Thanks in advance,
Jon

Voila! It's ready for use or for the freezer.

Annie

Annie

Seeds do you roast at 375 and shell or eat them whole?

Thanks
ML

I toss mine with melted butter and seasonings or olive oil and seasonings, spread on a cookie sheet and bake for about 25 minutes at 325. I stir them once or twice and the bigger seeds take a little longer.

Truthfully, I like them a little bit "browner" so I often cook longer than 25 minutes. Everyone else complains that I roasted them too long, but it just leaves more for me.

Annie

seeds are ate with the shell on some years I like them better than others shells are kinda tough on mine this year

also I linked a thread on the veggie forum on the same subject

~Cindy

Though it wants you to use only canned pumpkin because the moisture level is more predictable, this seems to work well with fresh/frozen pumpkin.

Measure it, simmer it with the sugar and spices, then process in food processor or blender before proceeding. It gives a much smoother consistency to the pie.

The plant didn't take up too much room for a pumpkin. Of course, it wasn't very good pumpkin weather here in Eastern Canada this past summer --- v. cool and wet --- I only got three fruits from my one plant. That makes me hope I'd get more in a good year, though the plant might take a lot more room in that case!

I have roasted and eaten the seeds with the hulls on in the past and would do so again if I can't get Snackjacks, but I gotta say that I really preferred the hull-less ones. Things seem to stick in my teeth more as I get older LOL!

One thing to keep in mind is that the total volume of the seeds is a LOT less with no shells on. When I first scooped & cleaned one and saw the pile of seeds I thought, "That's ALL?" (About a cup of seeds from one pumpkin.) But a few went a long way.

Happy pumpkin-eating!

Z

I'm interested in growing it next year. Do you order the seeds from a special catalog? Which one?

I don't much care for the hulls on pumpkin seeds either so "Snackjack" really caught my attention.

Thanks
--gloria

I didn't grow any pumpkins this year at all; I had an unusual work schedule this spring and it was all I could do to get tomato seedlings into the ground---for the first time in 10 years I didn't even start my tomatoes from seed, but bought seedlings, and even then planted them out late.

And apparently my squash karma is in short supply because I even managed to kill off a couple of zucchini plants!

I went to check my old pack of seeds, though, and found I bought them by mail order from William Dam, a Canadian seed company near Hamilton (the other side of Toronto from where I live in Eastern Ontario). They are a mainstream seed place, don't tend to go in for wildly exotic stuff, so I thought it would be easy to Google and find a place in the U.S. that you could order them from (I am guessing you are in the U.S.?).

Anyway, I am pretty surprised to find that they seem to have disappeared from seed catalogues. William Dam doesn't have them any more, nor does anyone else in either country---not even the big U.S. suppliers like Stokes and Johnny's. It seems to have been retired.

I did find something similar, Snackface, at Veseys; it is another Canadian company but they do ship to the U.S. (URL below).

And I also found several places that sell an Austrian pumpkin called Kakai that has hulless seeds, but it doesn't have a typical JackOlantern look---it is orange and green stripes. I've given the URL for them at Johnny's in the US and West Coast Seeds in Canada.

I think I'll try that one next year.

Hope this helps!

Z

SNACKFACE AT VESEYS
http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/store/vegetables/pumpkin/babypumpkins/snackface

KAKAI AT JOHNNYS
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/c-42-pumpkins.aspx?SearchTerm=kakai&Order=5&Pagesize=15

KAKAI AT WEST COAST SEEDS
http://www.westcoastseeds.com/product/Vegetable-Seeds/Pumpkins/

Carol

I tried to grow pumpkins this year and everything was going well until mid-July and then they all slowly collapsed. I blame it on the weather. It was terribly hot continuously and the peppers and heirloom tomatoes shut down as well. By the end of the season, I ended up with only a few usable toms and "small" peppers. The paste toms (Polish Linguisa) did the best and I will grow these again as well as other paste toms --since I'm into canning now. They are really tasty for fresh eating too.

I guess this is rambling about "tasty" tomatoes should be on another forum.

Thanks again for the info on pumpkin seeds.

--gloria

I'd be interested to hear more about your Polish Linguisa toms---paste varieties that are also yummy for fresh eating are what I'm looking for, as I'm a convert to how much easier it is to can with pasters!

Also looking forward to hearing about your pumpkin experiences. I'm going to try to get some in next year for sure!

Carol,
Have you ordered from Reimer with good results? I've heard quite a few grumbles from some other online buddies about their poor service and so have avoided them, and hesitated to recommend them. But I don't have personal experience or other-than-anecdotal evidence that they're any worse than any other online garden retailer.

Z

I tend to deal with Territorial Seed or Nichols Garden Nursery, which are both Oregon companies and which carry heirlooms and lesser known varieties.

It's been quite a while but among the mega-companies, I've had great luck with Park Seed.

However, right now Reiman looks like the only game in town.

Carol

I thought I ordered all my seeds from rare seeds.com (no space between rare and seeds - but my keyboard won't let me do that). They don't have a listing for Polish Linguisa so I had to search out my seed packets.
I got them from Nicholsgardennursery.com. It is an heirloom variety, large sausage shaped 7-10 oz fruits - tender skinned, sweet and delicious. What sets this aside from most other heirloom varieties is it's excellent vigor and productivity. That's what the description on the seed packet says -- and I agree!

There was another heirloom that I grew that was an oxheart shape from rareseeds that I liked (maybe 'Cour di bue'?)

Anyway, while I was at the rare seeds site - I found a pumpkin with hull-
less seeds called 'Lady Godiva'. I think this is an heirloom too -so I will probably order from there.

I think the pumpkin I grew that literally collapsed little by little until it was just skin on the ground and then that disappeared too was called 'Big Max'. I grew them years ago and didn't have any problem. It had to be the prolonged heat this summer.

One thing about gardening - when one season ends, we still look forward to the next. :+)

-gloria

Gosh, I'd forgotten all about Park! How could I! ;-)
(I mostly order from Canadian companies.)

Hybrid novelty varities seem to go through evolutions, I've noticed. The fact that I found a "Snackface" makes me wonder if the former owners of "Snackjack" are replacing it, either with a new and improved variant or with something much the same to hang on to a patent of a hybrid or something.

Gloria,

Thanks for the info!
I have quite a few heirloom varieties that are hardy and productive, at least in my climate, but most are more in the juicy range. I do have good luck with Opalka and Amish Paste but am looking for more paste types. Will try those Polish Linguisas!

I've grown Big Max once, got a nice 30-lb pumpkin (I know they can get much bigger but I don't give them the room or the attention).

The other thing that may have happened to yours is something killed the vine, so what you saw was the pumpkin simply rotting away after being detached from its "lifeline." The sinking-down you describe is what my jack o lanterns do if left out in the garden all winter, anyway! ;-)

I did see references to Lady Godiva, and I LOVE the name ("naked" seeds, hee hee)! Almost worth growing it for that reason alone. Though I thought the kakai looked like a handsomer gourd.

Yep, planning for next year is fun. SOmetimes I joke that I love my garden best in February, when it exists ONLY as a plan and nothing has gone wrong with it yet!

Cheers,

Z

OK, to take it really OT, can you do anything with assorted small gourds (the ones that look like little pumpkins or geese) besides decorate? I got a bushel for $4 at Walmart b4 Halloween, could just use them for table decorations for Thanksgiving. They're out on the porch now too.

Carla in Sac

I've ordered heirloom tomatoes from Sandhill (and I love looking at their poultry varieties and dreaming that I'll raise ducks one day) but never thought of checking their pumpkins. Duh!

Z