Dried pumpkin ornament

Hello fellow winter survivors.

We grew two Jack be Little pumpkin plants, one at my house and one at my Grans. Hers got a bit of extra sun, and cured in a much warmer, drier enviroment, while ours sat in our milder, damper kitchen. About 2 months passed since harvest.

When it came time to eat the pumpkins at her place, they were super hard and were cracking when I cut them. Mine didnt do that! I roasted them till soft and they were delicious with butter. But afterwards, it became apparent the skin was completely lignified / woody! It was solid, no spoon was getting through that. Meanwhile the pumpkins at our house had edible skin

I looked online and all references to drying pumpkins were with crazy methods like using Epoxy, or used bottled gourds. I gave it ago anyway, using my fingers to remove any leftover pulp, washing it and drying it in my airing cupboard. Two weeks later and they were perfect! Only a tiny bit of mould that had dried and died.


I had cut them in half to eat so I used a glue stick to smush them back together, now I have some cool ornaments.

Any idea why some pumpkins develop a woody skin and others dont? Perhaps the variety had a mixture of genes in it, or perhaps the heat developed it further?

Less wastage and free decor
If I had known theyd dry so well I would have cut and cooked them a little gentler
Thanks for Reading!

 

Nice @Adam I ! I must admit I've only grown things like Turks Turban for ornament - didn't eat them, just left as is. It's much better that you can get food and decorations from the same ones!

 

They are great Adam and well dome.

I tried a couple of years ago but we only got one! I may try again. Must also have another go at Cucamelons.

 

Thanks both of you

The biggest problem with pumpkins I had was drought. If you plant it in the ground, apply lots of mulch and give them good compost. You may need to water in dry weather.

We do cucamelons every year. I sow them after the first frost. They are more drought tolerant when established, but they need a really big trellis, 2 metres by 2 metres I would say
We are trying to overwinter the tubers but we've never had success before so we save seeds.
Good Luck!

 

Love the colour @Adam I . The only similar type of thing I've ever tried drying were Bottle Gourds - still got half a dozen of them from 30 years ago. They dry out very pale but often with some interesting markings which I exaggerate with paint.
Not exactly ornamental but I still have some Loofahs in use which I grew/dried/cleaned. Nothing quite like having your shower and saying to your loofah " I remember you as a plant "

 

If you have a problem @Adam I with irrigation for your pumpkins try making Oyas/Ollas. Don't buy the expensive ones, make your own, it's very easy. I grow mine on the edge of our field so too far to lug watering cans, these work well.

 

That's interesting, how do you make your own?

 

Sorry @Adam I i couldn't do a link. If you search on the web for "make your own ollas" there are lots of ideas, all roughly the same.

 

Sorry, I butted in, it was me asking, just looking now.
Morrisons always sells cheap very porous clay flower pots in the spring, so I might try a few of these.

 

That'll teach me to reply while sitting outside in the sun. Don't forget to bung up the hole in the bottom @pete lol

 

HOW TO USE OLLA IRRIGATION.

 

That's an excellent article @pete .