There are two types. These are cucurbita and lagenaria. Cucurbita has a soft green, orange or golden rind. Lagenaria has a hard crust that is initially green, but the color changes to brown or yellow-brown as it dries.
Harvest your pumpkin. This must be done at the moment when the stalk dries, but before the onset of severe cold. It should turn brown. When harvesting, a small piece of the stalk must be left. It is best to throw away damaged pumpkins; they will not dry out, but will immediately begin to rot.
Before laying them out to dry, wash the skins of your decorative pumpkins with soapy water. It is best to use the most common laundry soap. Let the peel dry.
Place the pumpkins in a single layer in a well-ventilated area. It can be light, but it should not be exposed to direct sunlight. A veranda and a glazed loggia are suitable. You can dry pumpkins in the room. Let your cucurbits and lagenaria lie for a week. Don't forget to control the process. After a week, the outer layer of the peel should dry completely, but in a cold room drying is somewhat slower. The best option is to dry the pumpkins at room temperature.
For the next step, you will need a dark room with good ventilation. If there is no suitable one in the house, you can place pumpkins, for example, under the beds. To allow air to penetrate under the pumpkins, it is better to make horizontal grilles on stands. Make sure the pumpkins are in one layer. They shouldn't touch. A large decorative pumpkin can be hung, then it will dry more evenly.
The process must be carefully controlled. Check your pumpkins every day. Remove those that have begun to rot or become moldy. In some cases, mold can be removed. If the peel has hardened, dampen a soft cloth with the bleach solution and wipe the moldy area. If a mold stain appears on the skin that is still soft, the pumpkin will have to be thrown away.
After two weeks, turn the pumpkins over so they dry evenly. Do this once every one and a half to two weeks. In addition to the fact that in this way you will prevent rotting, you will also be able to catch the moment when the pumpkins are completely dry. This requires a lot of time, about six months, while cucurbita dries approximately twice as fast as lagenaria.
If it becomes light, and when you shake it you can hear the seeds rolling around inside, it is ready. Now you can make all kinds of crafts from it. Sometimes you need to make the surface of a vegetable more even and smooth. Fine sandpaper is suitable for this purpose.
Video on the topic
Bottles, candlesticks, toys - this is not a complete list of what can be made from a pumpkin. Many peoples have a tradition of making different things from this surprisingly unpretentious and in their own way beautiful plant. But the pumpkin needs to be carefully prepared. First of all, it must be dried well.
Which pumpkin is suitable?
Only two types of this plant are suitable for making various crafts. They are well known to gardeners and gardeners. These are called lagenaria and cucurbita. The peel of lagenaria is quite hard, which attracts the attention of masters of decorative and applied arts. Freshly picked Lagenaria is usually green, but then turns into a beautiful brown or yellow-brown color. Cucurbita has a soft skin. Outwardly, it is almost no different from the pumpkin from which salads or pancakes are made. Cucurbita differs from other pumpkins in its bizarre and sometimes even exquisite shapes.Cucurbita can be green, yellow or golden. True, after drying it most often becomes faded.
It all starts in the garden
It is very important to collect pumpkins of both types correctly. We can say that making a flower pot, bottle or lantern begins at . Wait for the stems of your pumpkins to dry. As soon as you notice this, do not waste time - the crop must be harvested before the onset of cold weather. Frost is harmful to the peel, it becomes fragile. Do not cut the pumpkin at the root; be sure to leave a piece of the stem 4-5 cm in size. Inspect what you have collected. Only absolutely healthy fruits, without the slightest sign of rot, are suitable for drying.Do not leave rotten pumpkins, otherwise you may lose your entire harvest. If healthy parts of the fruit cannot be used for food, it is better to discard the pumpkin.
It won't be today
Pumpkins take quite a long time to dry. This takes several months, so you will receive ready-made material for crafts no earlier than by spring. Cucurbita dries much faster than lagenaria, about twice as fast. Wash the pumpkins thoroughly with warm soapy water (it is better to use regular baby soap, without any fragrances), wipe with a soft cloth and let dry. Wipe the peel with a swab dipped in vodka or alcohol. Prepare the room - it should be well ventilated, but at the same time reliably protect what is in it from direct sunlight. A dry barn or loggia on the north side is suitable. Please note that the premises will be occupied for approximately six months. Arrange the pumpkins so that they are not touching each other. After about a week and a half, check the process. The pumpkins will change color, but there should be no rot. If spots appear, remove the pumpkin. Inspect the fruits a couple of times a week, remove rotten ones, turn over those that remain. After five or six months, when you turn it over, you will hear the seeds inside rattling when shaken. This means the pumpkins are ready and can be made into something fun.Video on the topic
Pumpkins are grown for more than just food. Many varieties are ideal for making vases, candlesticks, mini-sculptures and other crafts. They are useful for decorating a house, cottage, or garden plot, creating comfort and a unique autumn flavor.
