In America, in the Fall, the people buy pumpkins and put them on their front door steps. Their stoops.
An estimated THREE million pumpkins are purchased in the United States during the month leading up to Halloween. Many people carve scary Halloween faces into their pumpkins to keep that old Irish drunk Stingy Jack at bay, but most simply place a pumpkin on the steps and call it good. It is a lovely colourful tradition (though I would rather cook the pumpkins, make pumpkin soup and invite the drunk to dinner) but each to his own.
I spend the whole month watching the pumpkins sitting on peoples steps and hoping there will not be a bad frost that rots the pumpkins before we can collect them. Because collect them we do. Not three million but we do get a few. And every day for as long as they last I break a pumpkin up, with a sharp spade and divide this good food amongst the pigs. Pumpkins and their seeds have a good portion of Iron and calcium and are very high in Vitamin A. (Plus low in cholesterol for those of you who count such things.) Very good food.
We collect pumpkins, black walnuts and bags and bags of autumn leaves.
Autumn is a good time for the pigs.
I hope you have a lovely day
Love your friend
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
61 responses to “Bring out your pumpkins”
Good golly Miss Molly, you are looking well today! Butternut squash soup is on my cooking list for tomorrow. I can almost taste already.
What a sweet pic of Miss Molly at the end ❤
That last photo is a classic!
Oh my heart! That last photo needs to be in a calendar ; )
Oh Miss Molly is definitely a calendar girl! That would be a fabulous cover shot!
The pumpkin bread recipe from Aquila is going on my list to make for Christmas gifts. And for those who need something new to do with pumpkin – pumpkin cheesecake is amazing. You should be able to find the recipe at the Kraft Foods website. If not, i’ll post it in a day or two. I go with their directions EXCEPT I increase the quantity of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for a little more punch. Home-made pumpkin puree is probably a little wetter than the canned variety, so perhaps let it drain a little more in cheesecloth over a bowl to dry it out a little more. I get requests for this a lot, it’s so rich that a pan of it goes a long way with a little whipped cream on top.
Wish I could send you the pumpkins languishing on steps around here.
Chris S in Canada
My chickens devour my pumpkins….they never make it to Halloween!! Hahaha Which of your animals eat the black walnuts. We have four black walnut trees…they are one hard nut to crack!!
I’m glad you’re able to save some of the pumpkins to feed your animals. They do look thankful for them. Did Tima share any with Tane?
Great photos… who knew a pig could make your heart melt? 🙂
Our jack o lanterns will dissolve in the garden and feed the mice.
Those pigs sure like those pumpkins. Just love the last pic Celi ..
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