A Post Pertaining to Pumpkin Pie Purists

Butternut Squash

Denise has been making pumpkin pies out of home-grown pink banana squash, butternut squash (pictured), Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck Squash (our favorite to grow), and also pumpkins for over a decade. Pumpkin pie is my favorite dessert, and when I was a kid it was my favorite food, period. I was a pumpkin pie purist--if you're going to call it pumpkin pie, it should be, well, pie, made out of pumpkin, right? That's what I thought, too, until while visiting a friend, I tasted pumpkin pie made with pink banana squash. It tasted like pumpkin pie, but better, and the texture was smoother!

By the way, I am still a pumpkin pie purist when it comes to other things flavored with pumpkin. I don't care for (and never have) most of the pumpkin-flavored items that appear in the stores and in recipes online around Thanksgiving and Christmas like candles, air freshener, cookies, crispy treats, candy, ice cream, or oven pastries. I especially do not care for pumpkin flavored coffee (I am also somewhat of a coffee purist, so this is just waaaay toooo over the top). Pumpkin bread is about the only exception--I like it.


Now, back to the pumpkins and pies. Sorry purists, but the pumpkin in our pies may not be pumpkin--at least not the pumpkin that we think of and often see on the label of some cans of "pumpkin" on store shelves.

Dickinson Pumpkins

In fact, Libby, the company responsible for about 80 percent of the canned "pumpkin" in the market, had a "pumpkin" developed especially to increase yields and improve taste and texture. It is more closely related to the butternut squash (C. moschata), than a true pumpkin (C. pepo).  On a can of Libby's it clearly says "100% Pure Pumpkin." While a slice of pumpkin pie is featured on the the label, there is no orange spherical pumpkin pictured except in a seal that proclaims "100 Years of Quality." The pumpkin in Libby's is the Dickinson pumpkin, a pinkish oblong squash. If Libby put that on the label most folks would pass it right by.

"Isn't that false labeling?" you may ask. The "pumpkin" in those cans can be any golden-fleshed winter squash: pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo), butternut (C. moschata), hubbard, Boston marrow (C. maxima), and so forth. Here is the official FDA policy:

CPG Sec. 585.725 "Pumpkin" -
Labeling Articles Made from Certain Varieties of Squash

  

BACKGROUND:

Canned "pumpkin" has for many years been packed from field pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) or certain varieties of firm-shelled, golden-fleshed, sweet squash (Cucurbita maxima), or mixtures of these. Pumpkin and squash are sometimes mixed intentionally to obtain the consistency most acceptable to users.

Since l938, we have consistently advised canners that we would not initiate regulatory action solely because of their using the designation "pumpkin" or "canned pumpkin" on labels for articles prepared from golden-fleshed, sweet squash, or mixtures of such squash with field pumpkins. In the absence of any evidence that this designation misleads or deceives consumers we see no reason to change this policy.

POLICY:

In the labeling of articles prepared from golden-fleshed, sweet squash or mixtures of such squash and field pumpkin, we will consider the designation "pumpkin" to be in essential compliance with the "common or usual name" requirements of sections 403(i)(l) and 403(i)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the "specifying of identity" required by section 1453(a)(1) of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act.

There you have it. The FDA lets the pumpkin canners can a butternut-type squash and sell it to you as pumpkin because, it turns out, we consumers prefer butternut squash over pumpkin for pies. We just don't realize it. But we probably wouldn't buy it if it were labeled accurately.

This particular pumpkin practice has been going on for nearly a hundred years, and those of us who like to eat pumpkin pie have enjoyed the results. Having tasted a better "pumpkin" pie made from a squash other than pumpkin, I have to say this is a good thing. And, unless you are about a hundred years old or know someone that bakes pumpkin pies from scratch with real pumpkins, you've likely have never actually consumed a piece of 100% real pumpkin pie.

However, this kind of thing is one of the main reasons we like to grow as much of our own food as possible, or buy it from local organic farmers. Even though there are labeling  laws, regulations, and policies, we still don't know what is in our store-bought food. The food industry can include things in our food without mentioning that addition on the label if the added substance is categorized as an industry standard or as generally safe. See Why and How We Make Our Own Ice Cream.

