How We Grow Harvest and Preserve Pumpkins

 Pumpkins: Pumpkins are another vegetable that are very versatile. We have grown both sizes, the pie pumpkin and the carving pumpkin ones. To be honest, there is no taste difference for me because it is the spices you put in it to make the pie anyway. I would rather grow the big ones and get more bang for our buck. Hence, the larger the pumpkin, the more you get. 

They are not just for pumpkin pies. You can also use them as a vegetable as a side dish or soup, depends on how you put it up. Pumpkins are in the squash family, so therefore, you can also treat them as such. You can freeze them and pressure can them in cubes too. You can roast them and season any way you want to like with olive oil, salt pepper, Italian seasonings etc. You can mash them  like potatoes and they could be a substitute in Keto and Diabetic diets. You can cut them into wedges and make pumpkin fries out of them. You can puree and make soups. I plan to do just that. 

The first way I preserve some is by roasting and making puree to put into pumpkin pies, breads, muffins, donuts, waffles and  pancakes. 

It all starts with breaking down the pumpkin which is really easier than breaking down a butternut squash. 

Dear hubby breaks down the really large ones for me seeings though I am short. He lets me break down the little ones. 

Let's start with roasting first, it's easier. You cut around the stem and punch it down to the inside. Take your knife and cut the whole pumpkin in half down the center. Separate. Scoop out the seeds from both halves, place flesh side down onto a lined baking dish, rub a little oil on the skin to keep it from burning, place in the oven and roast on 375 or 400 degrees until the skins are wrinkly. Remove from oven, let cool completely. 

After they have cooled and you can touch them, peel skins off, put flesh into a bowl, drain the water out, mash with a potato masher and puree. You can also do this in a stand mixer. I like to portion my puree into 2 cup portions into a vacuum seal bag and vacuum seal  them. You most certainly can use a ziploc bag. Then flatten so they will store better into your freezer and save space. 

Now let's talk about canning them or freezing them. 

I will take some of the broken down wedges and remove the peelings. I did this two different ways. One, I used a vegetable peeler to scrape the peelings off, the other way, I used a knife like I was removing watermelon from a rind. Then I took those wedges and started cutting them up into 1 inch cubes. I packed the cubes into the jars leaving a one inch headspace, filled the jar with water, debubbled, wiped jar rims off, placed lids and bands on, and processed in the pressure cooker for 90 minutes at 10 lbs pressure. You can substitute water for broth or simple syrup in the jars. You can also dry pack them. 

For freezing, I will start cutting the wedges into one inch cubes and portion them into vacuum seal bags, vacuum seal and place in freezer. 

Video version here:

I have also processed pumpkin to puree and have on hand to use in dishes. This video I show you how I cut a pumpkin, roast it and prep it to make a homemade pumpkin pie. It was delicious. It is easier to cut a pumpkin open, lay flat on a baking sheet and bake until tender. The skin pulls off so much easier. You can watch it here: