It Is That Time Once Again, GLP's THIRD Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest --CLOSED-- link to vote in first post

my cheekbones are literally aching from laughing and grinning so much after listening to the glp doom song. I needed that.

Twins! LOL

:)

Even Bigger, 'Apache Jii Day' was Saturday (the day you Worship Saturn).

I have mine now gotta remember how to post pic

Some years they just mold sooner. I think they were harvested way too early. Try keeping your pumpkins in a cool dark place until ready to carve. Think root cellar conditions. Best temps are 50-60F degrees and 50-70% humidity - something most of us don't have. For smaller pumpkins stick them in the fridge.

Once carved, dunk or spray them with a solution of bleach. Most sites state 1 teaspoon of bleach to 1 gallon of water. If you have concentrated bleach this would be good otherwise, use 1 tablespoon to be safe.

The pumpkin was soaked in bleach solution (1 tsp. bleach/gallon water) for 8 hours. Thereafter it was sprayed daily with a mild bleach solution. The soaking and spraying is intended to hydrate the pumpkin flesh, while the bleach is an antimicrobial.
[link to www.myscienceproject.org]

The above site shows the different results using bleach, Stay Fresh, glue, petroleum jelly and nothing. The bleach one broke down due to bleach pooling in the bottom and would likely have lasted longer if it had of been inverted. This is the method I have used before. One year the bottom of it where the bleach had pooled turned to slim and was quite gross. Turning it upside down to keep the moisture from pooling was actually much better.

Doing NOTHING at all actually works pretty good as well, as long as it is stored in a dry location. Best advice, don't carve before 5-7 days. Mine will be turned into a bird and squirrel feeder afterwards so not carving before October 26/27th as I don't want any chemicals in it.

Hope that helps.

That sux. They must have had issues. I pick mine when ripe (often August) and store with my canned veggies. They last for months. Always have some past Christmas. Any damage will deteriorate quickly, however.
(If I see any mold, I spray colloidal silver on it.)
Good luck!


Last Edited by Trained Noticer on 10/19/2015 09:07 AM

Thanks for the tips! : )

Bad crop year, lot of tiny pumpkins but very few large pumpkins this year.

Can't wait! I'll check back in from time to time today and when it goes up we'll get ya entered as the first contestant.

YAY!!! Love this thread.

OMG, Chrit, they are great and so clever...

I had fun making them.

ROFLMAO, this smilie is so perfect.

Going to redo mine or can we have 2

Just one, but you can post it and if you want a different one entered before the end date that is fine, we can switch them out.

*cheers in the background*

'post it, post it, post it'

Just got back from the store and bought my pumpkins..now just tryin' to think of something. =-P

I'm going old school classic with a twist for my next one.

I need to go buy my pumpkins today. Too early to carve and have them last but waiting would mean only the small pumpkins would be left!

time for a halloween mr clappa ;)

Uh oh. And I'm sure it was a winner!
Oh, well. Back to the pumpkin patch...

Classic

I love your clappa

Remember we are professionals with special training, do not try this at home.






[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

I think I finally know what I'm doing but worried I can't pull it off

Been there, this was nothing like what I wanted but I used it anyway.