# Pumpkin day at my place



## trc65 (Oct 13, 2019)

Nephew and his wife were back in town for the weekend, so a dozen of the relatives came out for dinner and to raid my pumpkin patch. Got everybody loaded up and on the way, and realized i forgot to take any pictures. Instead, just took some pictures of the ones that have been sitting on my deck for the last couple of weeks.

Got a good selection of color and shape from this year's crop.

Reactions: Like 3 | Way Cool 6


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## TimR (Oct 13, 2019)

That’s great...not to use a Charlie Brown pun! My wife would dig all those funky shapes and colors...and me, I’m really just into it for the seeds! Sheila got me hooked on her roasted pepitas years ago and you reminded me I need to go grab a couple to extract that nasty mess for the seeds. 
Oh, and it looks like in the first pic someone cleaned up a jar of shine!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Funny 1


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## ripjack13 (Oct 13, 2019)

I only had 3 measly punkins this year from my patch. Small ones too. Darn bugs killed em.
I'm going to carve the deathstar on mine.....

Reactions: Like 1


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## trc65 (Oct 13, 2019)

I do love the shapes and colors, but, like you, really love roasting the seeds. Still have maybe 20 pumpkins left sitting in the field. A few of them will probably be used to carve, but most will have the seeds harvested and roasted after the first hard freeze.

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## trc65 (Oct 13, 2019)

ripjack13 said:


> I only had 3 measly punkins this year from my patch. Small ones too. Darn bugs killed em.
> I'm going to carve the deathstar on mine.....



I've been using a systemic insecticide at planting, and don't have any problems with insects until this time of the year when the beetles and stink bugs start feeding on the rinds. 

I use imidicloprid when transplanting, and it gives excellent control of beetles and reasonable control of aphids for most of the season. Doesn't control vine borers, but don't usually have problems with them anyway.

Used to do a lot of image carving on pumpkins, but don't seem to have the time lately. Will have to dig out some images and post some if I can find them.

Reactions: Like 2


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## trc65 (Oct 13, 2019)

TimR said:


> Oh, and it looks like in the first pic someone cleaned up a jar of shine!



 Those are mason jars, but have solar twinkling "fairy" lights in them. It gets awfully dark out here in the country, and the lights add a nice touch of color at night.

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## ripjack13 (Oct 13, 2019)

Fresh baked seeds.
Lighter for scale....

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## ripjack13 (Oct 13, 2019)

I did a boba fett silhouette last year. Came out pretty good too. I need to look on my photos file to find it....

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## Wildthings (Oct 13, 2019)

Love the middle ones in the 2nd and 3rd pictures

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## ripjack13 (Oct 13, 2019)

Found it!

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## trc65 (Oct 13, 2019)

Wildthings said:


> Love the middle ones in the 2nd and 3rd pictures



Those are Turk's Turbans. Those are actually more of a gourd than a pumpkin, but the color and shape is definitely unique.

Reactions: Way Cool 2


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## ripjack13 (Oct 13, 2019)

trc65 said:


> I've been using a systemic insecticide at planting, and don't have any problems with insects until this time of the year when the beetles and stink bugs start feeding on the rinds.
> 
> I use imidicloprid when transplanting, and it gives excellent control of beetles and reasonable control of aphids for most of the season. Doesn't control vine borers, but don't usually have problems with them anyway.



What stuff in particular do you use? My wife uses something called seven, but she didn't use it this year.
She says the vine borers killed the ones she planted. The small pumpkins that made it were from turning the compost pile over and they sprouted late.


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## trc65 (Oct 13, 2019)

Here are some of my carvings from a few years back.

Reactions: Like 1 | Way Cool 4 | +Karma 1


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## ripjack13 (Oct 13, 2019)

Well Tim, I see I'm going to have to step up my carving game. Those are works of art! Very cool house. I like that one the best.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## ripjack13 (Oct 13, 2019)

Do you use a dremel or just hand tools/chisels?


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## trc65 (Oct 13, 2019)

ripjack13 said:


> What stuff in particular do you use? My wife uses something called seven, but she didn't use it this year.
> She says the vine borers killed the ones she planted. The small pumpkins that made it were from turning the compost pile over and they sprouted late.



The brand name is a generic called Imidi-Pro which is a 21% concentrate of the chemical imidicloprid. I get it online, but you can buy a diluted version of imidicloprid in Big box stores. Bayer sells a product called "Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub" that is a dilute form of the same chemical. Of course, the label doesn't give any instructions for using on pumpkins, but imidicloprid is labeled for pumpkins, so I just calculate the mixing ratio. Technically an illegal use of the product as you must have a label to legally use it on a crop, but I'm not selling anything, so who cares.

