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Fall Decor Pumpkins/squash that are excellent eating

William Bronson

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posted 2 years ago

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Cy Cobb wrote:Is Golden Delicious different from Golden Hubbard? Is it a proprietary strain?

I think its a known variety but this producer Autum Seeds

has probably bred their own.
The article that led me to them mentions that they grow a lot of white pumpkins of a variety know as "Snow White", but their website mentions they grow their own special Hubbard's.

The place I was getting squash as marked them down to a dollar each, and I feed a church community on thanksgiving, so I will probably buy at least one of each that I can find, favoring the ones Pearl has mentioned.
Time to diversify my fat choices as well, butter ain't cheap!

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Cy Cobb

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posted 2 years ago

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Wow! What an operation! It looks like both pumpkin types & Hubbard types of the same color, possibly a blended strain that produces a mix of both?

I've never eaten pumpkin seeds, but I can't see why I wouldn't like them. In my seed saving ventures, I do come across some squash/pumpkins that I don't want to keep seeds from to grow, but they would be the perfect ones to roast up for eating.

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May Lotito

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posted 2 years ago

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I picked up several of these squashes people set outside after Halloween. They weighted 3-5 lbs, orange at the bottom and bronze on top with slight ribbing. Seed cavity was quite small and the seeds had thick coats like kabocha seeds. They were very sweet and smooth in texture except the rinds were too tough to be edible. Does anyone recognize the breed? Thanks!

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Cy Cobb

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posted 2 years ago

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May,

While I don't know the exact "breed" of your squash (primarily due to skin color changes as the pumpkin/squash ages outdoors, especially if there's been frost or freezing temps.) I can tell you it's a Cucurbita Maxima Species, of the heirloom pumpkin type. The skin colors typically range in color from a slate blue/gray, to pink, or even red/green two-tone (yours is unique). Despite skin color, they all have the good dry orange flesh in common, and are all good eating. I would definitely keep the seeds for future years. Good find!

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Pearl Sutton

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posted 2 years ago

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William Bronson: Asking about how many seeds in squash... I just cut a Blue Hubbard from my neighbor's decor You know you are a permie when....

It was maybe 12 pounds, and I got this many seeds out of it. The tray is an 8 inch fake pie pan, I get them from the recycle bins, excellent seed drying trays :D When the seeds are dry and you don't have time to label them etc, they stack. I have a tower in the kitchen right now of things to deal with...

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May Lotito

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posted 2 years ago

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I was gifted several fancy pumpkins this year, including a while Halloween pumpkin, a medium blue one and a mini baby boo. The white one turned mushy outside in freezing temperatures but the blue one remained solid. It looks like a Queensland blue but much smaller at 6 lbs.

In the picture there was a slice of the unknown maxima pumpkin. This one was the smallest at 3lbs and the rind was more orange.

I baked the baby boo and it tasted like a potato, btw.

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William Bronson

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posted 2 years ago

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I bought a bunch of squash and one thing that is probably a gourd.

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William Bronson

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posted 2 years ago

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So I baked about 50 pounds of squash tonight.
What did I learn ?
-When baking squash, don't add water to the pan.
Even when it browns up its not the same.
I thought about what I could do with it and settled on feeding the chickens
-Don't cut close to the rind, unless you like your squash to have a vegetal taste to it.
I kinda do, so I'm eating it, but I will be more careful going forward.
-Those things are tough, use a big knife and a chopping motion.
I was cooking at church, so I didn't have my cleaver
Time to make a sheath?

I got two huge trays of delicious butter roasted Hubbard squash to serve on Thursday.
I also have a tray of the "cheese" squash, that is...meh.
The texture is very firm and the color is good so it will probably become a pie.
The white pumpkin was the one I cut too close to the rind, and I'm eating that myself.
It ranks above the cheese but below the Hubbard, in terms of flavor.

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Richard Gorny

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posted 2 years ago

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In terms of preparing squash, if I do not collect seeds, I just put the whole thing into the oven for an hour. It saves so much effort, and your knives will thank you for that as well ;)

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Richard Gorny

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posted 2 years ago

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When I collect seeds, I cut squash in half, scoop up the seeds, then I put some spices and oil on it, and usually some potatoes, onion, garlic, etc. if I plan to make it into a soup. I place it in the owen, and after one hout it is ready either to cut into ready to eat slicec or cubes, or to blend into a creamy soup.

