How to Harvest Pumpkins & Squash

Come fall, pumpkins and winter squash are ready for harvest. These hard-rind fruit store very well and are enjoyed in soups, salads or roasts all winter. Knowing how to harvest your pumpkins and squash is important, as improper handling during harvest can have a detrimental effect on storage life. Both pumpkin and squash are harvested in the same manner, although pumpkins are generally left to cure for a week or so before consumption.

Clippers or garden shears
Bleach
Water
Cloth

Instructions

- 1
  Leave the fruit on the vine to cure in the field until the first frost, or just before the anticipated date of the first frost.
- 2
  Inspect the fruit for a hard rind and uniform color for pumpkins, and a hard rind that cannot be punctured by your fingernail for squash. The vines will be dried and dead-looking at this time.
- 3
  Cut the fruit off the vine with clippers or garden shears, leaving around 2 to 3 inches of stalk on pumpkins, and around an inch of stalk for winter squash. Don't carry either fruit by the stalk, as the weight of the fruit can cause the stalk to tear away from the fruit.
- 4
  Wash fruit well in a 1-to-10 bleach-to-water solution to remove all dirt and kill bacteria or pathogens on the rind. Dry well with a cloth.
- 5
  Cure pumpkins for 10 days in a dry, cool place (a small shed is ideal) at temperatures of around 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit and 80 to 85 percent relative humidity. Squash don't need curing.
- 6
  Store fruits on a porous surface (wood is preferable) without the fruit touching. Keep at a temperature range of around 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Pumpkins will store for three to four months, and depending on the type of squash from six to eight weeks (acorn squash) and up to six months for Hubbard squash.

How to Wash Apples

Varieties of Onion Stalks

Vegetable Garden