By Laurie James
If you’ve been to the grocery store or out shopping this month, you’ve noticed the abundance of pumpkins. We’ve seen everything from sweet Sugar Pie pumpkins to the classic orange pumpkin we associate with carving at Halloween, to heirloom pumpkins like the reddish-pink Cinderella pumpkin, the blue-grey Jarrahdale, and tiny white Baby Boos. Some people say Pumpkin Spice Lattes herald fall, but the appearance of pumpkins in fields and markets is the true sign that fall is really here.
While it’s too late to plant a pumpkin for your pie at Thanksgiving, with a little planning, the seeds from the pumpkins you buy at your favorite farmers market could adorn your garden next fall. Save a few of the seeds you’ve removed from the pumpkin flesh, and clean off the pulp by rinsing the seeds. Pick the largest seeds (use the rest for baked pumpkin seeds if you want), and allow them to air-dry in a cool spot for about a week. Then put the seeds in an envelope and store in the back of your refrigerator. If you’re using packaged seeds, you’ll take some of the guesswork out of planting, because most commercial packaging includes “days to maturity” information.
Planting pumpkins in North Texas can be a little tricky. While pumpkins look hearty, they can’t stand frost. You’ll need to time your pumpkin planting for two weeks after the last frost, which is theoretically in the late spring. If you want your pumpkins to be ready mid-October, you’ll actually need about 100-120 days for the seeds to grow and be ready before Halloween. Planting pumpkins early in June may be tempting (since we’ve certainly passed the danger of frost) but that will yield September pumpkins that may not survive to the Jack-o-Lantern stages.
In our area, experts agree that you should plant your pumpkins between June and July for the best chance of success. By early summer, the soil temperature should be solidly between 80-90 degrees. Pumpkin seeds need a lot of water and warmth to germinate, and more water as they grow, so these aren’t a set-it-and-forget-it crop. Finally, make sure you’re leaving plenty of room between pumpkins, because they don’t like to be crowded, and you could get several pumpkins from each vine.
If you’ve visited a farmers market recently, you may have noticed some are slim or lacking in pumpkins this year. You can blame the past summer’s record heat and lack of rain for that. Fortunately, there are plenty of other fall crops that are in abundance right now to complement your pumpkin dishes and harvest table. Right now, you’ll find beets, carrots, turnips, leafy greens, and sweet potatoes, as well as cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower at most farmers markets. Our favorites in the area are Cowtown Farmers Market, Lake Worth Farmers Market, Saginaw Farmers Market, Dallas Farmers Market, Bonton Farms, and For Oak Cliff Farmers Market. Not just for their fresh, locally grown produce and friendly farmers, but because they also double your SNAP dollars for fresh fruits and veggies if you have a Lone Star Card. Learn more about the program – Double Up Food Bucks – at the markets’ information booths or online at DoubleUpTexas.org.
No matter where you get your pumpkins, these fall favorites in their natural state are a fairly healthy choice. A cup of cooked pumpkin is cholesterol free, high in fiber, and a great source of beta carotene (vitamin A), vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium, and minerals like copper, manganese, and magnesium. If you want to do more than just carve your pumpkins, or roast the seeds, The Blue Zones Kitchen has a great recipe for Cream of Pumkin soup that’s user-friendly, and you can sub any kind of pumpkin for the acorn squash in the ingredient list. If you love all things pumpkin spice, the Pumpkin Pancake recipe may be the ticket to fancy up your next brunch.