited.

Chocolate, I wanted to also grow cinderella pumpkins this year, but couldn't find any seeds locally. I guess next year I will have to order seeds. I think they are so cute. Question can you harvest their seeds to plant the next year or do they not come out the same as the mother cinderella?

I love white pumpkins. I bought one one year and it lasted for three whole years before it finally dissolved into a puddle of goo. I couldn’t believe how long it lasted.

I would be very upset if I had grown pumpkins and somebody came along and stole some of them.

I think the game cameras are a great idea and I would also be going around collecting dog/cow/horse poop and spreading it around all of the pumpkins. You’ll know to be careful walking out there but if anybody else comes out there, they will at least take an extra little reminder home with them.

Well that really stinks. Stealing your pumpkin was just plain mean. When I was inSeattle someone had a few pumpkins growing in their front yard. I was kind of amazed that no one had snagged them.

Someone used to steal our pumpkin off my front porch, for a few years in a row. Kids, I’m sure. Do you remember those toy safes that kids had? It had a simple combination lock and a bell rang loudly when you opened the door. I took one of those safes and set it on its back with the door facing up. I put the pumpkin on top of the door so when you lifted it, the door sprang open and the bell rang. That scared the kids away! They lifted it up and then ran like the dickens.Too funny. Low tech but it worked.

"I bought one one year and it lasted for three whole years before it finally dissolved into a puddle of goo."

FlamingO, I also had a white pumpkin last 3 years once. Instead of turning to goo (which I expected), it seemed to dry out inside and became very lightweight. I threw it out since the color eventually changed from white to a yellow-brown.

This photo's from last Sept., but I bought the little orange pumpkins in Sept. 2017.

These were brought to me by a friend who grew them.

Function, I'm afraid I'm an amateur pumpkin grower--I just get the seeds from our local nursery in the Spring. I never had to figure out whether you could harvest next year's seeds from this years crop. I will say Cinderellas have been very easy for this novice to grow, and they have easily lasted through November, even when harvested in September. In the comment section of this blog Cinderella Pumpkins are the Best the author seems to suggest that she cleans and dries her own seeds. She also says her Cinderellas have lasted up to 5 months--and make great pies!

I have a garden spot in a community flower garden program - someone stole the alliums out of my spot - they were big and they weren't even pretty and colorful at this point but the bees LOVE them so I always leave them as long as possible. Thankfully I'm sure there are still bulbs under the ground waiting till next year but it is very annoying to have someone just take them.

I don't blame you for being upset at the theft.

graywings, I like that clever gizmo to protect lettuce or whatever.

Instead of choche, could it be that the name of it is cloche? That's French for "bell", which is the shape it has.

I start collecting pumpkins in Sept., and always have them way past Thanksgiving. Most will last longer than you'd think, such as well into early summer. Not that you need them by then!

If the patch is across the road and 300 yards from your house, might the vine look like it’s in the wild? Or is the patch fenced in and marked no trespassing?

Sorry this happened, but it’s a small pumpkin a raccoon could grab it and take off with it.

chloebud, I wonder if you may have had a gourd instead of a pumpkin? Your second photo appears to show gourds, I really like them and decorate with them often. That being said, I have put end of the season pumpkins under the crab apple tree by the field edge and they don't turn to goo until late, late winter. The birds sometimes peck at rinds to get to the seeds.

Your photos would make beautiful cards.

"I saw white pumpkins for sale at the store yesterday, beginning at $10 for a SMALL one. I get exactly why you're p.o'ed!!!"

Yikes! I found some really nice ones at Sprouts for $6. Best part is the stems are really long. Then I had to stop at Walmart and saw the same long-stemmed white ones for $4 each. They're kind of medium sized...8-10" in diameter. For me, it's all about the looooong twirly stems. :-)

"I wonder if you may have had a gourd instead of a pumpkin?"

schoolhouse, they were actually Cinderella pumpkins. Those 5 were my friend's entire crop, and she gave them all to me. She knows how much I love them, and I was beyond delighted!

We have lots of oak trees and lots of squirrels running around. I always have pumpkins outside by our front entry. Thankfully, I've yet to have this problem with the squirrels.

Oh no! Poor pumpkin, but it's a cute picture. : )

Thanks for the Cinderella pumpkin info. I guess I never realized they were pumpkins.

Chocolate thanks for the info on the Cinderella pumpkins. I am surely am going to get seeds next year. It looks like I was looking for them under the wrong name. I had trouble with powdery mildew this year. It is nice that they are resistant. I am also a novice when it comes to pumpkins (2nd yr), learning as i go. Pumpkins are a lot different to grow than my tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, or cucumbers I grow. Those I just plop in the grown, give a little fertilizer and they grow. But those are close to the house, so no thievery.

I'm so sorry about your pumpkin. I would be upset too :(

My first thought was maybe some kind of poison or pesticide signs around the patch- then maybe people would be hesitant to handle them?

We have a fully enclosed backyard and a few years ago, someone pulled a large, beautiful ripe tomato off, ate it as if held in hand, and left about half of it sitting on a block wall. It made no sense and really freaked us out. Later we figured out it was a racoon- which we normally do not see in neighborhoods (or anywhere else) around here. Maybe a bear snitched your pumpkin? You never know.

quasifish, very little bear around here. They are further up north. We don't have problem with bears like some parts . Not very many of them so they tend to stay in the woods. Once in a blue moon a young one that the mother just kicked out wonders thru looking for a new home, but that only happens in the spring. Our problem animals are deer, groundhog, skunks and a few raccoons. The pumpkin was too big for a raccoon to take and the others eat on site and leave evidence behind. The white pumpkin was the only one missing. Stem and all.

I do not like to automatically blame teens for things like this, but the girls may be your culprits since they were in the area and may have seen the pumpkin patch. But, without proof, you can't accuse them. If you see them again, you might mention that a pumpkin was stolen from your patch and ask if they saw anyone hanging out in the area. Might make them realize what they did was wrong - if it was them.

One of my neighbors looked out her window one day to see a man and his young son cutting branches off of her fir trees. She went outside and asked them what they were doing. "cutting branches for a wreath" they said. She replied that the area was clearly mark no trespassing, that the trees were on private property and that they did not have permission to cut branches off of her trees. "We're not hurting anything, you have lots of trees" the man replied. When she further objected, he started swearing at her and calling her a b*tch. At that point, she ordered him off of her property and threatened to call law enforcement.

The thing is, if he had been nice and polite about it and asked for permission first, she would have let him have all the branches he wanted.

Honestly, the entitlement of some people - it boggles the mind.

The audacity of some people.

As for my Dad taking the shotgun with him to the orchard, he certainly wouldn't have in those days, and I'm pretty sure wouldn't, these days, around here, either.

But I can see him suggesting to the intruder that if he didn't desist from picking up the apples, that Dad might consider it a good idea to let the air out of two of his tires ... when done to only one, the spare can be a big help, but when two are flat, it's either call a friend or a tow truck, and, there being no portable phones in those days (or for a few decades, after), it was half a mile to the nearest phone, other than Dad's - if he knew which way to go.

Or roll one tire to a garage for air (if he knew where to go - and the nearest was about a two mile hike) ... then roll it back.

Hard to believe that Dad died almost 30 years ago: (car crash at 85, a few days after having driven upwards of 2000 miles, alone, in 3 days) - looks like I have good genes.

ole joyful