Fall harvest Pumpkins saved by three weeks of sun
Wachtberg · It was a wet start to the pumpkin growing season but all was saved by three weeks of warm sunshine. Now it’s time to enjoy the harvest.
At the moment, you can find them in all sizes, and in yellow, white or green - as vegetables or simply as decoration. Eva Heinzen grows an assortment of 50 to 60 different kinds of pumpkins, “I have fun with the variety. As for the new sorts that I grow, first they must convince me and then the customers.” She offers pumpkins which are meant for eating but also small decorative pumpkins and big orange ones for Halloween. It was eight years ago when she began growing pumpkins and over the years she has added more and more varieties. She is fascinated by the various sorts of pumpkins and says there is even one where you can eat the skin.
Schneiders Obsthof in Berkum also sells lots of pumpkins. Very popular is the Hokaido pumpkin which is made for eating and comes in a size that fits in all kitchens. Marion Deichmann runs Schneiders and she says, “Pumpkin (or squash) is always a popular vegetable. Halloween pumpkins of course make a big boom just around Halloween time.” She can’t give any statistics about how many pumpkins are being sold as the season is currently in full swing.
Preparing pumpkin or squash for eating is normally quick and uncomplicated, and it sits well with adults and children. Heinzen commented, “I just made a nut cake with butternut squash. You don’t taste the squash but it makes the cake very moist.”
Eight weeks ago, Eva Heinzen was not very confident that she would be able to offer such a variety of pumpkins and squash. “It was altogether too wet. Pumpkins need water at the beginning but then only sun. The flooding wasn’t good, it was like the pumpkins were standing in cement.” Some areas she had to replant. It was the last three weeks of warm and sunny weather at summer’s end that saved the harvest.
Pumpkin Gratin recipe from Schneider’s Obsthof
Ingredients:
500 grams peeled potatoes
1 large onion
2-3 garlic cloves
500 grams pumpkin or squash, seeds and skin removed
50 ml vegetable broth
1 can of red beans, drained
1 red chili pepper, seeds removed
2 Tablespoons pumpkin seeds
2 Tablespoons oil or butter
(for the sauce)
200 grams sour cream
100 ml milk
1 egg
salt, pepper to taste
Instructions: Cut the peeled potatoes into squares around 2 cm. Finely chop the onion, put garlic in a press, and sauté both in pan with oil or butter. Chop the pumpkin also in 2 cm squares and sauté them for a short time in the same pan. Add the vegetable broth and cook for 15 minutes at low heat.
Cut the chili pepper in fine strips. Put the potato cubes, red beans, pumpkin seeds and contents of the pan in an ovenproof container and distribute evenly. Cover it and put it in a cool place for 2 - 3 hours. Mix the ingredients for the sauce together and pour over the vegetable mixture. Bake at 220°C in a pre-heated oven for around 25 minutes.
Orig. text: Hannah Locks
