Roasting Pumpkin Seeds and Other Joys of Autumn

Everyone has a favorite season. Many enjoy autumn for its transition from summer heat to refreshing chill. Autumn is a time for fun and earthy activities: roasting pumpkin seeds, making apple butter, hay rides.

If you spent all spring and summer planting a garden, autumn is the season to enjoy what you planted. Did you plant different gourds in your garden? Pumpkins are the most traditional gourds for this time of year.

Whether you choose to roast the seeds or throw them out, and carve a pumpkin or leave it whole, a pumpkin on its own is a common symbol of the harvest season. Cranberries, dried fruits, popcorn, pickled vegetables, and roasted peanuts are other traditional foods of the fall months.

The Plants From Your Garden Add Color to Meals

If you spent considerable time and effort with organic gardening and compost bins, you may be savoring the flavors of your produce with even more gusto this time of year. Those who spend their summers growing vegetables will want to sample different ways to use the vegetables in their menus.

As the weather cools off, preserved and roasted vegetables are such tasty accompaniments to meat dishes. Roasting adds a distinct flavor to meats, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Canned and preserved vegetables are so convenient and bring a taste of summer.

As you sit by the fireplace in the chill of October crunching on roasted pumpkin seeds, you may enjoy reflecting on this past season’s garden and making plans for the next spring.

This is a great occasion to look through seed magazine and catalogs selling garden accessories and make a list for next year, while your gardening experiences and flavors of the produce are fresh in your mind.

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