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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] pie pumpkins

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  • From: "Bill Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT inil.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] pie pumpkins
  • Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 09:10:39 -0500

Pie pumpkin is a term that gets applied to small pumpkins in the industry
and many of these cultivars were not bred for the highest quality for pie
making. They just have that cute small jack o'lantern look that consumers
like, and growers usually call pie pumpkin. Illinois grows the bulk of the
nation's pumpkins for canning (Libbys/Nestles/others). I've had the
opportunity to work with the industry a bit during my career. I can vouch
that the pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin that goes in the can with the Libbys Libbys
Libbys label is not a jack o'lantern pumpkin. It's not even the same species
of pumpkin. It's a Cucurbita moschata pumpkin, closely related to butternut
squash, with the same-colored smooth skin and an oblong shape, like a
football without the points on the end. A couple of oldtime varieties that
are like this are Dickinson Field and Kentucky Field. A newer cultivar that
is smaller and very true to the type is Buckskin. I'm not sure who carries
it but I'd guess it wouldn't take too many searches in seed catalogues to
find it. The small jack o'lanterns called pie pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo) are
great ornamentals but I'm not sure you'll get as good a pie. But, then maybe
you could make a pie out of butternut squash. That doesn't sound half-bad
too me.

Bill Shoemaker
Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
Univ of Illinois - St Charles Hort Research Center


>Regards to the list:
>
>I ran across some Touch of Autumn pumpkins. They're small with
>black-looking stems. Does anyone know if these are good for eating? I
>want to plant a good pie pumpkin next year - does anyone have
>suggestions?
>
>Marie in Missouri
>
>
>
>
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