Friday, October 9, 2009

I guess I got the "non-uniform" variety...

Now that the corn stalks, etc., are out of the garden, we have a much better view of our pumpkin patch. Some of the pumpkins are quite rotund. Some are rather orange and some are rather green. Some look rather like they will not be ready for Halloween. Or ever.

I would venture to say that none of them look remotely like the pumpkins piled up at the local national chainstore or various other locales in the vicinity. I know the pumpkins stacked up and for sale are all individual, and different sizes, and have their own pecularities. Here's the thing, no matter their size or individual personality quirks, they do have something my pumpkins do not: they are all orange and they are all ready for harvest. At the same time.

So, how do the pumpkin merchants do it? I'm not really worried about it-- I figure we'll be able to get plenty of pumpkin in the freezer and have jack-o-lanterns out for Halloween. I'm just wondering if it's a matter of seed variety, the climate, the location of the pumpkin patch relative to other plants, or if there are specialized pumpkin farms where they keep the pumpkins in specially shaped cages from the time the seeds sprout.....

Just kidding on that last one. :) Hope everyone is having a great pumpkin harvest.

4 comments:

HermitJim said...

It does make you wonder about things like that sometimes, doesn't it?

I've never grown pumpkins, so I would be glad if any of mine came up at all!

Marie said...

HermitJim--Someone must know how to do it, but no worries here, because my pumpkins aren't for sale... :) We're always glad for anything that comes up when we plant seeds, because not every crop does--thanks very much for your comment!

Anonymous said...

OK - so how do you store pumpkin for later use? We've never done it and are trying to cut down on items in the freezer. So are there other ways you've used that work? I can research elsewhere, too, however thought I'd get your advice.

Thanks,

Marie said...

Anonymous--Unfortunately, if you are looking for other ways to preserve pumpkin besides freezing, I'm not the one to ask. I only started harvesting my pumpkins last year, and actually got my information from Johnson Family Farm site on how to mke the puree. However, I will put the question out, and maybe one of the readers here will have some input. I often learn a lot more than what I put out on this blog... :) Thanks for your comment!