...when do you know if a pumpkin is ready to be eaten?

pumpkin

as you can see, it has become a dark green color (check this post for a lighter colored pumpkin). i don't think it has become bigger in the past few days, either. but then, it has been raining hard since monday night. also, the bottom is yellow. i looked at it monday morning and i don't remember it being so yellow. you can seen the puddle of water it was in.

yellow spot

i'm going to harvest it this evening anyway (making tonjiru and i think pumpkin will be a nice addition!) but i thought i'd just pop this question out there for all my gardening friends....

EDIT: so, i went ahead and cut it off the vine. the vine seems to be dying (too much rain??), there are a lot of pumpkin vines in the garden and well, slugs seemed to be interested in the stem. so, cut it off and am going to try this:

(from wikipedia)

When kabocha is just harvested, it is still growing. So, unlike other vegetables and fruits, freshness isn't as important. It should be fully matured first, in order to become flavorful. First, kabocha is ripened in a warm place (77°F) for 13 days, during which some of the starch converts to carbohydrate content. Then it's transferred to a cool place (50°F) and stored for about a month in order to increase its carbohydrate content. In this way the just-harvested, dry, bland-tasting kabocha is transformed into smooth, sweet kabocha. Fully ripened, succulent kabocha will have reddish-yellow flesh and a hard skin with a dry, corky stem. It is heavier than it looks. It reaches the peak of ripeness about 1.5~3 months after it's harvested.

so, i will keep it in the kitchen for two weeks, then try putting it in the yuka-shita for a few weeks. phew! lots of work for something that supposedly easy to grow....