Pumpkins reveal tasty seeds
Plant a Row at 4,260 pounds
Nothing shouts fall like an orange pumpkin. There are white
pumpkins and yellow ones, but it’s almost obscene to think about
off-colored pumpkins. Why mess with a perfectly good thing – or
color?
Pumpkins big and small, orange or otherwise can be used for
holiday table decorations. But I consider the only good pumpkin is
one that sacrifices its life to become a jack o’lantern.
Pumpkins reveal tasty seeds
Plant a Row at 4,260 pounds
Nothing shouts fall like an orange pumpkin. There are white pumpkins and yellow ones, but it’s almost obscene to think about off-colored pumpkins. Why mess with a perfectly good thing – or color?
Pumpkins big and small, orange or otherwise can be used for holiday table decorations. But I consider the only good pumpkin is one that sacrifices its life to become a jack o’lantern.
Some artistic people do amazing things with carving jack o’lantern faces. Still, kids are the most creative artists, and triangle eyes and a big smiley mouth are hard to beat. At our house, we always carve two – mostly because my grandson cannot decide between a smile or a scowl. Happy or scary? Why not go for both?
The one thing he absolutely wants to do himself is to put his hand inside the pumpkin and scoop our handfuls of the slimy innards. He calls them “pumpkin brains.” Remember, this is a 13-year-old kid with an imagination!
At that point it’s my job to pick out all the pumpkin seeds to save. Some go into a jar for planting next year. The rest go into the oven to toast as snacks.
Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are among the most popular seed snacks. You nibble on the seed and crunch open the hull to reach the tasty kernel. One medium pumpkin produces about one cup of seeds.
After picking out the seeds, wash them in fresh running water to remove any of the innards that might stick to the seed. Some people like them salted, some not. For salt addicts, soak the seeds in salted water for an hour.
Spread the seeds on a cookie sheet. Set the oven at 300. Roast the seeds for three hours, stirring occasionally, until crisp. This is exactly the way sunflower seeds are roasted, too. Put the roasted seeds in a plastic bag. Eat to your heart’s content.
If you are thinking about using your pumpkin to make a fresh pumpkin pie, don’t bother. The pumpkins we grow as jack o’lanterns don’t make it as pie filling. The fresh pumpkin will be watery and refuse to thicken. Take a minute to read the label on a can of pumpkin pie filling. It’s made with an assortment of squashes, not pure pumpkin. If you want to make a pie, buy a can of pumpkin filling at the grocery store.
Once you’ve carved the pumpkin, its life is very short — five days, or a week at most – before the mold and mildew sets in. At this point, I move my jack o’lanterns to the compost pile, where they slowly turn to mush and add nutrients to the compost.
All in all, a pretty good deal from a simple orange pumpkin.
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Reader Wants to Know: I went to the nursery to buy some bushes, but everything looked so wilted and dead. I thought fall was the best time to buy plants? Tom T., Hollister
Joan Says: Well, you said it: Fall. Deciduous trees and shrubs are dropping their leaves, which doesn’t mean they are wilted or dead. However you do need to be a smart consumer at this time, too. Summer annuals, for instance, are priced very low, but they will only bloom for another few weeks, if at all. I actually saw some tomato plants at one nursery, but of course tomatoes are totally past their time. For planting now, look at fall and winter bloomers, along with cold-season vegetables, all perennials and many vines, shrubs and groundcovers.
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Tip of the Week: Plant spring-flowering bulbs, including daffodils, tulips, anemones and hyacinths. Plant a covering of pansies or violas over the bulb bed. Pansies and violas are like the Energizer Rabbit – they just keep going.
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Cool days and colder nights mean summer gardens are just about done. But wait a minute. Plant a Row for the Hungry gardeners donated 60 pounds of tomatoes to Community Pantry this past week, bringing the total to 4,260 pounds of fruit and vegetables.
While the fresh produce is just about gone, Community Pantry this past week was busy collecting non-perishable food from Hollister area schools. Tom Larkin, Pantry director, says school kids donated 20,000 pounds of non-perishables. “And we have seven more schools to collect from. So I expect that number to top 30,000 pounds. Thanks to the efforts by the school kids we have a nice supply of non-perishable food in our warehouse.”
If you have apples, or other fruit and vegetables to share the Pantry is located at 30 Airport Ave., Hollister. Call (831) 637-0340 for more information.
