Pumpkins bring joy – just place the little, white variety called ‘Baby Boo’ in the hands of a small child and watch their eyes light up. When they are a few years older, pass them a bright-orange pumpkin such as ‘Sankt Martin’ that weighs about the same as a newborn baby, and they will often hug and cuddle it.
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Being American, I have always loved pumpkins, gourds, ornamental corn and anything from the garden that Americans associate with late-summer harvests and Halloween. I now garden in Mantua, in perhaps the most famous pumpkin province of Italy, and grow oddities nobody else in the area knows about – I figure there’s no need to grow the same delicious edible pumpkins Italians already do, so have specialised in ornamental gourds, most small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.
Jump to
My vegetable garden is only 20m x 22m and almost half of it is shaded by four walnut trees that I don’t have the heart to cut down, so I have to grow vertically on bamboo sticks and trellises. I grow popcorn, sunflowers, heirloom beans, amaranth, zinnias, shiso and a few different species of Ipomoea to create a bit of a jungle scene. Castor oil plants in deep reds and dark green add height, colour and botanical interest. But it is really the pumpkins that rule here. The whole space is dominated by a gourd tunnel, which runs down the middle of the garden, shading a brick walk and dividing my ten vegetable beds into two rows of five.
I’ve tried growing many kinds of Cucurbitaceae (plants from the gourd family), including the sweet-smelling, tennis-ball sized Queen Anne’s pocket melon (Cucumis melo), luffa (Luffa aegyptiaca), kiwano (Cucumis metuliferus) and cucamelons, also known as mouse melons (Melothria scabra). Any of the prickly cucumbers (Cucumis hirsutus, Cucumis dipsaceus, Cucumis myriocarpus, Cucumis africanus) make a great trellis cover and can also be grown in large pots on a balcony.
Every year I try about ten new cultivars from seeds. I love different shades of orange, but the garden is more interesting with some little black-and-white pumpkins, peachy pink ones covered in warts, bright-yellow carving pumpkins and lime-green gourds too. Some dry well and can be made into mini birdhouses or bowls.
The more you cultivate specific plants, the more you appreciate small details that are rarely mentioned in seed catalogues or websites. The most amazing but under- celebrated feature of cucurbits for me is the geometric perfection and strength of their tendrils. How quickly they grip on to whatever stick or support is near them and then coil up into a spring, twisting in two directions from the centre toward the extremities. They really know how to hold on. Tug at one, and its resilience will surprise you.
The flowers of many cucurbits are edible, but some are simply too beautiful to eat. Those of the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) have five petals with rounded tips. As night falls, its crinkled, tissue-paper buds open into translucent white blooms that last until early morning, more fragrant than the sweetest melon.
Of the 15 or so cucurbit varieties I grow, my favourite for flowers appears in my pumpkin tunnel in August, poking out on stems from vines of the snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina). They look like small, pure-white passion flowers.
The garden is more interesting with little black-and-white pumpkins, peachy-pink ones covered in warts, bright- yellow carving pumpkins and lime-green gourds too.
By September, its fruits dangle down from the trellis like curly green serpents, ever-so-slightly fuzzy. There is nothing there to eat, but they are a treat for the fingers, a delight for the eyes and a surprise for the nose.
Garden visitors take a whiff but seldom guess what those corkscrew fruits smell like until I suggest roasted peanuts, to which they usually laugh and agree – “Exactly, that’s it!” The fruits brighten as they mature to orange and then red, which is when their seeds are viable – and worth collecting, as they come true year after year.
By the end of October, if left on the vine, they will start to turn slimy, but nothing goes to waste in my garden. Guests eat all the sweet pumpkins I grow and my goats, peacocks and chickens get the rest. If any gourds go squishy instead of drying, they are added to the compost, and I can recommend miniature goats as the ideal power tool for clearing an abandoned winter pumpkin patch.
Tips for growing gourds, pumpkins and cucurbits
To grow cucurbits, you should consider what they want, first. They need a lot of sun, rich soil, water and a bit of wind to thrive. The biggest and best pumpkins are always those that grow out of control from a compost heap or near a chicken coop.
Here's our guide on growing pumpkins and squashes
How to plant pumpkin seeds
Plant indoor-sown seedlings out or sow seeds direct outside when there is absolutely no danger of frost – for me, this is mid- to late April at the earliest, when the soil is likely to have warmed up. To slightly lower the chances of seeds rotting, I sow them standing up on their sides, not flat on their backs.
