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Learn how to preserve your pumpkins and decorative gourds so they last all season!
Thanks to Pinterest, I’m really enjoying this time of year. I saw this pin about how to make your gourds and pumpkins last longer and look prettier. I was in such a hurry to get fall started that I purchased my pumpkins the day they showed up in the stores, so I’m afraid they won’t last the whole season.
I’m one of those people who keeps up my fall decor until the day after Thanksgiving, when the Christmas decorations go up. So I’m using this little trick to preserve pumpkins and other decorative gourds!
How to Preserve Pumpkins and Decorative Gourds:
Supplies needed:
- Wash tub
- Bleach
- Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)
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| Soak them stem side down to keep them from bobbing up out of the water |
2) After letting them sit for 10 minutes or so, dry them off and then buff with Vaseline and a soft cloth to make them shiny.
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| See how pretty they are now? |
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Sue Haut says
If I give my mini pumpkins the bleach bath and petroleum treatment, can I still make the mini pumpkins into pumpkin pies for the kids for thanksgiving?
Nicole Burkholder says
The mini pumpkins used for decoration are not the same kind of pumpkin you would use for making pies. Sugar pumpkins are for baking. Mini decor pumpkins are just for decorating. If you wanted to try to preserve a sugar pumpkin, I would switch to using distilled white vinegar instead of bleach and skip the vaseline. It won’t be as shiny/pretty and it may not last as long, but it will keep the pumpkin safe for consumption.
Lillie Kinder says
I grow gourds. I try to leave them on the vine until frost. The cold helps to crystallize the shell so that it becomes hard. If you buy them green you might try chilling them in the refrigerator. I also use the Clorox bath. I have never tried the vaseline but I do use a clear plastic spray paint to protect them and to make them shinny.
Jessica says
I have a super cute white ghost/pumpkin that is still solid and it’s 1/5/21
Should I just toss it since it will eventually turn ? I just love the stem!
Nicole Burkholder says
I had one gourd that lasted for a whole year. I just didn’t want to throw it away 🙂 The key is to NOT wrap it up or try to bag it. You want to try to dry it out if possible. Keep it somewhere cool and dry and hope for the best 🙂
jasmine says
do the stems go bad eventually if they are alone? If socould you clean with bleach and have that be it im making bonsai trees to sell and thought it would be very cool to use pumpkin stem but dont want to sell something that will go bad.
Nicole Burkholder says
Once they are separated from the pumpkin, they start to dry out/shrivel up. I don’t know how long they would last, but a bleach bath would probably help them last longer. I’ve never used the stems alone like that before. If you try it, let us know how they work out!
Julie says
A squirrel must of planted a seed out front in my butterfly garden we let it grow and it produced 2 small pumpkins. I let them soak in dawn and water for a bit. As far as the Vaseline I put it on my pumpkins to keep the kids from taking them and smasking them , it woks on everything, they touch it but have no idea what the good is , it’s so funny to watch, also keeps animals from eating them.
Nicole Burkholder says
Haha! That’s so smart 🙂 My mom had a couple pumpkins grow this year from old rotten ones she tossed out in the compost pile the year before 🙂
Jenna Hart says
Where did you find this glass dish!! I cant find one like it anywhere!! Such a pretty idea
Nicole Burkholder says
If you click on the words “glass leaf dish” that are under the picture, it’s a link to a similar dish on Amazon. I couldn’t find an exact match to the one I have, though. Home Goods is a GREAT place to find things like this, though!
Jackie Hary says
After Fall & Thanksgiving, I paint my pumpkins white and stack them glue a Santa red hat on top and have a snowman for Christmas.
Deborah L Topp says
Good idea to clean the stove burners while the gourds are soaking, just be sure the bleach and ammonia don’t get mixed together. Even the smallest amounts can cause caustic fumes.
claire says
i think popcorn kernels or maybe lentils or split peas would be more attractive than dry pinto beans, and toss in a cupla acorns, real or just the caps or acorn bells, etc.
Nicole Burkholder says
I like the idea of the split peas! They add a pretty pop of color as well.
dell mcdaniel says
Try whole coffee beans. They add color and a refreshing smell.
Nicole Burkholder says
Great idea!
Debbie says
I have used coffee beans to hold real & flameless candles, and refresh them when needed. I have also mixed them with pecans, pumpkin, lentils, all kinds,of seeds & dried & preserved leaves. AS for the pumpkin preserving method, I’m excited to try it this year! For some weird reason, I have 3 mini white pumpkins that are still in great shape from last fall & I didn’t preserve them at all.
Kathy says
Great ideas!
Michelle says
Thanks, i loved your post. I’m from Brazil and this year i’ll celebrate with my family the thanksgiving. However, is not a holliday usually celebrate in Brazil. Sorry my english.
Nicole Burkholder says
Yes, Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. I’m so glad you’re able to celebrate it with your family! It’s one of my favorite holidays. 🙂
Betty Martin says
I enjoyed your site. It was not only informational, but just a happy spot! I will be back have a great fall.
Nicole Burkholder says
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. It brought a smile to my face and made my day!