When we grow our own vegetables, fruits, eggs, milk, and meat, we know exactly what goes into that food and therefore what ends up on our table. We realize that not everyone has the means to do what we are doing. In fact, we are not able to grow all of our food on our property, though we do strive toward that goal. We buy what we need from local farmers (at farmers' markets) when we can and from other trusted sources when we can't.

When you purchase your food, buy single ingredients and learn to make your own dishes and desserts. For example, find a "from scratch" pumpkin pie recipe, buy a pumpkin in season (or better, a butternut squash) from a local farmer and all the other things you need to make it, and then make it yourself! (Don't be afraid to ask for help from someone who knows how.) You'll be very happy you did.

Sulmtaler Chickens

We're incubating a couple dozen Sulmtaler eggs we recently received from our good friends at Java Hill Farm. This variety originated in Austria in the mid to late 1800's as a table bird, and was for a time considered a delicacy.

We're trying this variety as a meat bird for a couple of reasons.

First, the meat is considered to be some of the best available, and the birds are fairly large--the rooster weighs between 7 and 9 pounds, the hen between 3.5 and 7 pounds. Hens lay about 150 smallish eggs per year--so not as many eggs per bird, so we'll add a few hens (normally we keep about twenty hens of dual-purpose varieties)  to have enough fresh eggs each day. So we won't be getting large or extra large eggs each day, but we will be getting bigger birds to the table. (Granted, we could have some laying hens as well, though this complicates the coop arrangements.)

Second, the Sulmtaler is reported to be quieter than other varieties. Our hens make a lot of noise celebrating each egg they lay. Sulmtalers reportedly do not engage in this revelry. Our poor neighbors have also suffered through our Marans rooster--one loud bird. (He was very tasty though!) We're hoping that the Sulmtaler rooster will not be as loud.

In a couple of weeks our eggs will hatch, beginning our trial with this interesting and historic variety. We'll have pictures and details as they become available.

Goals for Our Mini-Farm in 2014

Here are some general goals for our self-sufficiency effort this year:

• achieve a more plentiful harvest from our garden and animals
• dehydrate and can more this year
• increase amount of fodder we grow
• add more garden area to the property
• add more rain catchment -- catch every drop of roof runoff
• acquire or construct solar panels

Like many New Year's resolutions, these as stated are too broad or vague to be effective goals. The details and action steps need to be developed, fine tuned, and then implemented. As we focus on each of the above, we'll be publishing our plans, efforts and the effects.

As always, we post not to brag but to encourage others. If we can do it, so can you. Please feel free to learn from our failures as well as our successes. We wish you the best in the year ahead and always.

Improve Your Soil with Compost

In our Southern California garden there are always things growing and things to do, even in the middle of winter. We have greens, cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli, getting ready to harvest as well as oranges, tangerines, limes, and avocados.

It is time to plant bare-root roses, fruit trees, and berries, and to prune our existing fruit trees and berry vines.  In the next month or so, we'll be starting seeds indoors for plants to set out after the danger of frost has passed (usually around the first of April).

One thing we like to do in January is to look through the seed catalogs (they start to arrive around the first of January) and garden books for ideas. Another is to add to or begin compost piles. Compost adds nutrients and organic matter to the soil. It will improve any soil over time, even if you add no other amendments. For us December, January,  and February are great months to make compost because of the availability of leaves. We have them, our neighbors have them. We get them from our neighbors for the asking (and the raking).

There are a number of different ways to make compost for the garden. Some are labor intensive, others not so much. We prefer the less labor intensive sort when we can get away with it. However, the less attention and work you give your compost, the longer it will take to be ready for your garden.

