Pumpkin Harvest

Vacuum sealer in action

Last Spring, I planted various pumpkins around my garden and had them close to the watering system so they had enough water over Summer.

Once again, I used Dave’s Seeds, and the varieties I chose to plant were: the beautiful Golden Nugget Pumpkin (which grows on a bush and produces small orange pumpkins up to 1 kilogram). I love this pumpkin because it's enough for a meal for two or three people without waste.

Another pumpkin I grew was the variety Small Sugar, another delightful size and flavour. This has a trailing habit and is an heirloom mini pumpkin that can grow to about three kilograms. This pumpkin has stored well for me so far.

Living in South West Victoria, we have had such a dry Autumn that I picked my pumpkins later than usual. I’ve stored them in our shed in a small area that has great airflow underneath them. The pumpkins that were damaged (eaten by slaters) before picking, I knew wouldn't store well, so I had to do something with them. After making a batch of beautiful pumpkin soup (I’ll attach a recipe on the website), I decided I would freeze the remaining pumpkin.

My beautiful sister gave me, as a Christmas present a few years ago, a Vacuum Sealer, so I decided to chop up the remaining pumpkins into pieces and vacuum-sealed them into 700-gram lots to freeze and make soup at a later date.

If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, I would cut your pumpkin into pieces, freeze on a flat baking tray and once frozen, bag pieces into freezer bags and place back in the freezer.

The beauty and knowledge that I have organic pumpkins stored, ready to eat over the cooler months, is such a grateful and humble feeling. This Spring, think about growing your pumpkin from seed. Trust me, you will thank me later!