Permaculture in Action

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Autumn Harvest



Do you have a similar scene of abundance at your place....pumpkins everywhere?



We grew Queensland Blues, Golden nuggets from a pumpkin gifted to me from Melissa, and Hubbards squash grown locally here in the Hunter. Our area has previously been renowned for its pumpkin growing. Our local football team is called, and has always been called The Pumpkin Pickers. But the area doesn't grow pumpkins in the volume it once did. There has been a little bit of a resurgence when the local hay grower was approached to grow food again and he has set aside a small portion of his land for food, but really it's a pittance compared to the food that was once grown in this area. What a shame for a city that grew food for Sydney.We have great potential for once again growing large scale produce.

 But anyway, here on our little farm we grew enough pumpkins for us and our CSA members to last for a while, at least until we all get sick of eating pumpkins, which brings me to asking you for a favour. Do you have a favourite pumpkin recipe apart from the usual, like soup, rissoto, scones,or pie that you would share with me, to pass onto my subscribers. If so maybe you could email me the recipe or attach a link to it in the comments. It would be very much appreciated. One of the biggest reasons for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscriber not to renew their subscription is because they can't handle the quantity of seasonal produce. For this reason I like to help them out with recipe ideas.

Cooking pumpkin in the solar oven



Thanks for your help! And don't forget to leave a comment on my last post to go in the draw for a visit to the farm.

12 comments:

  1. I have two favourite pumpkin recipes http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/14443/pumpkin+and+spinach+salad
    http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/1905/bacon+and+pumpkin+pesto+pasta

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    1. Thanks Alissa I will be sure to pass these recipes on.

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  2. Im so excited, this is my first pumpkin crop and im waiting for them to be ready to pick. I'll be watching for great recipes. I always bake my pumpkins before adding to salads, soup and the like. Much sweeter.

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    1. Thanks Lynda for your tip about baking the pumpkin. That's something I like to do also. Good luck with your harvest.

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  3. Spring is in the air here in England so we are just thinking about planting rather than harvesting. Your pumpkin crop looks amazing.

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    1. Maybe you will find some recipes here once Autumn arrives for you. All the best for your growing season.

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  4. I make a roast pumpkin hummus. 250g cubed pumpkin, roast, cool and add to 400g tin chickpeas, 2 tbsp tahini, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 clove crushed garlic, process until smooth. Stir in 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander. Not my recipe, found it on the net somewhere. Also pumpkin & lasagne and pumpkin & coconut curry are great combinations, as well as mashed (roasted) pumpkin as a base on homemade pizza, yum :)

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    1. Wow thanks Zoe. Some really good ideas. The pumpkin hommus sounds great I'll be giving that a go.Pumpkin and coconut curry is one of our favourites. We add chick peas to ours. Delicious. And I'll certainly be trying the pumpkin mashed on the pizza. We usually add it cubed and roasted on pizza with fetta cheese.

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  5. I came across a recipe in the past while looking for Gluten Free baking. I have yet to try it, but it seems very much like chocolate sauce pudding - only with pumpkin and coffee. It's gluten free and vegan friendly.

    http://ohsheglows.com/2014/10/10/gooey-pumpkin-spice-latte-chocolate-pudding-cake-vegan-gluten-free/

    If you try baking it, let me know how it goes. All our pumpkins got a bit of powdery mildew on their leaves this year, so nothing has produced to date. We do tend to neglect our vines however.

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    1. I imagine it could be made with regular ingredients too. Regular milk instead of almond or coconut, regular eggs instead of flax eggs, regular sugar, flour and chocolate also. It's very much like the traditional chocolate sauce pudding, which I'm sure everyone has made at least once. :)

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  6. Not exactly a recipe, but our family just loves cold baked pumpkin (baked with honey drizzled over it)chopped up in a salad with sunflower seeds.It makes salads disappear at our house .

    I have some Atlantic Giants in the garden just for the joy of having a giant pumpkin and they are nearly grown.Mark and Kate - can you eat Atlantic Giant or is it cow food?

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  7. I have a recipe for Pumpkin with beef. It's a stew. It is in Dutch. If you are interested I can translate it for you.

    Wendy

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