Ways To Use Your Pumpkin

After Halloween and Thanksgiving, what are some ways to use your pumpkin? I have about eight pumpkins outside of my farm store. I did not carve them but they are beginning to get a bit old. I will take them all away by Thanksgiving so I can start setting up for Christmas. What will I do with the pumpkins? Honestly, I have about 60 chickens so I do not have a problem as chickens love to eat pumpkin and pumpkin seeds.

But what if you don't have chickens?

One of the best ways to use your pumpkin is to split it open and give it to your chickens.

Ways To Use Your Pumpkin - 11/13-11/19/2023

Monday, November 13, 2023

The lettuce in the grow tower is looking good.

Good morning. My housekeeper called to say she cannot make it today. It has now been three weeks since her last visit. The rain is threatening today but I don't think we will get anything but a few sprinkles.

Nacho and a helper are here doing indoor projects for David. I pulled all of the Amazon orders and got them out. Then I started on the website orders but Shopify went down so I could not buy postage for them. So much for that.

I went into the kitchen to make meatballs for dinner tonight. By the time I was finished, it was time to close up shop and go into the house and cook.

We watched Kitchen Nightmares. It was an awful episode where the restaurant owner was constantly yelling at his live in girlfriend in front of everyone. She should have left him but did not. I guess she enjoys being treated like a throw rug. The place closed a month after Gordon's visit as they sold it. But there is no evidence that she left his sorry butt. Looks like she stayed with him to endure that horrible treatment for the rest of her life. How sad.

The sun is setting on this day. I hate that it gets dark so early.

Ways To Use Your Pumpkin

What is better than fresh pumpkins in the fall? This article has ways to use your pumpkin after Halloween.

Since we are garden people, we are always thinking of the garden. One of the ways to use your pumpkins that are left over from Halloween is to compost them. If you are a serious gardener, you know about getting the best seeds. Those great seeds deserve to grow in a garden filled with soil where nutrients are being placed every year. This means compost! The pumpkin will break down and supply nitrogen to your garden soil.

If you don't have a compost pile in your backyard, learn how to make a compost pile here.

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Good morning. The rain has finally stopped and it will get up in the low 70s today. It is currently 57° Fahrenheit at 6am.

We are taking the puppies to be groomed this morning and then David has a doctor appointment. My housekeeper is supposed to come this morning, but we will see. I have 12 dozen eggs in the store at $4 a dozen right now. Come by and pick up eggs, pecan coffee beans, and your seeds for now and for next spring.

We left the farm this morning at 7:45am and took the puppies to be groomed. Then we headed off to David's doctor appointment. It was a routine checkup. After that, we went to get my birthday present. David got me a lovely new phone! That took quite a while. After that, the puppies still were not finished. We went to Walmart and picked up a few groceries. Then we got the puppies. We got back to the farm around noon. The housekeeper was just about to leave. I paid her and we gave her a lot of peppers and green beans fresh from the garden today.

Then I made lunch and got to work pulling orders and getting them mailed out. It is now 5:04pm and I just finished pulling today's orders after mailing out yesterday's orders.

In the morning, I have to go to the dentist...another morning not working on orders. Hopefully, it won't take long as they should just be gluing in my new crown. We will see...

Amazon brought us a giant box addressed to the business. They were returning some of our seeds. Just a handful of packs in it. Look at this!

I pre-ordered the DVD for The Blind, the story of Phil and Kay Robertson of Duck Dynasty. It came yesterday. We watched that tonight. It was so good. You should get it.

Ways To Use Your Pumpkin

You can always process your pumpkin and bake some delicious pumpkin bread like I did. Add raisins...yum!

If you don't garden but you are worried about wildlife, one of the best ways to use your pumpkin is to split it open and put the contents out at the end of your property for the local wildlife. If you have deer around, they will absolutely love to find this delicious meal! Other wildlife will enjoy the pumpkins as well. Do not put it on other's property unless you have their permission.

This time of year in some climates, there isn't much for the local wildlife to eat, which is when deer start snacking down on tree bark.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

These clouds were such a pretty shade of pink this morning.

Good morning. I had a bad dream and woke up this morning not too happy. Then I turned on my Keurig. It started and completely stopped. The lights went off. I tried turning it on again and it worked. I have no idea what happened. It has never done that before.

My new phone has finally downloaded everything that my other phone had on it in the night.

