Time to harvest the pumpkins

Over the past few weeks I have been keeping an eye on the pumpkins and squashes in the vegetable tunnel and trying to figure out when I should pick them. I am not very well versed in the growing habits of gourds, and so I have been blog-surfing for some guidance. In the process I came across a number of useful blogs on the topic including Town & Country Gardening, a great gardening blog which has lots of advice on a range of gardening topics.

Pumpkins & squash like to spread themselves around

I have been growing a number of varieties this year in the tunnel. To my delight they have done really well – so I have a big crop of Paintball pumpkins, a huge crop of ‘Festival’ squash which are, I think, like an acorn squash, and a few Butternut squash of strangely varied size and shape.

‘Paintball’ pumpkins and ‘Festival’ squash

I just was not sure when I should harvest them. Reading up on the topic I learned that they are ready when their skin is hard (too hard to sink a fingernail in), and when they have coloured up – although pumpkins I am told will continue to change from green to orange after picking.

Pumpkins will continue to colour up after they have been harvested

All very good advice! But then I was told also that they are best left on the vine as long as possible i.e. until they are in danger of frost. But I have noticed that the leaves are beginning to have a whitish mildew on them – powdery mildew I am guessing. This apparently is a threat to the production of more fruits, but is it a threat to the existing fruit on the vine?

Despite reading lots of studies and blog entries I am still not sure on that question, although I did establish that powdery mildew will damage the ‘handle’ of the fruit if left too long. I thought I should err on the safe side so one evening this week after work I began the process of harvesting my crop.  I headed off into the warm balmy tunnel – a large basket in tow – but soon realised that carrying a full basket of these very heavy fruits is no easy task.  So my trusty old wheelbarrow was drafted in to do the heavy lifting.

My battered old wheelbarrow laden with pumpkins & squash

I am thrilled to say that the tunnel has produced a pretty good yield this year – 3 really large pumpkins and around 4 other smaller pumpkins.  But the success story this time has been the squash – I grew a trailing variety called Festival – and one packet of seed produced over 1 dozen decent sized fruits. According to my sources a squash is ready for picking when it has coloured up fully – and over the late Summer and Autumn these have changed from a rather bland off-white to a beautiful creamy orange and speckled green colour.

The pumpkins will continue to colour on the deck

I have left the biggest pumpkins to mature our on the deck, and my remaining store of smaller pumpkins and squash are sitting around the house on sunny windowsills and shelves to cure i.e. to dry out properly and for the skin to harden fully.  In a few more days I will move them into the wine store, which is a nice cool dark place under a stairs which has a steady temperature all year round.

Squash and pumpkins on a sunny windowsill

Late Summer visitor – elephant hawkmoth caterpillar

At first glance the elephant hawkmoth caterpillar could be mistaken for a twig

I came across this little chap in my garden a few weeks ago. At first I thought it was a little stick – but closer examination revealed it to be a strange fat caterpillar. I had heard a discussion on the radio recently about elephant hawk moth caterpillars – and so I wondered if that was what had graced my garden. He did indeed resemble an elephant’s trunk. A little bit of research later – thanks as ever to Google search – and I had established that he was indeed an elephant hawk moth caterpillar, who will transform into a beautiful moth in May of next year.

The elephant hawkmoth will grace our gardens next Summer if we are lucky enough to see one.

The elephant hawkmoth caterpillar

I watched his progress along a garden path for a while that day – and he seemed to be determined to get somewhere – I guess somewhere to hole up for the long cold and wet winter ahead. Since I didn’t have time to stay there on my hands and knees all day I left him to his own devices – and he did manage to find a hidey hole somewhere as I couldn’t find him later that day. So I hope he is tucked up somewhere safe and warm – and I hope that when he emerges as he is supposed to do next Summer that I will happen upon him again in all his pink/purple glory before he flutters away.

Irish postage stamps have often featured the elephant hawkmoth

Some useful links:

More images of the elephant hawkmoth here
Some information on the life-cycle of the elephant hawkmoth from the UK’s Wildlife Trusts