With Halloween just around the corner, the festival would not be complete without the brightly coloured orange vegetable – the pumpkin. Carving pumpkins is the best activity to get your hands dirty and show off your crafting skills.
There are 45 different varieties of pumpkins. Pumpkins best for carving are typically thinner and easier to saw into, containing fewer pumpkin guts which are grainier and stringier. Pumpkins meant for baking are usually smaller and more rounded.
Picking pumpkins and deciding how to decorate them is one of the most enjoyable traditions of the spooky season. When choosing a pumpkin, you will want one that is healthy and mature with consistent colouring around. Best pumpkins have a sturdy stem and give a hollow sound when you tap them. Don’t forget to check for an even bottom to ensure it sits flat.
The following are best varieties for carving:
- Jack O Lantern (10 lbs.) – The ultimate carving pumpkin that is most likely at every local patch or grocery store. Its bright orange, smooth and firm skin allows for an easy cut through.
- Autumn Gold (7-10 lbs.) – Matures to glossy, deep golden orange with a round shape and good handles. It is an excellent choice for home gardens, market growers and open field production, for carving or eating as pie.
- Connecticut Field (25 lbs.) – One of the oldest heirloom pumpkin varieties with a deep orange and a thick fine-grained, deep yellow, sweet flesh.
- Lumina White (11-15 lbs.) – A pale white-coloured pumpkin with bright orange flesh, perfect for not only carving, but for painting designs on.
Here are some best tips that will keep your creations looking and smelling good throughout the entire trick-or-treat season:
- Start with cutting from the bottom rather than the top to prevent the sides from caving in later
- If you do carve from the top, cut the lid on an angle to avoid it from falling inside
- Sketching your design on paper or directly on the pumpkin with pencil first might be helpful
- It is easier to create features when the face of the pumpkin is gazing up on your lap
- Use scraps creatively such as making a tongue or accessories
- Spread petroleum jelly such as Vaseline on the cut edges to seal moisture in and maintain freshness
- Sprinkle cinnamon inside to smell like a pumpkin pie with a candle
Rather than carving pumpkins, painting pumpkins is another crafty option to celebrating Halloween season. Ideally, you will want to start with a bump-free canvas with smooth-skin varieties such as Orange Smoothie and Cotton Candy. Be sure to use non-toxic paint if you plan on eating the pumpkins after they have been decorated.
What are you waiting for? Get creating and have fun! It is not officially Halloween until you have a collection of carved and decorated pumpkins arranged on your front porch.