Old Hippie in me!

Yes, I'm an old hippy. I admit it. All my life I've read "Mother Earth", a magazine on alternative living. If you've never read it, go and buy one, you will LOVE IT!!

With the philosophy of ..... re-use, re-purpose, and conserve.

So, when I saw these cute little pumpkins before Halloween I had a hard time buying them.... why buy when you can grow??? But, bought them I did, because it was way to late in the season to consider getting the seeds.... you can't find seeds in late September or October.




Now, after Halloween, I brought them inside, and put them on the kitchen window.

The trick of getting good seeds is to make sure the fruit is ripe enough. Another 2 months sitting in the sun, inside, and the pumpkins started showing spots of rot.....PERFECT!!! The seeds would be mature, and most of them would produce.

So I cut them open, scooped them out. Placing them in a strainer, I rinsed them with COLD water..... don't be tempted to use warm or hot, because that could kill the seeds.



Then I put them on a nice towel, and I'll allow them to dry all day long.... when dry, I'll pick out the bits of pumpkin still sticking to them, and put them in a jar! Sealed for the winter in a nice dark spot.... like my spice cabinet.



I do this with most of my seeds, from Marigolds, to.... well.... pumpkins. And next year in the spring I'll find a nice place to plant them..... and there you go!!!!

I may have bought the initial ones, but for years to come, I'll never have to buy another, just keep growing, seeding, and having fun!!