October 2024 In the Garden
Are My Pumpkins Ready to Harvest?
When I think of pumpkins, I immediately think of Hallowe’en, but they are also used for making pies, and many more delicious fall recipes. For both purposes, the pumpkins should be ripe and properly cured. Most pumpkins have a long, days to harvest date – typically 90 – 120 days. To get a jump on the spring season, you can always start them inside!
Make sure you study up on the Zone 3b pumpkin varieties used for recipes versus the large, less sweet varieties like Jack O’ Lantern that are the best for Hallowe’en carving.
Pumpkins are ready when they are a solid, dull matte color with a hard, thickened rind when pressed with your thumb. Not all pumpkins are orange! Know the ripened color of your particular pumpkin(s) variety. When tapped with your knuckles, the pumpkin should sound hollow. The foliage is dried and brown with the tendril closest to the pumpkin turning brown as well.
Cut the pumpkin from its main stem, leaving 10 cm of stem attached.
Cure pumpkins, butternut squash, blue hubbard, buttercup and spaghetti squash after harvest. Acorn squash should not be cured. Curing allows any extra moisture from the vegetable to evaporate. As a result of evaporation, natural sugars are concentrated and the pumpkin/squash becomes sweeter tasting. The skin becomes harder helping it to resist rot and lengthens its storage time.
Cure squash and pumpkins for ten to fourteen days at temperatures between 26 to 29 degrees C and a relative humidity of 80-85 percent. Place the pumpkins on racks or wire mesh so that all of the skin is well ventilated and dry.
If you are storing your pumpkins over the winter, keep them in a cool, dark place (10-15 degrees C). Place them on flattened cardboard boxes, allowing space between each one for air flow. Ideally the humidity should be between 50 and 70 percent.
Regularly check on your stored pumpkins.
A fun project for the fall is to use your hollowed out pumpkin as a ‘vase’ for fall flower arrangements. Use dry floral foam as an anchor for dried arrangements or create a live arrangement in a glass container that fits into the pumpkin.
When to Harvest Sunflower Seeds
Sunflowers bring us a lot of joy at any time of year. They have been grown in Saskatchewan gardens for as long as I can remember; the seeds first coming to Canada in the late 1800’s! They are extremely easy to grow from seed, come in yellow, white, rusts, reds, pastel purple- pinks and combinations of all the above. Their flowers are loved by pollinators, outstanding in a bouquet and the seeds feed the birds in winter.
All varieties of sunflower seeds are edible! The two types of sunflower seeds are the hard, black and white striped shell that humans love to eat and the smaller, black soft –shelled seeds that are in commercial bird food. Over the years many new cultivars have been introduced in garden centres. The seeds from the short, ornamental sunflowers are often small and do not taste quite as good as the seed from larger varieties. Two favorite large varieties are the Titan and Giant Sunflower sold as seed packets at Floral Acres in the spring. They are both very tall and produce huge seed heads. Remember though, that birds still love the seed from the smaller varieties and their flower heads can be dried or left on the plants for winter feeding.
How do you know when sunflower seed is ready to be harvested? Sunflower seed can be harvested from mid-September to mid-October. Here are a few clues that the plants send out to let you know!
The foliage is yellowing and browning.
The flowers heads have died back and are drooping. They have lost their petals (or most of them), and the back of each flower head has turned yellow/brown or brown.
The seed of the flower heads will look darker with some cream colored striping. They will be visibly looser on the seed head indicating they are ready for harvest.
If the seed heads are not quite ripe and you want to get ahead of the squirrels and birds, cover each seed head with a brown paper bag or cheesecloth, and tie it at the bottom of the seed head to keep any loose seeds inside. Fine mesh bags also work. Whatever you use, make sure it is well ventilated.
You can also cover each seed head as above, leave a 30 cm stem, cut it off and hang the heads upside down inside for a few days in a warm, sunny spot. Once the seed heads are dry and the seeds are loose, they are ready to harvest.
The seeds will come away from the head quite easily. Have a clean tarp or large container available. Rub your gloved hands across each flower head, loosening the seed. Another good method is to rub two seed heads together or use a new bristle brush. Leave a few harvested seed heads outside in a convenient location for the birds.
Rinse the seeds off in a colander. Remove the chaff and loose pieces of flower head. Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper or paper towel. Lay the seeds on the covered cookie sheets in a single layer. Let them dry overnight.
Storage – Make sure you store the dried seeds in an airtight container. Do label the container with the seed variety and date of harvest. If kept in a cool, dark place sunflower seeds can last for years.
Sunflower seeds are very nutritious. They contain iron, phosphorus, calcium, potassium and magnesium. They are also high in Vitamin E and selenium (both antioxidants).
Update!
The Garden Media Groups 2025 Garden Trends Report is out and makes for some interesting reading. It covers 8 gardening trends you can expect to see in 2025! Download the report at this link! https://grow.gardenmediagroup.com/2025-garden-trends-report