Pumpkins are magical, and not just as a golden coach for
Cinderella. Growing most of
the summer and into the fall, they require patience and
persistence in your garden. But
they pay off in lots of ways.High in vitamin A, pumpkins can be cooked into pies, soups,
casseroles, breads, cookies
and seed snacks. Or you can carve them into Jack-o’-lanterns.
They come in sizes from a
few ounces to hundreds of pounds."Magic carving" is a special advantage of growing
your own pumpkins,
especially for parents.
Start Early
While the fruit is still small — the size of a softball —
make shallow cuts or
ballpoint pen markings about one-eighth of an inch deep in the
rind.Be creative. Draw a jack-o’-lantern face or a child’s name
or any other design. The
pumpkin will heal these wounds with scar tissue. And as it
grows, these scars will expand.
The face, name or design etched into the young fruit will
become larger, raised and rough,
and clearly visible.What a delight for a child to find at harvest a pumpkin with
his or her name on it, or
a face smiling up at them.
Watch Them Grow
From mid-August to harvest time in October, pumpkins grow at
an amazing rate. It can be
fun to measure them and keep a progress record. But be careful
not to break their fragile
stems.If you just can’t manage a pumpkin patch, see if you can
arrange with a pick-your-own
grower to engrave some pumpkins for your family only. Then when
your children go to pick
their pumpkins, they would find them with their own names on
them.