Well, I went to the dentist thinking it would be a simple cement the crown visit. No, they numbed me up and filed more off the tooth to be crowned and then continually filed off the top tooth opposite the tooth to be crowned, over and over. I was in the chair for 45 minutes, even had another x-ray taken. After three hours, my mouth is no longer numb but the tooth still feels off. I finally ate just before 2pm. I was starving but I am afraid to chew on that side for fear the crown will come right off, just like the temporary did.

The mail was nothing but ads and catalogs as usual. David and I have some hard decisions to make over the rest of the year, which is only 46 more days...hopefully, we will make the right ones and things will turn out good for our company.

Right now, sales are down because November is not an ideal gardening month. This happens every year at this time, not only to us, but to every seed company around.

David made a good steak on the stove this evening and I roasted sweet potatoes, onions, and mushrooms. It was absolutely delicious!

Ways To Use Your Pumpkin

Bake a pumpkin pie using garden fresh pumpkin. It is easy to process.

If your pumpkin has been inside or the weather has been very cool (definitely not so in Texas), one of the best ways to use your pumpkin is to process it for baked goods like pies, cakes, cookies, bread, and muffins. You should cut open the pumpkin to bake and use in delicious baked treats. Do not use it this way if your pumpkin has been out in the heat for a month as it will probably not be very good inside.

Save the seeds to wash and bake with salt and enjoy a delicious treat. So yummy.

Do you know how to process a pumpkin? It is not that hard. I have written an article on how to process a pumpkin along with some pumpkin pie recipes here.

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Sunrise was beautiful. Then the fog moved in!

Good morning. David just purged the pantry of almost everything that has carbs in it. Swell...It makes me hungry just thinking about it!

My garbage disposal has not worked since Sunday. I have had my hand down there, pulling little hard pieces of who knows what out of it over and over. Again this morning, I had my hand down there. Then I would push the reset button and nothing but a hum.

The fog all of a sudden moved in while I was doing dishes.

He and Matt went to get father/son makeovers. It is dreary out and 63°. It was clear and then fog moved in. Now it has gone away. It's 11am. Matt went to Tractor Supply and Morales Feed for the animals. Then David and Matt went to Walmart for some groceries.

Matt went to work on the disposal after lunch. He pulled out one more piece and it is finally fixed! Yay!

I spent most of the day trying to figure out how to get money out of my retirement accounts. That was a fiasco. Apparently, years ago, I went in online to see them but I have not been online to see them in years. I do stay busy doing several jobs here at David's Garden Seeds®! I was finally able to get into both accounts and get business taken care of but it was extremely frustrating and took several hours. David was not here so I was out in Fulfillment. While I was trying to get help on the phone, two employees came in so I had to hang up without getting the help I needed. Then I had to figure it out online. I finally got into one account and here came another employee. This is financial and I don't do that in front of employees. So I shut my computer and took it in the house. After another hour, I got it all done...

I just finished up all of the orders. It is almost 4:30pm, just about time to close up shop. No customers have come the entire week. Interesting, huh? Just so you know, we will be closed next week from Thanksgiving Day, November 23 through Sunday, November 26. Of course, that will be the time when folks show up and give us a hard time because we are closed, yet when we are open, they don't come. I say this because it has happened in the past. Anytime we are taking a day off, folks invariably come for a visit and then say how disappointed they are. Most of the time, I open for them but I am tired and I am taking time off. Tomorrow is my birthday. I am old and life is short.

I came to the house this afternoon and boiled 24 eggs. Then I blanched two large bowls of snapped green beans and froze them. After that, I ran out and put away the animals. I fed the rabbits after cleaning up rabbit feed that someone spilled all over the feed shed. There was a big rip in the middle of a brand new bag of rabbit feed. I poured all of that into containers and swept up the floor. David sent Matt somewhere earlier so he did not take care of the animals at 5pm like he does sometimes.

Ways To Use Your Pumpkin

5 pumpkins on the Farm Store porch. The ways to use your pumpkins are many.

One of the ways to use your pumpkin is to make a planter and start some seeds in it. Fill your pumpkin with some garden soil. Add flower seeds and place it outside where you will enjoy having some flowers because the pumpkin will eventually rot away, supplying the soil with nutrients. Make sure the ground soil is loose where you place it. The flower roots will go down into the actual dirt in the yard as the pumpkin disintegrates.

Friday, November 17, 2023

Happy Birthday to me! I woke up before 6am and decided to get to work. I set up our Black Friday sale which is 25% off on most things we sell once you spend $15.

Plus, we got our Texas 1015Y onion starts in and I added them to the website. They are already selling. You can see them here.

