Choosing the Perfect Pumpkin

Follow our tips to select the perfect pumpkin

Hop aboard the tractor and visit the pumpkin patch this October at Estabrook's! You and your family will have the chance to "Pick Your Own Pumpkin" on weekends thru October 21st from 10am to 2pm.

Whether you're looking to carve the ultimate Jack-O-Lantern or simply dress up your front steps, you'll want to select the very best. Here are a few tips to help you choose your pumpkin and keep it fresh until Halloween:

1. Select pumpkins that are fresh and firm. Avoid choosing a pumpkin that has bruised or soft areas, cuts or other visible blemishes.
2. Store both cut or uncut pumpkins in a cool, dry place to keep them fresh longer. A cool basement will work well.
3. Remember that warm weather and hot sunlight can speed decay in a pumpkin. Don't leave your pumpkins out on your door step during unseasonably warm weather.
4. Once a pumpkin is carved, cover it with plastic for a day or two to help keep moisture in the pumpkin.
5. Smaller cut pumpkins can be wrapped in plastic and stored inside the refrigerator for a few days before Halloween. This is especially helpful if you are having a party and need to carve them ahead of time.
6. If your cut pumpkin begins to shrivel, it can sometimes be revived temporarily by soaking it in a bucket of cool water for several hours, and then draining thoroughly.
7. Cover all cut edges of a pumpkin, as well as the entire interior, with petroleum jelly. This is the best way to reduce moisture loss and keep a pumpkin looking fresh longer.
8. Heat from electric light bulbs and candles can also contribute to the early demise of a pumpkin. Try cutting a hole in the top of the pumpkin to allow heat to escape.

Storing Summer Flowering Bulbs

Summer flowering bulbs should be dug and stored in a cool, dry place

Most summer flowering bulbs should be dug and stored when the leaves on the plants turn yellow. Use a spading fork to lift the bulbs from the ground.

Leave the soil on achimenes, begonia, canna, caladium, dahlia and ismene bulbs, but wash other varieties. Store these bulbs in clumps on a slightly moistened layer of peat moss or sawdust in a cool place.

Drying

Separate your bulbs by species or variety and spread the washed bulbs in a shaded place to dry. Inspect your bulbs for signs of disease and keep only large, healthy bulbs that are firm and free of spots. Discard any undersized bulbs.

Storage Areas

Once the bulbs have dried, store them away from sunlight in a cool, dry basement, cellar, garage or shed at 60 to 65 degrees. Avoid temperatures below 50 degrees or above 70 degrees unless different instructions are given for a particular bulb.

Try to keep the humidity in the storage area as low as possible, and never store bulbs in an area where ethylene gas produced by fruit is present.

Containers

Large numbers of bulbs can be stored in a container with peat moss, sand, perlite or vermiculite. If you have only a few, you can keep them in a very loose knit sack or paper bag and hang them by string in a sheltered, cool area.

Be sure that air can circulate around your stored bulbs. Deep piles of bulbs generate heat and decay, so never store bulbs more than two or three layers deep.