Alexa, I'd be happy to look around here and send you some if I find any.Let me know.

Shelley

Aw Shelley that is so sweet! This is actually a spin off of another thread where someone else mentioned the great pumpkin shortage, which I was unaware of. I'm not even sure TJs or Whole Playcheck have it near me, I didn;t have a chance to check, but now my curiosity is piqued.

Just let me know if you can get it, in the mean time I an going to email Libby's and see if they will provide any info.

Thanks again!

Alexa

Alexa I will look around this weekend and let you know.

Shelley

Update: I called Nestle Corp and because of the crop shortage last year they are rationing their supply and will not be releasing it until the end of Sept 2010. The CSR that I spoke with suggested stocking up as soon as you see it on the shelves since it will be in short supply again!

Alexa

I have a friend that grows many MANY pumpkins and gourds and squash for fun...no profit. he says it's a spectacular year for pumpkins, squash and gourds!
Don't know about the canned stuff...Is till have a can left from Christmas.
Linda C

OH when this stuff hits the shelves, you better believe I'm stocking up. Just the mere mention that it's hard to get and I want it!

I've been wanting canned pumpkin since 2009.

LOL Shaun - maybe we should buy several cases and sell the individual cans on ebay 2 weeks before Thanksgiving!

Alexa

Since that last thread mentioning a canned pumpkin shortage I have seen it in 3 stores here. It is the organic pumpkin and twice the price. It's been a very good year for pumpkins here in Minnesota. My guess is that there won't be a shortage next year. I'm sure the heat has been a good year for pumpkins and squash everywhere. I had a friend years ago that worked at the Green Giant plant in LeSeure, Minnesota. He said that most canned pumpkin is actually hubbard squash.

Home canning of pumpkin is not recommended. But I froze mashed Sunshine squash last year. It worked really well. It is bright orange and looks like a flatter pumpkin. It was great in pumpkin bread for the holidays.

I gave some of the seeds to a friend telling her it was a semi-bush type squash. Last time I saw her she said it was taking over her yard.

Alexa, you sell on ebay, I've got Craigslist covered.

I have 8 cans in home storage and will watch the store shelves. It is probably a little early since pumpkins haven't been harvested yet.

Pumpkin CAN safely be canned at home, but it needs to be chunks, not mashed or pureed. The link below has more information.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: National Center for Home Food Preservation - pumpkin

I live 4 miles from the Nestle plant that cans pumpkin and they are canning as I type. Morton Illinois claim to fame is the Pumpkin Capital of the World. The fields here in Central Illinois have been hit very hard this year with mold and rot from too much rain. So it probably will be a slim year again. There are hundreds and hundreds of acres of pumpkin fields all around here and it's hard to believe there won't be enough again! These pumpkins are big, ugly, tan colored pumpkins that have a really thick wall. There are always lots of them laying beside the highways where they fall from the semi's hauling them into the plant. I have gone out to a field and picked one, (with the growers permission) baked it and frozen it. I like the canned better!

Yes, the flooding in the Midwest caused the shortage we are currently experiencing and there is still flooding, so it's probably not going to be much better this year.

My pumpkins did well last year and I wish I had canned some. They're also doing well this year and I'm definitely canning some.

As Grainlady mentioned, the only issue with canning pumpkin is that it should be canned in chunks, the puree is too dense to insure proper heating all the way through.

Oh, and I can't get it here anywhere.

Annie

I usually find it with the pie fillings in my grocery store... my grandmother mentioned that she was looking for some and couldn't find it, so I told her I would bring her some. Well, now none of the stores in my area have it! I assumed it was seasonal and I'd just never realized it before.

No problmes here, from Libby's to store brands.

I needed to get some pumpkin for my dog recently and our local grocer had a sign up about the shortage. I just went to the frozen foods section and grabbed a couple packages of squash, which still seems to be available.

Won't affect me, 'cause I don't care for pumpkin. Does that make me unAmerican? (smile) I love sweet potatoes though, even sweet potato pie. Pumpkin has an off taste to me.

jude

I just posted on the Whoopie Pie thread -- I bought some last year and then was able to keep finding it. I still have several cans, so I haven't looked for it recently, but I'll have to look tomorrow. Guess I better keep some on hand or start growing my own. I have baked with fresh and like the flavor of fresh but the texture and more predictable moisture content of the canned.

No canned pumpkin in the stores here.

Seems it is usually seasonal here, so that may be why.

Couldn't squash, or even sweet potatoes be used in it's place in most recipes?

Rusty

Commercially canned pumpkin always tastes like the can to me. I prefer subbing with fresh cooked or frozen winter squash anyway.

About pumpkin, though, several months ago, my local Aldi's had a sign about being out of canned pumpkin and that they wouldn't be stocking it. I still have a can or two on hand for when I'm out of squash.

You can also be on the lookout for fresh pie pumpkins--my Wal-Mart had them last year--and cook & freeze. The winter squashes & pumpkin freezes well, much better quality than the summer squashes.

I am just cracking up at some of these prices! It would still be cheaper to go to Whole Foods and pay for the organic than buy these.

Alexa

Here is a link that might be useful: canned pumpkin on ebay

I got a craving for pumpkin bread last week, and found the organic canned at Publix for $2.50, did not see any other brands. Bread came out delicious!

As I said earlier in this thread, I don't think there will be a shortage of pumpkins here in Minnesota this year. I saw pie pumpkins at the Farmer's Market today. Granted there were not a lot of them - but the 3rd week of August???? The summer here has alternated with torrential rains and hot sunny days. Must've been perfect for them as I have never seen them at the market so early!

Teresa

An alternative to canning or freezing would be to simply store the pumpkins or squash as is. Under proper conditions they should keep at least through the holidays. Probably longer.

Jim

That's a good point, Jim.

Echoing what Sally said about slim pickings again this year, I found this article:

July 20, 2010 (PEORIA, Ill.) -- Illinois pumpkin experts say they're worried the state's crop could suffer blight given the wet spring weather.

University of Illinois extension specialist Mohammad Babadoost says that would be a large worry because 95 percent of the country's processing pumpkins come from central and southern Illinois. Processing pumpkins are grown for pies, breads and other foods.

Babadoost says some fields already have blight because of wet weather. He says specialists are visiting pumpkin fields to research the problem and "see how we can save the crop."

Babadoost says while there is a risk of economic loss, there's also a great value to the state's pumpkin crop. He says pumpkin patches draw thousands of visitors, carrying "significance beyond its market price."

So it would prolly be a good idea on be on the lookout for local sources...

I agree, Sally, mine are doing well but we haven't had the rains and flooding that the nation has had south and west if me.

I do have storage, not a true root cellar, but a Michigan cellar' at the farm. I can keep poduce until at least December, if it gets really cold it will freeze, but I can keep potatoes/onions/etc in a layer of sand well into the winter. Pumpkins would be harder to bury, so their storage life would be shorter but would still get me through the holidays. Then I could start using canned stuff, if I can some.
Wouldn't help the frmers in that part of the country provide jack o lanterns to all those kids, though, so I hope they can salvage some of the crop at least, two bad years in a row will probably put some out of business,

Annie

The title of this thread made me think of Linus van Pelt; he's been having a Great Pumpkin shortage since 1959.

Here is a link that might be useful: Great Pumpkin

I saw canned organic pumpkin at Cost Plus World Market yesterday -- over $2 a can, but they had it. DH made the regular grocery store run.