I have had texts, calls, and Facebook messages wishing me a happy birthday all day long. I have all of the orders packed up.

Late this afternoon, we had cheesecake for my birthday. It was very good and now back to no carbohydrates.

This evening, we had some takeout food for dinner and then watched Shark Tank. After that, we watched two Murder She Wrote episodes. We have just two episodes left of the entire series to watch. After that, there are four movies that I have and then I will be sad to say goodbye to JB Fletcher! Angela Lansbury was a great actress and I will miss watching the show.

Ways To Use Your Pumpkin

If you are a true gardener and the pumpkin you used is an heirloom, one of the ways to use your pumpkin from this year is to split it open and save the seeds, not to eat as I suggested above, but to dry them out and save them to plant for next summer so you can grow more pumpkins instead of having to buy them.

Before you put them away for next year, make sure all of the pumpkin flesh has been washed off of them and then allow them to dry completely on paper towels that are on a pan or plate. This should take three or four weeks. If they do not dry completely, they will get moldy and be no good. Once they are totally dry, store them in a container with a lid or in a baggie. Mark it so you remember what they are. Along about June or July, plant them so they are ready for fall. Pumpkins take from 90 to 120 days to grow and ripen.

Saturday, November 18, 2023

I did not get a chance this morning to post anything on here. I got up starving and after eating, I came out and unlocked everything. I fed the fish. It was about 70° sometime after 7am. Then I took care of the rabbits and chickens, getting them some food and clean water. The chickens love to kick dirt and wood shavings into their water each day making it nasty.

Then I went back into the house and took care of the indoor animals. I got ready and before I knew it, it was time to open the store. I filled some orders and then the first customer arrived. As she was getting in her car, the second set drove up. After that, I ran into the house to make lunch. Three times, I had to leave lunch in the making to wait on customers. I finally just finished eating and I got a call from a man in San Antonio wanting eggs. I told him I have six dozen left. I actually sold six dozen eggs this morning. I told him that I would keep the store open for him since it is almost 2pm but he said he would have to ask his wife first so chances are that they won't come today. I would love to sell the other six dozen today and start fresh on Monday morning!

About 40 minutes later, the man and his wife showed up to get the six dozen eggs.

It was a good day here for customers. The weather is cool and cloud covered, about 75°.

We have some new ads that we will be doing coming up. We need to do artwork, write some of the ads, etc. We only have a few weeks to come up with something so we will be doing that.

We sold a bunch of garlic and the Texas 1015Y onion start sets today. The garlic is Music and German Red and I have been hand inspecting every bulb before I sell it as we have found a few soft ones. Ideally, garlic should have been planted in October here but not everyone got it planted then. It is not too late to plant garlic. If you plant it now, you will harvest in the middle of July.

I think we will be making fish for tonight's dinner. Tomorrow morning, we will roast a turkey and make green bean casserole with some of our garden fresh beans for our Thanksgiving potluck at church tomorrow. Then next week, we have a three day work week. We will be closed Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We will open again on November 27.

We are having a Black Friday sale from now through November 27. The sale is for 25% off of most items.

We made ahi tuna and salmon this evening along with some shrimp and a lot of roasted veggies. We watched Svengoolie. The movie was about giant ants killing almost everyone and it made my head itch terribly. Yuck.

Ways To Use Your Pumpkin

Another of the ecological ways to use your pumpkin is to cut the top off and clean out the flesh and seeds. Hang it with a wire hanger from a tree branch and fill it with birdseed so the birds in your yard can have a lovely treat.

Sunday, November 19, 2023

David roasted a turkey this morning. It was moist and delicious.

A friend made the ham and it was so flavorful. I love ham!

Today was a good day. We got up early and David roasted a turkey for today's church Thanksgiving potluck. I cooked our garden fresh green beans and made a green bean casserole. Not too many were there but there were several visitors. The meal was really good. We came home and finished the series Murder, She Wrote. Then tonight, we played the first Murder, She Wrote movie. I fell asleep on the couch right before the ending so I don't know what happened.

I made this green bean casserole with garden fresh green beans.

Ways To Use Your Pumpkin

Another beautiful pumpkin pie. It was at the church potluck today.

One more useful way to use your pumpkin is to cut it up and give it to a local farmer that you know for his/her animals to enjoy. Pigs, goats, chickens, and more love to eat raw vegetables and it is expensive to keep those animals in all of the food they want.

Return from Ways To Use Your Pumpkin to Year Five On The Farm

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