How to pick pumpkins

4 min read

Half the reason American farms open to the public at all in October, and the one pick where what you do with it decides what you choose.

What to look for

1
Cut the stem with snips or a knife, leaving three or four inches. Never carry a pumpkin by its stem, which snaps and opens the fruit to rot
2
Knock it. A ripe pumpkin sounds hollow, and the rind should resist a fingernail rather than dent
3
Uniform colour with no soft patches, and a dry corky stem. A green stem means it was cut early
4
Check where it sat on the ground, which is where rot starts and where nobody looks
5
For pie, take a small dense variety rather than a big carving pumpkin, which is watery and stringy by design

Seasons are short and local. See which pick-your-own farms have pumpkins on right now.