Pumpkins goad the imagination , from the 19th century mind of using them for jack - o’-lanterns to Cinderella and her mesmerised pumpkin carriage .
But along with folksy celebrations and fairy tales , Cucurbita pepo can help you to be more imaginative in the kitchen .
While most are familiar withpie pumpkins , there are many other delicious ways to savour thesemembers of the Cucurbitaceae family .
Photo by Rose Kennedy.
Muffins , flapcake , soups , stews , and even pumpkin lasagna are all tasty and fresh when you know the best varieties to grow for cooking .
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This garden veggie take in a lot of outer space , pee , and strong or spicy weather to produce . But the outcome – wow !
Photo by Rose Kennedy.
The best cooking cultivar are fresh , slow , and sweet , and produce enough anatomy for legion meal and batches of sunbaked goods .
When I grew an heirloom cheese autumn pumpkin of changeable origin a few days back , I was astonished that the flesh from the harvested and heal yield was fresh , moist , and even a trivial sugary .
It bore little resemblance to the tinny - tasting canned pumpkin I keep around the house so I could make the occasional loaf of pumpkin shekels .
I ended up steaming , crush , and freeze about 20 dry pint jar of that flesh , and using it for the next nine calendar month .
I cooked creamy soups using thawed pumpkin in position of my common butternut squash , add a few spoonful to Lycopersicon esculentum sauce to give them body and a tinge of sweetness , and added the moist puree to pancake batters .
This year , I ’ve study it into my straits to develop the blue - shelled ‘ Jarrahdale ’ cultivar with thick orange flesh . This eccentric herald from Australia and is named after a town in Western Australia .
These will take 95 days to grow , layer after stratum of mulch , and rich lachrymation throughout the summertime before produce multitudes of tasty eight to 10 - pound fruits .
I plan to make roasted vegetable medleys , velvety soups , savory stew , and tasty lolly with the fruits of this labor .
I ’ll probably use a couple of the gourd give rise by the vines as part of a doorstep musical arrangement for fall , but you wo n’t captivate me carving any of these heirloom intojack - o’-lanterns !
Carving would render the pulp uneatable , and I wo n’t waste a scrap of homegrown pumpkin that I could be cooking with .
If you ’re interested in learning your own pumpkins , we have a guide that will help you deliver the goods .
As for the best miscellanea to grow for cooking , you may follow my lead or choose from other heirloom and loanblend .
I ’ll describe 11 of the best for feeding , include one that ’s white-hot , a couple that are downright eldritch expect , and one that produces those handy hulless seed that are luscious and easy to gear up .
quick to put down the cutting tools and pick up a forking and knife to delight your homegrown pumpkin vine ?
Here ’s the list of tasty cookery Cucurbita pepo alternative I ’ll be share in a little more depth :
11 of the Best Pumpkin Cultivars to Grow for Cooking
The problematic part about grow these variety may be changing your mindset from , “ Wo n’t that look precious all cut up up or paint ! ” to , “ Ca n’t wait to rib and eat that ! ”
Oh , and you ’ll need to prefer which assortment to farm first . Unlike a great deal of garden favorites , these fruits are swelled and the vines require band of quad , nutrition , and urine , so you probably wo n’t be able to experiment with more than one or two varieties .
To make that option a footling easier for you , I ’ve selected 11 of the safe cultivars to grow for cooking .
1. Casper
You may not think of clean pumpkins as something to eat or else of displaying them as unique decorations , but ‘ Casper ’ has delicious sweet flesh .
‘ Casper ’
The 15 - lbf. fruits can be harvest 115 days after plant , and the deep orange flesh is tremendous for consumption in sweetheart that are sweet or savory .
‘ Casper ’ seeds areavailable from Eden Brothersin mailboat of various sizes .
2. Cherokee Bush
This choice is one of the few bush varieties you could grow at rest home , though it still need space since it can spread four to five feet .
‘ Cherokee Bush ’
The fruits are five to eight Syrian pound and the gold - yellow flesh is quite tasty roasted , used as a base for a cream soup , or pureed to tot to batter for pancakes or gem .
‘ Cherokee Bush ’ seeds in packets of 50 areavailable from Burpee .
3. Cinderella
Orange fruit about 15 inches across look like the far-famed fairy narrative carriage . They also require a relatively short period from lineal sowing to reap , about 110 daytime .
‘ Cinderella ’
That gives you a bit of supererogatory time to stock the freezer and rev up the canner for pumpkin savories from butter to soups to pickles .
‘ Cinderella ’ seeds are availablefrom Eden Brothers .
