Today, I watched the grandchild, a teen, of a farmer manhandling his pumpkins. She grabbed them by the stem, sort of wrenched them sideways and plopped them back down. She was looking for attention and certainly got my attention.
Several children in a family elsewhere were grabbing pumpkins by the stem in an effort to find perfect pumpkins. When a stem came off, they just threw it down and grabbed another.
STEMS ARE NOT HANDLES!
When the stem is broken off the pumpkin, the pumpkin rots faster. So, the obvious is--don't buy a pumpkin without a stem in hopes it will last very long.
Rant over!
Your turn
Do you handle pumpkins by the stem before you purchase it? Allow your children to do so? Did you know that a pumpkin rots faster once the stem is removed?
My kids learned that at a very young age. They don't like their pumpkins rotting. Of course, here in the PNW, pumpkins are weeds. Even so, I don't like carelessness, and dislike parents allowing it. We used go to a patch that has an honor payment. They charge $3/ pumpkin, or $5 per wheelbarrow. We asked the owner why so cheap, and she said by the first weekend, she has more than paid for the planting. The type she grows for the patch are decorative pumpkins, not reall suited for baking....they have a soapy taste. When 11/1 rolls around, the remaining pumkins, (and there are a lot) are cut off the vine and used for cattle feed.
ReplyDeleteNow, we grow our own pumpkins. I am silly with pumpkins!
The other thing that irritates me is how parents allow kids to pick apples. Here, we have trees along the road, behind the thrift shop, behind a church...EVERYWHERE. Local custom allows residents to pick these. I cannnot bear to see parents letting their kids yank on the branches to reach the apples. That hurts the trees! And, sometimes, it's the adults doing it. For crying out loud, bring a stool or ladder.
Meg B.,
DeleteThank you! I am continually amazed that the thoughtlessness of parents that is being passed on the children. Don't people know that trees can be damaged?
I wish I had pumpkins! And apples! Just any food growing would please me. I do know of someone who allowed people to pick fruit. But, they broke limbs to get the fruit....grrrr.
I do have a tool for picking overhead fruit. There is an youtube video about how to make one. Thanks for the comments.
Someone is in full agreement with this - no holding pumpkins by the stem, ever!
ReplyDeleteProper pumpkins have stems.
Urspo,
DeleteI watched pumpkins lose their stems at a free produce giveaway while other children threw apples at each other. Very few had proper stems when the kids were through. And, the parents watched all this. Thanks!
Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteCindi,
DeleteGlad to oblige.
Absolutely no stem holding- that's a pet peeve of mine too. They break easily! The last few years I've just bought a tiny pumpkin for pie filling and that was it- no kids here to carve and not my favorite activity.
ReplyDeleteNAN,
DeleteI sometimes get a pumpkin for decoration and then give it to the chickens.
I never carve one.
I miss the days when I took the kids to get pumpkins. I'm not missing the mess of carving them though. Halloween is my favorite time of the year.
ReplyDeleteAnd my kids knew not to pick up pumpkins by the stem.
Sonya Ann,
DeleteI miss the extreme excitement!
I never handled them by the stem before but didn't know it caused them to rot faster, learn something new every day!
ReplyDeletecountry life,
DeleteI would be disappointed it I did not learn something new everyday! Breaking off the stem can cause the stem to break and start the rot.
I once had a pumpkin for halloween that lasted until I decorated it as Santa Claus, then it became an Easter bunny. It never lost it's firmness. I'll never figure that one out.
ReplyDeletelotta joy,
DeletePumpkins are meant to be stored over the winter. That is how people long ago stored them. Some foods last longer on the shelf, in a root cellar or in a basement than others do. I am quite sure some varieties last longer than others.
I think that is very clever of you to keep decorating that one pumpkin.
Breaking off the stem leaves a wound that most likely won't heal so it rots. What a waste of a good pumpkin. We tended not to carve our pumpkins but to paint/marker faces on them. That way I could use the pumpkin for eating.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of kids/adults not handling produce well. We started shopping at a Neighborhood Walmart (because it's across from the library) and immediately noticed how nice the produce section was. For instance, all the cucumbers are lined up, the apples are arranged not dumped, the bags of produce all face the same way. AND we noticed that customers take just as much care. Not the same at the regular Walmart near us - staff just dumps the produce in the correct space, customers maul thru them to find the particular piece they want. Seems that learning by example needs to be taught to kids and a lot of adults.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteThis Walmart has always handled produce well, and had a nice display. It is getting better since Publix moved here...lol.
I watched Food World employees toss apple one at a time to the top of the stack, let them roll down, and toss the apples up again. The guys used them produce as a game. The females handled produce more gently. Yes, I chastised the guys who tossed apple and bananas. I am quite sure they continued their stupidity after I left.
I no longer carve them and do not paint them. I just set them on the porch. Garbage setting out day, I will be looking on garbage day for pumpkins the week after Halloween and Thanksgiving since my chicken will love them.