Preserving Pumpkin

lcertuche

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
980
Reaction score
626
Points
163
Last year I scored some pumpkins for $1 a piece. I only got two and I really regretted I didn't get more. I ended up cooking them in my giant electric roaster (kind of like a huge crock pot). Just used a hammer and my big ole butcher knife to slice through the center. I cooked until a fork could pierce the skin.

I always roast the seeds separately on a cookie sheet.

I ended up with 13 or 14 quart bags of pumpkin puree. A real bargain for $2 considering canned pumpkin was over a buck a piece in the stores.

This year I'm thinking I will dehydrate some pumpkin if I can get some more bargains. It takes up less room and re-hydrates nicely.

Now my favorite ways to eat pumpkin: pies, muffins, ravioli, enchiladas, smoothies, soup... Oh, what am I saying, any recipe using pumpkin is my favorite!
 

frustratedearthmother

Sustainability Master
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
20,483
Reaction score
22,510
Points
453
Location
USDA 9a
I love pumpkin too... especially some pumpkin soup! DH brought 6 nice big ones home from work yesterday. Some of them have been carved up and are deteriorating a bit....pigs/chickens will get those. Not sure what I'll do with the others...maybe just bake them and put the innerds in the freezer.
 

NH Homesteader

Sustainability Master
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
7,800
Reaction score
6,665
Points
347
I just made roasted pumpkin seeds yesterday. They're gone now! My husband loves them! The rest was carved and will be fed to the pigs once it starts going bad.
 

lcertuche

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
980
Reaction score
626
Points
163
We love the seeds too, especially the kids. It's surprising how many seeds one pumpkin can have.
 

frustratedearthmother

Sustainability Master
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
20,483
Reaction score
22,510
Points
453
Location
USDA 9a
I tossed one that was in poor condition to the pigsters this morning - they loved it!
 

lcertuche

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
980
Reaction score
626
Points
163
Yeah, it's too bad that pumpkin seeds are not really suppose to be a dewormer. At least they are full of nutrition as are the pumpkin flesh and skin. I love being able to throw my frozen, raw tomatoes out to my chickens. Nothing really goes to waste on a farm.
 

Mini Horses

Sustainability Master
Joined
Sep 2, 2015
Messages
7,071
Reaction score
14,455
Points
352
Location
coastal VA
Pumpkins are loaded with good nutrition, esp the seeds. I throw excess to all the animals and walking thru the "old" pig pen yesterday, I find about 50 volunteer tomato plants!! Crap! not gonna be able to use this late in year but I sure WANT to dig & pot! Have some good feed pumpkin seeds but so wet this Spring that nothing got planted. Not even a lonely tomato!!

Hoping we all have a better Spring next year. I think many had a garden bust this year and we sure need to re-supply the jars. So miss the fresh veggies to pick -- and toss to the animals.

Hoping to pick up some "excess/rejects" from some local pumpkin fields in next month. Several around. Gotta get out there & talk to the owners.
 

lcertuche

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
980
Reaction score
626
Points
163
I love volunteer plants. I got squash one year so maybe next spring you'll get some pumpkin. If they in the pig pen then you know they are fertilized. I imagine you could save the tomato plants. Just pot them up and put in a sunny window. They would be pretty leggy but just bury them trench style for lots of roots when you did set them out. If they are crowded in a pot of plain dirt maybe they wouldn't grow to fast. Maybe build a hoop house out of fence panels and plastic. Put bales of hay around them with a floating cover under the hoop house. That's how some do up north. Anyway, maybe to much trouble for a maybe survival rate. Fun thinking about it though. If its in your critter pen they will probably eat the plants anyway.
 

Beekissed

Mountain Sage
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
12,774
Reaction score
3,934
Points
437
Location
Mountains of WV
Yeah, it's too bad that pumpkin seeds are not really suppose to be a dewormer. At least they are full of nutrition as are the pumpkin flesh and skin. I love being able to throw my frozen, raw tomatoes out to my chickens. Nothing really goes to waste on a farm.

But they are a dewormer...

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00436-015-4416-0?no-access=true

http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/a...xima-pumpkin-seeds-carica-papaya-papaya-seeds

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123756886101100

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3103934/




From the study, it is observed that Z. zerumbet has shown better activity than C. maxima at a higher concentration (100 mg/ml) compared to standard Albendazole (100 mg/ml). The comparison of death time for both the plants in different concentrations with respect to standard (Albendazole).
 
Top