Another Shot of the Same Pumpkin and Watermelon (Sans Clown) by bill barber
It is pumpkin time again. Can one believe someone could grow a pumpkin that weighed more than a ton? A ton is 2,000 lbs. And this year’s, 2012, winning pumpkin weighed 2009 lbs. Check it out! I find this amazing.
If you want to grow gigantic pumpkins you have to start with pumpkins that grow to large size and then spend time encouraging the things to grow larger. For the secrets of growing enormous pumpkins, go here.
TheGardenLady wonders if the flesh of this gargantuan pumpkin is edible? Or do they feed it to the animals or just compost it after saving the seeds to use for next year’s gigantic pumpkin contest? (see here)
I have used the traditional pumpkin that you can buy almost everywhere to make my pumpkin pies and breads. I use these pumpkins to carve or decorate for Halloween. If I know I want to eat the pumpkin after Halloween, I decorate it with magic markers. (see here)Â If I carve it, it will rot or get bacteria in the open flesh as it sits unrefrigerated. I don’t even like to use a drill or tack in the face of the Jack O’Lantern for fear of bacteria getting into the flesh. Do you know the history of the Jack O’Lantern?
People say that you should use sweeter pumpkins for pumpkin pie and if I am not going to decorate the pumpkin I always buy what is called a sugar pumpkin for my pies. I believe it has a higher sugar content, is less fibrous and seems to be less watery. Sugar pumpkins are tan and sort of squat. They are very expensive, I think, because so few farmers seem to raise them anymore. This is because most people don’t realize how easy it is to prepare a pumpkin for cooking and baking and they buy it prepared for themselves in cans.
But as I said, if you cannot find a sugar or pie pumpkin, TheGardenLady HAS used the standard Jack O’Lantern pumpkin for cooking and baking and it is perfectly edible. (see here)
On Friday, TheGardenLady will explain how she gets her pumpkins ready for delicious pumpkin pie and pumpkin seeds.