Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Pumpkins Aren't Just For Carving

This was pumpkin carving week at our house. The kids picked four of the largest pumpkins they could find so you can imagine how much pumpkin guts and seeds we ended up with. Now, most everyone knows that pumpkin seeds can be roasted and salted for a great healthy snack.




We sorted the seeds from the goo, tossed them in a frying pan with a little olive oil and salt and toasted them up.




But that's not all you can do. We set aside a few hand fulls of seeds on a towel to dry overnight.




The next day when they were dry, we put them in an envelope....




Labeled them with the date....




and now we have seeds for next years pumpkins without the cost of a purchased seed packet.


So when you're carving your fall pumpkins, don't forget to save a few seeds for planting. They can be grown in a flower bed, or along the side of the house and your kiddos will love watching them get bigger and oranger for next years pumpkin carving day.

15 comments:

Susan said...

we don't carve very often, but we must this year...the kids are really wanting to...but one year I just threw the whole rotting pumpkins into the compost pile and the next year we had several plants grow and some big pumpkins. That was fun, because I had no idea what they were until they turned orange! so I hadn't heard of roasting them in a pan on the stove top...but putting them on a cookie sheet and putting them in the oven. Which works better, do you know? Also, do you let them dry first? I have issues with eating the shells...they hurt my mouth. But I like them.

Lisa said...

My kids look forward to eating the seeds than carving the pumpkins! :) I just got a soymilk maker and you can make pumpkinseed milk also in it.

Just Juls said...

This is a great idea - as long as the originating pumpkin seeds aren't genetically modified - because they won't reproduce. I think that is mainly done with corn. :)

Just Juls said...

This is a great idea - as long as the originating pumpkin seeds aren't genetically modified - because they won't reproduce. I think that is mainly done with corn. :)

The Kelley Family said...

Great idea! Never thought of that, thanks for the tip!!

Lorie said...

I've always baked my pumpkin seeds with a little oil(actually I sprayed them with nonstick canoila oil spray) and then you can put salt or any other seasoning you want. So yummy.

amybranch said...

Well, shucks! I just cooked a pumpkin for pumpkin puree to use in muffins, etc. this past weekend. You inspired me by your recent post - I'd never done it before.

We also toasted the seeds, and I thought of saving some to use in our fledgling garden next year, but my mom told me that she thought most pumpkins you buy are hybrids whose seeds will not automatically yield pumpkins. I also didn't know if there was more to it than simply drying them. Thank you for the informational post!

I also like your method of cooking the seeds on the stove - I think that might be better than in the oven. I accidentally let ours get overdone by leaving them in the oven too long, and that would probably be harder to do on the stove because you'd have to stay right there, and a frying pan makes for easier stirring/flipping than a cookie sheet!

Anonymous said...

We've definitely been roasting the seeds, but I never would have thought about setting seeds aside for next year. (The best simple ideas always escape me.) My kids will love this--thanks!

Heather & Chaos said...

When would you plant them for next year??

Gayle said...

The pumpkins seeds would be planted in the spring.

Beth said...

Can you use the "goo" or "guts" of the pumpking for anything???

Thanks!

Gayle said...

YES! The goo went into the compost for rich garden soil in the spring.

Phyllis Sommer said...

great idea - thank you! i always roast them but i never realized i could plant them. DUH!

i roast in the oven, tho, i've never done it on the stove....

Jeannette said...

My mom always had us remove the goo and then we would scrape the insides really good. We would boil and use it in pumpkin bread. We did this with the large pumpkins..not the pie pumpkins. I'm always surprised by the fact that noone uses the insides of a carving pumpkin!

Beth said...

Ahhhh....I might try and use the "goo" part and see if I can use it in bread like Jeannette said.

Thanks!!