Kim Zakrzewski says
I have been searching the web for a trick to preserve my pumpkins & gourds that I read years ago. It involved using floor wax. It seems I remember submerging the item in the floor wax and this would make them last for years. Can anyone confirm this trick?
Nicole Burkholder says
I imagine it’s the same type of process, but using wax instead of petroleum jelly. I’ve not heard of it before, though.
Mimi says
I can’t wait to try this idea for the punpkins! Also I have my Mom’s glass leaf candy dish….the pinto beans or candy corn would work too. Good ideas! 🎃 I’m ready for fall ya’ll.
Nicole Burkholder says
I’m ready, too! When the pretty little gourds come out in the stores I get so excited 🙂
Sheila bradford says
Can you share how u cleaned your grates with the amonia?? What is the amount that you use. I love the idea you shared about treating all pumpkins and goards. I will be doing it this year. Thanks.
Nicole Burkholder says
Sure! The link to that post about cleaning the grates is above, but it may be a little hard to find. I need to go make it more obvious for readers 🙂 Here it is just for you so you don’t have to go find it again. I use this trick ALL THE TIME! https://simpleandseasonal.com/day-33-cleaning-your-stove-grates/
BJ says
I seal mine with a cheap clear spray. I had a painted pumpkin I finally thru out in February.
Jeanine says
WOAH! Perfect! Thank you! I have adhesive spray but no bleach. I mainly use ammonia in tiny amounts for cleaning. Thank you for sharing this great tip! Especially since I’m trying to figure out if I can do this way tub thing, then Paint them, THEN buff them with Vaseline. Now I can skip all that and spray them to seal. 😊🎃👐🏼many thanks
Jaquses says
I dont want my pumpkin to leave me……
Golda Adelman says
DO you have to use Vaseline? WHat if i wanted to spray paint them gold or something? would i still have to use the bath and bleach?
I want to buy some for thanksgiving but they wont be stores around then (UK) so if I spray paint them it might keep them fresh?
Nicole Burkholder says
You should still do the bleach bath to Kill off any bacteria, but you don’t need the Vaseline. That is just to make them shiny and add another protective layer. The paint will work to seal them just fine. I spray painted a few gold last year and they lasted past Thanksgiving with no problem!
Suzzi says
Thanks for the tips on temporarily preserving fresh gourds! When I was young (living in NV), every Thanksgiving my mom brought out her beautiful, colorful, DRIED gourds collection. They were extremely light in weight and hollow, so I would shake them to hear their dried seeds rattling inside. Their natural colors (greens, oranges, yellows, black and white) in stripes and awesome patterns were very vibrant and shiny which would indicate that they had been shellacked with something. Over the years (now living in CA) every Thanksgiving I would recall the memory of my mother’s wonderful dried gourds and wish I could recreate them. But, when I attempted to keep any I had purchased, sadly, they eventually rotted. One year, however, I noticed three gourds, I kept around after Thanksgiving, began to dry naturally without decaying. The largest one developed a black moldy spot on the bottom which I scrubbed off (eventually that spot disintegrated away leaving a hole in the gourd). I’m not sure how I pulled it off, but I still have these three completely dried gourds, two of which have rattling dried seeds inside (the seeds fell out of the one with the hole). I did nothing special to them, other than let them dry naturally, so their colors have faded into basically pale yellows and very faint oranges, but their bumps, “warts” and striped patterns remain. I do not believe they had any green, red or black coloring, but I can’t recall for sure, as I’ve had them for a couple of years now. Sorry about the long drawn out story, but I was wondering if you had any clues as to why these guards did not rot. Maybe it was because I had placed them upstairs in a an open loft nearby a ceiling heater vent, and they slowly dried out from the warm air before they could decay? This year I am going to experiment with some brightly colored and patterned gourds to see if I can completely dry them out while preserving their vibrant colors, as well. I plan to use your tip of soaking them in the bleach bath first to prevent molding, but I do not know for sure what I could do to preserve their beatuiful coloring. Should I shellac them after the bleach bath…before they’re completely dried? I would just love it if I could finally recreate my favorite Thankgiving decoration from my childhood memories!
Suzzi
Nicole Burkholder says
My brother used to dry gourds when we were little. As far as I can remember, he just left them sitting somewhere cool and dry with lots of air flow and that was it. I found this website with lots of interesting information. I haven’t really seen anything about preserving colors, though. http://www.amishgourds.com/store/page/456714
Patty says
I have dried gourds that are about 25 yrs old that my mom grew in her garden. My mom had me put 6 or 7 small nail holes in the bottom of them and had me lay them on paper towels to dry. In fact one was a rattle for my son one year that I still have.
Nicole Burkholder says
Yes, if you hollow and dry them they will last for years! How fun that you used one as a rattle. 🙂
Sarah says
We used to have gourds and my dad would put them up in our outdoor loft where they dried naturally. There was good airflow and we had so many dried gourds! I am guessing airflow is Key. We lived in a Central Indiana and the weather, in the fall, can be 50° 70° in the day, and in the 30°’s at night.