Pumpkin Storage

[ohiofarmgirl]

Does anyone know if I can feed the tiny pumpkins to my chickens. They are more like "pumpkin/gourds".

the best use of these -- cat torturing devices! my cats LOVE them! i find them all over the house - and inside my boots! they are cat-tastic!

you might want to cut them in half for the hens - that way they will know there are seeds for them



tho my fav little buff hen was dragging a huge pumpkin skin across the yard yesterday...thats my girl
;-)

 

[lesa]

ohiofarmgirl, your tag line makes me laugh! I can't tell you how many times I have said "gardening is like a battle!" I seem to always be fighting something, out there! Yes, I will cut the little pumpkins in half and see if the chickens like them...I'll have to bring a couple in for the cats- can't quite imagine the appeal?? Thanks!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

how'd it go with the hens????

and dont have any idea about the cat attraction but its fierce! the funny thing is that i've never actually SEEN then play with the little punkins - i just find them all kinds of crazy places....

and yep - war isnt h*ll"....gardening is! honestly i dont know what is so relaxing about it... its like some kind of combat!
;-)

 

[freemotion]

I fed a zillion of those little hard pumpkins last winter to my hens and one starved rescued goat. I would simmer a bunch in a stock pot on the wood stove every 3-4 days and dole them out that way. The hens were able to eat them right down to the tough rind that way and loved them. Otherwise, they would freeze solid before they had a chance to eat them other than the seeds. My pumpkins were a volunteer batch that I suspect was a cross between sugar pumpkins and gourds. Small, pale orange, and hard as a rock. Kept quite well, though!

 

[bills]

I just read the BEST suggestion for pumpkins, gourds and squash for storage.

It was in Mother Earth News Magazine last month. Someone wrote you should drip wax over the spot where you removed it from the vine. It holds moisture in and slows rot from occurring! So simple and a great idea!

Thats a good tip. Never tried that before.

I bleach my stalks on my squash, as that is the first place mold appears. The bleach apparently kills back the mold bacteria, so you get a longer storage period. Should work with pumpkins.