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Tuesday, October 25, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
How to carve your
pumpkin like a pro
... with tips from an actual pro
123RF
This past spring, Jennie Hagan had
excavation work done on her Baker
County property revealing the soil was at
least 4 feet deep — perfect for gardening.
JENNIE
HAGEN
GARDENING WITH GRANDMA
Sad to see
another
garden
season end
A
s I look over my shoulder to
the east, a small slice of sky
is still blue, being quickly
overtaken by the grey clouds of
change. I’m not ready for it. Yet even
the fruit trees have signaled their
quiet resignation toward winter.
Greens leaves are giving way to
colors and falling each day with
increasing speed. I am going to miss
this year of gardening.
This past spring, we had excavation
work done on our Baker County prop-
erty that went through part of our yard.
We were surprised to see that the soil
was at least 4 feet deep. No rocks, no
large gravel, just dirt, straight down, to 4
feet in depth. We’d never seen anything
like it and most certainly not in Central
or Eastern Oregon. This gave us insight
into the type of produce garden that just
might be possible.
Though easy to till, it was clear that
this “dirt” lacked mulch or organic fer-
tilizer of any kind. By combining one
1.5-cubic-foot of bagged outdoor gar-
den mix and one bag of steer manure,
it took just four bags of each to cover
our 450-square-foot fenced garden area.
This gave us far more in return than we
expected.
We used our standard raised beds
only we aren’t making them as wide as
we used to when we were younger. They
are only 3 feet wide now, not the usual
4 feet as in years gone by. Even with wa-
ter applications being done to just the
raised beds that had the dikes around
them, as vegetation grew it became nec-
essary to water twice a day, especially
through those hot 100-degree days. This
is what has worked for us this year, and
no, we don’t need any more tomatoes!
I know many of you had the same
struggles and likewise the same success
as we did. Gardens in our tri-county re-
gion have been beautiful this year. For
those of us on the valley floors, we can
expect the deeper soil levels. Start mov-
ing up away from the valleys, and the
rocks grow fast. So, what’s next?
Fall is perfect for planting trees,
shrubs and any kind of woody peren-
nial. Saving seeds throughout the year is
always fun, but if it’s your first time sav-
ing seeds, and you want to know more
about it, probably the best source for ad-
vice will be found at our very own Ore-
gon State University Extension service.
Type “www.extension.oregonstate.edu”
into your web browser then select “gar-
dening” and you’ll find a nearly endless
supply of shared knowledge. Type “seed
saving” into the search bar and you’ll get
more information. The Extension Ser-
vice has many printable papers available
but also access to free videos with gar-
dening topics, and outstanding books of
horticultural interest.
This Grandma has just enough time
to go gather a few more seeds today
and make plans for getting more spring
flowering bulbs in the ground tomor-
row.
█
Jennie Hagen is a native Oregonian who has
spent 40 years gardening east of the Cascades.
She is a member of the Garden Writers
Association and has previously written for the
Home & Garden section of The Oregonian, and
for The Observer, the Baker City Herald, and the
Burns Times Herald.
123RF
By HIRA QURESHI • The Philadelphia Inquirer
P
HILADELPHIA — Have you
ever seen a piece of art and
thought, “I could totally do
that — and better”?
That’s what David Morgenstern
realized when searching for pumpkin
carving inspiration online 16 years
ago. Now, Morganstern runs Stoney-
kins, where he sells custom-made
intricate jack o’lanterns and design
stencils, while also running a Face-
book hotline to answer pumpkin
carving questions.
Morgenstern, who attended the
Art Institute of Philadelphia, hails
from South Philly. He is winner of
the 2013 Pumpkin Masters Online
Carving contest and the 2021 Great
Pumpkin Carve in Chadds Ford.
He’s known for his intricate, detailed
pieces, with carvings for the NFL
and Rolling Stone Magazine
among others.
It’s in the basement of
his home, where Morgen-
stern has his laboratory of
tools, tricks and pump-
kins to build his cre-
ations. Upstairs in his
offi ce — fi lled with
more (creepy and
friendly) pumpkins —
he designs carving pat-
terns and answers the
questions of amateur
and pro pumpkin carvers
around the world.
“I have a year’s worth of
work in two months,” he said
about the fall season. “One day,
I’ll get no orders. One day, I’ll get
25 from the same person.”
Through trial and error, Morgen-
stern developed two jack o’lantern
carving methods — for carvings
of the Joker to the gates of Hell —
which he shares below.
What tools you’ll need to
carve a pumpkin
“The tools are the key,” Mor-
genstern said, and can make the
pumpkin carving process seamless.
Find all you need online or at local
craft stores.
• Sharpie pen
• Serrated spoon or large spoon
• Large washable glue stick
• Printed designs or stencils
(Stoneykins has plenty to choose
from.)