4. Cushaw Green-Striped
My darling first mother - in - law , Genevieve , let us keep the huge stash of quick-frozen ‘ Cushaw ’ cartons in the freezer when we moved into her South Knoxville house and she moved a couple of closure away .
I ’ve been fascinated with these creamy - fleshed wintertime crush ever since .
They ’re technically pumpkins , but you might not know that by looking at their curved necks and white and green stripy shells .
They grow to about 20 inches long , and creative decorators use them freely in harvest home - subject and Halloween interior decoration .
‘ Cushaw Green - Striped ’
But the flesh , now , that ’s Cucurbita pepo season all the style . With a lovely light color , it ’s seraphic and mild , tasty roasted , pureed for pies or custards , or steam to add to salad and such .
You ’ll necessitate to space these heirloom sprawlers at least four metrical foot apart in the garden , and they ’ll honour you for every bit of that space with a Brobdingnagian yield of sweet and sore cooking squash .
‘ Cushaw ’ seeds areavailable from Eden Brothersin various packet size .
Get tips on growing cushaw squash here .
5. Dill’s Atlantic Giant
If you ’re a lover ofthose “ prominent pumpkin ” contestsat your local county funfair , this might storm you :
In addition to being the variety of selection for agriculturist aspiring to blue medal and even human beings records ( a 1,500 - British pound sterling pumpkin ! ) , this giant also produces flesh that ’s respectable to eat up .
‘ Dill ’s Atlantic Giant ’ take 120 days from direct sowing to glean .
It would take inscription and age of feat to acquire one of the walloper that win state fair competitions . But you’re able to reasonably await a gourd or two that weighs up to 400 pounds from your ‘ Dill ’s Atlantic Giant ’ growing endeavour .
‘ Dill ’s Atlantic Giant ’
The vines do need lot of TLC to produce , specially since they take additional water system and nutrition to grow those immense babies , along with spacing at least eight fundament apart .
But the enormous pumpkins you may grow ( if you have the quad for the plant to sprawl ) can easily fill your freezer with thick orange , creamy , smooth puree and zesty soup , stews , and butter .
‘ Dill ’s Atlantic Giant ’ seeds are availablefrom Botanical Interests .
6. Fairytale
Another whimsical - but - practical heirloom , ‘ Fairytale ’ comes from the French and is mold like Cinderella ’s humble pumpkin - turn - overbearing - coach .
The fruits are about 15 pound when mature and the direct sow to glean clock time physical body is 125 daylight .
This longanimity will devote off for the dedicated home Captain James Cook , because the deeply lob yield has terrific dark orange frame that ’s dense and smooth , idealistic for cooking .
‘ fairy story ’
If you ’re really challenging ( I ’m not … ) there are even recipe where you bake the whole pumpkin or serve a soup or stew in the scale !
The flat , ribbed form of ‘ Fairytale ’ is a show-stopper at a dinner party or family Thanksgiving , and you’re able to have both look and taste with this one !
‘ fairy tale ’ seeds are useable in mail boat of various sizesfrom Eden Brothers .
7. Jarrahdale
I chose to grow this heirloom wangle cultivar from Australia because it produces matured fruits just 100 24-hour interval from direct sowing and is roll in the hay for its productivity .
Its outward-bound coming into court , with its laugh at drear - green matte shell and flatten out form , was just a incentive .
They look respectable in a autumn organisation and stack nicely , but I ’m most activated about the obtuse , heavy flesh .
It can be used for odoriferous pies and such , but it really stand out in spicy mantrap , due to the stringless physique that holds its body when roasted or featuring as an ingredient in a stew .
‘ Jarrahdale ’
‘ Jarrahdale ’ is also a great choice for its high temperature resistance in domain of the South and Southwest , but it ’s a - okay for northerly climates , too , as long as you have 100 days in your get season .
‘ Jarrahdale ’ is available in 25 - cum packetsfrom Burpee .
8. Musquee De Provence
These heirloom cooking pumpkins are from France , vintage 1899 . They produce sexually attractive house , gratifying orangish physical body that ’s quality eating in mellifluous or savory cup of tea .
It takes about 120 sidereal day from direct sowing for a harvest of 10 to 20 - pound fruit .
name for its musky smell and also recognise as ‘ Muscade de Provence , ’ the shell of this cheese character are ribbed and lob , a muted dark-brown - cryptical pink color , not the bright orange of your typical jack - o’-lantern .
‘ Musquee de Provence ’
But that ’s okay , you ’re going to need to cook – not carve – these winter squashes .
‘ Musquee de Provence ’ seed areavailable from Eden Brothers .
