[Marcus10]

Hi
I am growing several types of pumkin/squash this year. Thanks to the weather, so far everything looks promising ,except for one very small butternut squash on that particular plant. However on one Jack o' lantern plant there are four pumkins to date. The first two which grew are now orange. The next two are still green but even bigger (slightly larger than a football).
Tthe two orange ones feel quite hard. When should I harvest them?  How long will they store for after that? and are they ok for soup? I know very little about them since the seeds were free at an NT property which we visited. I was going to give one to my daughter for halloween but I am a bit early!

[Beetroot queen]

Mine are no where near ready, i always pick late september because as soon as october arrives people pinch them. They will store for an age though, i keep mine in the hall windowsill which is darker as we then have a porch outside of that so it doesnt get strong light.

[mumofstig]

If the skins are orange and hard then you can cut them off, leaving as long a handle as possible.

Kept frost free they should store well into winter 
They are good in soup but they may need some spices to tempt your tast buds as they can be a bit bland at times.

[Marcus10]

Thanks for the advice. I have just made the incision on one. 2KG, not bad for free seeds. Must be an easy variety to grow!