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baking winter squash filled with vegetables

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baking winter squash filled with potatoes

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Pearl Sutton

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The problem with baking them whole is sometimes it gets weird...

That was a mess to clean up! Spaghetti squash have tough skins, when they rupture they do it well :D

Richard Gorny

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I just punch spaghetti squash on top, making the way for the hot air to exit :) No explosions so far :)

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Pearl Sutton

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posted 2 years ago

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I guess I sort of have to take back my "Jack O Lantern pumpkins aren't worth eating" comment. For odd reasons I baked one. And YES it still tastes like cardboard! Wait... no, it tastes like nothing. Odd. Nothing. No sweet, no squashy flavor, not even watery. Just... nothing.

Which, with the odd things I have been doing to squash (I'll link the new thread I'm making on it when I get it done) means is kind of a tabla rasa, a blank slate that I can make taste like ANYTHING. I am known to do odd stuff to bland watermelons, and plain tofu, and end up with something interesting, and I'm going to play with this Jack O Lantern pumpkin that tastes like nothing.

Pearl Sutton

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My new threads on my squash experiments:

Concept cooking: Using squash to replace dairy

Non-dairy milk out of pumpkin seeds

William Bronson

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We ate all the Thanksgiving squash...and I missed it!
So I cooked my last Hubbard squash.
I was at home, so I used the cleaver, scooped out the seeds and roasted the bits with the skin on, no butter.
Came out great!
A staple food.

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Cy Cobb

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Well folks, I think it's time to revive this thread since the season is upon us. I've picked up a very large Illinois white cushaw (Mixta), a nice green hubbard, a flat white Boer, a Rouge Vif D' Etampes, and a few other Maximas. I even picked up a couple exceptionally long delicatas & an unusually large Sweet Dumpling to save seed from. One thing I've noticed this year is almost no Moschata have been in the bins, and the Maximas aren't cured at all, still fresh green stems, and the hubbards aren't bone hard yet. I've regretted passing on a few beautiful large ones, that on second thought I wished I'd grabbed, but I don't want to be greedy. Anyone else snag some?

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Pearl Sutton

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I'm eyeing them. I'm mostly seeing non-tasty decor ones so far, and turban and acorn, neither of which are on my buy list, they don't store well and I am not thrilled by their flavor. I'm also waiting for the prices to come down a bit, they are still at "first pumpkins of the year!" prices here. I like "We have got to get rid of these things" prices :D

Cy Cobb

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Pearl,

I got lucky one day, and the pumpkins rang up about half price of what the signage said, so I saved there. The next day, went back to try my luck again, but they fixed the pricing in the system. Last year, I figured out how to get a TON of pumpkins for seed & compost/fertilizer from a couple places. At that point, most were beginning to rot, but they were free, provided ample seed for future growing, & I had enough halves to completely cover my 16'x16' garden plot. I just let them decompose over winter, & by spring the only things that didn't decompose entirely were a few woody pepo stems & hard Hubbard shells. Now I just need to borrow a field somewhere to plant all the seeds I've got, lol.

Dirty hands + a sweaty handkerchief = hope for the future.

Pearl Sutton

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Now I just need to borrow a field somewhere to plant all the seeds I've got,

Hahahaha, I hear that! And I need to figure out how to eliminate the squash bugs...

Yeah, I have a neighbor who gets them for decor, I tell her which ones I want to snag early, and she calls me to get them after thanksgiving. The others she keeps till they annoy her by rotting, then calls me for them. They are excellent compost! And I got blue hubbards early from her last year! YAY!!

Oh! I had a few good hard shell halves left this spring, and I put the face down in the dirt near some shady plants and I have critters in them! Toads and lizards!

Michael Cox

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Nice to see this thread going again. I'm planning a pumpkin patch outing this weekend to buy a dozen or so.

I've seen the update to the first post. Those are 100% what I would call Queensland Blue. We grew some a couple of years ago from seeds my father brought back from Australia. He was desperate to grow them because they used to have them when he was a kid. The shape and colour is very distinctive. Lovely flavour.

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Cat Knight

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I just want to say that if you grow the small ornamentals and they don't sell as decor many of them are good as animal feed if they aren't ones humans find tasty.

We have personally fed Cinderella pumpkins (the fist size white ones) to chickens and sugar gliders. (The gliders are legally owned pets in our area.)