9. Pepitas
Grow these for in effect eating , but do n’t expect to use them in pies ! These loan-blend produce the hull - less or “ naked ” seeds that are so easy to slow up knock and love by the smattering .
The flesh , though , is thin and flavorless – not set for puree or laugh at .
‘ Pepitas ’
The mottled commons and gilt mature shells also make the nine to 10 - pound fruit serious for crepuscule grace , so they ’re still a two - for - one pumpkin selection for the garden .
They are modest but they still call for lots of space . The vine can overspread up to 13 foot during the grow cycle , which claim 100 days from planting to glean .
‘ Pepitas ’ seeds are availablefrom Walmart .
10. Red Warty Thing
C’m on , ‘ Red Warty Thing ’ ? That ’s this cultivar ’s name , and it ’s as exact as it is unmated .
This might be the lead among the many multifariousness to grow that are great to cook with , but not what you ’d depict as attractive . ( I ’d add that it is beautiful in an “ is n’t nature unmatched and grand ? ” way , though , for sure . )
It ’s an heirloom that ’s gaining popularity as a roadside fall display characteristic . The sunset - orange rind is hard and produce small bumps that look like , well , wart .
‘ Red Warty Thing ’
The tough rind is a challenge to remove , but once you do , you ’ll have British pound sterling after Sudanese pound of smooth , impenetrable , perfumed shape to cook , roast , muddle , or freeze .
Think of them as something cognate to Hubbard squashes , only openhanded and even funnier - looking .
you may hold a generous supply of flesh from just one fruit , since they typically reach 20 pounds .
And they’reeasy to storefor a few calendar month in a cool , dark place , due to that shellac - like cuticle .
‘ Red Warty Thing ’ seeds areavailable from True Leaf Marketin various packet sizes .
11. Rouge Vif d’Etampes
If you ’re still cogitate of Cucurbita pepo as being orange and round , here ’s an eye untier : this Gallic heirloom is categoric and rouge bolshy , hence the name .
‘ Rouge Vif d’Etampes ’
Also known as ‘ Red Etampes ’ in English - speaking market place , this smasher is almost the semblance of the crimson sky at morning that is the sailor boy ’s ancient and oft - reprize monition .
But face apart , its large , dense flesh is a mainstay ingredient in cozy , savoury autumn saucer , from roast soup to vegetable curry .
‘ Rouge Vif d’Etampes ’ seeds are usable in various packet sizesfrom Eden Brothers .
It’s the Great-to-Eat Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
The good pumpkin varieties for eating come in many size . The pocket-size ones , as you ’d carry , do n’t take as long to farm edible yield .
But even the short harvest time window I know of , for ‘ Pepitas , ’ is still 85 days .
The European and cheeseflower varieties all take at least 110 days to produce , and even bush ‘ Cherokee ’ with its five - pound fruit takes 100 to 110 day to harvest .
But I would encourage anyone who has the space to grow cookery pumpkins , even with the long lead time .
First of all , you will get a midseason treat when you reap and eat the blossoms clobber and fry or chopped into salad , just as you would for zucchini , or some other types of squash .
Justbe sure you ’re only picking the virile flower , which bloom at the destruction of a long thin angry walk , up until you ’re sure you have enough pollinated heyday that your craw is secure .
secondly , keep this in mind : even the diminished pumpkin make a wad of bod .
So if you ’re unforced to expect , you’re able to harvest as much fruitfrom one vine as you would from four or five ofanother multifariousness of winter squash , be that butternut , acorn , or one of the specialty squashes that are increasing in popularity in the garden .
Once you ’ve got this plushy supplying in the electric refrigerator or freezer , the cooking possibility are extensive .
you could start with recipe like Asiatic elan curry or pumpkin hummusfrom our sister site , Foodal , and also make the well - love pumpkin dish like pancakes or muffins .
Once you ’ve cracked the shell andcleared the seeds , you ’ll typically have enough frame to roast , puree , stew , and freeze from a single fruit .
And if you uprise ‘ Anethum graveolens ’s Atlantic ’ or another tasty giant , you ’ll get a whole time of year ’s worth of feed from a undivided fruit !
So just like Linus from “ Peanuts ” waiting in his patch for the Great Pumpkin , if you ’ve got the time , you may wait wonderful things from these abundant wintertime squash .
And if this roundup was helpful , check out theseguides to growing pumpkinsnext :
Photos by Rose Kennedy © inquire the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Cartesian product photos via Botanical Interests , Eden Brothers , truthful Leaf Market , and Walmart . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
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Rose Kennedy
