Pumpkins... how far in advance?

[Stellenbosch]

I'd quite fancy a bottle glass of wine and some pumpkin carving tonight... but, too soon?

How can preserve my pumpkin if I do?

after carving, store it somewhere cold & dry, it might not rot.
I'm not sure how you prevent condensation probs, though.
It is too early, imho, assuming you want it to look nice on 31st.
In california we wouldn't expect carved pumpkin to last >3-4 days, but it's dry there so no condensation prob.

I did mine last night. They normally last for about 5 days for me so I should be OK. I make sure the insides are perfectly clean , and wipe them with bleach to destroy any spores which might be lurking. Dry the insides with a fan, then store in the fridge. I've never had any problems keeping them like that.

we will carve the sunday. display in kitchen until tuesday, then move them outside on wednesday. by then they probably there will be some spots of mould inside.
(compost) bin thursday.

What about freezing them? Will that work?

We were planning to do ours on Sunday evening probably

It's to be cold and dry here until Wednesday anyway so will just store outside

Won't they just attract lots of condensation when dethawing (hence mould). Probably fine if you pull it out of freezer on Halloween itself.

Put them in a bucket of diluted bleach after carving, and they last for much longer!