Pumpkins
Pumpkin Spice. Many people cringe when they start hearing
those words. I am not one of them. I love pumpkins, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin
pie custards, pumpkin coffee...I enjoy all of it. I will concede that perhaps pumpkin spice
flavored breakfast cereal is a bit much, but pumpkin doughnuts, in my opinion,
are wonderful.
Thus, several years ago, when we were introduced to Seminole
Pumpkins by our friend, David the Good, we were delighted to give them a
try. These pumpkins are indigenous to
Florida and have spread through the south.
Like Kudzu. We have found the
best way to grow these is to feed them to our chickens and let them handle
planting and fertilizing. If you don’t
have chickens, the next best way is to put an old one in a compost pile, or
simply toss a whole pumpkin into the yard hard enough it splits and let it do
the work. It will. Again, like Kudzu. One must keep a close eye on children and
small pets in the pumpkin patch with Seminoles.
Make sure it is in a part of the property for which you have no other
plans. Spacing? Well, I think you might be able to
keep it down to an acre or so if you take a flame thrower to the edges? Maybe?
"Run! They've breached the fence!"
Kudzu-like jokes aside, this is an aggressive plant with an impressive yield and beautiful flowers.
That black ring is a group of bumble bees
They do have a large spread but you don’t really need an acre, especially if you go vertical (tomato cages, trellising, the back gate, etc.).
Seminole pumpkins may be harvested young, small, and green and cooked like summer squash. If you prefer mature fruit (and it produces enough for you to enjoy some young fruit and still have lots of mature fruit), it does tend to be juicier than a typical pie pumpkin so you may find you need to decrease the amount of liquid in your favorite recipe. I pressure can pints according to traditional pumpkin directions and then use it for mashed pumpkins, pumpkin puree (to make pumpkin spice coffee), and pumpkin custard (think pumpkin pie without that waste-of-space crust). I also bake the smaller variety as I would bake an acorn squash.
Seminole
Pumpkins. Productive, low-maintenance
(weeds would not dare challenge them and if they do, they always
lose!), and meeting my craving for all things pumpkin and pumpkin-spice
related. I’ll be canning a LOT next week…!
Seminole Pumpkin Pie Custard
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking
1. 2 cups cooked, mashed pumpkin, well-drained
2. 1 ½ cups evaporated milk, rich cream, or coconut cream (if you cannot tolerate milk products)
3. ¼ cup brown sugar
4. ½ cup white sugar
5. ½ t. salt
6. 1 t. cinnamon
7. ½ t. ground ginger
8. ¼ t. nutmeg or allspice
9. Sprinkle of cloves
10. 2 lightly beaten chicken eggs or 8 lightly beaten quail eggs
Mix everything together well. Ladle into custard cups, filling to about 2/3 (it will fill about 10 cups). Place cups on a high-rimmed baking sheet, in a roaster pan, or in a 9x13 pan (if you use the 9x13 you may need more than one), and pour 1-2 inches of hot water into the pan. Be careful not to over-fill or you may have trouble handling the pan after baking!
Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Check frequently after about 30 minutes to see if they have “set”. Be VERY careful pulling the pan out of the oven. I have been known to use my jar-lifter to pull the cups out and then pull the pan out after it cools to keep from scalding myself with the hot water.
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