M. Pate
Step by Step, Big Ugly

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater is a nursery rhyme that tells the tale of Peter making a home for his wife out of a rather large pumpkin. While the Big Ugly pumpkins in this garden may not quite meet the size requirements for a comfy home, they do meet all the requirements for more than 1-2 pumpkin pies, pumpkin soup, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin bread, and all things pumpkin.

The summer has been hot and dry here on Big Ugly Creek- so dry there is almost no Big Ugly Creek to wade in. Many veggies have succumbed to the heat and dryness or produced less than normal, except for these giant pumpkins that seem to have thrived on heat and lack of rain. Pumpkins that have been pampered, don’t come close.

So what are these behemoths destined for? Record-breaking huge pumpkin pies? Lots of pumpkin coffee creamer? Pumpkin bisque for the next year? How about the star ingredient in recipes prepared by teams of intergenerational cooks?

October is pumpkin month, and to show that pumpkins are for more than jack-o-lanterns or pumpkin pies, teams of youth and adults (parent/relative/guardian/caregiver/other responsible adult) In Lincoln and Logan Counties as well as in Charleston who are part of our cooking workshops, will learn to prepare meals using pumpkin as a main ingredient. Modeled after the supper-in-a-sack program, participants will prepare the meals as a team, and then will be able to take the ingredients home to prepare for their families. Recipes will be simple, with few ingredients, and come together quickly, so that participants will feel that they can make it again because it is tasty, easy, healthy, and inexpensive.

The hope is that these teams of youth and adults will join together as intergenerational gardening teams for the 2020 growing season, with the adults helping provide experience and the youth providing the help that working adults or older adults often need.

Watch our October and November blogs for the recipes used, and get ready to tempt your taste buds with exciting and seasonal pumpkin recipes (Pumpkin Soup for the Gardener’s Soul!)