Like I said in a recent post… I love October! And one of the reasons I love this perfect fall month is PUMPKINS!!!! They are such a versatile veggie. You can eat them and decorate with them! Pumpkins are sturdy vine growers and are long lasting compared to other veggies, but they do have a shelf life. Today I’m sharing 8 tips for keeping pumpkins fresh. And with the right conditions you can keep uncut pumpkins till Thanksgiving and carved pumpkins till Halloween!
CHOOSE LOCAL PUMPKINS IF POSSIBLE
Lancaster County is pumpkin land in October. The field are full of them and big container size boxes line the roads filled with these fall decor veggies to be picked up and shipped out… all over the country! If you live in an area that has access to local or regional pumpkins buy them local! They are usually more fresh!
I get my pumpkins from many local roadside stands and Amish markets. The pumpkins above are from the PUMPKIN WAGON, a Lancaster County hot spot, for cheap pumpkins. These were picked right out of the field and put on the wagon, dirt and all!
INSPECT EACH PUMPKIN
Pumpkins are susceptible to all kinds of bacteria. Their skin is a protective barrier so examine a pumpkin for scratches, holes or gouges that compromise their skin and let in bad germs! Also check the stem. Make sure the area around them is firm and not soggy. A soggy stem base spells bad news. Mold will quickly grow around it and your pumpkin will not last long.
If you see fuzzy strands or blue/green or black spots… leave the pumpkin and choose another!
KEEP PUMPKINS OUT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT
Pumpkin, like many picked fruits or veggies will go bad more quickly in direct sunlight once they are off the vine! This is especially important for carved pumpkins!
These pumpkins have had their bath and now are drying before going inside. No direct sunshine here!
KEEP PUMPKINS COOL
Fall days can still be quite warm and heat is the enemy of a pumpkin, especially a carved one! If the temperature soars, put pumpkins in a cool place, even in the refrigerator! The same goes for below freezing temps. Bring them in!
GIVE PUMPKINS A BATH
If you do one thing to keep your pumpkins fresh, do this!!! Give them a bath! Use 1 TBS Clorox bleach for every 1 quart! I took all my mimi pumpkins outside and dunked them into a Clorox bath. Don’t forget to turn them upside down and get the stems washed too. Wash off any dirt on them but don’t scrub your pumpkins, you don’t want to break their skin! I’m getting out a big bucket to wash my bigger pumpkins in tomorrow!
DUNK A PUMPKIN
Carved pumpkins tend to get dehydrated and start imploding! To keep a cared pumpkin looking perky longer, dunk it in a bucket of 1 TBS Clorox for every gallon of water. Totally submerge it for 1 to 3 hours. Drain all the excess water from the insides and it will look great! If it starts looking tired again, repeat the process!
SPRITZ A PUMPKIN
This is especially important for outdoor pumpkins! Spritz your pumpkins every once-in-awhile inside and out with a mixture of 1 TBS Clorox bleach to 1 quart water. It will keep bacteria at bay. Don’t spray your pumpkins if there is anything around it that the spray will damage!
SAVE THE STEM
Eventually, your pumpkins will fade… and get pretty yucky!!!! Before you throw them out save the stems. Pop them off or carve them out and let them dry out completely. Save them and attach them to faux pumpkins next year so they look more real! Brilliant, right!
Let’ have the perkiest, prettiest pumpkins ever!!!!
If you love pumpkins like I do you might like these pumpkin related posts…
PAINTING ORANGE PUMPKINS WHITE
GRUYERE, BACON AND GREEN ONION ROASTED STUFFED PUMPKIN
This is amazing and scrumptious and has that company worthy WOW factor!
WHITE PUMPKIN WREATH
You can follow me on Pinterest and see all the fun fall things I’m finding to pin HERE.
Thanks for the great tips on keeping pumpkins fresh!
I found out a lot of information from you thanks for your help.
Thanks for the good tips, but I wanted to let you know that I’ve kept whole pumpkins WAY beyond Thanksgiving. Blessings.
Great tips on keeping pumpkins fresh. Thanks!
Thanks for the tip on giving your pumpkins a bath! I will do that today! I am from Lancaster County and I am hoping you can tell me where The Pumpkin Wagon is?
Great suggestions as usual. Thanks, Yvonne!
Bath time!!! Thanks for the tip.
Thanks for these helpful tips, Yvonne. I’ve just allowed my pumpkins to sit, both inside and out, without special treatment. I can see I’d better get busy tomorrow. My main display of outdoor pumpkins sits smack dab in the sunshine since we don’t have a covered porch. I guess I’ll need to bring them in under the covered sidewalk leading to our front door. Only problem is, the neighbor’s can’t enjoy the view that way. But no worries, I’ll figure out something, and I’ll consider the Chlorox baths as well. Perhaps our cooler Pacific Northwest climate will help the pumpkins keep longer.
saving the pumpkin stems to reuse! Brilliant!!
Thanks for sharing caring for our pumpkins especially about giving them a bath. Fall is my favorite time of year. Thanks again for the useful tips
Thank you for the preservation tip, I will define try be doing this.
i love pumpkins and make many delightful deserts with then, wash them, cut them up and cook them over night in the crock pot. No added water to start and do not drain the juices after cooked. Then I put them thru the food processor and measure them out for (double measure per bag) the recipes I like most and put them into zip lock freezer bags and freeze them. Healthy fresh pumpkin deserts all year.
I also save the stems and give them to the kids to use for the noses on their snowmen. They make some interesting faces.
Pat! I love using real cooked pumpkin in cooking. Thanks for this easy to do tip!
Thanks for the great tips! I LOVE LOVE LOVE pumpkins. So much my brother makes fun of me LOL! I have a lot of faux ones, but also love buying some real ones and will definitely try the Clorox bath. Thank you!
Thanks for the great tips! Buying pumpkins is on my to do list for this weekend.
I really love pumpkins and keep them as long as I can, way past the holidays. One year I still had my two large pumpkins sitting on my outdoor (covered) entry porch until the 4th of July!
Thanks, Yvonne! Helpful tips. I have only wiped pumpkins with a damp cloth to clean them. This method seems much less time consuming, not to mention resulting in cleaner, prettier pumpkins. Now, off to the pumpkin patch. Have a great weekend!
Sherry
Great tips thank you.. I so love pumpkins.
Have great day !
Great tips and I love the idea of saving the stem! I need to start buying some pumpkins soon. We have a ton of farm stands in NJ so looks like I will be buying local as well!
Shelley
My mother recently went to Amish country in Ohio and bought me two beautiful pumpkins, and I was worried that they wouldn’t last- so thank you for the tips, Yvonne! Love your white pumpkins on the little black stool:D
Have to try this—do you use gourds of all shapes, as I do also? If so, do you also bathe them? Think I’ll try it.
Yes, these tips are also applicable for gourds too.
Wow! I never knew about the bleach baths! I’m surely going to try that this year. Thank you so much!
Thank you. Very informative?. I’ve lacquered them with a matte finish and they last a long time as well. Not for every pumpkin but adds longevity! Going to give mine a bleach bath today!?