Every year in September - when in the early morning the first wisps of fog drift over Styria - it is again time for the pumpkin harvest, A long, hot summer has produced pumpkin plants with fruits from a tiny pumpkin seed - no wonder with this nutrient-rich clay soil, typical for Styria.
Days ago, the pumpkin harvest involved a lot of manual labor. Usually one made a virtue out of necessity: at a family party under the blazing sun, family and friends helped together to split each pumpkin by hand and take out the ripe pumpkin seeds. "Auspatzeln" was the name given to this process. And often, everyone from grandma to the little kid was there to help.
Today, the whole procedutre fortunately is much easier - thanks to modern technology. Special attachments on tractors have been invented, which do nothing else but moving pumpkins diagonally into a row. This pushing makes it easier for the thresher to reach them and "auspatzeln" (picking out) the pumpkin seeds later. And if the tractor is here already, then the rear attachment cleans up the field right away and chops the cabbage and weeds into the field, which then serves as fertilizer for next year. That is sustainability in action.
Ripening in a row
Now - waiting in line - the Styrian oil pumpkins still get the last sunny hours - sometimes also days, and the ripening process can be completed. Even more so without weeds whick would block the sun. Here it depends on the intuition of the pumpkin farmer: A few days earlier or later to harvest can make all the difference in the taste of pumpkin seed oil, because the pumpkin seeds have the bit more on ripening time. Soon, the thresher will come and will the actual raw material "herauspatzeln". :)
Enjoy some impressions of the pumpkin pushing in Styria:
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<a href="https://www.pumpkinseedoil.cc/blog/pushing-pumpkins-from-field-to-bottle">From field to bottle - pushing pumpkins together | pumpkinseedoil.cc</a><br>Before the oil pumpkins can be threshed, they are pushed together in rows.. Most comprehensive blog for Squash Oil.
