Frost on the Pumpkins

Well, winter has officially arrived and it is COLD tonite. (About 25) I have succumbed to affection (INSANITY!) and have installed a heater in the chicken house-- Just to help the little ones stay warm and to encourage the older ones to resume egg laying! Really! I know what I tell everyone about their ability to handle cold, but they just look so Miserable all fluffed out on their perches. Just until they get their feathers fully grown, then I PROMISE I'll turn the heater off. (My husband helped in my resolve by sneaking in and turning off the heater for me last week.)

I have been busily processing pumpkins this week. I was at the grocery store and they had pumpkins out front for 50 Cents. Most of the other stores didn't have any after Halloween and these were LOVELY. Saw a woman and her two daughters pushing three carts full of pumpkins into the store. She said that the grocery in the neighboring town had pumpkins for a penny each, but the manager said they weren't selling fast enough and so he threw them all away. She hadn't gotten there in time to buy all that she wanted. I was just on my way home from serving lunch at the homeless shelter and was horrified by this story of waste. If only there was some way for unwanted produce to get to people who could use it- even farmers can feed slightly spoiled produce to their chickens and pigs! I asked her what on earth she was going to do with all those pumpkins and she said she was going to somehow get them home and then she knew people who wanted them. I paid $8 each for my first Halloween pumpkins, so I grabbed four for my cart. After a while of shopping inside, the lovely cashier informed me that my pumpkins were a penny apiece. I almost ran out and got some more! I am now eternally grateful I didn't. I processed those pumpkins into 27 pint jars of puree. Everyone I know will be offered pumpkin for their Thanksgiving feast. It truly is an amazing fruit(?) full of energy and vitamins and so perfect for cool Fall days. Well, must go back to knitting booties for the bunny....Just kidding!