The garden is full these days and I have been working on getting every thing into jar and freezer bags as quickly as I can. The beets made several good meals and about 8 pints of pickled beets for winter. The tomatoes are made into pasta sauce and chili sauce 7 quarts of each so far. Then another 7 quarts of chili sauce will be on the stove in a couple of days as the bulk of my tomatoes are ready for canning. But the real fun of this years garden is the pumpkins.
Christopher and Paige with a load of Pumpkins ready for display on our porch
I am guessing that most homesteaders and gardeners have tried to raise a pumpkin or two over the years. I have also, but I have never, ever, had pumpkins like this before. I planted 3 seeds… only one hill…. and so far we have 12 pumpkins and 7 were so large already that I was actually afraid the neighbors and their children may enjoy them with out my permission too! So we went pumpkin picking this holiday weekend. I actually still have three vines blooming so we may have another load like this one in another month.
I am just over whelmed with the possibility of all the things that I can make for my oldest son and I out of these wonderful squashes.
Cody hands Christopher a pumpkin as Paige brings the wagon around to fill it
Cody and I love pumpkin and I have begun to master from scratch pumpkin pies. I am guessing we will have enough pie filing canned for both families by the holiday season. I was thankful that I did buy pie pumpkin seeds and thought that the white ones with the orange meat looked like fun to carve. I am sure that as the time gets closer we will have a many different looking pumpkins on the porch,but none will be as loved as the white ones we grew together!
a nice load of white pumpkins
In closing this is the recipe that I use when making a fresh pumpkin to make pies. At some point I will post a step by step instruction on how to make fresh pumpkins into a pie but for now this will get you thinking about the wonderful smells and tastes of autumn.
Fresh Pumpkin pie… a large 20 pound pumpkin can make about 4 to 5 pies (2 cups filling per pie).
Set oven to 450 degrees and roast a washed seeded quartered pumpkin on a cookie sheet for 30 to 40 minutes until the meat of the pumpkin softens and the quarters start to squish and wrinkle.
COOL for several minutes ( 30 to an hour) remove cooked meat and place about 2 cups into a food processor or blender blend until with a three tablespoons water and blended into a nice puree.
Either make a pie crust of use a store-bought crust big enough for a deep dish pie
in a large bowel mix 2 cups puree and add
2 eggs
1 cups light brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3/4 can ( 8 oz) evaporated milk
bake at 450 deg for 10 minutes the reduce the heat to 350 deg for 40 to 50 minutes.
test for with knife to make sure pie filling is cooked all the way through.
This is what my daughter in law says is the best pumpkin pie she has ever had… fresh from the garden!
West Virginia Mountain Mama 