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Pumpkin Greens: Harvest a Leafy Abundance

Pumpkins are so much more than the orange flesh, as delicious as that is. I actually use pumpkin all the time to make soup, curry, sauces, dips, baked veggies, but there’s so many more benefits and bonuses from growing pumpkin such as …

  1. Pumpkin leaves and stems are delicious, nutritious and a totally abundant source of leafy greens.  I eat them every day.
  2. I have pumpkin vines tumbling around under my food forest as a living mulch and habitat for lizards and frogs.
  3. I also allow pumpkins to climb up over the chicken house to provide summer shade.
  4. When they die back, I use the leaves and stems as mulch and organic matter.
  5. I make chips from the skin
  6. I toast the seeds and drizzle them with tamari.
  7. I eat the flowers.

 

Check out this short film I just made about how I harvest and use this thriving vine to supercharge the amount of greens I have access to in my garden, particularly in the warmer months when other things wilt and wither away.

Happy gardening. Feel free to share this post.

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2 Responses

  1. Pamela Melcher
    Pamela Melcher at |

    I found out that Pumpkin and Squash leaves can be eaten raw. https://www.theafricanchef.com/products/pumpkin-leaves

  2. Pamela Melcher
    Pamela Melcher at |

    I LOVE THIS!!!!! Thank you for this valuable information. Also, since pumpkins are such a prodigious source of seeds, this opens up great possibilities for microgreen and baby green production. Are the leaves edible raw, juiced or in smoothies? Are leaves of Squash and Cucumber and Watermelon edible raw?