While North Florida is behind on the fall weather (hot and humid with thunderstorms EVERY day), we are always ahead on pumpkin season! Seminole pumpkins grow like crazy here over the summer. Students sowed the seeds before they left in the spring, and were back just in time to harvest the last few.
We let our pumpkin patch do its own thing over the summer since there were few visitors to trip over the vines. Apparently this is a very old Florida tradition; In 1575, Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, described pumpkin vines growing up trees around the Native American settlements. Then, as now, they offer great nutrition, and we were excited about trying them out with students!
Students tried Curried Pumpkin Soup as well as some yummy pumpkin bread. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned thunderstorms, our outdoor tasting was interrupted by a deluge – so only one photo.
You can find our pumpkin soup recipe here. These are all over the south, so look for them at your farmers market. You can save some seeds and grow your own next year!
Farmer Jess with one of the traditional pumpkin-shaped pumpkins. They all taste the same, regardless of color and shape. These vines all came from six seeds!
