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Garden Gate:  Harvesting Pumpkins..Don't Cut That Vine Just Yet!  |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 08 2016 : 06:22:56 AM
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Hi girls!
SO excited to share this with you! About 4+ weeks ago, we had just about given up on our Musquee de Provence (Cinderella/Fairytale-type) pumpkins. We were thrilled to have harvested a half dozen of small New England baking pumpkins, but I was sad about my pretty “Cinderellas.” The plants were healthy, but the vines were short and although we had seen a flower or two over the summer, no fruits were to be found. Suddenly, one incredible summer rain came, and the next morning (so it seemed) the entire side of my yard was COVERED with vines! The leaves were bigger than when I put both my hands together side-by-side, and spread all my fingers out wide! A couple of days later, we noticed a couple of very small pumpkins forming, but we didn’t really lay much weight into it. After a long summer battle, the squash bugs and I were at an impasse out of sheer exhaustion, and September was already here, with cool weather just around the corner. This year, Cinderella was going to have to hoof it to the ball!
A few days later, we found a HUGE pumpkin hiding under the big leaves right by the sidewalk! Since then we’ve been watching day by day, hoping and praying it would outlast any attacks from the vine borers and other critters that have suddenly been making their autumnal debut. Now we have found TWO crazy-huge pumpkins, at least 16 inches across (or bigger), and way too heavy for me to lift! LOL! (Even my husband is having difficulty with them! He estimates they are well over 25 lbs., but we’ll weigh them once they’re harvested. ) Yesterday we were out there determining whether or not to pull up the rest of the garden, and our sweet neighbor came out to find several 6 – 7” pumpkins growing on the vines that are climbing the chain-link fence between our yards! I am in pumpkin Heaven!!!
The one concern I had, though, is that now we’re right at the end of the first week of October, and the fruits are still a deep, dark green. They are still growing, the beautiful lobes are huge and plentiful, but they’re the farthest thing from orange. My hubby has been soooOOOoooOOooOo impatient, pressing me to pick the pumpkins for fear they will rot on the vine; but I am not in such a rush. After all, I know we’ve had frosts with vegetables still growing long afterward. I’m willing to give it a little more time. Just to be safe, I decided to call Customer Service at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, from whence I had purchased the seeds. The lady I spoke with was extremely excited for me, and extremely helpful. I laughed hard when she said this was one argument with my husband she wanted to see me win! LOL!
About ten minutes or so later, one of their Master Gardener’s called me back. He was AWESOME! First, he had described a similar experience he was having up in Maine with his own squash. He was just about ready to pull up his vines a few weeks ago when he noticed beautiful butternuts popping up everywhere. Since then, his squash are burgeoning and beautiful – just like my pumpkins! He said his philosophy is just leave everything in place as long as possible to see what grows, although, apparently, his wife laments that he’s just sad about tearing up his beautiful garden! LOL
He gave me some wonderful advice about pumpkins that, although many of us may already know, I’m sure some of us would like to learn! Here goes:
First of all, with pumpkins, you really can’t go by the color to determine whether or not they’re ripe. The thumbnail test is extremely reliable: press your nail into the rind of the pumpkin. If it easily cuts the skin, the pumpkin is NOT ready. If, however, the skin resists being pierced and dents, then that’s a good sign the pumpkin is ripe for pickin.’ Gently rap the outside of the pumpkin and it makes a hollow sound, that’s another indicator that it’s ready to go!
Being ripe doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be orange, though. The orange color comes after natural chemical processes occur. Sometimes pumpkins turn “yellow on the vine,” but a lot of that colorization happens over time as the pumpkin sits. Personally, he will put his green pumpkins on paper on the floor of a little used bathroom. He said he puts a heater in with them, set at a steady 85 degrees for a few days to help the color change along and cure it; but it isn’t necessary. Over time, a green pumpkin WILL turn color (if it’s supposed to!).