When fruits appear and start to weigh more than it seems their vines can bear, provide support that allows water, light, and air to get to them: I use repurposed nets from supermarket lemons or make little swings for them to sit on, which encourages flat bottoms.
When to harvest gourds
Pumpkins and decorative gourds should be ready to harvest in late summer to early autumn. They need a week to ten days in the late summer sun to cure, and they can then be moved indoors to a safe location.
Try to prevent rainwater from collecting at the base of the stems after they have been cut from the vine. Curing them on their sides and rolling them every few days can be helpful.
How to store
Store fruit in a cool, well-ventilated room, and it’s incredible how long some will last. I don’t varnish my gourds but if mould starts to form on the surface in autumn or winter, I wipe them with a cloth dampened with diluted bleach.
How to carve pumpkins
Carved pumpkins don’t last long. Mould can begin to form in just a few days, and they attract fruit flies quickly. If you would like to make Jack-o-lanterns for Halloween, plan the carving as a day-before activity.
A carving tip for beginners: when cutting the tops off pumpkins, always insert your knife at an angle so the lid doesn’t drop into the empty space you hollow out.
Here's what to do with pumpkin innards
Intriguing pumpkin and gourd varieties
1. 'Lunch Lady’
A large, bitter gourd, covered in warts. Vines are strong enough to hold the 2-9kg fruits.
2. ‘Bule’
A gourd, pronounced ‘boo-lay’. French heirloom gourd like a green warty apple. A vigorous climber with exquisite white flowers. Dry to create large rattles.
3. ‘Moon Beam’ F1
My favourite white pumpkin, excellent for carving, with strong stems. Long lasting. Averaging 3-4kg in weight, it is a slightly smaller version of ‘Honey Moon’. When you’re looking to buy seeds, keep the two words separate, as Moonbeam is a saucer- shaped, scalloped, F1 white patty pan summer squash.
4. Cucurbita argyrosperma
The silver seed gourd, or Cushaw green-striped squash, is a Mexican winter squash. Its name is no lie; the seeds are lined with silver. It’s the only pumpkin I know that’s cultivated for its edible flowers, seeds and vine shoots, rather than its bitter flesh, which I give to my goats.
5. ‘Warts Galore’
Some of these gourds can be nearly black. They make fantastic Halloween decorations. Add pipe-cleaner legs and big googly eyes and you have a spider; add wings and hang from their stems, and you have bats. Great fun for kids who aren’t ready for carving.
6. ‘Galeuse D’Eysines’
The fruit of this French heirloom squash cultivar weighs 4.5-7kg and is often grown more for its peanutty bumps than the flavour of its flesh. The blisters are actually concentrations of sugars that come to the surface as it matures. It’s sweet, but the flesh too soft and watery – better for soup than pies.
7. ‘Chicago Warted Hubbard’
This dark-green winter squash is as sweet and delicious as it is ugly. Golden flesh excellent for baking. Fruits weigh 6kg on average.
8. ‘Pomme d’Or’
Slightly larger than tennis balls, these pumpkins grow very well vertically and are perfect for children to draw and paint on. One plant can produce ten or more fruits. They last for months in cool, dry storage.
9. ‘Casperita’
Slightly larger pumpkin than ‘Baby Boo’ but still fits in one hand. It is just large enough when carved to hold a little tea light.
10. 'Crown of Thorns’
Made to hold – there’s nothing more oddly satisfying for the fingers than wrapping them around the bumps of this ornamental gourd – one finger between each ridge. You have to try it to see
how good it feels.
11. ‘Violina Di Rugosa’
An Italian heirloom pumpkin, a sort of wrinkled butternut that is hard to beat for taste and quality. The bumpier it is, the more tricky peeling can be, but baking and then peeling is always an option, and the entire neck and most of the body is flesh (not an empty cavity full of strings and seeds).
12. ‘Beretta Piacentina’
The Italian provinces of Mantua and Piacenza both claim this heirloom pumpkin as their own because it is one of the best for baking. It is slowly being replaced by the F1 cultivar ‘Delica’, which is dark green, smaller, always sweet and easier to peel. Slice this very thin, fry until golden brown, sprinkle with salt, and you might agree with me: it is pumpkin perfection.
Useful information
Clark Lawrence runs Reading Retreats in Rural Italy, taking care of his guests, garden and goats at a restored pump house near Mantua, Italy. lamacchinafissa.com