No, but it sounds very interesting. If you're happy with the results would you be willing to share the recipe? I recently made a batch of pumpkin butter that we really liked. I usually wait till later to harvest but with frost in the forecast last night I hauled them all up near the house and covered them. As soon as the temps warm again I'll wash them and get them into the garage.

when DO you normally harvest pumpkins and how long would they last offf the vin and in the garage?

I have had good success with waiting until the vines start to dry down, some will insist that you should pick when they turn orange. It would have been nice to have a couple of extra weeks this year, but I must say that the majority of my pumpkins, squash, and gourds appeared to be mature when I picked them. Probably due to all the hot weather this year. I guess time will tell. I have had squash and pie pumpkins store in the garage until Feb. Keep in mind however that the section of my garage (workshop area) where I store them is heated, so when temps really start to dip down I keep the thermostat at 35-40 degrees. My large pumpkins will easily store past Halloween. Once they freeze and then thaw you have mush. I also was the dirt off before storing with a 10% bleach solution, rinse and allow to dry before storing.

I cut all my pumpkins and gourds, and wondered the same thing after I'd done it. This wasa my first year, and wasn't aware that they'll be fine left until the vine dies, frost or no frost. Long term frost - no, but overnight dips.

Thanks for your comments. I made a pumpkin coffee cake with the littlest pumpkin I picked and it was just great. It seems that some of them are perfectly ripe by now.

I will try the fudge next. I found 2 recipes - one sounds like a traditional fudge recipe, the other is more like a quick fudge recipe, with marshmallow and vanilla chips. I will try the traditional recipe first and post the results. If the traditional one doesn't work out, I may try the simplified one. Carmellia

I usually try to get them picked before a killing frost. A hard frost will damage the squash/pumpkin and it will not store very long.