Farms: Pumpkin Picking 101

See more videos at http://www.phillyburbs.com/videos When it comes to pumpkin picking, it really depends on how you're going to be using the pumpkin. Paul Fleming has been a farmer on Shady Brook Farm for pretty much his whole life. He says the pumpkin has to be ripe before it's picked. "To know when a pumpkin is ripe, you have to look for a nice orange color with a nice beautiful stem and that's when you know a pumpkin is ready," said Fleming. "What we try to tell our customers is [that] you want to pick all the vines off and when they rot down a little bit, you can just pull it off," said Fleming as he showed how it's done. Before even picking your pumpkin, you must first decide how you are going to use your pumpkin. "Depending on what you're looking for, we have all different sizes and shapes depending if you want to carve, what style you want to carve, [and] what kind of handle you want--we have some really great stems this year," said Fleming. "With pumpkin pies, you are looking at pie pumpkins, which we call baby pams," said Fleming. "They are four to five pound pumpkins, which tend to be sweeter." Watch as video reporter Amanda King also talks with Fallsington Elementary students about why they picked their pumpkins and to see what's new at Shady Brook Farm this year.