• Sheetrock saw
• Art transfer paper (Morgenstern
recommends the white Saral paper.)
• Pumpkin carving saw (Morgen-
stern recommends a Warren Pro.)
• Ceramic loop tool, pear-shaped
• X-Acto knife blade No. 2, with
No. 15 keyhole
• Speedball Lino set (Only V and
U nibs needed.)
• Clay ribbon tool (This is for
fi nal cleanup of a shaded carving.)
Pro-tip: You’ll also want a pot
Before you begin, place your
pumpkin on a pot for ease of
carving. Be sure to fi nd one with a
rim size that’s just a bit smaller than
the pumpkin you’re carving so that it
sits nice and snug.
“If you’re putting it on the table
by itself without the pot, then you’re
constantly angling it and holding it,”
Morgenstern explained. “If you put
it on a pot, then both your hands are
free.”
1. Cut a hole for the lid
Using your Sharpie pen, out-
line a carving path at the top of the
pumpkin for your lid — the stem
will be your handle.
When carving the lid, be sure
the Sheetrock Saw is at a 45 degree
angle.
“If I was cutting straight, the lid
would fall in the pumpkin,” he said.
“So if you do it at an angle, it will
have a bevel edge.”
and put that pattern right in the
groove,” he shared. “It only takes a
little to make (the pattern) fl ush.”
Wait about 5 to 10 minutes for
the glue to dry. Then, carve right
through the pattern with a No. 2
X-Acto Handle with No. 15 keyhole
saw blades. Be sure to test the thin-
ness of the pumpkin wall with the
blade — if most of the blade comes
through, you’re all set. (Scrape
the wall a bit more till the blade is
clearly visible.)
Saw in a continuous motion
for quick carving. Move the blade
up-and-down without removing
it from the pumpkin. Adjust the
pumpkin as you carve for the best
leverage.
After carving, soak the pumpkin
to remove the printed design and
excess glue — the paper will
fall right off . Scrub off any
remaining glue residue.
... Or try the transfer
method
When cutting out the lid, skip the
seemingly obvious circle.
Nataliia Kozynska/Dreamstime-TNS
Pro-tip: When cutting out the lid,
skip the seemingly obvious circle.
Outline a little pumpkin instead —
the “stem” of your outline will let
you easily place the pumpkin’s top
back on later, so you don’t have to
adjust the lid until it’s fl ush.
Cut off the access on the lid for a
clean top.
2. Gut your pumpkin
Gut the pumpkin with a serrated
or large spoon. Then, use a pear-
shaped ceramic loop tool to scrape
the excess and thin the pumpkin
walls.
Be sure to make the front wall —
where your design will be carved —
even thinner by about ¾ of an inch.
(More on how to gauge the wall’s
thickness in the next step.)
3. The glue stick method
Smear a washable glue stick on
the back of a printed cut-out design.
(Print the designs on sticker paper
to skip the glue, if you’re okay
spending a bit more money.) Cut slits
on the sides of the pattern for the
design to line up with the curves and
groves of the pumpkin.
Stick the pattern on the pumpkin
and overlap those slits for a nice fi t.
Smooth out wrinkles.
“Wherever you see grooves of the
pumpkin, you wanna get your fi nger
Tape art transfer
paper (white works
best) on the pumpkin.
Place your printed
design on top and use a
pen to outline the pat-
tern. Then carve the
outline with the Speed-
ball Lino, V nib.
Use the Speedball
Lino, U nib for every-
thing in between the outline.
Smooth out ridges with a clay
ribbon tool. These tools allow you
to easily scrape and design on the
pumpkin skin.
This method works best for
carving shaded or three-color
patterns.
“The pattern is a negative image,
but when you carve it and light it, it
becomes a positive,” Morgenstern
said.
4. How to keep your jack o’lan-
tern alive longer
Pumpkins, like humans, need to
stay hydrated, Morgenstern said.
To make it last, dunk the pumpkin
in water with bleach after carving
— just in and out. For every gallon
of water, add four tablespoons of
bleach. Get the scented bleach if you
wanna get fancy with it.
“It stops mold and mildew,” he
shared. “Your pumpkin’s (going to)
last longer — it’ll give you like two
weeks.”
And to keep squirrels from
snacking on your pumpkin, dampen
the pumpkin and sprinkle paprika
on it.
“They don’t like the taste of it —
they’ll take a lick and say goodbye,”
he said.
Final pro-tips for some fes-
tive fun: Christmas lights are best
for lighting a jack o’lantern. But if
you’re using a real candle, make sure
you have a hole for venting.
Morgenstern’s pro tip: Sprinkle
some cinnamon powder on the inside
of the lid. The candle will “cook”
the spice and your jack o’lantern will
smell like pumpkin pie.