Thanks!

"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
Lynn Coffelt said:
Finally, FINALLY! We got some pumpkins to take off. Five or six gangly
and
watery greenhouse started seedlings (we thought they were gourds) put in
a
different location in town. Anacortes, in northern Puget Sound area. Now,
what? they are for Halloween, if the teenagers don't get them first. A
couple 18" or more and starting to turn color. The BIG question is: How
do
we collect and preserve them until Halloween? That's still a couple of
months away!

Let the fruit continue ripening on the vine. The pumpkin will be mature
enough to pick when the stem is very hard (like wood) and the rind is
tough enought to resist piercing with a fingernail. Cut the pumpkin
stem from the vine (the pumpkin won't keep it you break the stem off
of it). Put it in a warm, sunny place for a couple of days to cure, then
store it in the coolest part of your house or basement until ready to use.

Fully ripe and uninjured pumpkins and squash should store for months.

Edibility declines faster with some types (acorn, delicata, pie pumpkins)
than others (butternut, buttercup, Hubbard). Some buttercup squashes
actually improve with a bit of storage.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Thanks!
Lynn