When to plant pumpkins
Regardless of which type you choose, pumpkins are a warm season crop, and can be grown with much success throughout most of the United States. In addition to their role dressing up doorsteps and front porches in autumn, they are wonderful in treats both sweet and savory like soups, pies, breads, custards, and pumpkin butter. Pumpkins are a tender crop. Their seeds won’t germinate in cold soil, and seedlings are easily damaged by frost. Be sure to plant once soil is warm and all danger of frost has passed.
How to harvest pumpkins
If you want your pumpkins to reach maturity in time for Halloween — and of course you do – plant in late May to allow plenty of time for growth. Be sure to plant in a sunny spot, and keep the surrounding area free of weeds. Your pumpkins should be harvested before any heavy frost occurs in the fall. They will likely be ready in late September or early October. You can tell when the rind is hard and the fruit becomes a deep orange color.
Take care when cutting pumpkins from the vine to leave 3 – 4 inches of stem attached. Pumpkins without this “handle” tend to fare poorly in storage. Make the task easier by wearing gloves to avoid prickly stems and using a sharp knife or set of pruning shears. And, remember to invite friends, kids, or grandkids to help out in the pumpkin patch! Everyone will love to be rewarded with his or her very own pumpkin.