Patches now open at local nurseries; what to look for when pumpkin shopping
Just in time for Green Acres' annual Fall Festival, piles of pumpkins await shoppers at Green Acres Nursery & Supply. Photo courtesy of Green Acres Nursery & Supply www.idiggreenacres.com
It’s pumpkin time, as evidenced by brightly colored piles outside supermarkets and inside nurseries.
But how do you choose the perfect pumpkin? It depends on what you’re shopping for.
Most pumpkins now rolling into stores are for Halloween carving or decorative purposes. Most carving pumpkins – bright orange with thin rinds and smooth skin – are hybrids of Connecticut field pumpkin varieties – the classic heirloom pumpkin. It tends to weigh 15 to 20 pounds, giving these future Jack-o-lanterns some size but not too much heft.
Pumpkins with thin rinds or walls tend to be easier to carve than thick-walled varieties. How can you tell before you crack it open? Pick it up; does that pumpkin seem heavy for its size? If so, it’s thick walled. Also, look at the stem. Thick-walled pumpkins tend to have hefty, thick stems.
Thin or thick, choose a pumpkin that feels solid to the touch all the way around. Avoid any with soft spots or sunken areas; they’ve already begun to decay.
Fresh pumpkins can last several weeks if left uncarved and kept out of direct sun. But a carved pumpkin’s lifespan is mere days (if not less than 24 hours); those cut surfaces tend to mold or rot quickly.
Interest in uncarved pumpkins as fall decorations had led to a plethora of pumpkin varieties. For example, Green Acres Nursery & Supply stocks at least a dozen different varieties: Carving, Fairytale, Lumina, Lil’ Pump-Ke-Mon, Cinderella, Jarrahdale, Big Max, Cronus, Iron Man, Knucklehead, One Too Many and Lunch Lady plus mini pumpkins, winged gourds and gooseneck gourds.
Need carving and decorating ideas – or want to show off your own skill? As part of its Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 30, Green Acres is hosting a pumpkin decorating contest at each of its seven locations. Decorate and/or carve the pumpkin in advance and enter it before 9:30 a.m. at the store’s contest table. Categories include Scariest, Silliest and Most Creative. Winners will be announced Monday, Oct. 2.
Green Acres’ Fall Festival also includes pumpkin-inspired games, crafts and workshops including how to turn a pumpkin into a succulents planter. Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; admission and parking are free.
Green Acres is located in Sacramento, Auburn, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Rocklin and Roseville. For addresses, directions and more details on the Fall Festival: https://idiggreenacres.com/.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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