The easiest way to make compost is to make a pile and let it sit for months until it is finished and/or you are ready to use it. Pick a spot in an out of the way corner of your garden to make your pile, keeping in mind that you will be hauling stuff to and from the pile. (If your garden is in the near part of your yard, you don't want to build your compost pile in the far part of your yard. Unless of course, you enjoy using the wheelbarrow or carrying a bucket.)  After you've chosen a convenient spot, scratch up or turn over the soil that will be under the pile. Then, add your yard and kitchen wastes to the pile, mixing them together as you go. You could build a bin out of wire or hardware cloth, or other materials, but this is not absolutely necessary with this method.

Add kitchen scraps (but no meat or fats) and yard trimmings to the top of the pile over time. You may need to sprinkle a little water on the pile once in a while to keep it moist but not soggy.

When you are ready to plant your garden, remove the top layers of unfinished compost, setting them aside for starting a new pile. The finished compost will be at the bottom of the pile. Collect the rich, brown, earthy-smelling, finished compost into your bucket or wheelbarrow, put the unfinished stuff in its place and head for the garden with your finished product.

You can dig the compost into the soil as you plant or you can use the compost as a mulch, or both.

There are other ways to make compost that require more effort, but produce a finished product in as little as two weeks. Duane and Karen Newcomb's book, The Postage Stamp Garden Book: Grow Tons of Vegetables in Small Spaces has an appendix devoted to various methods of making compost.

We don't have much kitchen waste that makes it to the compost pile because most of it goes to the ducks, geese, and chickens (oh, and the rabbit, too). We do use bedding from the goat pen and yard trimmings. You can read here about Our Composting System that goes on right in the garden beds.

One of the best books we've found to help us understand the soil is Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition, by Lowenfels and Lewis.

Creating a New Normal

Creating a New Normal

[A well-reasoned, and -written defense of fundamental liberty. -DCS]

By Liz Reitzig on Nourishing Liberty.com  2 January 2014

Joel Salatin and Liz Reitzig

“On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity asks the question, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must do it because it is right.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, March 31, 1968, less than a week before he was assassinated.

Dr. King spoke these words in protestation of war, but they are equally applicable to any moral dilemma. Dr. King strove to bring peace to people torn by abuse. Today our family farmers face a similar pattern of arbitrary and unnecessary assault. Read more on nourishingliberty.com

January Garden Tasks

January is time to plant garlic, onion, and shallot bulbs.

It's time also to prune roses. By the way, if you have plants that have been damaged by frost (like our kiwi vines), do not prune off the damaged parts. They may be ugly, but they'll help protect the rest of the plant from further frost damage.

Rake your lawn and/or your neighbors' lawns for leaves for your compost pile.

Once all the leaves have fallen from your fruit trees, you can prune them. While you are pruning your deciduous trees you can also trim your conifers.

Purchase and plant bare-root roses, fruit trees, vines, and veggies. Camellias and  Azaleas, too. 

Spray your roses and deciduous trees with a dormant spray.

Order seeds and supplies from seed catalogs (more on that in the next post).

Making Turkey Stock

Once you remove all the meat from your Thanksgiving turkey (this is easier when while the turkey is still warm), put the bones on to simmer right away to make stock to use in soups and sauces for the rest of the holidays and after. It may help keep you and your family from getting the winter colds and flu that always come around.

Homemade stock offers three nutritional benefits that are in readily digestible form:

1. Minerals calcium, magnesium, silicon, sulphur and phosporous and critical trace minerals.

2. Gelatin which is good for many tissues of the body -- cartilage, bones, joints, skin, digestive tract, and muscles including the heart. Gelatin also boosts immunity. The majority of our immune system is located in our gut, and gelatin soothes and heals the intestinal mucosa.

3. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulphates, good for joint maintenance.

Making turkey stock is very easy. Put the carcass in a large pot (1-2 gallons) and cover with water. Add 1/4 cup of vinegar (this will help to release minerals from the bones and cartilage). Bring to a boil over medium to high heat. Reduce to medium to low heat and simmer for 24-48 hours. Skim off any foam that forms on the surface while simmering. After 24-48 hours, allow the stock to cool and strain out the bones. You'll have a gallon or two of yummy stock.

Easy, healthful, and tasty.