For vine borers you should probably use a synthetic pyrethroid. A lot of the chemicals labeled for garden use are pyrethroids and would have an active ingredient such as permethrin, bifenthrin, or zeta-cypermethrin. These are all relatively safe compounds, but will readily kill bees, so shouldn't be used when they are present.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## trc65 (Oct 13, 2019)

ripjack13 said:


> Do you use a dremel or just hand tools/chisels?



For full disclosure, all of those were made with patterns for the outlines. I can't free hand draw to save my life.

No power tools, I've tried that and you need a hazmat suit and a face shield with wipers if you try.

Most of the through cuts were done with the cheap little saws you buy in the carving kits at the dollar store. To cut the rind but not all the way through, I use a speedball razor with a couple of different blades. To remove different depths of flesh for the "shading", I use little "D" shaped clay ribbon tools.
This link shows the ribbon tools, I also use a larger loop tool on the inside of the pumpkin to get a consistent thickness.

https://www.dickblick.com/search/?q=Clay tools&unbxd_x=0&unbxd_y=0&unbxd_sp_cs=UTF-8&unbxd_s=unbxd

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## Wildthings (Oct 13, 2019)

HaHa ..Pumpkin Pi

Reactions: Funny 1


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## trc65 (Oct 13, 2019)

Wildthings said:


> HaHa ..Pumpkin Pi



When I carved that pumpkin, I took it to the haunted house I was helping at and said the first person to tell me what it meant could take it home. Took about 30 minutes of blank stares from the adults before a little 12yo girl came up and said " that's a great looking pumpkin Pi". Still got blank looks from about half the adults present.... Gives me hope though for the future.

Reactions: Funny 2 | Way Cool 1


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## Wildthings (Oct 13, 2019)

trc65 said:


> When I carved that pumpkin, I took it to the haunted house I was helping at and said the first person to tell me what it meant could take it home. Took about 30 minutes of blank stares from the adults before a little 12yo girl came up and said " that's a great looking pumpkin Pi". Still got blank looks from about half the adults present.... Gives me hope though for the future.


What if you would have carved 3.14159265359 in it!!

Reactions: Funny 2


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## barry richardson (Oct 14, 2019)

trc65 said:


> Here are some of my carvings from a few years back.
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 172925 View attachment 172926 View attachment 172927 View attachment 172924 View attachment 172928


Wow! those are cool!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## trc65 (Oct 14, 2019)

Some have asked about what these pumpkins, gourds are, so I've added the variety names to these pictures.

Most of the pumkins came from Stokes Seeds. The big orange ones are a series from Stokes that has Powdery mildew tolerance and all of them have thick rinds and the large stems ("handles") that stay green longer. Even though I labeled the one as " Cronus", it might also be Apollo, Alladin, or Rhea. 

"Fairytale", "Cinderella's Carriage" and "Speckled Swan" are also from Stokes although I've seen those varieties at other suppliers.

Almost every seed source has the "Turks Turban" gourd.

"Blue Doll" and "Porcelain Doll" are from Jungs Seed, although other companies will probably be selling them next year.

Both Jungs and Stokes have a good variety of gourds as well.

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## Wildthings (Oct 14, 2019)

Thanks for labeling those!!

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## trc65 (Oct 14, 2019)

Just to bring this thread full circle, here is my recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds.

Dig all the seeds out and remove most of the orange stuff. Boil the unwashed seeds in salted water for 10 min and drain.

For each 1 cup of seeds add:

1 Tb oil
1 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp cayenne powder or chipotle powder

Stir well to uniformly coat seeds and spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Roast at 300° for about 45 min, stirring them every 15 min. Watch the seeds during the last 15 minutes so they don't get over done.

Reactions: EyeCandy! 1


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## ripjack13 (Oct 15, 2019)

trc65 said:


> Boil the unwashed seeds in salted water for 10 min and drain.


How much salt would salted be?
That sounds yummy. I hadn't thought to add chipotle powder to em.


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## trc65 (Oct 15, 2019)

Maybe a tablespoon in a quart or two of water, never really measured, just poured some in.

Also, forgot to mention, use a good sized pot as the seeds will foam a lot during boiling/simmering. Doesn't smell to good when the orange foam hits the burner and is a pain to clean up.

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