When should we cut our pumpkins, then? Well, you don’t really have to harvest them if the vines are still healthy and strong and the pumpkin is thriving and growing. If you see that the stem is dead or brown, or if the vine is dying, you can pretty much be guaranteed that your pumpkin is no longer growing and being nourished. At that point, you’ll want to harvest your pumpkin. Another concern is when there is a danger of a frost, at which point you have to consider the type of frost before harvesting. If it’s a light frost and it’s only going to occur for a night or two, then you might want to just cover your pumpkins with blankets through the night and see how the vines fare afterward. If a heavy frost is coming, time to cut the vine! And, finally, you have to think about squirrels, mice, rats, etc. A lot of times hungry animals will dig into pumpkins just to get to the seeds. So if these pose a problem for you, you might want to consider picking your pumpkin before they do!
When cutting pumpkins from the vine, make sure you leave a nice, long stem – at LEAST four inches, preferably six! This actually helps in preserving the pumpkin. Bacteria or disease will not make it down a long stem to the flesh.
If you’re not going to cook your pumpkins or process them within a relatively short time, it’s a good idea to cure your pumpkins. This will harden the skin and cut down on deterioration. Just place them in a nice sunny spot (indoors, if it’s too cold to do so outside) for a week or two. This will help them turn orange and, again, make the fruit much sweeter. Depending upon the type of pumpkin, curing will help preserve your pumpkins as long as 3 to 6 months, or even more!
Another thing people do to preserve pumpkins is to wash them in a 10% bleach solution. This kills any bacteria on the skin and slows down deterioration. The Master Gardener said that it’s questionable as to the organic nature of doing this, but it is effective. He tried it last year, and said that they JUST pitched the remaining squash a week ago. That’s a long time!
I asked if it’s okay to eat the flesh of a green pumpkin. He said yes, but it won’t be as sweet and flavorful as it would be if you allow it to cure and turn orange first. That’s okay, because, truthfully, I like to use my pumpkins as decorations throughout the house, watching them turn bright orange until it’s time to cook them. (THEN I will steam them and dehydrate them, turning them into what one friend calls my “pumpkin dust,” which, when reconstituted, tastes as fresh as newly picked! LOL!) I can wait!
Needless to say, all of my questions were well answered. The Master Gardener was SUCH a nice gentleman, so excited about gardening, with so much wonderful information to share! We discussed a few other things before hanging up, like whether or not it’s necessary to blanch the lovely cauliflowers that just suddenly appeared in my garden over the past couple of days (Nope – they’re already bright white on their own!), and how exciting it is to re-seed this year’s plants by laying them on the ground before closing up shop for winter (Did that last fall: lots of new plants popped up in the spring all on their own! HIGHLY recommend it!). Re-seeding IS exciting, indeed, especially the way Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds re-seeds their wisdom and knowledge – just like we MaryJane’s Farmgirls do! AWESOME!
So for now, I’ve won the argument. With all due patience, I smile as I pull back the vines, and say, “Keep growin’ punkins!” At the very least, we should be set for a loooong winter’s celebration of pumpkin delights! But at the rate my pumpkins are growing, I’m going to be able to harvest my pumpkins, slap on some wheels and ride them in the Halloween parade! Whodathunkit? "Ninirella!" LOL!
Happy Harvest, Sisters!
Hugs –
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Edited by - Ninibini on Oct 08 2016 06:32:23 AM |
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katmom
True Blue Farmgirl
17023 Posts
Grace
WACAL Gal
WashCalif.
USA
17023 Posts |
Posted - Oct 24 2016 : 9:33:51 PM
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and here I sit,,, picking the last few cherry tomatoes on the vine,,, when what to my surprise,,, new blossoms! Seriously????
wanna swap some 'punkins' fer matrers??? lol!
