JAP-Pumpkin

A Journey of the Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin is one favourite family vegetable.  It's so versatile, it roasts well, mashes deliciously, it makes delicious soup, and of course, it makes moist cakes and sweet or savoury scones.
The setback of cooking pumpkin is the peeling off the skins.  Some of them are very hard to do, but there are tricks around it.
This is what I do, I never buy a whole pumpkin if I wish to cut for cooking.  Get a quarter or half pumpkin.  Seed the pumpkin, don't peel it,  then bake it or steam it, after it is almost cooked, stop the cooking, then cool. The pumpkin is peeled more easily.  Now you have a clean pumpkin for the base of other dishes. 

Bake the pumpkin seeds that will keep you busy for snacking, and you won't gain any weight as every twenty pumpkin seeds will take you more than three minutes to peel.  And the rest of the seeds will go to the compost bin.

The self-sown pumpkin

After that, in the garden, without knowing if there will be a few self-sown pumpkins in the backyard.  It has happened to me before,  this year I had two that survived, but only one plant is fruiting, there are three pumpkins, and it is the Jap Pumpkin (Just another pumpkin) some people say so. 

Jap pumpkin: Jap is short for Japanese pumpkin or kabocha, as it is known in Japan.  It is easily cut, it has yellowish/orange flesh that is soft and drier than most.  Jap pumpkin is closely related to butternut pumpkin.

This pumpkin has thinner skin than other pumpkin's family, it is easy to peel when it is raw, and it roasts, mushes beautifully and is excellent for soup and suitable for baking as well.

Today is the harvest, after more than five months,  this afternoon I will pick one of the pumpkins, the other two need a few weeks to mature, I hope they can survive from the cold and the rain.  I am not much of a gardener, so far I have been so lucky; however, I love to garden and enjoy the garden.
It's very pleasing to have a whole fresh pumpkin, from it a few dishes are going to be cooked or even created, I am sure the family will appreciate it.  "The Seeds Did The Fruits."

It is time to harvest.

It looks so fresh and healthy, the leaves tell us that the plant is tired - I have done the job, the pumpkin is ready for you.






It is fascinating and pleasing to harvest the vegetables, especially this pumpkin.  It's self-sown and doesn't need a lot of care.  It's very generous.

Sunday in the 20th of May 2012, was a good day, we harvested a small pumpkin weighs  4.3 kg.  I think I have to keep it for a few days in the pantry before cooking it.  T

The pumpkin weight is 4.3-kilo grams

The two pumpkins that have to stay a little longer in the ground, hopefully, they will survive by the cold weather and the rains.

 Beautiful green leaves and the fruit that is never going to make it.

Soon I will get rid of the plant as the season is over. 

Cooking with pumpkin: roasted, mushed, soups, scones, cakes, stuffed, salads and jam and a lot more.  A new recipe may be born soon. 

Welcome guest in the backyard, I let the pumpkin plant tangle around to other plants, it does not look tidy though, but it is healthy enough.

By the winter time, there will be space,  clean, and most plants are resting.

I have ideas about what I am going to do with the pumpkins, and I must create the recipes. What an exciting time!

Stay Tuned.

It has been an enjoyable Sunday, I hope yours has too.

Thanks For Stopping By

Until Next Post

Susy