CARVING THE PUMPKIN

August is a season of mellow fruitfulness 

At my home garden there’s been a lovely specimen of butternut pumpkin growing for months.  It’s been tucked away from most eyes, next to a lemon tree growing in a pot and supported on the vine, by sitting on the ground.

The day finally came when neighbours – including a 4 year old boy – and I decided we needed to harvest it.  And to do so with some ceremony.

We shared the experience with volunteers in our community garden that Monday afternoon.  This is what we did:

We tied a decorative red ribbon around it while we sang a song (to the tune of. ‘O Music, sweet Music’ … we substituted the word ‘music’ with ‘pumpkin’), accompanied by recorder.  

We all learned the words and melody and sang:

O pumpkin, sweet pumpkin, thy praises we sing

And we tell of the pleasure and beauty you bring,

Pumpkin! Pumpkin! Pleasure you bring!

Next we told stories about pumpkin/s, and swapped cooking ideas.  And finally we cut it into equal portions, promising to send a recipe for our newsletter.

A ceremony gives proper attention to something that we love to appreciate, and invites us as a mini-community to share our pleasure, with celebration.

We plan another ceremony at the beginning of Spring, in the Laneway Garden.  The centrepiece for that one you will hear about – after the event.

Meanwhile a pumpkin recipe:

Cook the pumpkin long enough for it to soften easily into mash.  Season it, and use it as a ‘sauce’ on pasta, enriching it with an orange coat.

It’s possible you’ve already heard of this classic kitchen scrap or compost ingredient being great for gardens and potted plants— it’s a popular one (especially because we consume so much of it!)