Try grilling leftover pumpkins
By ROBERT KESSLER Penn State Cooperative Extension Franklin County office

COMING EVENTS

Nov. 14 - 7 p.m., Composting Workshops and Free Backyard Compost Bins, Franklin County Extension, Call 263- 9226.

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GRILL PUMPKINS

If you are wondering what to do with some extra pumpkins now that Halloween is over, why not try grilling pumpkins for something different. I found some interesting recipes on the internet for ways to grill pumpkins, but a simple one is to clean out the seeds, cut it into squares of about three inches and score the skin; put it on the grill, skin side down. Use butter, brown sugar, spices and salt to make a mixture to put on the top of the squares and grill for 35 to 40 minutes. Sounds easy to me. Many markets in the area are still selling pumpkins if you want to try grilling pumpkin.

You can take the seeds you removed from the pumpkin and clean them off and dry them. Place them on a cookie sheet that has been lightly oiled. Place this in the oven at 325 degrees and roast for 10 minutes. Lightly salt them, stir them and roast for another 15 minutes. Now you have roasted pumpkin seeds to snack on before you eat your grilled pumpkin.

CARE OF GARDEN MUMS

Now that your chrysanthemums

are finished flowering, be sure that the mulch is at least two inches deep around them and you can let them go

into winter

that way. However if you want to cut off the old top, you should leave two to three inches of the stems on the plant. Then when the ground starts to freeze, apply a layer of mulch over the plant. Keep the plant well-watered this fall and then water a few times in the winter by pulling back the mulch and water and then put the mulch back in place. As spring approaches, remove the mulch from the top of the plant.

If your mums still set on your front porch and have been taken care of, you can overwinter them by placing them in an unheated garage or some other unheated space where you will remember to water them. Do not cut off the top growth and keep watering them to keep them from drying out. During the winter water them lightly to keep moisture in the rootball. Next spring the plant can be moved back outside and planted in its permanent location.

GARDEN CLEANUP

As you look at your yard, do you see a lot of dead stalks, which use to be flowers, things that look like they could have been tomatoes and peppers, old vines, etc? Now is a good time to get out in the yard and clean up this left over plant material and add it to your compost pile.

We know that many diseases and insects overwinter in the dead leaves, stems and crowns of plants. If we clean up this plant debris, then we may have fewer problems next year. A good example of this would be peach leaf curl. The fungus overwinters on the leaves that fall to the ground under the tree. Next spring the spores from the old leaves infect the new opening leaves. Get rid of the leaves and you will reduce the incident of disease. Rake up all the old plant debris in the yard and dispose it in the compost pile or turn it under in the garden.

If you use the compost pile to dispose this material, make sure you have a hot active pile that will get to at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit. This will kill off the fungi and other pathogens. Then your compost is safe to use next year around the plants.

While you are working in your yard, check the depth of your mulch around your trees and shrubs. It should be in the range of two to three inches deep around your plants. If not, you can add more if you can still get it. This will help protect the plant this winter and it will be one less job you have to do next spring when you get so busy.

If you have fruit trees, check them when they have lost all their leaves. If you see mummified fruit hanging on the tree, pick it off and get rid of it to reduce the problem next year. You should also be sure to use a proper fruit spray schedule to reduce this problem next year. Inspect your plum and cherry trees to see if you have branches that are swollen and black or actually already have a black knot gall. Prune these out now and get rid of them.

WINTER PROTECTION

FOR PLANTS

Acouple of years ago my wife bought a few plants at the garden center and brought them home for me to plant. She said that the garden center told her that one of them would need winter protection. I didn't do it the first two winters and only had a few leaves get browned by the winter winds. However, last year it got severely injured by the winter, so I guess this year I will have to provide some winter protection.

My choice will be to make a wind break from burlap and a few stakes. Row cover could probably be used if burlap is hard to find. The encloser around the plant should be about six inches taller than the plant. Afew tomato stakes placed around the plant with the burlap stapled to it will hold up the windbreak and keep the winter winds from injuring the plants.

If you have a plant that needs protection, you can protect the plant with one-sided wind breaks or you can cover small plants with leaves and pine branches. This is a good way to recycle your Christmas tree after Christmas. Some people will use chicken wire and make a circle around a plant and stuff it full of

leaves.

One thing I see done that I don't think is wise is to put a black plastic trash bag over a plant. The temperature extremes on a sunny day when the bag would get very warm to the freezing temperatures at night will cause damage to the plant you are trying to protect.