For those who have been following me for awhile, one of the garden/craft projects I wrote about last summer was pumpkin scratching. It is one of the things I've always wanted to try, and our preliminary results were a good learning experience. Since that time, we now have more experience so I thought I'd share an update here. As well, I'll share the rest of the story, what happens AFTER you enjoy using the pumpkins on your porch for fall decorating.
Unfortunately, my lack of blog timeliness means that rather than reading this at a time when you can go right out and try it, you'll need to remember this technique next summer when it's the right time to scratch your pumpkins. But...maybe this will motivate some of you to plant pumpkins when the weather warms up. If you need seeds, let me know!
We did get results from that first batch of pumpkins we scratched, but a combination of shallow scratching and "not so pretty" pumpkins led to disappointing results. However, they made a pretty pile on my front steps come fall.
The best results came from the second attempt, on the Rouge vif d'Etampes pumpkins that I planted later in the season. Believe it or not, I didn't INTEND to buy another pumpkin plant, I thought I was buying butternut squash but accidentally bought this one and didn't realize it until I was planting it. Since it was later in the season, I was running out of room to plant things, so I just stuck them in wherever they would fit. This plant ended up in my tomato bed. One of the pumpkins was actually hanging from my tomato-cage-made-out-of-a-wine-barrel, which gave it good support and ended up being easier to carve. Either because it was a healthy plant or that soil was better amended, the plant grew like gangbusters! All's well that end's well!
Anujin is definitely the best "pumpkin scratcher" in the family, her script is so nice and she definitely got the cutting depth right on this one. The deeper you cut, the more "healing" the pumpkins do, and the depth she used here created nice thick words. She even did a "heart" dotting the "I" in Shahbazian! But I definitely need to leave her more room next year, it was tough for her to reach the pumpkin mixed in with the tomato plants while still on the vine.
I think the only thing I would suggest is to carve the words higher on the pumpkin so you can see them from above.
In case you are wondering what the name of this pumpkin means, the French words "Rouge vif" mean "vivid red" which I think is an apt description. I absolutely LOVED this pumpkin and was so glad I mistakenly purchased it!
After enjoying in on the porch for a few months, we pulled it in as we decorated the porch for Christmas to carve it, cook it, save the seeds, and puree the pulp. First you carve the pumpkin up. Katelyn helped with that job. It helps to be fearless and have a big knife.
Then we cleaned out the seeds, put the pumpkin face down on greased foil-covered jelly roll pans and baked it until soft. It took probably about 45 minutes at 300 degrees or so.
We saved the seeds and cleaned them up, soaking them in water to get all the "guts" off, then drying them thoroughly on a paper towel for a week or more before storing them away. I still have a jarful if anyone wants some!
Next, we scraped the cooked pumpkin off the shell and pureed it in my food processor. One of the recipes I used for pumpkin bread suggested that you drain the cooked pumpkin to remove the extra water, so I added that step this year.
Once we were done with that, I bagged up the pumpkin puree in 2 cup batches and froze it. Now I have the perfect amount for pie or pumpkin bread or pumpkin muffins. I'll document my favorite recipes and results in a future blog. In the meantime, if anyone local needs some pumpkin puree or pumpkin seeds, let me know!
I am definitely going to try this in the fall!