How to Harvest, Eat, and Store Your Homegrown Pumpkin Seeds

If you’re feeling festive this fall and need to understand the way to harvest pumpkin seeds from your garden, the way to prepare and eat pumpkin seeds, and the way to store them for future use, this text covers all the bases. Pumpkins are distinctly flavorful and highly nutritious members of the winter squash family. These giant orange gourd melons are traditionally carved every October to make Halloween jack-o-lanterns, or pumpkins stacked uncarved on festive front porches spook up the neighborhood.

Alongside this seasonal tradition, the seeds of the pumpkin are a favorite holiday treat when they’re harvested, roasted, and enjoyed by the hearth during the chillier months of autumn and winter. Read on to find out everything you would like to understand about putting the tasty seeds of the pumpkins you grow in your garden on the table as a savory snack, with warm, salted pumpkin seeds that you’ve roasted to a golden brown.

HARVESTING PUMPKINS TO USE FOR EATING ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS

Before you’ll begin harvesting pumpkin seeds, you’ll first get to harvest the vine-ripened pumpkins from your garden. Typically, you’ll want to reap your pumpkin patch anytime before the primary hard frost of autumn, but the patch will allow you to know when those pumpkins are ready for selecting.

First, the vines begin to die and switch brown, while the pumpkins become bright, with a hardened rind. employing a sharp, clean pair of scissors or garden shears, gently cut the pumpkin from its vine. If you would like a more detailed check out everything you would like to understand to boost perfect pumpkins, inspect our way to Grow Giant Pumpkins article.

REMOVING PUMPKIN SEEDS BEFORE ROASTING

Use a pointy, thick knife to chop around the top of the pumpkin, creating a removable lid. Use a pointy metal spoon to scoop out all of the seeds and pulp, then place the innards into an outsized bowl of water.

SEPARATING PUMPKIN SEEDS FROM PULP BEFORE COOKING

After washing your hands, use them to separate the pumpkin seeds from the pulp, placing the seeds into a colander and throwing the pulp into the compost. (Just toss them into the rubbish if you don’t have a compost heap).

Rinse the seeds off thoroughly in cool water, rubbing them alongside your hands to get rid of even more pulp. Don’t worry about getting all morsel of pulp off of the seeds, as whatever bits hold close the shells will only provide a touch of additional flavor and nutrition.

DRYING PUMPKIN SEEDS TO ROAST THEM

Once the pulp has been satisfactorily removed, allow the pumpkin seeds to empty until dry. Then, spread the seeds out into one, thin layer on top of a clean surface sort of a tea towel or a brown sack. If you’re during a rush to urge the pumpkin seeds roasted for an upcoming meal, be happy to interrupt out a hand blower (yes, a hand blower for styling hair) to hurry up the drying process a touch.

ROASTING PUMPKIN SEEDS FOR EATING

Roasting your own pumpkin seeds may be a fun, tasty, and nutritious thanks to getting the foremost out of your pumpkin patch. Set your oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit, then allow it to preheat.

Spread the pumpkin seeds out evenly on a cooking utensil during a thin, single layer. Drizzle the seeds with butter or your preferred vegetable oil . (We recommend using olive, sesame, or canola oil). For another boost of flavor, season the seeds with one or more of the following: flavorer, Worcester sauce, lemon pepper, and sea salt. For signature fall flavors, try ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Want to crank up the warmth level? Add a touch of cayenne pepper, cajun seasoning, or a splash of tabasco.

Roast the seeds until they turn a golden brown, which can take between 10 and 20 minutes. to stay the seeds from getting scorched, stir the seeds every five minutes approximately until they need finished roasting.

EATING PUMPKIN SEEDS ROM YOUR GARDEN

Once the work is complete, it’s time to enjoy the fruits (or seeds, because the case may be) of your labor. It’s perfectly safe, natural, and particularly healthy to eat your pumpkin seeds, shell, and everyone. However, if you dislike the feel of the outer shell, you’ll eat them even as you’d sunflower seeds, tossing a couple of seeds into your mouth, cracking the outer shells together with your teeth, spitting out the shells and chewing the seed inside.

Pumpkin seeds are truly a healthy snack. they supply your body with a lengthy list of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, including vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium, also as plant-based proteins and Omega-3 fats. Pumpkin seeds also are chock filled with natural antioxidants like vitamin E, which fight the spread of free radicals and help protect your system against harmful bacteria and disease.

Pumpkin seeds are even more nutritious if you consume them whole, shell, and everyone because the shells are high in dietary fiber which will help keep your gastrointestinal system functioning properly. for people on a strict diet, pumpkin seeds should pose no concerns, as an oz of roasted pumpkin seeds contains only 125 calories, 15 carbs, and 0 cholesterol.

STORING PUMPKIN SEEDS

Perhaps you would like to save lots of your pumpkin seed harvest to roast and consume sometime within the near future. or even you were keen on a particular unique heirloom pumpkin and need to grow it again next year. regardless of the reason, harvesting and storing pumpkin seeds may be a very simple process.

Cut open the lid of the pumpkin as described above, placing the seeds and pulp into a colander. Place the colander under running water and start to separate the seeds from the pulp by hand, picking the seeds out of the pulp while running cool water over the mixture.

If you’re storing your pumpkin seeds to roast for future use, you’ll want to get rid of the bulk of the pulp from the seeds, discarding the pulp as you separate the 2. If you’re storing your pumpkin seeds to plant next season, you’ll not get to store every seed available, as you’ll never be ready to plant and cultivate that a lot of pumpkins.

In general, you’ll want about 3 times the quantity of seeds because of the number of pumpkins you propose to grow. So, once you’ve got an honest amount of seeds rinsed off, look them over and choose the most important ones for storage, as they’re going to have the simplest chance at germination.

Don’t worry about removing all morsels of pulp, but remove the bulk of the pulp before drying. Place your rinsed pumpkin seeds on a dry towel, spacing them out in order that they don’t stay together. If you’re storing the seeds to roast at a later date, you’ll use a hand blower or a food dehydrator if you wish so as to dry them faster or allow them to air dry on the towel for a few weeks.

If you’re storing the seeds to plant, you’ll want to store the towel and drying seeds during a cool, dry place for one week. Once the seeds are completely dry, place them in an envelope and store with other seeds that you simply decide to grow next year.

PROPERLY STORING PUMPKIN SEEDS FOR FUTURE PLANTING

When storing pumpkin seeds for next year’s planting, it’s best to stay them during a location that’s both cold and dry. a perfect storage spot is within the refrigerator. Place your pumpkin seed envelope during a plastic container and make several holes within the lid of the container to stay condensation to a minimum on the within of the container. Put the container with the seeds inside at the very back of the refrigerator.

When it comes time to plant your pumpkin seeds next year, they’re going to be fresh and prepared for the task. If cleaned, dried, and stored properly, your chances of successful germination are going to be very high, and you’ll have a replacement harvest of ready-to-carve jack-o-lanterns to enjoy within the coming fall.

How to Harvest, Eat, and Store Your Homegrown Pumpkin Seeds

2 thoughts on “How to Harvest, Eat, and Store Your Homegrown Pumpkin Seeds

Leave a Reply

Scroll to top

Discover more from DIY Gardens

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading