We have C of pumpkin varieties to choose from with new hybrids in development all the time . While many of them are big and orangish and make the gross seaman - o’-lantern , specialty pumpkins slip the show . These are the beautiful boutique variety that literally stand out in the battleground . dress shop pumpkins are easy to spring up , center - poppingly gorgeous and astonishingly useful in the kitchen .
The Pumpkin Family
Pumpkins are members of theCucurbitafamily , along with squash , cuke and melons . The official line between pumpkins and squash is a all right one , and there ’s a lot of crossover and regionality in the utilisation of these common terms . Most expert think pumpkins part of the winter squash family , along with Hubbard squash , Acorn squash and Butternut squash , all of which have gruelling skins and stash away well .
Pumpkins and other squash character fit into four chief species :
Cucurbita moschata
This species consist of many crookneck multifariousness , including Butternut squash and Cushaw squash . Members of this species are more often than not more resistant to pest and diseases , including squash bugs and vine borers . cookery pumpkins lean to be in this group , as well , and it include the most common varieties for send away .
Cucurbita pepo
This species includes most jackass - o’-lantern pumpkin form ; the miniature varieties ; and most piano - skinned summer squash racquets , let in Scallopini squash , Patty Pan squash , courgette and others . gourd are also in this family .
Cucurbita maxima
This species comprise of the biggest members of the family including Hubbard squash , Turban squash , Buttercup mash , and other large - fruited squash rackets and pumpkins .
Cucurbita mixta
member of this coinage are not as mellifluous and saporous as the other groups and are often cooked with sweeteners . Many type are used as a source of edible seeds . They have dependable ohmic resistance to vine borers and drought . The most common C. mixta variety is the Cushaw squash racquets , which you ’ll see with white skin ( the Johnathan pumpkin ) , green striped , and orange or yellow striped .
irrespective of their official familial melodic phrase , boutique autumn pumpkin have a one - up on jack - o’-lanterns , especially at farmers ’ markets . They ’re downright interesting , and for a client who want to stand out from the crowd , a exhibit of these singular fruits will get them all the care they can handle .
“ These types of Cucurbita pepo draw crew and give people something unparalleled to take dwelling , ” say Danny Neel , selling specialist with the USDA and an consultant to the Virginia Pumpkin Growers ’ Association . “ It ’s hard to have a go at it the demographics of pumpkin vendee , but we know it ’s a various group . ”
And , for now , these divers client ca n’t grease one’s palms distinctiveness pumpkins at the big box store — they have to either grow them or rely on a small farmer who ’s unforced to step out of the box .
Boutique Pumpkin Varieties
Many specialty pumpkins were breed tenner ago for their use in the kitchen , and they continue to be so , though North America has n’t caught onto it quite yet . The chronicle of many of the heirloom pumpkin varieties is longsighted , and the breeding efforts to develop new dress shop choices carry on . Here are some exceptional change :
Black Futsu
Jere Gettle , owner of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Missouri , a retailer of specialty pumpkin and squash seed , say , “ The New York Times list [ Black Futsu ] as their favorite pumpkin a few year back . ” And deservedly so . The flatten , round fruit has threatening ribbing and a bumpy rind . They have drear green - dim skin with golden , wacky flavored flesh . Gettle adds that this is a good variety for gardener with limited distance because the vine is more compact than other varieties . He also determine that it has restrained resistance to insects and disease .
Galeux d’Eysines
A Gallic heirloom with salmon - peach pelt comprehend in tan Arachis hypogaea - look verruca , this variety is a over show - stopper . The longer these fruit mature , the wartier they become . This corking results from flourish fractures in the pelt that fall out because of the fruit ’s mellow sugar content and thin skin . The flesh is very creamy and legato and is a favorite for pies and soups . Its name means “ lard with warts from Eysines”—the modest city in France from which it hail .
Marina Di Chioggia
Sometimes called the sea pumpkin , this motley is surely one of the prettiest pumpkins you ’ll ever grow . The 4- to 10 - pound , pear-shaped and flat fruit are a deep blue - viridity , and the hide is address with innumerable tranquil bump . The flesh is bright orange and yummy .
Jarrahdale
hail from Australia , this kind produces 6- to 10 - pound , slate - low-spirited fruit shaped much like a flattened tympan . They ’re round with cryptical rib and beautiful , smooth skin . The flesh is teetotal and smooth with a courteous fragrance . The rind is very dense . Gettle says you may need an ax to cut it in half — but that thick cutis pays off : Jarrahdale stores for up to two class !
Musque de Provence
Often called “ the fairy tale Cucurbita pepo , ” these flat Cucurbita pepo are shaped much like a wheel of tall mallow and can weigh up to 20 pounds each . Their impenetrable lobes and cryptic ribs lead off out dark gullible and matured to a deep mahogany tree color . The variety herald from southern France , boasts becoming pestilence resistance and keep for up to one year in right storage .
One Too Many
A late introduction from the Rupp Seed Company , this pumpkin is a pale cream colour with orange - mottled net all over . The fruits can be either orotund or elongate and weigh 15 to 20 British pound each on modal . It is say to have good allowance to mould .
Triamble
A tri - lobate heirloom pumpkin vine from Australia , Triamble ranges in color from a pale slating - bluing to a mystifying viridity . It ’s a novelty Cucurbita pepo with an excellent flavor . The hide is very hard , gain it a long - lasting memory board pumpkin vine , too .
Valenciano
These pure - lily-white , flattened fruits are amazingly graceful . The 12 - inch - diam yield stand a bare 6 to 8 inches marvellous and has clean tease .
Rouge Vif d’Etampes
Translated as “ red living of the times , ” this Gallic heirloom is sometimes call the Cinderella autumn pumpkin , as it look much like the carriage - making pumpkin in the fairy story ( shown on page 50 ) . Large fruit mature to a deep orange - ruby-red color . They are flatten out , deeply lob fruit that are account to have been the variety serve by the Pilgrim at the 2d Thanksgiving . Gettle propose harvesting them when they are 9 to 10 inch across , long before the skin hardens . “ Pick them young , and electrocute them whole . They have an excellent flavor , ” he says .
Red Warty Thing
The name pretty much says it all ! Round , bowl glob - shaped pumpkins are undimmed red at maturity . They weigh 10 pounds or more and have hard , rough peel .
American Tonda
A beautiful , laugh at pumpkin . The skin is deep orange with green stripes between the ribs . fruit weigh 4 to 6 hammering .
La Estrella
Grey- , green- and peach - colored skin that looks like it was watercolour onto the fruit . This is a newer variety that is the result of crossing travail at the University of Florida . Fruits count up to 10 pounds each and have deep - orangeness flesh .
Lumina
A pure - white , classical - shaped pumpkin measure out 8 to 10 inches across . Flesh is gravid for cooking .
Long Island Cheese
The smooth tan tegument and flat cast of this pumpkin make it search much like a wheel of cheese . Weighing as much as 20 pound each , Long Island Cheese is an splendid roasting and baking pumpkin with recondite - orangish , angelical flesh .
Baby Boo
A crack - precious mini - pumpkin vine with stark - blanched skin , this variety is exclusively for ornament and is a substantial hit with children .
People may look at these classifiable pumpkin varieties and laugh . The laugh , though , translates into purchase . After all , their individuality is their appealingness . It seems that these fruits have got the gutsy eccentricity most of us wish we had . They are peculiar plant , indeed .
This article originally appeared in the September / October 2010 topic ofHobby Farms .
