Picking the First Pumpkins of the Season
Autumn is still officially one week away, but one of our favorite fall activities here at my Bedford, New York farm is picking pumpkins. It's hard to resist harvesting when one sees lots of gorgeous, colorful fruits growing under the vines.
Pumpkins are cucurbits, members of the Cucurbitaceae family, which also includes squash, gourds, cucumbers, watermelons, and cantaloupes. Recently, I asked my housekeeper, Elvira Rojas, to pick some beautiful pumpkins from the garden - a number of them were ready. In just a short while, we had an excellent variety of shapes, sizes, and colors to display in front of my home.
Enjoy these photos from our first pumpkin harvest of the season.
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- Many of you already know, this garden is where I grew the majority of my vegetables. Now that I have a new and giant half-acre vegetable garden closer to my home, I decided to designate this area for our pumpkins. Pumpkins are one of the last crops we plant because the soil must be thoroughly warmed to at least 70-degrees Fahrenheit – pumpkins are very sensitive to the cold. This is why the seeds are also planted on mounds or small hills, which warm up fast in the spring, hastening seed germination.
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- This is our pumpkin patch now – filled with vines. Pumpkin plants grow on long vines, which can easily reach 20 to 30 feet long in the course of a growing season. The pumpkins are ready to harvest when the foliage on the vines begins to wither and turn brown. These leaves are beginning to turn – indicating some are ready to pick.
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- The large leaves cover most of the cucurbits as they form, so it is hard to see the beauties underneath.
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- Pumpkin flowers are large orange or yellow-colored blooms that grow on the long vines and produce pumpkins.
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- Under all the foliage, there are many wonderful pumpkins. This variety is a round, medium-sized jack-o’-lantern type with well-defined ribs.
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- The name pumpkin comes from the Greek word ‘pepon’ which means large melon.
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- Pumpkin seeds should be planted between the last week of May and the middle of June. They take between 90 and 120 days to grow. Their seeds can be saved to grow new pumpkins the next year.
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- Elvira is pleased with some of the great pumpkins that grew this year – there are lots of good sized fruits.
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- Elvira carefully snips the pumpkins from the vines with pruning sheers. It’s important to leave a stem. Leaving at least a couple of inches of stem will increase its keeping time. I also think the pumpkins look much better when the stems are intact. And never pick a pumpkin up from the stem! It may break off.
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- Here’s a dark green pumpkin. Green pumpkins are select cultivars of round Curcubita winter squash with green-colored skin. Green pumpkins range from dusky-green heirlooms to mottled or striped varieties.
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- There are also pumpkins that feature warts. This type of pumpkin is called a knucklehead, and as the name suggests, is reminiscent of the knuckles on one’s hand.
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- Here is another knucklehead pumpkin. These more textured and unusual pumpkins are very popular for decorating.
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- Josefa Palacio, who helps with some of our television and book shoots, also picked pumpkins – she found this bright orange knucklehead.
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- When picking, it is also important not to injure the rind as decay and fungi will attack through the wounds. Here is a traditional orange pumpkin – great for Halloween carving.
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- And here is a very smooth, bright orange pumpkin. All pumpkins are a good source of nutrition. They are low in calories, fat and sodium and high in fiber. Plus, they are loaded with vitamins A and B and potassium.
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- Modern pumpkins grow commercially in the United States, China, Mexico, and India. Farmers in the United States grow more than a billion pounds annually, with Illinois growing the most.
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- After a good selection of fruits is harvested, they are placed in the back of one of our Polaris vehicles and brought up to my Winter House driveway.
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- I am always trying to grow different and unusual specimens along with the more traditional varieties. We grow some pumpkins and squash from heirloom seeds. Heirlooms are old-time varieties, open-pollinated instead of hybrid, and saved and handed down through multiple generations of families.
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- Up outside my carport, Elvira wipes each one down with a damp cloth to remove any dirt and debris left from the garden.
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- And then the fruits are all carefully arranged on this stone wall – all clean and intact. No ‘decorating’ is required. Just lining them up makes a wonderful display. I can’t wait until our next big pumpkin harvest!
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