Harvesting Your Pumpkin: How to Harvest Your Pumpkin: A blog containing information around pumpkin crop managing and harvesting.

This is a blog where farmers can find out the best ways to harvest a pumpkin from you farm or home.

Pumpkin Pie Spice: Spice for your pie at home, this spice will make you pie taste great!

Pumpkin Spice

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How to Harvest Your Pumpkin

Harvesting Your Pumpkin: How to Harvest Your Pumpkin: A blog containing information around pumpkin crop managing and harvesting.

by admin | October 4, 2016 | Blog | 0 Comments

Harvesting your pumpkin can be a fun activity for the entire family! The following steps will help you have a successful harvest of your pumpkins. We’ve also included some of our favorite tips for handling and storing your pumpkins once you’ve harvested them.

When is it time to pick my pumpkin?

Your pumpkins should be ready to harvest when the vines start dying back. This typically happens 5-6 weeks after flowering has occurred. The best time of year to harvest your pumpkins is in late September or early October before the first frost occurs.

To check if your pumpkin is ready for harvest, there are several techniques you can use:

Thump Test – Using your knuckle, gently tap on the side of your pumpkin; if it sounds hollow then it’s ready for picking! If the sound is dull, it means that your pumpkin needs more time on the vine.

With the harvest season in full swing, we’ve had a lot of questions about when and how to harvest your pumpkin. Here’s what you need to know to get the biggest, most perfect pumpkin this growing season.

First, you need to know how long it takes pumpkins to grow. The amount of time varies depending on variety and growing conditions. In general, most pumpkins are ready for harvesting between 90 and 120 days from planting. If you have a variety that requires less time than that, it’s best to harvest before it gets too large or will take up too much room in your garden. If you planted late, or live in a cooler climate with a shorter growing season, your pumpkins may take longer to reach full size.

When To Harvest Your Pumpkin:

The first sign that your pumpkins are ready for harvesting is the appearance of a golden hue around the spots where they touch the ground. Once this happens, your pumpkins will start turning orange within a few weeks. When they do turn orange, give them at least another week before picking them so they can continue ripening on the vine and develop their full flavor and nutritional value. This also allows them enough time to start hardening their outer skin during this last stage of rip

It is recommended that you harvest your pumpkin before frost. Frost will turn the stem black and make it much more likely to rot. You can either use a sharp knife or pruning shears to cut the pumpkin from the vine, leaving at least six inches of vine attached. This will help absorb moisture from the pumpkin and extend its storage life.

After harvesting, wait at least a week before carving your pumpkin. This will ensure that the skin has hardened, making it easier to carve. However, be aware that if you wait too long (about 2 weeks) the flesh will start to dry out, which will make for a less tasty pie!

To prepare your pumpkin for baking or cooking, first wash it with soap and water (this works best on smaller pumpkins). After washing, cut off top of pumpkin and remove all seeds and pulp from inside. Cut or scoop out pumpkin flesh into large chunks; discard any parts that have turned brown or have rotted spots on them.

Depending on what you plan to do with your pumpkin, it may be necessary to remove some of its outer skin; for example, if you are going to make a pureed soup out of it then most recipes call for peeling off all but an inch or two of skin around each

When is my pumpkin ready to harvest?

It’s time for me to harvest my pumpkins, but how do I know when they are ready? And once I get them harvested, how do I store them so that they last as long as possible?

Harvest Timing:

The first thing to remember is that the longer you leave a pumpkin on the vine the sweeter it will be. A pumpkin will keep growing and increasing in sugar content up until the first frost. Therefore, if you can manage to get your pumpkins off the vine before frost you will have sweeter tasting pumpkins.

In order to determine whether your pumpkin is ripe enough to pick all you need to do is scratch a little bit of the outside skin with your finger nail. If it punctures easily like a ripe apple then it should be ready for harvest.

If your fingernail cannot puncture the outer skin then try inserting a knife into the squash with moderate pressure. If it slides easily into the pumpkin then it is probably ready for harvest.

Pumpkins are harvested just before the first frost, at about mid- to late October. They need a minimum of 100 days to fully mature.

Pumpkin stems should be cut with a sharp knife, leaving 2-3 inches of stem attached to the fruit. Make sure that you do not bruise or puncture the pumpkins when you harvest them. Use care when handling them.

Take them inside and let them sit in a warm, dry place for two weeks (70 to 85 degrees F) to cure before using or storing. The curing process helps the skin harden and allows the flesh to become sweeter.

You can wash the outside of your pumpkins with a mild bleach solution (1 part bleach to 10 parts water) after they have been cured for 24 hours. This will help keep mold from growing on pumpkins that are going to be stored for more than two months. Do not wash uncured pumpkins, as this could lead to rot developing on the pumpkin’s skin.

There are many ways to pumpkin spice, and it is a very personal decision as to how much spice you want in your pie. There are two types of pumpkin spices that can be used, namely the real spices or the artificial ones. The natural pumpkin spices tend to be better tasting, but they do have a tendency to lose their flavor over time. Artificial spices, on the other hand, will last for years and can be used over and over again.

Pumpkin Pie Spices:

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger OR 1/8 tsp. fresh grated ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cloves

Pumpkin Pie Spices:

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger OR 1/4 tsp. fresh grated ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cloves