Pumpkin again

[lemanie]

hello
this time the question is:- how do i know when i can pick it?
It's HUGE, and that's an understatement and it's yellow and perfectly round. And it just keeps growing!
Help!

[Fi]

Lemanie, I can't remember what sort it is, but they are all best left to ripen on the plant, preferably in lots of sun, for several weeks so their flavour develops. (Most sold in supermarkets are not ripe.) However, if you want the space for something else, or you just want to eat it, go ahead. They will continue to ripen after they are harvested, most will keep for several months, and, if you want to cook it, cut it up and roast it first - this will intensify the flavour. After the roasting, you can cook with it straight away or puree and freeze the flesh for Ron, as in lateR on. Each year I buy a heap when they drop in price after hallloween and freeze them (it's a bit too cold to grow them successfully up here except in a heated greenhouse) for later use as soups - pumpkin soup is utterly yummie and pumpkin pie not far behind. Mind you, roast pumpkin is also a delicious addition to roasted vegetables.
In case you haven't noticed, I luuuuurve pumkin.

[lemanie]

thanks for all this advice fi, i had a temporary panic that it was actually a melon cos i had one of those seeds sprout as well, but now i'm back thinking it's a pumpkin. Shame it's too big to send in the post you could have enjoyed it as well, i'm sure there's a family of 4 living in it it's so big. Lets hope we actually get the sun we've been promised this weekend to help it along

[smiffy]

Do put a piccy here so we can all admire its size!

[Fi]

lemanie said:

thanks for all this advice fi, i had a temporary panic that it was actually a melon cos i had one of those seeds sprout as well, but now i'm back thinking it's a pumpkin. Shame it's too big to send in the post you could have enjoyed it as well, i'm sure there's a family of 4 living in it it's so big. Lets hope we actually get the sun we've been promised this weekend to help it along

Don't worry too much about the sun, they will continue to ripen off the plant if need be.
Thanks for the offer - much appreciated. How big is it?