Final Pumpkin Harvest of the Year
A few days ago after my husband felt a little bit better -he had a bad cold - we decided to go collect all the rest of the pumpkins and pick up the hoses. Hoses don’t like to bend very well when it is cold, and it was almost 70F. Possibly this was the last warmish day of this year, so we decided to get over and do this.
This is what we got.
Some of them are simply too green to be good. But those darker green ones are probably ripe.
This year I did myself a real disservice and didn’t plant enough orange pumpkins! My fault!
I wanted something different but kind of went overboard with different and didn’t end up with many orange.
I have cut apart 3 of the green ones and cooked them up and they are all orange inside- it’s the outside skin which isn’t orange nor does it turn orange. I wanted some of them like that, but had no idea I had such a high percentage of green ones planted.
But next year I want to plan more orange ones. Maybe even some of those green types but orange - they remind me of the Cinderella pumpkins - the ones that in the fairy tale they used for her coach.
This is the first one I cut up and cooked. This pumpkin didn’t end up being very moist though I kept it - and put it in the freezer in 2 cup servings which is how I use it in the pumpkin bread recipe.
We stopped by our neighbor and gave her 4 of these - the ripe ones - so she can make herself some pumpkin soup. Then we brought the rest home and put them in various places around the yard. I have some by a tree up front by the road, some in the back of the house and some by the door that we use all the time. I have some that are still turning orange and but most will never be orange.
When I cooked up the second pumpkin, I went ahead and made up some pumpkin bread. I use a recipe I got from a friend who got it from someone else.
I have given away about 7 so far. I’ve cooked up 3. I will probably cook my other 7 pretty soon and then start giving the rest away so others can enjoy them as well. I probably got between 120 and 130 pumpkins altogether but at least 20 or 30 of them are small white ones.
I know - my countertops are seriously discolored. I guess that means I use them, though, right?
I have some pumpkin in the fridge right now and will put it in the freezer today. I usually take care of it right away but I was so busy when I cooked it, I just scooped it out of the pumpkin and put it all in the fridge.
Later, I will use my food processor, mixed it all into a puree and then measure it into 2 cup measures and put it in freezer bags - flat - in the freezer.
Here are my pumpkins.
I plan to give most of them away as I do want others to be able to enjoy them before they might freeze - and it’s getting quite cold at night now here.
I harvested between 130 and 140 pumpkins. Not all of them will completely ripen, though that big one on our front landing is nicely turning orange. I picked it when it was still green but beginning to turn. Also, the ones sitting by the front steps are nicely turning though they’d probably change faster inside the house. I’d like to try a couple to see if they are ideal pie pumpkins once they turn orange completely.
The recipe I use for pumpkin bread, which is the main thing I do with pumpkin is this:
Pumpkin bread
1 cup veg. oil
1-2 cups pumpkin (cooked or canned)
4 eggs, beaten
3 cups sugar
3 ½ cups flour
2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
2 t. salt
1 t. cloves
1 ½ t. nutmeg
1 t. cinnamon
2/3 cup water
Mix oil and pumpkin. Add eggs and sugar. Mix well. Add flour, soda, powder, salt and spices. Mix and add water. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans or a bunch of muffin tins. Bake bread 1 hour at 350-400 degrees F.
Oh, and if you do make this - I do kind of heap those spices - definitely don’t do exact amounts. Makes for more flavorful bread!
Thanks for coming along with me on this journey! Have a great day wherever you are reading this!
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