permaculture

[rrandall1 <rrandall1@houston.rr.com>]

Marjory and Ken,

Most Maxima and Pepo species pumpkins do very, very poorly in the deep  
south. They are one of the few vegetables that with a couple of  
exceptions are a complete waste of time here in zone 9 Houston.  
Although your zone 8 may be a little less humid, the main diseases and  
vine borers that do them in in Houston are going to be a problem in  
most parts of Texas except the west and far north.

Two varieties--both difficult to get seeds for-- are the ones you  
should try. #1  Tatume.  This is disease and borer highly resistant.   
It bears heavily and can be eaten at the green stage or later as a  
melon sized yellow pumpkin. Do a web search for sources. Much larger.  
tan, and pear shaped  is the calabasa (sometimes called Seminole). Look  
for Florida sources for like ECHO SEED.

Bob Randall
On Monday, November 21, 2005, at 06:31  PM, Ken Heronheart wrote:

> On 11/21/05, Marjory Glowka <forestgarden@austin.rr.com> wrote:
> > Hello Everyone,
> >
> > Does anyone have any experience with growing pumpkins for thier seeds?
> > I've
> > ehard of a hullless variety of pumpkin called 'godiva' or something  
> > like
> > that. I was wondering if anyone knew much about it. I live in central
> > texas, zone 8 (-/+1), with a sandy loam soil. If you've grown the
> > pumpkins,
> > do you know much about yield? How many pouds of seeds per pumpkin?  
> > Easy to
> > grow? any particular bugs or disease to worry about? Varieites you  
> > would
> > recommend.
>
>
> I don't have any experience but am also planning to try growing some  
> of the
> hull-less ones next year. There appear to be a number of varieties  
> including
> Godiva, Triple-Threat and Snack Jack. Running a search on "hull-less  
> pumpkin
> order" brings up some sites to order from. I found the following at <
> http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1979_January_February/ 
> Lady_Godiva_Rides_Again_
> > :
>
> " four- to six-pound globes each year ... including the not-so-mature  
> or
> slightly spoiled pumpkins that go to our chickens after we've  
> plundered the
> seeds. (In case you're wondering, it takes about 20 of the fruits to  
> produce
> each pound of cleaned seed.)"
>
> --
> - Ken -
> Selling fine handmade masks and paper sculptures at <url:
> http://www.oakfire.com>
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