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Can jack-o-lanterns, once carved, be eaten?
They don't last long if they have been cut open, for mold tends to set in. If candles were burned inside, the quality of the edible flesh may be further reduced. Cut pumpkins usually need to be recycled to the compost pile.
However, pumpkin patches will have ample supplies of good cooking pumpkins, sweet and meaty. Several types that ripen well in this cool-summer climate are "Small Sugar" and "Spirit." Farms may also have tiny "Jack Be Littles" only 3 to 4 inches across; these are good to use for ornaments or they can be cooked.
To cook a large pumpkin, wash it and cut it in half. Remove seeds and bake it skin side up, for about an hour in a slow oven. (about 325 degrees.) When it's tender, scrape the meat out of the skin and put through a strainer or food processor. OR cook it in a microwave oven as you would a winter squash. Pumpkins are, after all, members of the squash tribe. Cooked pumpkins make intriguing serving dishes for a fall stew or soup.
Planting trees, shrubs, perennial flowers, bulbs, and even hardy seeds continues through October, November, December, and even into January in the maritime Pacific Northwest. Fall is the most active planting period. Soils are still warm and conducive to root growth. Plant any time the weather is above freezing.
Fall rains can keep plants watered, and cooler temperatures reduce stress from water loss out of the leaves, which normally occurs in hot summer weather. Be sure you have chosen an area where plants will have excellent drainage. More plants die in the winter in this region from drowning in wet soils, basically from a lack of oxygen at their roots, than die from freezing.
After the garden mums have stopped flowering and the tops have gone brown, simply cut the tops off. The crowns (the place at the soil line where new growth emerges) and the roots should live through winter well. Some gardeners lay 3 to 4 inches of coarse, organic mulch to protect the plants during the occasional fierce cold of the western Washington area.
Many different types of chrysanthemum are sold already in bloom by florists year-round. If one is received as a gift plant, it will not survive being set out in below freezing temperatures. Chrysanthemums that are acclimated to cold gradually will usually be perennial and come back in the spring.
Most home garden compost piles are fairly "passive," which means that they aren't turned often and don't build up a lot of heat. Aim for a compost pile that contains a careful balance of "green" --nitrogen sources such as fresh grass or manure, and "brown" --carbon sources such as dry leaves, sawdust, or old compost. Leaves, needles, grass clippings, cornstalks, and pumpkin vines can be composted. Chop or shred plants for best results. The finer the particle, the sooner it will decompose into compost.
Do not include food wastes. Fruit, and uncooked vegetables can be composted in a worm box or other closed system so they will not attract vermin. Cooked food, dairy products, meats and bones do not belong in any garden compost system.
Tree fuchsias require more shelter than a porch might give them. The roots are more sensitive to cold than the top of the plant is, and you will need to keep the plant someplace where it is not potentially exposed to temperatures below freezing. A garage or cold basement would work.
Light is not necessary, because the plant will be dormant. Be sure the plant doesn't dry out completely during the storage phase. Another possibility would be to bury the pot and wrap the top of the plant, somewhat like what is done for tree roses is cold climates. Protect the trunk with flexible pipe insulation and use burlap for the top. In Mid-February, when the plant begins to move out of dormancy, water it and move it into light, but continue to protect it from freezing.
Fall is the time to plant all spring-blooming bulbs, and people with shaded gardens aren't entirely out of options. Spring bulbs love light, and none will thrive in total shade. But some do well in part-shade or under deciduous trees which have not yet leafed out. Some good bloomers when there's no full sun are various daffodils: choose some of the smaller species or plant hybrids such as "February Gold", "February Silver", or "Peeping Tom".
Other choices might be grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum), in blues or white, or the various scillas. Gardeners generally love or hate scillas (Endymion hispanicus). They are well adapted to western Washington spring climates and spread mightily. Cut off the leaves after bloom before they crumble into soggy messes. (Scillas are one of the few bulbs that can be cut down immediately after bloom.)
