Pumpkin seeds store very well. Simply rinse the seeds off and pat dry and leave sit on a paper plate for a couple weeks to dry well.

After this keep them cool, dry and dark and they will be just fine come planting season.

Cheers! Do okra seeds store well as well? I've got a fair bit of dried okra seeds from the dried split pods leftover from my garden, but I've heard some people say not to bother and just buy fresh.

Okra seed if anything store better. I have planted 5 year old seed with no drop off in germination.

Thanks for the advice and help! One last question, are all pumpkins edible? Is it safe to eat a standard Jack O'-Lantern like you can buy at the grocery stores?

Safe? Yes. Edible? That may be relative. Most jack-o-lanterns sold are field pumpkins - not very high quality for table use. Field pumpkins are very fiberous and lower in solids than the better eating varieties.
Jim

This brings up a question I've been wanting to ask. I've thought about trying to grow pumpkins next year. I don't know why. I've failed twice at zucchini. But anyway, what is a good pumpkin that will produce good pumpkin pie/bread ingredients as well as tasty seeds? It's a bonus if it also makes a good jack-o-lantern, too.

The best eating pumpkins are generally in the C. moschata or C. maxima species. The drawback for the C. moschata is that they are seldom if ever the bright orange desired in halloween pumpkins. On the other, there is group of C. pepo known as pie pumpkins ( New England Pie, Luxury Pie, Sugar Pie )that are smaller than what are normally used as Jack-O- Lanterns, but have the coloring and are fairly good for eating.

Baby Bear (Johnny's Selected Seeds) is a small pie-pumpkin size, with semi-hull-less seeds for eating

Here is a link that might be useful: Baby Bear

Kakai(sp) from Johnny's have completly hulless seeds for eating, and the pumpkin is a pretty orange & green striped.

They normally don't get very big and you don't want to try to carve them, cuz the shell is impossibly hard. I drop/throw them on my concrete garage floor to get them to crack open for harvest.

My dad started growing them 5 years ago an me just last year; I couldn't imagine not having them. The seeds are so great for breads, salads, eating etc. I planted 8 hills of these alone.

The best pumpkin for pie is neck pumpkin. When I lived in PA, I would make and sell pies from these pumpkins. They grow in Northern states, but I am growing my first crop in Louisiana and they seem to be doing well. I have run into several people down here who do raise them, but they are not easily found (both people and pumpkin!). You can get several pies from one neck pumpkin. You can make your mix go farther by whipping egg whites until they peak and then fold them into the mix. If you have questions, post them, and I'll do my best to answer them.