The Garden at 485 Elm
People growing together:
a collaborative community garden in Montpelier, Vermont
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2021 Boutique Crop: Seed Pumpkins

Here at the Garden at 485 Elm, we grow crops that are shared and distributed among gardeners and the community in one of three ways:

First, we grow crops that produce continually, such as lettuces, kale, summer squashes, beans, and peas. Gardeners harvest as much as they want using techniques that keep the plants producing.

Second, we grow crops with one-time yield. Those we harvest all at once and then divide into shares. Single-harvest crops include winter squash, brussels sprouts, potatoes, onions, and garlic.

Finally, we grow boutique crops. These are small experiments that we attempt and then share the results, meager though they may be. Boutique crops in 2021 included ginger, peanuts, and seed pumpkins.

Here’s our the entire seed pumpkin crop hiding behind that giant zucchini. That’s right: seed pumpkins, from High Mowing Seeds. They have almost no flesh and many, many seeds. We grew them in dirt in a wire cage outside the main fenced garden, but the bold deer here easily pushed aside our makeshift barrier and ate their fill. We got a few, though, and this is how they roasted up into a rich, delicious taste of the garden in January. We washed and dried the seeds, tossed them with olive oil, salt, and dried herbs, and roasted them at 350 degrees for thirty minutes. Perfect!