Grow Some Pumpkins

There are different types of pumpkins.

There are the pie pumpkins, which are small. They are about 3 pounds and you get about 3 cups of flesh from one. They also have less moisture in the flesh, which makes them perfect for baking with.

The next type is the jack-o-lantern size. These pumpkins weigh about 10 - 12 pounds and are the perfect carving size. They also are acceptable for cooking with.

They have come out with a new very small pumpkin that is basically made for crafts.

Lastly, there is the gigantic pumpkin we all hear about. These pumpkins are pretty much for growing to see how big you can grow the pumpkin. They can be eaten, but the flesh is very watery, so it isn't recommended.

Pumpkin vines do crawl so you need to have plenty of space to grow them. As the vines grow, they will set down roots. Pie pumpkin don't seem to, but other sizes will.

The number of flowers you have will determine how many pumpkins you will get. If you are trying to grow very large pumpkins, you want to pinch off all the blooms but 2 or 3.

A good idea to keep the growing pumpkins from rotting on the ground is to place straw or dead grass under the pumpkins while they are small.

It takes pumpkins about 100 days to grow and turn orange.

I have read many books that say that pimpkins will not finish ripening after being picked. This is not the case. Pumpkins will finish ripening after picking.

Leave them in the patch as long as you can, but if it gets cold enough to freeze and they are not fully orange pick them. I do.

I pick them and bring them onto my back porch and they ripen just fine. I have never had one that didn't fully ripen.