Pumpkin vase: simple and practical
A beautiful and unusual vase from a decorative pumpkin can be made in just half an hour. For work, it is better to choose fruits of medium size, regular shape and uniform color. Round and pear-shaped pumpkins are suitable; they can be painted, complemented with carvings and small decorative elements. But the main decoration will be a luxurious bouquet of asters, chrysanthemums, immortelle flowers, rowan berries, maple or oak branches. This composition will decorate any interior and bring the atmosphere of autumn into the house.
To make a vase you will need a medium-sized pumpkin. In addition, you will have to purchase:
- flower foam (sold in any florist salon);
- a glass container that will be inserted into the pumpkin;
- carving knife;
- wax or paraffin.
Place a glass or small narrow jar on the pumpkin. Using the blade of a knife, mark a circle with a diameter slightly larger than the bottom of the glass container. Cut out a cone and scoop out the pulp with a spoon. In order for the vase to serve for a long time, you need to remove all the seeds, leaving only thin walls.
Rinse the pumpkin with running water, wipe with a napkin and dry thoroughly. Heat the paraffin or wax in a water bath and use a flat brush to paint the inside of the vase. The wax coating will protect the pumpkin from damage, and the vase will be able to decorate the house until spring.
Use floral foam to secure a glass or jar inside the pumpkin. Water should be poured only into a glass container, avoiding getting on the walls of the pumpkin. All that remains is to make a beautiful bouquet and place it in a new vase. If the container is intended for dried flowers, you can do without installing a water container; just clean the inside of the pumpkin and cover the walls with paraffin or wax.
The vase can be treated with varnish or pastel paint. It is sprayed from a spray gun or applied with a small foam roller. To make the product look neat, paint is applied in 2-3 layers, each one is dried well.
Autumn candlesticks for home and garden
Summer and fall are great times to make seasonal interior decorations. All the necessary materials can be found in your own garden. Small decorative pumpkins make spectacular eco-style candlesticks. They are absolutely safe, non-flammable, durable. To make it you will need a carving knife, a spoon, and decorative elements.
Cut off the tops of small, beautifully shaped pumpkins. Use a spoon to scoop out all the pulp, rinse and dry the pieces. If candlesticks are intended for tall candles, they are shaped into bowls; lamps in which low floating candles are placed can be made elongated or round.
In order for the candlesticks to transmit light, the walls must be openwork. Draw a simple pattern with a pencil, then cut out the outlines with a sharp carving knife. The larger the motifs, the easier it is to cut them out. The edges can be left smooth or decorated with scallops or denticles.
Ready-made candlesticks are placed at home or in the garden, they look beautiful on the dining table or mantelpiece. Products must be protected from moisture; with careful use they will last for several months. It’s easy to make other crafts in a similar way: boxes, hanging decorations, wall clocks, original photo frames, children’s toys and even handbags.
You can preserve your pumpkin harvest and have a vitamin-rich treat on hand throughout the cold winter by drying its fruits. Dried pumpkin is a recognized leader in the content of iron, carotene, macro- and microelements. It is worth noting that pumpkin can be dried at home and with various spices. The product prepared in this way can be used as an unusually aromatic addition to salads, soups and meat dishes.
There are other uses for dried fruits. Having prepared a pumpkin in a certain way, craftsmen use it to create interior decorations and various crafts. In this case, when drying, a certain hardness of the fruit is achieved so that the product lasts a long time.
Selecting pumpkins for drying
The general rule for choosing the right fruits for food and crafts is to select for drying only healthy pumpkins that have an even color and a complete absence of even a hint of rotting.
For work: To work, a decorative pumpkin must have a stalk. It will allow moisture to evaporate naturally during the drying process, through the pores and stalk. Bright fruits are washed in detergent, wiped with alcohol and stored in a dark place for two weeks to harden. A hard shell is a sign that it’s time to start thorough drying.
For food: table varieties of pumpkin are also thoroughly washed under running water, but the fruits must be peeled, seeds removed and cut into slices or cubes. Before drying, they are kept in syrup or spices. You can get both sweet candied fruits and salty slices.
Drying pumpkin with sugar
Preparation before drying
You can dry any type of pumpkin. It is important to properly prepare the fruits before drying:
- The collected pumpkin must be thoroughly washed under running water.
