Go Out of Your Gourd

Posted in Horticulture on October 14 2014, by Sonia Uyterhoeven

Sonia Uyterhoeven is NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.

Last week I wrote about festive fall arrangements, with pumpkins carved open and colorful table centerpieces placed inside them. This week, I will provide a profile of pumpkins and other cucurbits. Pumpkins are in the Cucurbitaceae family and are one of the two oldest food sources in North America (corn is the other). Seeds have been found in caves in Mexico dating back from 5000 to 7000 B.C.

If you peruse the farmers’ markets these days you will find a nice selection of pumpkins. One of my favorites for eating and for decorating is the Long Island Cheese pumpkin or Cucurbita moschata ‘Long Island Cheese’. It makes a great pie. Another exotic counterpart is ‘Musquee de Provence’ which is an heirloom from the south of France.

There is a seasonally appropriate, ghostly white pumpkin named Cucurbita maxima ‘Lumina’ that makes a delicious soup. If you are searching for Cinderella’s pumpkin, it goes by the name of Cucurbita maxima ‘Rouge Vif d’Etampes’, a French heirloom that was introduced into the U.S. in 1883 by the Burpee Seed Company.

As the bounty from the farmers’ markets will attest, fall is a wonderful season for a wide array of other winter squash. One of my seasonal favorites is ‘Delicata’, a sweet squash that has an edible rind and can be sliced and sautéed or baked in the oven. When selecting this squash, choose one that is heavy for its size.

Another sumptuous counterpart—and equally attractive—is the Carnival squash. The Carnival squash has the same shape as an acorn squash, but its colors are a confection of orange, cream, and green in solids, speckles, and stripes. It can be roasted, made into risotto or soup, or baked with apples and cinnamon for a tasty treat.

Buttercup squash is notorious for a hard rind but, once you cut through, the reward is great and it makes a fantastic soup. Butternut is ubiquitous. Find one with a long solid neck to get more for your money—its round bottom is full of pulp and seeds. Spaghetti squash is ideal for the health-conscious. It makes a wonderful substitute for pasta, hence its common name.

To grow any of these pumpkins or squashes successfully, you need a sunny location, lots of space, and a long growing season. While squashes need the warm weather to grow, they also rely on the cooler fall days and nights to help them ripen and form the sugars that make them nice and sweet.

For good-sized squashes and pumpkins, amend your soil with compost and well-rotted cow manure. I have seen many pumpkin vines flourish on top of old compost piles. Pumpkins are heavy feeders and will appreciate additional fertilizer during the season from either a compost tea or a combination of fish and seaweed emulsion. It is always a good idea to mulch generously with straw around the vines to keep moisture in and weeds away.

New roots develop from the stems of the sprawling vines wherever a leaf grows (at the leaf node). Lightly bury this area and mulch around it to encourage roots to grow in several places along the vines. The larger the root system, the more nutrients will be delivered to the fruits. Squashes need plenty of water to grow to their large size, so keep them watered throughout the season. If you have the space, any pumpkin or winter squash is definitely worth a try. If not, enjoy them at the farm stands and farmer’s market and grow summer squash, such as zucchini or patty pan instead.