How to protect your pumpkin from the elements

ELMIRA, N.Y. ( WETM ) – If you’ve already gotten a pumpkin, you may notice a lot of animals are eyeing your gourd. There’s a natural repellent you can spray right on your pumpkin.

You can spray spearmint, peppermint, or clove to repel deer, chipmunks, squirrels, and even insects from getting into your pumpkins.

There is an easy way to tell if any animals have gotten into your gourd.

“Deer a lot of times will stomp the pumpkin with its foot to break it open and then eat the inside. Woodchuck, a rabbit, or a squirrel will nibble the outside skin to get into the flesh. So it’s a visible mark on the outside of the pumpkin,” says Randy Parker, the owner of Parker’s Farm Market and R.S. Parker Landscaping.

You can also protect your pumpkin from the cold. Our area is in a frost advisory.

You can get a bedsheet and use that as a frost blanket. You could put the blanket over your pumpkin to stop it from freezing. This also works with mums or any outdoor plants you may have.

There are still lots of pumpkins for you to get in the area at any New York Farmers Market.

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