- Carefully cut off the skin of the fruit with a knife.
- Cut the pumpkin into several pieces and remove the seeds.
- Cut the remaining pulp into small cubes or slices. It should be borne in mind that during the drying process, pumpkin pieces greatly decrease in size.
- Cover the slices with sugar (200 grams of sand per 1 kg of pulp) and put pressure on top. Keep in a cool and dark place for half a day.
- Then you need to pour the pumpkin juice that appears into a separate container, and sprinkle the fruits again with sand and put them in the cold for another 10-12 hours.
- The collected juice should be boiled, half a glass of sand should be added and pumpkin pieces kept in the cold should be placed into it.
- After a quarter of an hour, the pumpkin slices can be placed on a sieve to drain the syrup.
After the above preparatory steps, you can begin the actual drying. There are several ways - in the air, in an electric dryer or in the oven. You can choose any one that suits you best in terms of time or is easiest to implement.
Air drying
This drying is good if the weather is calm, warm and dry. Then all the pieces of candied pumpkin should be laid out in one layer on a tray in the form of a fine mesh and exposed to the air, avoiding direct sunlight. A shady place with good ventilation is suitable.
The process may take about a week. During this time, the pieces need to be stirred periodically, and the pallets should be brought indoors at night.
Drying pumpkin in the oven
Drying the prepared pumpkin pieces in the oven takes no more than two hours.
- Baking trays lined with parchment with slices of pulp laid out are first placed in the oven for half an hour. The temperature during this time must be maintained at 80 degrees.
- Then the fruits are allowed to cool and placed back in the oven for another 40 minutes. The temperature should be slightly lower - 65 degrees.
- After the time has passed, cool the fruits again and repeat the procedure.
Important - if it is difficult to maintain the specified temperature in your oven automatically, then the drying process should be carried out with the oven door slightly open.
Drying pumpkin in an electric dryer
Having an electric dryer greatly simplifies the process of drying pumpkins.
- The previously prepared pieces of pumpkin pulp should be laid out in one layer on the dryer racks and the temperature should be set to maximum.
- The drying process must be controlled by checking when the pumpkin begins to dry out. At this point, the temperature must be reduced to 65 degrees and drying continued until fully cooked.
Cooking time depends on the type and specifications of your electric dryer.
Drying pumpkin in the microwave
Using the microwave to dry pumpkin requires constant attention. Vegetables can burn without control.
During the drying process, the power should be set to no higher than 600 W. You need to constantly monitor the condition of the pumpkin slices - take out the dish and turn the pieces over.
Preparing and drying pumpkin without sugar
Sweet elite varieties are considered ideal for cooking without sugar - Almondnaya 35, Stolovaya A-5 and Melonen Risen. The dried fruits will be very tasty, sweet and with minimal calorie content.
- Before cooking, the fruits are washed, peeled and cut into small slices.
- To prevent the pumpkin pieces from darkening, you can dip them in boiling water for a couple of minutes, cool in ice water, and then start drying.
- First, they are laid out on a wire rack and air-dried for a week. You should choose a place that is shaded and well ventilated.
- After a week, the pumpkin can be dried in the oven, leaving the door ajar. Time - half an hour, temperature - 60 degrees.
Pumpkin dried with salt
In the preparation of soups or salads in winter, you can use pumpkin fruits, dried with the addition of salt.
Before drying, the fruits are peeled, seeds removed and cut into small slices. Then proceed as follows:
- Blanch the fruit pieces in hot salted water (1 teaspoon of salt per 2 kg of chopped pumpkin) for two minutes and then plunge into cold water.
- When the water has drained, place the pumpkin in one row on parchment and transfer to a baking sheet.
- Dry for the first five hours at an oven temperature of no higher than 65 degrees. Keep the cabinet door slightly open.
- To completely dry the sliced fruits, raise the temperature to 80 degrees and keep the salted slices in the oven for another couple of hours.
Drying a whole pumpkin for crafts
To create interior crafts and decorations, you should choose only decorative varieties. They are brightly colored, and each pumpkin has its own characteristic bumps and pattern.
After preliminary exposure until a hard and tough shell is obtained, the fruit with the stalk is placed in the oven, where it is dried for about 10 hours. The time depends on the size of the chosen pumpkin. The temperature is maintained at about 60 degrees.
Cool dried ornamental fruits at room temperature.
Storage rules and periods
Properly dried pumpkin pieces bend easily and do not stick to your hands.
You can store dried pumpkin in a paper bag or in containers with tight lids. You can put a sheet of paper at the bottom of the storage container - it will absorb excess moisture.
