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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] off topic--pumpkins squash

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  • From: Road's End Farm <organic87@frontiernet.net>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] off topic--pumpkins squash
  • Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2010 10:31:55 -0400


On Apr 9, 2010, at 9:26 AM, Dale Burkholder wrote:

Winter Luxury.
The best. Small pumpkins, maybe 5 lb., with good smooth texture and excellent flavor. We made pies with about 6 kinds of pumpkins/squash last year and the clear winner was Winter Luxury. 95 day maturity - can you work with that? Some of the moschata types are also very good. Of course, stay away from the nice looking big Halloween type things; the Red Deliciouses of the pumpkin world. I must admit, we haven't grown butternut squash yet.

Dale Burkholder
Shenandoah Valley, VA
zone 6b

I grew Winter Luxury one year and found it nice textured, but extremely bland, with almost no flavor. Maybe it depends on where you grow it. I find New England Pie pumpkin is better in flavor, but not as good as most squash.

I second (third? fourth?) butternut squash, and add Hubbard, if you can get it ripe: the best pies I've ever had were made from New England Blue Hubbard squash, but that's probably (and some strains of butternut may be) too long season for you. Buttercup squash also makes a very nice pie. If you have squash bugs, hubbard and buttercup varieties are likely to be harder to grow.

Fisher's Seeds, in Montana, specializes in short season varieties: you might try their Mountaineer. They're not online, but are a very nice little company; a number of their varieties are of their own breeding:

Fisher's Seeds
PO Box 236
Belgrade, Montana 59714
406-388-6052

Whatever varieties you try, start them from transplant, about three weeks before your soil / weather is warm enough to plant them out. That will speed things up significantly. Don't disturb the roots -- plant them in divided packs or maybe soil blocks, not in the kind of pack from which you have to separate the plants when planting out; and handle them carefully to minimize root disturbance.


-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale






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