Saving Pumpkin Seeds?

[Autotech]

I know this is a really basic question, but....

Tonight we carve pumpkins. Next year we plan to plant. I know I'll be buying seeds next year, but how do I save/store the ones from tonights festivities??

Thanks

Gregg

[LazyJ_Arabians]

Spread thin, air dry a couple days, scoop into PAPER sack, store in cool & dry away from bugs & rodents. Pumpkin and melon seeds are pretty foolproof.

I tried roasting some years ago, supposed to be tasty but mine came out bitter.

[Bird]

We always washed them good (with plain water, of course), then spread them out to dry a couple of days before sacking them up to use next year.

[Pat]

About sacking those seeds... use cloth or plain paper. Lots of folks think they are "helping" by using bagies or other sealed containers but it will let your seeds mildew or rot.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Pat, I'll agree with you in general, but it depends on how dry the seeds are before bagging. I kept a variety of seeds from year to year in zip lock bags and never had any rot, mildew, or fail to germinate when planted.

[Pat]

Oh, sure... If they are properly dried there won't be a problem. Many of us may lack your patience and bag 'em too early. If they are thoroughly dried, storage in a plastic bag would probably be better than in a paper one. I have seen several examples that were put away too wet (not mine.)

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]