I didn't mean to grow pumpkins. But I had some trouble getting my eggplant seeds to germinate this past spring, so my friend gave me some of her extra seedlings in 3" pots, along with a cute little baby squash plant that she said was a compact butternut that would hardly take up any room at all.
Now, I have limited space in my veggie beds, so I don't grow ornamentals -- only stuff I can eat -- and I don't grow large sprawling vines such as melons and big winter squashes. But when I returned from a week-long vacation midway through the summer, this supposedly well-behaved plant had turned into a monster and was taking over the world. It had a very dark green round fruit the size of a softball which looked nothing like a butternut squash to me. A mystery plant! I vowed on the spot that whatever it turned into, I would find a way to cook it and eat it. Eventually, my friend apologetically identified it as a pumpkin. Unfortunately, she also told me that these pretty orange pumpkins we buy to make jack-o-lanterns are not the best for eating, and that pumpkin pie filling is actually now made from winter squash, not the Halloween pumpkins I was inadvertently nurturing. I, however, refuse to be deterred. I found a pumpkin soup recipe in my World Vegetarian cookbook, and I'm going to salt and roast the seeds for snacking. I drastically cut back the vines to keep them from shading my other plants, and saved only 4 pumpkins, some of which I definitely intend to eat! I'll let you know how it tastes.
No comments:
Post a Comment