HOW TO TELL WHEN PUMPKINS ARE READY TO HARVEST?

When are pumpkins ready for harvest

So, how do you know when a pumpkin is ripe? As soon as the summer starts to come to an end most pumpkins will be ready to pick although you may wish to wait until the first frosts if you are intending to eat your pumpkin rather than use it for Halloween decoration.

The leaves on the pumpkins will go crispy and shrink back after the first frost revealing the swollen fruits beneath, and you should be able to tell that they are ripe because they will have a nice orange skin. However not all pumpkins need to be 'all the way' orange to be ripe, and some pumpkins varieties will still be completely green such as 'Fairy tale' and the old Italian favourite 'Marina Di Chioggia'.

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Pumpkin harvest

When you are ready to harvest a pumpkin, there are three checks that you can make that will tell whether it is ripe or not. The first is to give it a good thump or a slap. If the pumpkin sounds hollow, that the pumpkin is ripe and ready to be picked.

The second way is to check the skin as it should be hard once the pumpkin is ripe. Using your thumbnail (presuming that you have one) gently try to puncture the pumpkin’s skin. If the skin dents but does not puncture then the pumpkin is ready to pick. The third way is to check the stem leading from the pumpkin. When it starts to turn hard, the pumpkin is again, ready for picking.

One of the first to ripen is the popular 'Baby Bear', one of the microwave varieties with just enough sweet potato-like flesh for a meal for two. Other varieties such as 'Uchiki' will still be ripening and you can tell this as the stem will be bright green. When it comes to harvesting unripe pumpkins it's always important to leave a few inches either side of the stalk. That’s because you want the stalk to dry off slowly and naturally so that it seals between the stalk and the pumpkin flesh. If it’s not perfectly sealed then rots can get in and your crops won't keep. If done properly your crops should last well providing for good meals up until February.

Curing Pumpkins

Curing pumpkins is all about getting the rinds to harden, and you can do this by bringing them into a greenhouse or by sitting them by a sunny window in your kitchen. If you can leave them there for a fortnight or so you will notice that the skins will colour up and the flesh inside will sweeten as the starches inside turns to sugars and improve the flavours no end. After the fortnight, turn them upside-down so that the bases can colour up as well. Then they will be ready to be kept in a frost free place for several months where they will still remain edible.

For related articles click onto the following links:
HOW TO COLLECT AND PREPARE PUMPKIN SEEDS FOR GERMINATION
HOW TO CURE AND STORE PUMPKINS
HOW TO GROW PUMPKINS FROM SEED
How do you tell when pumpkins are ready to harvest?
THE HISTORY OF THE JACK 'O' LANTERN HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN
WHEN TO HARVEST PUMPKINS.