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Almond Thompson

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posted 1 year ago

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bee haw you guys! What an awesome thread! I've been fanatical about squash this year. What are the pink pumpkins called?

Pearl Sutton

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posted 1 year ago

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If you mean the pinkish ones in my pictures, I don't know.
:D

May Lotito

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posted 1 year ago

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The grocery store had a bin of assorted pumpkins for the same price so I picked the biggest one for the sheer mass. If it's not good tasting I can always feed it to the chickens or soil dwellers.
It's a porcelain doll I guess.

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Carla Burke

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posted 1 year ago

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Pearl, on the way into the store, this evening, they had those huge cardboard boxes full of mixed ones, and you were the first person I thought of:"hmmm, which ones did she recommend, again...

" Funny thing is, it's that way every year, now. 🤣

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Pearl Sutton

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posted 1 year ago

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May: I also picked up that type for the sheer mass. I think they are related to the Queensland Blue, maybe crossbreeds. They feel the same, the density per size etc. Haven't cut one yet, got two that I could barely carry into the house :D
Found a second hand store with a pile of pumpkins out front for 2.00 each, I have, at this point, 5 smaller definite Queensland Blues, may go back for more.

Carla: That's why I made this thread with easy to see pictures on your phone!! :D Pull up this thread on your phone, and stare at pumpkin bins :D

Trish Davis

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posted 1 year ago

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This spring I grabbed a bunch of saved seeds and also a few purchased seeds and threw them in the ground on a weedy and useless steep hill in my back yard. This is what I ended up with (plus many more I gave to neighbors and friends for decorations or chicken food). Some of these aren’t anything close to the “parent” that the seeds came out of, which is exciting and fun. Some will undoubtedly be good eating. And nothing beats this much free fall decor! 😁

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front porch decorated with a variety of winter squash

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Almond Thompson

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posted 1 year ago

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Cy: how did your Rouge Vif D' Etampes cook up? I tried one and was not partial to it at all

George Booth

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Question for those who have grown varieties mentioned in this thread. What varieties are the most resistant to specifically powdery mildew, squash vine borers, and pickle bugs? I've tried growing Kabocha in the past and they got wiped out by borers and powdery mildew as well. This season I'm giving Honeynut a try and so far so good, if it works out I'll be looking into other varieties I can get away with growing here in Hawaii.

Pearl Sutton

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posted 11 months ago

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Bump bump bump this thread!! Go look and see if you can get squash!! It's that time!1

I went out yesterday and bought Blue Hubbards and Candy Roasters. I'm not sure why, but there are VERY FEW squash around here this year in bulk/cheap bins, and I had to check several places before I found some I wanted.
Save this thread on your phone, when you are at the store, look at the pictures in the first post or two, those are some of the ones I KNOW are good eating. They are an excellent place to start! Don't forget about the companion thread to this one Cooking Fall Decor pumpkins/squash I tell you how to basically cook one, and people give neat ideas and recipes for them.

Do it now!!! They are in season!!
:D

Deedee Dezso

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posted 8 months ago

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Mike Barkley wrote:Here's a pic of one of the pumpkrackens. Was a mild pumpkin flavor with a lot of flesh. Made an excellent soup. Seed cavity was mostly hollow with only a small amount of stringy pith that wasn't gooey like many pumpkins are. I use an old canning lid to clear the seed cavity. Works very well.

Hey Mike- what happened with those seeds ? Sorry, I'm only just catching up on permies threads after a couple years of barely reading emails. I hope you kept some to plant again.
If they were a strange Galeux d' Eysines cross, they are definitely in the maxima tribe. I'm still interested in getting seeds...

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Mike Barkley

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posted 8 months ago

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haha I keep seeds from almost everything. I'll be sorting through pumpkin seeds soon for some guerilla garden adventures. Will keep an eye out for those.

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Suzette Thib

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posted 5 months ago

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Almond Thompson wrote:Cy: how did your Rouge Vif D' Etampes cook up? I tried one and was not partial to it at all

I really loved our Rouge Vif D'Etampes! But the Jarrahdale were so terrible, like cardboard. Maybe it just depends on how they were grown? We got the pumpkins after Halloween and they were all $1.99 each - less than a packet of seeds! And we still have some pumpkin in the freezer, seven months later. Yum!

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Pearl Sutton

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