Here’s How to Pick the Perfect Pumpkin this Fall

October has arrived and pumpkin patches are popping us all over the place!

You can take a short or long drive to visit several pumpkin patches in Southwest Oklahoma.  Lucky for us at the radio station, there are a couple of places right here in Southwest Oklahoma.

Once you find the perfect pumpkin patch, how do you pick the perfect pumpkin?  Follow these simple rules:

1. Choose a design to carve before you go shopping for pumpkins.
2. Check for smooth, uniformly colored skin.
3. Keep an eye out for smaller, "sugar" pumpkins for eating.
4. Knock on the shell.
5. Set the pumpkin up to make sure it sits level.
6. Leave as much of the stem on as possible.

Legend says that pumpkins were used to ward away evil spirits. Folks would place carved pumpkins or Jack-o-lanterns in their windows and doors.  Not just pumpkins though, they would use turnips, beats, and potatoes with burning lumps of coal inside.  We've come a long way since then.

Decorating with pumpkins is absolutely a fall tradition, and if you are like me, the pumpkins (fake ones) make their appearance indoors shortly after my Independence Day decor comes down.  On the outside of the house, I'm forced to wait a bit longer, until the outside temperatures fall below the upper 90s. Fall is just a time to settle in and take a breath after the long hot summer. Even though I can't say that I agree with the saying 'I Love Fall Most of All', It does come in a close second to the most wonderful time of the year.