With October just around the corner, the month would not be complete without the brightly coloured orange vegetable – the pumpkin. Pumpkins require a long growing season, making pumpkin picking an anxiously anticipated fall activity.
In addition, pumpkin is incredibly healthy. Pumpkins are rich in minerals and antioxidants, and packed with vitamin A, C and E. Its nutrients may boost your immune system, protect your eyesight, promote heart, and skin health while lowering your risk of certain cancers.
Here are different ways of using pumpkin varieties:
- Carving: Autumn Gold
- Kitchen use: Sugar Treat (cooking and baking), Hijinks and Baby Bear (pies), Cinderalla’s Carriage (pies or soup), Peanut Pumpkin (pie or puree)
- Giant pumpkins (up to 200 pounds): Dill’s Atlantic Giant
- Colourful decorations: Jarrahdale (blue-green skin), Pepitas Pumpkin (orange and green), Super Moon (white)
Determining Ripeness
It is important to pick pumpkins by the expected size per variety, rather than the desired size. A pumpkin is fully ripe when they have firm skin and is a robust colour throughout (orange for most varieties). Matured pumpkins have hard exterior shells that resist denting when a fingernail is pressed. The trick to ensure ripeness is to tap on the rind and expect to hear a nice hollow thump.
Harvesting
It is recommended to harvest pumpkins on a dry sunny day with a sharp knife or garden shears. When harvesting, leave several inches (at least 4 inches) of the stem attached to the pumpkin and brush off any soil. This helps protect the pumpkin from frost damage and slows down rotting. Carry pumpkins from the bottom rather than by the stems as they are delicate and can break easily. Harvesting pumpkins when they are fully mature makes them last longer and better suited for storing.
Challenges
Two common challenges that can cause damage and premature deterioration of pumpkins are powdery mildew and squash bug feeding. The powdery mildew can cause the stem to decay before the pumpkins are fully ripe. If a pumpkin looks intact overall, but has powdery mildew on the stem, cut off the part of the stem that is infected, otherwise it is best to discard the pumpkin altogether.
Squash bugs however, feed on the skin of pumpkins causing the pumpkins to decay faster. It is key to harvest pumpkins once ripe to get the vegetable out of the garden right away. Remove any debris from the garden this fall season to reduce squash bug habitat for the following fall season.
Curing and Storing
Properly curing and storing pumpkins will ensure better storage of up to two to three months. Pumpkins require curing in the sun for about 10 days. Curing allows pumpkins to last months instead of weeks, by hardening their skin and protecting their flesh from deterioration. Then store pumpkins in a cool and dry environment such as a dry bedroom, cellar or root cellar. Pumpkin seeds should last for 6 years.
Happy picking!