On this Past Halloween and Preserving Pumpkins
This past Halloween Pumpkin
Hey there! I hope you had a nice Halloween 2025 as well, whoever you are reading this. My wife and I continued our tradition of trying to create a carved pumpkin using a medieval knight theme. I'll attach a photo below, and you can decide for yourself, whether it turned out well. We think it went pretty well. After all, this was our first time trying a new technique of not cutting it out all the way through, but just partially.
Preserving Carved Halloween Pumpkins
Also, in the evening we were trying to look up some information on how to keep our pumpkin looking nice longer. We found this resource, so I figured I'd attach these tips here as well in case other people are interested in it. Hope you all have fun carving your pumpkins next year!
The main suggestions are as follows:
- Work from the bottom up: Instead of cutting out the top of the pumpkin cut out the bottom. This way water can drain out of it while it sits, letting it stay dryer and rot slower.
- Get it really clean: The article suggests to clean out the insides very thoroughly with both water and bleach. My own note however would be: make sure not to damage the inside flesh too much. If you start scratching the wall away, then that lets fungi get in easier. Just make sure to clean out the seeds and then wash it out as described.
- Dry it well: Take some paper towels to dry the insides well. The less moisture remains the less mold can grow. You can also use a fan to help with airflow, but do not use a hair dryer as the heat can actually let mold grow quicker.
- Seal the cut areas: Use some vaseline or mineral oil to rub down the places where you carved/cut into the flesh. Mold tends to start from where the pumpkin was damaged, so sealing off these areas can make it more difficult for mold to get a hold of your pumpkin.
- Bleach bath: Mix up a bath of ice cold water and bleach and let the pumpkin sit in it for an hour or two. This helps remove all the rest of the mold and germs that might have been left on it.
Lastly, a carved pumpkin will eventually rot. There is no way around this. So make sure not to carve it up to early before Halloween. It might be best to just wait until Halloween itself, and make it a fun Halloween celebration family activity.