Trial Garden "Pumpkin Cam" 2012

For the first time we set up a time-lapse camera on our Certified Organic Rouge Vif d'Etampes pumpkin patch at planting time. Although it's not the best video, it's still fun to look at.

November Recipe: Pumpkin Cobbler

Everyone who tries this delicious dessert likes it better than ordinary pumpkin pie. The crust mixture rises to the top during baking to form a rich topping. 

Our new Certified Organic 'Spookie' pumpkin is perfect in this recipe.

Filling:
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup evaporated milk
3 cups cooked mashed pumpkin or butternut squash
1 cup white sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt

Crust:
½ cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons white sugar

Preheat oven to 350º

In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk and pumpkin; add the rest of the filling ingredients, mix well and set aside.

Prepare the crust: Melt the butter in a 9x11-inch baking pan. In another bowl, mix the remaining crust ingredients until just combined and pour into baking pan on top of the melted butter.

Spoon or slowly pour the filling evenly over the crust batter in the pan. Do not stir. Dot the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake 1 hour.  
Serves 8-10

For more great recipes check out
 Renee's Cookbooks:

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden

Growing Little Gardeners

  - By Sarah Renfro, Renee's Garden Business Manager




My son Mason started preschool this year and I’m pleased that his school incorporates gardening into the curriculum. We have a large front yard garden at home (see my previous blog posts) and of course working at Renee’s Garden has exposed him to growing vegetables and flowers. One of his favorite pretend games is to plant and harvest a vegetable bed (made out of blocks) and cook meals of wooden food from his play kitchen.

So when the preschool teachers asked parents if we had any special skills or hobbies to share, gardening came to mind immediately! The preschool facility is located behind a church which has a community garden plot. The members set aside one of the raised beds for the kids to use and got it prepped with compost and drip irrigation lines.

I brought a variety of seeds and vegetable starts (donated by Lindsay, our Trial Garden manager) and the class took a “field trip” down to the community garden to plant everything. The kids loved digging in the dirt and planting the seeds, although the concept of spacing was a bit lost on them. We will definitely be thinning quite a bit as there were many handfuls of seeds dumped in one spot!

The children will be visiting the garden regularly to see all the stages of growth and harvest the veggies. Of course the grown-up gardeners will be popping in also to give the growing garden little extra TLC!

Here are the Renee’s Garden varieties we planted:
Easter Egg Radishes
Sunshine Orange and Yellow Carrots
Rainbow Bright Lights Chard
All Season Broccoli
Farmer’s Market Blend Lettuce
Oregon Giant Snow Peas

Seed of the Month: Container Herb Collection

Enjoy the luxury of abundant fresh herbs at your fingertips with our assortment of delicious herb varieties chosen especially for container growing.

Includes: Cameo Container Basil; Fine Leaf Chives; Slow Bolt Cilantro; True Greek Oregano; Gigante Parsley plus our brochure on growing in containers.

Makes a perfect holiday gift for anyone who likes both cooking and gardening.