Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Never again with I put the seeds of this wonderful vegetable into the worm bin! 

Tonight we discovered the true delight of roasted pumpkin seeds.  So simple, and Kim, Ben and I all agreed that they tasted somewhere between roasted peanuts and popcorn and oh so healthy a treat.

It all started out when I cut open one of the Golden Nugget pumpkins I grew.  Kim made some home made sausage rolls and I thought that they would go nice with some roasted pumpkin, potatoes, and some steamed runner beans.  When I cut open the pumpkin, I had never seen seeds so plump and fat.  I thought to myself that there must be something I can do with these.  I knew I couldn't use them to plant next year because there was a very good chance that the pumpkins cross pollinated with each other, so they wouldn't grow true to type.

So, after our yummy dinner, I decided to do a quick search on the net for a recipe.  A few fancy ones came up like candied pumpkin seeds, but I was after something a little more rustic and simple.  How hard can it be to roast a pumpkin seed?

Well, not very hard at all so it seems.  I took as much of the pumpkin pulp off the seeds as I could, gave them a quick wash and dried them with a clean tea towel.  Then I put them into a ramekin and tossed through 1 Tbspn of Olive oil and quarter of a teaspoon of sea salt. 

I spread them out onto baking paper and put them into a pre-heated oven at 140C.

After 15 minutes they should be brown but not burnt.  I let them cool on the tray and then we simply ate them all up in no time flat.

So easy to make and a shame to waste what I wouldn't have hesitated to throw in the worm bin in the past.  I am now a humble convert of the roasted pumpkin seed.  I can't wait to crack open one of the Australian Butter pumpkins to get to the bounty of seedy goodness.  Who needs peanuts when you can have these? You can't get a more local snack than that!

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Soap Factory

The soap factory is in full production mode.  Kim and I have been very busy making lots of different types of soap for a big order we have from a friend.  We have been making two types, a basic castille (olive oil) soap with various fragrances for display, and a more bubbly and cream soap for friends and personal use.  I use the following oils; Olive, Rice bran, Sunflower, and Coconut for the proper soap.  The initial batch of Rose soap was used here at home, but I took in a sample to work and sold seven bars to my collegues.  They were very pleased with the smell and I have had back glowing reports of how nice it is to use.  I also agree, as we have used up the rest of it already.  I am on to the castille soap now, which is creamy, but not a lot of bubbles.  Still works okay though.

On Sunday, we make 5 kg and added some colourings as well as fragrance.

The purple slab is Lavender with flowers, the Pink is Sweetpea and Vanilla, and the White is Sandlewood and Musk.  They all smell divine.  My friend Michael visited Lush (a soap shop in Melbourne) and told me that they are selling slabs like this for $80 a kg!  You even have to cut it up yourself.  What a rip off, when it only costs us about $10-15 a kg to make depending on how much extras we add to it.  I bet they use cheap palm oil bought in bulk to keep their costs down even lower than mine.  That is quite a profit margin.

Anyway, here is the soap after it has been cut into bars.

Lavender with flowers

Sweetpea and Vanilla (smells like fairy floss to me).

and a lovely display of our wares by the artistic Kim. 

Don't they just look good enough to eat?

In four weeks time we will be selling some of them for $5 a bar to whoever wants them.  Kim has asked me to set her up a blog so that she can start up a small cottage business, and she really loves making soap.  I will be getting that off the ground in the next few days, and help her set up an Etsy shop as well.  I have heard that they are quite simple to run and the selling fees are much less than Ebay.  Not wanting to be too forward, but if anyone is interested in buying some, please drop me an email.

So, lots of fun at the TGOG soap factory, and stay tuned for a link to Kim's shop of homemade soaps. 

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Thirteen Years...

...is how long I have been married to the most wonderful human being on Earth! 

March 8th, 1997 was the most memorable day in my life.  It seams like only yesterday that I said I do to you in Portsmouth, England.

Kim Leanne, you are my love, my light and my soul mate.  May we both live long, and prosper together for many years to come.

I Love You xox

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Pumpkin Time

Pumpkin season is upon us here on TGOG's urban farm.  This is the third year I have attempted to grow pumpkins and this year has been the most successful.

Year one, I planted butternuts in a large pot and a fair bit of vine and lots of flowers, but it kept on drying out, so therefore no pumpkins.

Year two, butternuts again, and in a small garden bed.  For my hard work I received two smallish butternuts that were very tasty, but there were just not enough of them.

Year three.  Success!

I planted quite a few varieties but only three really grew well.  In the photo are Australian Butter, Golden Nugget and Queensland Blue pumpkins that I picked yesterday.  There are still about four more pumpkins on the vines still growing, and to my amazement I found a self seeded Butternut plant that has been pollinated amongst my tomatoes.  I should get two nice sized butternuts as a gift from nature!

So, why was this year different than the first two?  Well, I selected an area where the plants could stretch their legs, and prepared the bed with lots of organic manure and compost.  I also ensured that each plant had more than enough water and that the bed was well drained.  I set up drip irrigation to water them twice a week as allowed by water restrictions, and grey-water from our washing machine from just about every wash.  When each plant got about 5 metres long, I pinched off the growing tips so that side shoots would develop female flowers.  I then let the bees do their thing, and when I notice that they were not around, I tried my hand at pollination with some success.

When I harvested these seven pumpkins I kept as much stalk as I could on each of them so that they will keep for longer.  I removed the vines that were attached to them, being careful not to disturb or cut the vines to the still growing pumpkins.  I checked this morning and everything is still alive and well.  Later on today, I will be putting all those vines into the compost bin to rot down into more wonderful hummus.

I love pumpkins in soup, scones, roasted, mashed, steamed.  There are just so many ways to eat this wonderful vegetable.  I reckon we will have enough to get us through winter, and maybe into next summer at this rate!

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