{"id":345,"date":"2026-10-14T15:02:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T19:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/?p=345"},"modified":"2026-10-14T15:02:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T19:02:52","slug":"fall-in-love-with-pumpkins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/2026\/10\/fall-in-love-with-pumpkins\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall in Love with Pumpkins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Popular this time of year in d\u00e9cor and festive dishes, pumpkins are one of the favorite symbols of the fall season. Pumpkins provide fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in a variety of sweet and savory dishes. As a member of the Cucurbitaceae squash family, pumpkins are botanically speaking a fruit but classified as a vegetable from a culinary perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To grow your own pumpkin patch, below are a few tips to get you started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Find a full sun site with plenty of space for sprawling vines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Get your soil tested in the fall prior to planting to ensure pH and fertility requirements have been met.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pumpkin is a warm season crop. Plant seeds in mid-to late June, depending on the variety, for an early October harvest.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plant seeds in small hills (raising the soil up a few inches into a small mound) with at least 8 feet of space on all sides.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pumpkins will need plenty of water, fertilizer, and mulch throughout the growing season.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Like other cucurbits, the first flowers produced by the plant are male. These flowers are to attract bees to the vines to alert them to a flowering plant in the area. &nbsp;When female flowers are produced, pollen transfer is more successful as pollinators already have an established route for pollen collection and transfer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A few pumpkin facts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Illinois leads the country in pumpkin production, at nearly 533 million pounds produced in 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All parts of the pumpkin can be eaten: the skin, leaves, flowers, pulp, seeds, and stems (when young). Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.illinois.edu\/pumpkins\/preserving-pumpkin\">https:\/\/extension.illinois.edu\/pumpkins\/preserving-pumpkin<\/a> for some tips on preserving pumpkins.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Healthy pumpkins, uncarved or unblemished, can last for several months inside your home.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Decaying organic matter in landfills produces methane as it decomposes without oxygen. Consider composting your pumpkin to help keep them out of landfills and reduce methane production.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information about growing pumpkins, including varieties to try in Georgia, check out our Homegrown Pumpkins publication at <a href=\"https:\/\/fieldreport.caes.uga.edu\/publications\/C1206\/homegrown-pumpkins\/\">https:\/\/fieldreport.caes.uga.edu\/publications\/C1206\/homegrown-pumpkins\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kim Toal, is the Fayette County Extension Coordinator and Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources. For additional information about Fayette County Extension, please call our office at 770-305-5412 or check out our website at<a href=\"https:\/\/extension.uga.edu\/fayette\">&nbsp;https:\/\/extension.uga.edu\/fayette<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"327\" src=\"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/files\/2026\/05\/FayetteCounty_logo_Formal_FC-1024x327.png\" alt=\"University of Georgia Extension; Fayette County Logo\" class=\"wp-image-318\" style=\"aspect-ratio:3.131702238417491;width:289px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/files\/2026\/05\/FayetteCounty_logo_Formal_FC-1024x327.png 1024w, https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/files\/2026\/05\/FayetteCounty_logo_Formal_FC-300x96.png 300w, https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/files\/2026\/05\/FayetteCounty_logo_Formal_FC-768x245.png 768w, https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/files\/2026\/05\/FayetteCounty_logo_Formal_FC-1536x490.png 1536w, https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/files\/2026\/05\/FayetteCounty_logo_Formal_FC.png 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Popular this time of year in d\u00e9cor and festive dishes, pumpkins are one of the favorite symbols of the fall season. Pumpkins provide fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in a variety of sweet and savory dishes. As a member of the Cucurbitaceae squash family, pumpkins are botanically speaking a fruit but classified as a vegetable [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":447,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/447"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":348,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345\/revisions\/348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/fayette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}