I bought some seeds for an indoor container vegetable garden; seeds were on sale at a new Menards that had just opened up so I went a little bit crazy and bought way more than I would possibly need, unless I started an outdoor garden as well. Just for funsies, I planted a "Early Sweet Sugar Pie" pumpkin seed by Burpee. The thing sprouted REALLY fast and is HUGE compared to everything else I planted! Since I just found out our last frost date is around April 20-30th (the snow today in lower Michigan is a testament to that fact!) I was contemplating making one 4 by 4 foot planter (or smaller) for outside growing. My question is, the seed packet says about 90 days to harvest. I'm also wondering how long the pumpkins would last -- if I am able to grow them, of course. The thought of having my very own, home-grown pumpkins for Halloween is a fabulous one! Does anyone know how long that variety of pumpkin would last for? If not, if I sowed another seed/plant in July, would it grow OK for my zone (NW Indiana, zone 5-6 from what I've read) and produce pumpkins to be had for display/carving/pumpkin pies for Halloween? Thanks for helping this nub out...:)

Thanks Kim! George, frig packing is an art form. hehe It's worth the occasional leak to fit more in a convenient way. And I appreciate your contribution to this much fun! Dawn & Amy You're right. Plenty of sweat and, after yesterday, quite a few watts on the utility bill were added. This moschata is one tough rind! next time I will steam it and, then, roast it a little for flavor. I think pumpkin bread will be the first for me to try since I know the kids enjoy zucchini breads. But that cheese cake icing needs to be there! Yeah.. muffins with icing. The seeds turned out spectacular. I didn't have mineral salt, but used kosher. I believe the soaking was an important step to getting that real salty taste I'm familiar.

Love roasted pumpkin seeds~ I'm making pumpkin bread, for my business friend, and will deliver on Wed. Tradional thing I've been doing for over 25 years and he reminds me when it's time :o) This post was edited by glenda_al on Sun, Oct 26, 14 at 11:06

Hey Geekella - I'm in Louisiana too!! Covington, how about you? This is my second year growing pumpkins my first year was semi-successful. I'll share some of what I learned, I hope it's helpful. First, I'd get your pumpkins started ASAP. Pumpkins store well, you can harvest when they're ready and keep them around until Halloween. It also doesn't hurt to leave them on the vine unless you have rot or something. I waited to sow my Winter Luxury last year until beg of July because I didn't want them until November and I never got a single pumpkin off it. The heat and humidity of peak summer may have been too much for a young plant but I also lost entire patch to PM near the end. Stopping PM in our climate is extremely difficult. You might be better off starting earlier to give your plants a longer time in case PM gets them and kills patch. Do you have a plan for preventing Powdery Mildew? It's one of those things you can't get rid of once you have it and it will kill every single plant. Prevention is the only way, especially in our climate!! While I'm at it, do you have a plan to keep away Squash Vine Borers? Down here in LA they are multi-generational, they are laying eggs and killing pumpkins from May to October. Infuriating bugs, your first clue you have them is when your plants die :/ That being said, growing pumpkins is so much fun! I grow pumpkins with my kids for jackolanterns as well as pie pumpkins. The plants really take off and the pumpkins themselves get bigger over night. Hope that helps!