You will need a lot of room to grow pumpkins because they grow on vines that can grow up to about 30-40 feet long. If not enough room is provided for your pumpkin plant, you may end up causing it to shade and weaken itself. This will make the pumpkin plant very prone to disease and pests. You need to plant your pumpkins where they will receive plenty of sun. The more water they get the better they will be. Even though growing
pumpkins can tolerate some drought, it is better to give them a regular watering. Be sure you give your pumpkin plants 2 - 4 inches of water on a weekly basis. Some of you will probably need to use the hose if you are not getting enough rain.
The squash bug is the pumpkin vines number one killer. To help keep them away from your plant, you will need to plant some
companion plants nearby. Catnip, marigolds, mint, nasturtiums, petunias, and radishes are the plants that the nasty squash bug does not like and it will keep them from your growing pumpkins.
Most pumpkins will take approximately 50 days to mature after the appearance of the female blossoms. Pumpkins are easy to tell when they are ready for harvest because of their rich color and the die off of their vines. Their rinds will also get become nice and tough, and they will resist a scratching from your fingernail. When you get around to harvesting your pumpkins be sure to leave a nice long stem on the pumpkin, this will slow down the rotting process. Also try to harvest before the threat of a hard frost. If you have a large quantity of pumpkins to harvest, you may want to wear a pair of all purpose
gardening gloves, many pumpkins will have tiny bristles on the stems that will hurt and may begin to rough up your hands.
Now it is time for those luscious pumpkin seeds. Every year at Halloween time hundreds of parents and kids will reach inside their pumpkins and scoop out all the stringy pulp and the seeds. Most of us usually toss all this in the trash. This year why not save the seeds for a healthy snack. The first thing we need to do is rinse the seeds well and get all the pulp removed. Then we can boil them in salted water. We will need roughly one cup of water and one tablespoon or less of salt, depending on your taste, for each quarter cup of seeds. Next we bring the salted water and seeds to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer for about 10 minutes. This method gives the seeds a nice crunch when baking and evenly distributes the salt.
For basic pumpkin seeds the only thing left to do is bake them in the oven. Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil on the bottom of a cookie sheet and spread the seeds in one layer on top. Now bake them on top rack of your oven at 400 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes until they start looking brown and crisp. For a variety of pumpkin seeds prepare the seeds as above but then toss them in a mixture of egg white and your favorite spice before baking. For sweet try the egg white, cinnamon and sugar; sweet and spicy, try egg white, cayenne pepper and sugar; and for spicy try egg white, curry, cayenne, garlic salt, or seasoned salt. Before placing on the oiled cookie sheet be sure to drain off the excess egg white, and then bake them for about 20 minutes. This way you will have the best pumpkin
seeds coming from your own pumpkin patch. After Halloween is over you can now toss your jack-o-lantern into your compost pile.
