When are pumpkins cleaned in the fall?

It's hard to believe that this huge fruit belongs to the berry family. Wow a berry weighing from 2 to 70 kg! Pumpkin is a useful food product containing a lot of vitamins and trace elements, but it is especially appreciated for the high content of beta-carotene and fiber. Its diuretic and cholagogue properties are known. This berry is very useful in diseases of the cardiovascular system and liver. A gastronomic quality - the topic of a separate conversation. On how to grow and when to clean the pumpkins, in what form they consume food, is described in the article.

What a pumpkin likes

It is believed that this berry is not choosy, can grow wherever you just put a seed in the soil. Although she has her own requirements. Pumpkin prefers soft, light soils and well-lit places. This is not surprising, because the culture comes from the hot latitudes of South America. Especially well she feels on the manured beds, and to be more exact, on places of warehousing of manure and humus. In a word, organic fertilizers contribute to the rapid growth and maturation of fruits. Powerful stems of pumpkins do not tolerate pruning and take up a lot of space, and this must be remembered. Stems clamber even through the trees, and often one has to see mighty fruits hanging from high branches. Of course, this is an additional problem at a time when the pumpkins are removed, but how beautiful and original!

Terms of maturation and harvesting

This culture is good because it grows in almost all climatic zones, of course, except for the cold North. It is important only to choose the right variety. There are three main varieties of pumpkins: food, fodder and ornamental. Of course, only food varieties are famous for high taste qualities.

For northern and middle latitudes the planting dates are later, and in order to have time to harvest, it is necessary to resort to planting seeds under the film. This helps to significantly accelerate the cultivation and keep within the optimum time frame when cleaning the pumpkin. In the southern regions, the situation is simpler: pumpkin seeds are planted in the middle - end of April in the open ground. The seeds germinate fairly quickly, after the flowering begins in a short period, small green fruits are formed. By the time of ripeness, they gain their final weight and color - from pale green to bright orange. The time when pumpkins are removed is quite extensive. Some varieties can be harvested in the middle of autumn unripe and stored in a dry place until fully ripe. But mostly fruits are harvested by the very latest in the garden. They can not be touched until the first frost. When the pumpkins are removed, they must leave the peduncle - so the fruits are stored longer. Do not delay the long-term storage of damaged, beaten or frozen pumpkin.

About the most pleasant

Of course, this is about how to cook a pumpkin. There is nothing easier. The fruit should be washed, chopped with a kitchen hatchet on chunks, cleaned of seeds (which must be dried and eaten raw or fried - very useful and tasty!). Fold in a saucepan and pour hot water so that the product is not completely covered with water, otherwise the pumpkin will turn watery and tasteless. Someone adds sugar to the boiling water, someone sprinkles cooked slices with sugar, but it's best not to sweeten, the pumpkin itself is quite sweet. If the pieces are easily pierced with a fork, then the cooking is finished. You should immediately get a pumpkin, put it on a large dish or tray and let it dry. There is such a treat best with cold milk.

Actually, it's not necessary to cook a pumpkin. Even tastier and more useful it is baked - just place on the baking sheet chopped pieces and put in the oven. Bake it and whole, cutting off the top, removing seeds and filling with stuffing - for example, a mixture of nuts, dried apricots, prunes, honey, or just porridge. And the pumpkin porridge is good in itself, it is tasty and useful for both adults and young children. Such a wonderful berry!