Our Homestead

I love seeing pumpkin fields in autumn after the leaves dry off and expose all the pumpkins. 
Pumpkins can get super duper heavy. Even the small ones always seem heavier than expected.

YOU GO GIRL!

I threw some seeds on my compost pile one year, the seeds were all in the squash / pumpkin family.
What grew out of them was very interesting. The vegetables looked exactly like butternut squash but they had the color of zucchini.
Yeah I can confirm that the seeds must be heirloom.
For some seeds (like peas) I've had good luck with non heirlooms but for anything in the squash / pumpkin family, you can't risk not having heirlooms.

Pumpkins are among the easiest ones to retrieve seeds from.
Simply cut the pumpkin, take a bunch of seeds and put them on a paper towel to dry.
Dry for at least a week, just to be sure.
Once you're confident that the seeds are completely dry, put them in a bag or a bucket, or anything you want to put them in, and they are ready for next season.
I usually put them in an empty vitamin bottle.

BUT: There is a big but. Pumpkin seeds can only be used from heirloom pumpkins. Never, ever use pumpkin seeds if you're not certain whether the pumpkin you retrieve them from is heirloom or not.
If the pumpkin is not heirloom, I can guarantee you that whatever will grow on the plants will not be pumpkins.