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Squash the blues with patch of field pumpkins

This year has been a difficult year for many people. We all struggled to maintain our social distance from the coronavirus and keep food on our tables due to the shortages.

I planned early and had seeds on hand to put in a good garden to help fill my pantry. One of my staples is to plant pumpkins.

In the early spring, about two weeks before the last projected frost, I planted a variety of pumpkin and gourd seeds I had on hand in small pots. After the danger of frost passed, the pumpkins were transferred to my garden.

Some of the seeds I had purchased and some were passed to me to try. We usually plant typical Connecticut field pumpkins. These can get big and weigh about 20 pounds. They are sometimes used as jack-o’-lanterns. These may also be used to bake pies and breads. They may be canned for later use.

They also take a lot of space in the garden and on our shelves.

A typical big old jack-o’-lantern pumpkin will have stringy, bland flesh. Choosing to plant a pie type pumpkin will make a sweeter and creamy smooth pie filling.

Pumpkins for eating can be planted at any time as long as they will mature before the first frost in fall. Jack-o’-lantern seeds should be planted in the ground around June 15 if you want something to carve.

This year I decided to grow some smaller edible pumpkins as well. One of these that did well was called an orange cutie hybrid mini-pumpkin. They mature in 95 days, yielding a 2- to 4-pound pumpkin that is about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. They are bright orange with orange cream streaks. They are a bush type vine that may even climb nearby fencing. We harvested more than 40 of these small pumpkins from our 10-by-10-foot patch.

I asked my wife to bake some of these cuties up and make pies. It took one small pumpkin to make a pie. The flesh is sweet and fine grained, making great pies.

We also made bread and shared some pumpkins with our neighbors. One pumpkin equals one pie, which equals lots of happy social distanced neighbors.

I also planted a squash variety called a flame hybrid. This is an ornamental squash that is yellow with orange stripes about 4 inches in diameter, also having deep ribs. I decided to keep these for decoration. They may also be served up as a tasty winter squash when baked. The flame squash are also very tolerant to powdery mildew.

I also planted four other ornamental pumpkin and squash varieties just for our fall decorating. Some had lumps and bumps while others added some different patterns to the neighborhood.

Overall, my shelter-in-place experience in the pumpkin patch during this difficult year was very rewarding. How can I not have a positive outlook as I eat that tasty slice of pie my wonderful wife has baked for me to enjoy?

By the way, I saved some seeds and plan to plant only edible varieties next year. Pumpkins and squash can be kept well into winter in a cool location.

For growing tips and variety selection, go to http://go.osu.edu/pumpkinsquash.

Eister is an Ohio State University Mahoning County Extension Master Gardener volunteer.

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