My Life Cycle

By Andy Vences
4^th grade, Santa Clara county
Illustrated by Grant High School
Narrated by Rio Americano High School

I began my life as a pumpkin seed growing inside my mom. She was a prize-winning 500 pound orange pumpkin. A wonderful farmer named Sammy won this prize-winning pumpkin and took it home. Betty, his wife, took out all the seeds and made over 100 delicious pumpkin pies for all her neighbors. She decided to plant some seeds in the garden. I was one of the lucky ones.

I'd like to tell you about my life cycle beginning as a pumpkin seed. Before Farmer Sammy could plant me in the soil, he had to do some preparation to the ground. He rototilled the soil so it would be soft and I could grow. Next he added fertilizer and vitamins so I would grow strong and healthy roots. Sammy dug out a trench in the soft earth and dropped me in the ground. Suddenly I was being covered with damp, stinky soil and cool water.

My life in the soil is very interesting. There are many insects trying to eat my roots. They are also trying to eat my new green vine sprouts. Worms are constantly crawling around and through my roots. They help make the soil soft so my roots can grow down. Everyday in the early morning Farmer Sammy waters me. I soon began to sprout out of my shell. As I reach for the sun, I came out of the soil a beautiful small, green vine with a couple of leaves. I continued to sprout leaves and my vines got longer.

One day a small orange flower appeared on my vine. In about six weeks, my beautiful orange flower got pollinated by the bees and my pumpkin began to grow. Farmer Sammy put pesticides on my leaves so the bugs wouldn't eat me. I'm beginning to grow larger and larger each day. Since I'm now becoming a bigger pumpkin, Farmer Sammy has to put a new type of fertilizer on me to help me grow even larger and stronger. He also built a shade cover to protect me from the hot sun.

It is the middle of summer now and I am thirsty all the time. No amount of water Sammy gives to me seems to be enough. As the summer days roll on, the humidity in the air becomes a problem for me, so Sammy applies fungicides.

About eleven weeks have gone by now and I weigh about one hundred pounds. My skin begins to get harder and I start forming ribs. My growth slows down at this time because the sun goes down earlier and the days are shorter.

Finally Sammy decides to cut me from my vines. I weigh two hundred pounds! Even though my mom weighed three hundred pounds more than me, I am very proud of myself.