Air humidity in the storage area should not exceed 50%, and the temperature should not exceed 18 degrees. A well-chosen place will allow you to store your pumpkin for up to a year.
Sweet pieces of dried pumpkin can be used as a tasty filling for homemade baked goods, given to children as a sweet treat, or added to their morning breakfast cereal. If you grind the dried pieces into powder, then when you add it to the baked goods, you will get beautiful and rosy pies.
Bon appetit!
People have been growing pumpkins for thousands of years. They were once used as household items, but now they are beautiful decor or an original container.
Decorative pumpkin is an unpretentious and original plant, which is a close relative of ordinary pumpkin, zucchini, melon, cucumber and all plants of the Cucurbitaceous family.
Decorative pumpkins vary in type. There are two main types:
Lagenaria is a decorative pumpkin with a hard rind. This is a large pumpkin with a hard green rind. When it dries, it turns brown or yellowish-brown. It is convenient to make containers, birdhouses, and decorative bottles from Lagenaria. It blooms at night, unlike all other pumpkins.
Cucurbita is a decorative pumpkin with a soft shell. These little pumpkins have an unusual and fun shape and come in a wide variety of colors - green, orange, gold... Cucurbita makes a wonderful fall decoration. You can cut a lantern, saucer or flower pot from Cucurbita. It is also dried, but the bright color of the pumpkin fades over time.
Picking decorative pumpkins
Both types of pumpkins are harvested when the stems are dry and brown.
The pumpkin is cut off along with part of the stalk.
It is important to harvest pumpkins before the cold weather sets in. Frost and cold damage the soft rind of the pumpkin, affecting its color and ability to dry out.
Spoiled and damaged fruits should be selected as they will begin to rot.
Drying process of decorative pumpkin
On drying decorative pumpkin it takes time. naturally and there is no other faster or easier way to dry them. The rind of the pumpkin should dry completely, then it will take several more months for the flesh to dry out. Drying Lagenaria takes twice as long as drying Cucurbita.
The first stage is preparing the fruits for drying. They need to be washed thoroughly with soap and allowed to dry. You can wipe the pumpkins with alcohol.
Next, the pumpkins need to be placed in a dark place with good ventilation. The fruits should not be exposed to direct sunlight. After a week, the pumpkin crust will dry out and the decorative pumpkins can be removed and moved to another place so that the inside will now dry out.
Decorative pumpkins with dried shells are placed in a dark place with good air circulation and left to dry for about 6 months. You need to leave a small space between the pumpkins so that they do not touch each other. The best thing is to place the fruits on a grill or shield with holes so that air can penetrate under the pumpkins. Sometimes decorative pumpkins are hung (if they are small).
As the pumpkins dry out, they need to be checked every day to make sure they don't spoil. If any pumpkins begin to rot, become soft, or shrivel, they should be selected and discarded. If mold appears on the pumpkin, it must be removed with a dry cloth or cloth soaked in bleach. Drying decorative pumpkin– the process is complex and time-consuming. Check the pumpkins by touch - if they are hard, then the drying is going as it should.
Every two weeks, pumpkins need to be turned over so that they do not rot and dry evenly on all sides.
The readiness of the pumpkin is determined by its weight and hardness. If the pumpkin is hard and light, and you can hear the seeds rattling inside when you shake it, the pumpkin is dry. Dried pumpkins can be used to make decorations, cut holes, paint, wax and decorate as you please. Dried Lagenaria can be flaky and rough; this can be eliminated by polishing the surface with sandpaper. The shelf life of dried decorative pumpkins is unlimited.
Pumpkin is an excellent vegetable with a large supply of nutrients. It can be frozen, dried, pureed, and properly prepared seeds of this plant will be an excellent treat for gourmets. But increasingly, pumpkins are also used to make decorative elements.
Pumpkin decor ideas:
Choosing the right one
This vegetable is usually used to make decorations for Halloween and also to make dishes. It is believed that the water in it does not spoil for a long time, has a special taste and helps with diabetes.
But not all pumpkins are suitable for this; it is worth choosing a plant of two varieties for crafts - “Cukurbita”, “Legenaria”. And if the pumpkin of the first type is small in size, with a bright color, which then fades, then the vegetable of the second variety has a thick green peel. True, over time it will turn golden.
ADVICE: the fruit must be intact, without damage or rot.
To obtain high-quality material for crafts, you must follow certain harvesting rules:
- The stalk of the plant should dry well and turn brown;
- It is necessary to remove the fruits, leaving 7 cm of the stalk;
- You can't pick pumpkins after frost.
