Ornate Garden

Picking a Pumpkin for Carving
You can carve any type of pumpkin, gourd or squash. A good carving pumpkin should be firm and healthy. Ideally you want one with a shell that is hard enough to protect it, but still allows you to get a knife through. Pumpkins with outer shells that feel as hard as a piece of wood are very difficult, and dangerous, to slice into.

Tap the pumpkin gently and listen for a slightly hollow sound. Lifting the pumpkin will also give you a good idea of how dense it is. The heavier the pumpkin, the thicker the walls. Thick walls block the candle light and carving details will be lost. If worse comes to worse, you can shave the walls from the inside.

The tall, oblong-shaped varieties tend to be stringier inside, making it difficult to make precise cuts.

Shape is up to your own taste, but test to see if your pumpkin has a good, balanced base to sit on, so it doesn’t roll over when you try to display it.

Don’t discount the smaller pumpkins entirely. They’re great for kids to carve and to use as decorations.

White pumpkins, like ‘Lumina’ give a spooky look to your Halloween lantern. They can also be painted more easily than orange pumpkins and most make great cooking pumpkins too.

Keeping a Carved Pumpkin Fresh
Your Halloween lantern will start to dry and shrivel as soon as it is cut and exposed to the air. If you need to carve your pumpkin a few days before you’ll be displaying it, try these tips to keep it fresh longer:

Keep it in a cool spot, out of direct sunlight.

Spray it with an anti-transpirant.

Drape the entire pumpkin with a damp towel.

Don’t leave it outdoors if there’s a threat of frost.