(thanx for the growing info on pumpkins)
hugz
>^..^<
Happiness is being a katmom and Glamping Diva!
www.katmom4.blogspot.com & http://graciesvictorianrose.blogspot.com
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texdane
Farmgirl Legend Chapter Leader Chapter Guru
4658 Posts
Nicole
Sandy Hook
CT
USA
4658 Posts |
Posted - Oct 27 2016 : 2:26:27 PM
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Hi Nini,
I love that you gave us Master Gardeners a call out! Awesome. I'd like to add that you also have to take in account that your area where you grow your pumpkins might be in its own little "microclimate". My whole yard is a bit behind the rest of our area due to how everything sits. Also, this year everything was very "behind". I had a good crop of pumpkins this year myself. I just harvested one today as it started snowing! Air conditioning a week ago (and 90 degrees) and heat and cast iron stove with snow today!
Also, if you ever come visit, I will take you to Baker Creek's store here. It is the cutest! My farmgirl Chapter and I went there a few years ago. Not far from where I live. I would love to visit their headquarters.
Farmgirl Hugs,
Nicole
Farmgirl Sister #1155
KNITTER, JAM-MAKER AND MOM EXTRAORDINAIRE
Chapter Leader, Connecticut Simpler Life Sisters
Farmgirl of the Month, January 2013
Suburban Farmgirl Blogger
http://sfgblog.maryjanesfarm.org/
www.facebook.com/suburbanfarmgirlblogger |
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Lady in Pearls
True Blue Farmgirl
105 Posts
Ashley
Texas
USA
105 Posts |
Posted - Nov 15 2016 : 7:31:52 PM
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I have a Seminole pumpkin (it looks more like a butternut than a pumpkin lol) that is ripening. Thanks for the fingernail tip! I'll have to try that tomorrow, though the vine is drying up, so it's probably ready. Vine borers are sooooo bad in my area. We can only grow resistant varieties. I love musquee de Provence, they're beautiful!
“If more of us valued good food and cheer above hoards of gold, it would be a merrier world." - Tolkien
http://myfrenchreligion.blogspot.com/ |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Nov 20 2016 : 09:06:29 AM
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Thank you so much for that info, Nicole! I hadn't thought of that! I wish I had thought to call YOU about this! We were just out in the yard and it was a spur of the moment call - had to make it before my hubby cut the pumpkins from the vines! As chance would have it, we did have a hard frost a short time there after... Here is a pic of some of our harvest (The largest one weighed almost 49 pounds!!!):
You're absolutely right... This weather affected not only the pumpkins, but everything else we planted. Last week we harvested a bunch of beautiful cauliflowers, more broccoli, kale, etc... I had never been able to grow cauliflower before (or, at least, they never got very big at all)... This weather turned out to be a real harvest blessing! :)
I will DEFINITELY take you up on the Baker Creek trip one day! What a great time that will be! I WILL get there! It's just a little hard right now... I know you understand. But I am looking forward to visiting with you, believe me! :)
You are so welcome, Ashley! I'm telling you, try to use food grade diatomaceous earth. Not only will it kill the bad bugs, it is chock full of minerals that the plants love. This past summer I found one vine in my patch that had a borer. I thrust a skinny knife into the vine to kill anything that might be reachable, then covered the wounded area with the DE... Never had another problem, the wound healed and scarred up perfectly, and the plant thrived! I have a little accordian-type sprayer thingy that I use to spray the DE all over the leaves and vines (top and bottom) whenever I see any sign of pests. Also, remember, the insects will retreat to the ground until the coast is clear, so it's also a good idea to sprinkle the DE on the ground surface. When the bugs crawl across the DE, it scrapes their coat/shell/etc., and then they end up dehydrating to death. I remove all the eggs I can find, but the DE is a nice second layer of garden protection to be sure! The only thing is, it WILL kill all the good bugs, also, in the same manner. You want spiders and other beneficials to thrive in your garden. The DE does wash away after a good rain (or becomes wet and mushy and ineffective), so I try to apply when I know a good rain is coming in the next couple of days OR I wait and then spray the plants and ground down well a day or two after application so the good bugs do come back. The squash bugs and borers, though, are usually toast.
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Garden Gate: Harvesting Pumpkins..Don't Cut That Vine Just Yet! |
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Harvesting Pumpkins..Don't Cut That Vine Just Yet!