Preparing the vegetable
The pumpkin preparation process itself will consist of the following stages:
- Carefully remove visible dirt from the surface of the plant;
- Rinse the pumpkin in a shower of warm water;
- Wipe off surface moisture with paper towels;
- Leave in a dark, dry place for an hour, blot again with a towel and dry completely;
- Dry the pumpkin.
They do this depending on the type of future craft. If it involves cutting, cut into pieces and do not forget to remove the seeds.
Drying pumpkin and how to clean the inside of the pumpkin:
Tools and devices
There are several ways to dry pumpkin:
- In the oven at 80 degrees, placing the vegetable in the center and periodically turning it clockwise;
- In a convection oven at 70 degrees;
- Electric dryer - 80°;
- Microwave - 600 W.
There is no need to dry the pumpkin naturally, as it may spoil.
How to determine readiness?
In appearance, the finished pumpkin will be brown, both inside and out. The rind is hard to the touch, and the flesh is not viscous, soft or moist.
The inside should taste mouth-watering, but not soggy.
6 pumpkin decor ideas:
Storage
It is better to apply furniture varnish to the finished product, but nail polish is also suitable.
How to dry pumpkin for crafts?
To make the craft work, the plant must be prepared in the manner described above.
If the pumpkin is dried in the oven, then the latter must be preheated. The fruit itself needs to be turned over or the pieces mixed.
IMPORTANT: pumpkin is very responsive to temperature changes.
Entirely
For this method, choose a small-sized vegetable. Then preheat the oven, lay parchment on a baking sheet and place the pumpkin. This way it will dry from 2 to 8 hours.
If you have a dry and dark room, without insects, you can prepare the vegetable naturally. To do this, the fruit is hung and periodically checked for rot. The plant will be ready in 3 months.
Decorative crafts:
For Halloween
For this holiday, the pumpkin is dried for 1.5 - 2 months so that the flesh remains moist. This will allow the fruit to be cut out. You also need to choose a decorative, but not a hard vegetable.
Video of work:
Bottle shop
This pumpkin is even smaller than a decorative one, so it dries even faster. It is better to do this in the oven at +40 degrees for 2 hours.
Video example:
Quick ways
If you need to dry a small pumpkin quickly, then a regular hairdryer will do. But this must be done carefully so that the peel does not crack.
Drying a pumpkin at home is not difficult, and crafts made from it will delight their owners for a long time.
How to make a pumpkin minion for Halloween:
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Pumpkins. For thousands of years, pumpkins have been grown and used by many peoples as tools and household utensils. Nowadays, pumpkins are mostly used as decorations, fancy birdhouses or containers.
Ornamental pumpkins are close relatives of pumpkins, squashes and other Cucurbitaceous vegetables such as cucumbers and melons. And they are all easy to care for.
There are two main types of pumpkins grown for decorative purposes:
- Cucurbita or Soft Crust Pumpkins - Colorful orange, gold and green pumpkins that look like table pumpkins but come in unusual, fun shapes. Cucurbita is commonly used as a wonderful fall decoration. They are beautiful as is and can also be used to carve a lantern, flower pot or saucer. They can also be dried and stored, but their vibrant colors will begin to fade after a few months.
- L agenariya (Lagenaria) or hard-shell pumpkin - These larger, utilitarian pumpkins are used like familiar birdhouses, bottles and dippers. The hard rind is green on the vine and changes color to tan and brown over time as it dries. An interesting fact is that Lagenaria flowers bloom at night, unlike the usual yellow bloom of other pumpkins that we see during the day.
Collection of decorative pumpkins
- Regardless of the type of pumpkin, the pumpkin is harvested when its stalks dry out and turn brown.
- Cut the pumpkins together with a few centimeters of the stem.
- Harvest all your pumpkins before hard frost sets in. Unripe pumpkins will not be able to survive for a long time, but frost will damage the soft shell of the pumpkins completely, and even a light frost can change the color of the lagenaria and affect its ability to dry out.
- Discard damaged or spoiled pumpkins. They will immediately begin to rot in the storage area.
Hardening of decorative pumpkins
Decorative pumpkins take time to harden or dry. And there are no shortcut methods like microwave drying. The outer shell of the pumpkin should dry completely, and then you will need a few more months for the flesh to dry and harden. Lagenaria will require twice as much drying time as Cucurbita.
Peeling
Growing decorative pumpkins can become a mania. Fortunately, there are many different types and even if you no longer have space to store them, decorative pumpkins are always a welcome gift.
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