Stems

Passed a box of pumpkins outside of a supermarket a few days ago and every single one of those orange guys was missing the stem. Busted off and gone. Reminded me of the days driving home with stemmed pumpkins in my trunk or back seat and driving like I was carrying a shipment of nitroglycerine, worried that the pumpkins would tip over and lose a stem. I love stems. The longer the better, and if there's part of a vine still attached, wow. When I cut my own from a Pick-Your-Own patch, I always make sure to take my knife and include about a foot of vines on each side (Like in THIS pic). They dry up by Halloween and look really creepy. I guess thin branches or grapevines from craft store grapevine wreaths could be used to simulate the look of pumpkin runners for some added texture and atmosphere.


Image source.