RE: PLEASE HELP!!!!
Greg,
Being an AG grower who also does his gardening in a community garden in a
public park this is my greatest fear. I feel for you and would probably do
the same thing you are planning on. My wife wouldn't be too understanding
of me pitching a tent in the garden and spending nights out there. I would
take as much of the vine up as I could with roots intact and pack them in
damp soil and put the cut ends in jugs of water. I would also wrap the
fruit in a old sheet and wet it down with some chelated calcium or calcium
metalosate. I would allow that to dry and then keep the fruit covered to
limit evaporation/transpiration from the fruit. As long as you do this it
should last quite a while off the vine. I harvested a fruit last year for
the Puyallup Fair in early September that had a stem split. I also
inadvertantly poked a hole in it with a piece of rebar in the patch that had
supported its shade structure. I brought it home from the fair and kept it
in my driveway until I carved it up for halloween and it was still in fine
condition. The puncture was about 3" deep and dried out inside and did not
rot. Good luck with your efforts.
Chris Michalec
Covington, WA
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gregory Sliwka [SMTP:sliwka@ais.net]
> Sent: Monday, September 11, 2000 6:47 PM
> To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
> Subject: PLEASE HELP!!!!
>
> List,
>
> As some of you may know, I had vandals visit my patch last year damaging
> or destroying 3 of my larger pumpkins. Unfortunately they have returned
> this year. Sunday I discovered a section of my fence was pulled down and
> a stake which had been plunged into one of the smaller pumpkins ( I also
> found an empty bottle of Bacardi which would seem to rule out animals).
> Although the weigh-off is still 25 days away, I have reluctantly decided
> that I will pull the pumpkins and put them in my yard for safe keeping.
> Although weight-loss is inevitable, I would like to keep it to a minimum
> as one of these pumpkins could be a new personal best for me. What
> tactics should I employ to keep the loss down? Would digging up a
> section of the vine and placing its roots in dirt or water help? Should
> I put the ends of the vine in jugs of water? Is there something I can
> coat the outside of the pumpkin with to reduce water loss? Finally what
> are the odds that pumpkins picked now would last untill Halloween? They
> would be stored outside and we still get weather in the 70s and 80s this
> time of year. Thanks in advance for the help.
>
> Getting that "sinking" feeling again...
> Greg "Titanic Atlantic" Sliwka
>
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