Linus would be delighted that ‘The Great Pumpkin(s) ‘ are rising from the pumpkin patch but he might not be so happy if he knew that I fully intend to eat every one of them using the multitude of culinary variations available to me. Pumpkin is the most sensual of vegetables.  You can roast it and have that crisp, rich exterior surrounding smooth, creamy, comforting, sweet and deep flavoured flesh. This is wonderful with meat and vegetables and spectacular in a cold or warm salad, especially with grilled or pan-fried haloumi.

Pumpkin is an amazing colour and half the pleasure of pumpkin soup is the satisfying burnt orange fire colour on a  cold evening. Pumpkin can be sweet, it can be savoury, used for dessert or used for a main.

And here, they are so easy to grow.  Basically I live on a sand hill, admittedly red sand, and the pumpkins love it. They come up in places I have never planted them and colonise the back paddock. This morning I traded with a friend for eggs, so I hope her chooks keep on laying because my pumpkins just keep on producing.

I found out the other day that you can eat pumpkins at just about any stage of growth, even when they are quite young and small. If you had a large patch and planted as soon as the frosts are over, you could have a very long season, as pumpkins will also keep for a long time after they are picked, provided they are in good condition when you pick them, preferably on a dry day and you cut it so a small part of the stalk is attached.  I have kept them for months this way.

Yes, pumpkins take up a lot of room, but they have such a long season, great storage and can be used in so many ways that they are well worth sacrificing a bit of space in return for the assurance of great, home grown produce for a many months of the year.

Every year, I make pumpkin soup and one of the best recipes ever is the Moroccan Pumpkin soup recipe I have included on my new recipe page.

Enjoy!