An Upside of Autumn

I've always loved Autumn, nearly as much as I love Spring. Both seasons are full of bright colours, but for different reasons. One of Autumn's bright colours is the yummy orange of home grown pumpkin. I had some JAP, also known as Kent, pumpkins germinate in my compost pile so I transplanted them to the paddock and they thrived. Technically JAP's are squash and are supposedly evolved from the Japanese squash  cucurbita moschata but there's also a story of them originally sprouting on a USA farmer's property and when he was asked what they were he replied "Just Another Pumpkin" and they've been known by the acronym ever since. Nice little story. However, I'm not politically correct and if we do have the Japanese to thank for this versatile vegetable I have no problem with honouring them for it's origin by call it a JAP or Japanese pumpkin as it's my favourite :D.

Whatever the origins they are very popular in Australia and are used for everything from soups to pies, as a roast vegetable and in various types of bread.  I've harvested 10 but I gave the two smallest ones to my parents and there's at least another dozen maturing on the vines. There's a 20c piece on one of the pumpkins at the back to give an idea of size. The cut one is the first of the harvest after a few weeks of drying off. I've already made a big pot of pumpkin soup and there's a roasted pumpkin and lentil salad I want to try as well as 2 different types of pie and of course some pumpkin scones. It wouldn't be Australia without pumpkin scones!

I always save the seeds as what better way to keep producing them than to save seeds acclimatised to the growing conditions here.

Hoping that southern hemisphere people are looking forward to lots of warm tasty pumpkin treats as the weather becomes colder.

Cheers,
Robyn xo