"1 or 2 days after the racoons get it. " I burst out laughing when I read this as I had those exact words on my lips (at the tip of my typing fingers) and that is a very accurate way to tell. The racoons just found my garden this week and the destruction has begun. Last year my husband had complained because I was picking the ears just a tad on the immature side and that is why. They also can tell you when a peach or persimmon crop is nearly ready. I find broken tree branches when the fruit is nearly ripeness where they'd been up sampling like a taster of fine wines.

Absolutely - bag 'em.:) I use a square of nylon stocking and a twist tie. The pod will begin to look a little more dry and begin to split along the 'seam' when the seeds are ripe. I think it must be early to start watching for ripe seed - here where our Spring is always cool (coastal Washington) I can still be harvesting seeds in late June. Here is a link that might be useful:

The stem at the base of the pumpkin gets hard and dry when the pumpkin is ready to harvest. Different pumpkins are different shade of orange, some more yellow, some streaky, some even green or blue, so color is not the best guide. I grew Cinderella pumpkins one year and didn't know the trick about putting an old plate upside down (so it will drain water) under each ripening pumpkin. Because of this, insects invaded most of them on the side that lay on the soil. It was a keen disappointment to me. Now I know. Rosefolly

This is from the most Arid Gardener list serv digest: The best way to tell if citrus is ripe is to sample the fruit. There is usually enough fruit on a tree so it isn't a big loss if a few are sacrificed by sampling. If you keep records, after the first year you should know when it is time to harvest. You can also get it a ball park estimate of the right time of the year but you need to know what varieties you have. Some AZ Sweet varieties ripen in November but Valencias won't be ready until February-March. See http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1001.pdf for some examples. Once ripe, the best place to store it is by leaving it on the tree until you are ready to use it or until it becomes overripe and/or drops from the tree. Here is a link that might be useful: scroll down for archives