How to pick the right pumpkin?

Carved pumpkin light up at night

Picking the right pumpkin can be different for everyone. It depends on the style you are going for.  Maybe a skinny and tall pumpkin, or a round a fat pumpkin, or maybe a pumpkin so big you need a forklift to help get it home?

Once you think you have the right kind of pumpkin you want there are a few more things you should look at.

1. Are there any holes? Holes may mean the pumpkin is invaded with nasty bugs or could just be a hole. Either way the pumpkin will not last as long as the other pumpkin.

2. Has does the pumpkin sit? Its no fun carving a pumpkin with lots of detail showing off your best work only to discover when the pumpkin is places outside the carving is hard to see or faces down. Place the pumpkins on a flat surface and make sure the carving area is facing the right way.

3. Squishy? Like with most produce, squishy feeling is bad. The pumpkin is rotting on the inside, put it back.

How long will a pumpkin last after being carved? There are tons of answers for this all over the web. Some says weeks, some a week, some a few days. There is a lot that make this question have different answers. Pumpkin has many different varieties. Some varieties last longer than other. Some climate are better for pumpkin then others and of course those nasty bugs help speed up the process too.

A co-worker brought up to use petroleum jelly on the pumpkin to make it last longer. Not only is this recommend all over the web but I found this article for a great way to help keep the bugs, germs, and mold off the pumpkin.