Pumpkins have a reputation of being very popular at Thanksgiving time. I'll bet someone would make pumpkin pies or - in my case, pumpkin waffles.

I planted my Hubbard squash (my favorite for "pumpkin" pie), and they were harvested about a month ago, and are now residing in a basket on the back porch - a nice cool spot. As soon as I can spare time, I will wrestle them open with a chef's knife (really tuff), split in two, place them face down in a baking pan with 1/2 in. of water, place a piece of aluminum foil over the top and steam till a fork can be inserted into the fleshy part easily.

This pulp is scooped out and frozen - making the best pumpkin waffles, pies, etc., all year long.

My squash were planted around May or June in my zone 10.

Bejay

Thanks for the reply. I planted early enough, but as chronicled in the tale of woe I linked above, the $!@$!@#% squirrels have been eating all my fruit and flowers, and I think they've put me about month behind. But I'm not sure, because this is my first time growing pumpkins, and I don't know how long it typically takes for them to grow and ripen.

How long does it take to get from orange/cantaloupe size to harvest?

I don't know if you are going to make it or not. My pumpkins seem to do a big rush at the end, so just keep your fingers crossed.

At the very least, you'll have pumpkins for Thanksgiving.

What to do with 40 pumpkins? Well, they store really well, so you can have pumpkin all winter.

My family is crazy about pumpkin muffins, so I bake 80-100 pounds of pumpkins every year and freeze the pulp in 1 cup baggies.

My dogs also adore pumpkin so another 100-150 pounds of pumpkin gets cooked and frozen to go into dog food.

I grow hull-less seeded pumpkins (at least I am trying) and pie pumpkins. Then I buy some great big 20-30 pound jack-o-lanterns when they are 10-12 cents a pound. I can't grow them for that. Those are very good cooked into pastries, but a bit stringier than pie pumpkins, so those are cooked up for dog food.

Be sure to save all the seeds for snacks. They are super delicious and extremely healthful.

Squash, cantaloupe, and pumpkins will be near ready to harvest when the small tendril near the top stem turns dry. I still let them dry in the sun in the field awhile longer. After harvesting, they can be kept in a cool place - (a root cellar would be ideal), for many months, until they show signs of becoming soft.

Sorry, I can't give you a definite time as to when they will ripen - nature will have her way - you know.

Bejay

Bejay, I too used to wrestle around with hubbards until I had an accident. I dropped one on my concrete garage floor. It broke into perfect, usable-sized pieces. I've never struggled with a hubbard since--sometimes I double the fun with two drops. It never makes a mess either. Of course, I'm not all that far from the ground.

Brook

You could just do a harvest party closer to Thanksgiving for the kids ;)

I was growing pumpkin first time. Somebody gave me a seedling of unknown kind. I got two three big pumpkins, but two of them roted on the stack.
Not sure why. Can anybody tell me why it could happen?
Not sure what to do with a last one, i left it from the soil and put on a pot thinking maybe others rotted because soil was too wet. Pumpkin in yeallow, but big one that rotted was orange. Maybe i should remove this last one as soon as it turns orange?

Briergardener, next time, place some sort of shield between the pumpkin and the dirt. Set the pumpkin on a brick or set an asphalt shingle underneath the pumpkin. Anything to keep the pumpkin out of contact with the dirt.

brookw -

Yes - I found dropping the really big Hubbards on the cement, to be just about the ONLY way to break them open. Some of them can get to be huge. Fortunately, the most recent ones were only about the size of a person's head - just right for best handling.

I try to find a can or smooth rock to set ripening pumpkins/squash to set on also, something that keeps moisture or soil from coming in contact with the flesh, to prevent rotting.

Glad I happened to tune in, cuz I need to rescue this year's harvest soon by cooking them. Wouldn't want them to wind up in the worm bin after all this trouble.

I like to toast the seeds from my Hubbards, then grind them to add to breads - makes a nice flavor and crunch.

Bejay

I picked 26 sugar pies today. They were all orange. There were a few more that still had green on them so I left those and will cover them at night cuz its gonna frost regularly now. Our first frost was Sept 6th. I picked 4 on Sept 17th.

I was wondering the same thing. I planted late (I think in July) because the seed packet only said 90 days to harvest...which I thought would be just in time for Halloween. I've had male flowers every morning for about a month. But I just barely got my first 2 females about a week ago. Right now they are the size of golf balls.

Any chance mine will be ready by the holiday? I grew a miniature decorative type (that get about as big as a softball), and also the jack o lantern variety that get up to 8-12 pounds. Is it too late for me?

[GW keeps eating my posts!!!]
I planted mine on June 20, 133 days before Halloween, thinking that I had 90-120 days to harvest (from the seed packet) plus some curing time and storage.

I'm 2.5 weeks away, and I have a few starting to turn color, but I'll certainly not have enough for the party. We'll either have to harvest green pumpkins, or else I'll have to "plant" a few purchased ones.

Yeah, I guess you can never rely on what the seed packet says. I'll planting everything a month before the printed "harvest day" next year so that it leaves plenty of time.