A NEW IDEA IN PUMPKIN CARVING

CARVE YOUR NAME IN YOUR FAVORITE PUMPKIN WHILE GROWING IN YOUR PUMPKIN PATCH

I found this unique idea on pumpkin carving.  To start you need a pumpkin plant growing in your yard.  Either buy seeds and plant them according to instructions or bury your rotting pumpkin in the late fall in a convient spacious area of your yard, prefably in full sun.   When the fruit is still green, before it turns orange, carve your name of choice in the pumpkin.  As it ripens it will heal over with a tanish colored hard shell.  The wider the carve the more visible the name. Too late for this year but remember to bury your pumpkin in late fall for next year.  Bury gourds too, they are a lot of fun, no one gourd grows the same.

IS THERE A LIST THAT NAMES ALL THE PUMPKINS?

HARDSHELL GOURD - Lagenaria siceraria

Genus name from Greek lagenos (vase or jar) is in reference to fruit shape

.http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=E452

These gourds have smooth, light green skin when young, but matures to yellow or light brown. Many gourds are edible (like zucchini) when young, but some varieties are bitter and inedible. Inner white pulp dries when fruits mature, leaving a hard shell with very little else inside except the seeds. The hard shells of mature fruits are waterproof, and they can be dried and used for a variety of different non-food purposes including containers , floats , smoking pipes, musical instruments or ornamental decoration.

 'Bule'

'Bird house Gourd'

'Mayo Blue Warted'

'Appalachin'

'Speckled Swan'

'Caveman's Club' ('Maranka')

 'Big Apple'

'Siphons'

IS THERE A LIST THAT NAMES ALL THE PUMPKINS?

WINTER SQUASH - Cucurbita argyrosperma

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=E454

Hard corky stems come in a variety of sizes often with elongated thick necks and with soft green or white or combination of green/white skin.

'Tricolor Cushaw'

'Gold Striped' (Sand Hill's)

'Green Strip Cushaw'

'Black Tennessee Sweet Potato'

IS THERE A LIST THAT NAMES ALL THE PUMPKINS?

WINTER SQUASH - Cucurbita moschata

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=E451

Varieties in this group are usually long and oblong instead of round and have tan skin. The stems are deeply ridged and enlarged next to the fruit. This group is used for much of the canned pumpkin sold in this country. Other non-pumpkin members include the squash-like cushaw, winter crookneck squash and butternut squash.

'Chirimen'

'Neck Pumkin' 

'Fairytale' 

'Long Island Cheese' 

'Blue Magic' 

'Dickinson' 

'Cow' 

'Avalon Butternut'

IS THERE A LIST THAT NAMES ALL THE PUMPKINS?

More SUMMER SQUASH - Cucurbita pepo

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=A686

The group also includes gourds, vegetable marrow, Pattypan summer squash, scallop summer squash, gray and black zucchini and summer crookneck squash. Their stems are hard, woody and distinctly furrowed. And yes, even gourd types can be edible.

'Japanese Nest Egg' 

'Li'l Pump-ke-mon' 

'Autumn Wings' 

'Autumn Queen'

'Sugar Loaf'

'Festival'

'Yugoslavian Finger'

'Summer Crookneck'

'White Scallop Rattle' 

'Sacred Indian Rattle'

'Vegetable Spaghetti'

'Sunburst'

'Delicata'

'Dancing Gourd'

'Benning's Green Tint'

'Cotton Candy'

'Dinosaur Egg'

'Lemon'

'Carnival'

IS THERE A LIST THAT NAMES ALL THE PUMPKINS?

 TRUE PUMPKIN - SUMMER SQUASH Cucurbita pepo

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=A686

The pepo species is where you will recognize the true pumpkin. These varieties within this group have bright orange skin and prickly hard, woody and distinctly furrowed stems.

 But the group also includes gourds, vegetable marrow, Pattypan summer squash, scallop summer squash, gray and black zucchini and summer crookneck squash,  Their pictures and names I wlll feature in my next post.

'Baby Pam' 

"Peek-a-boo' 

'Big-Red California Sugar' 

'Orange Smoothie'

'Triple Treat'

'Connecticut Field'

'Bumpkin'

'Aladdin'

'Autumn King'

'Trax Field'

'Sweet Dumpling'