Cucurbita pepo.
The orange icon of North American autumn, carved into grimacing faces since the waves of Irish immigration of the 19th century. The tradition comes from an old Celtic legend — Stingy Jack, a scoundrel who had tricked the devil more than once and found himself, on his death, condemned to wander between the worlds with only an ember slipped into a hollowed-out turnip for light.
Round, squat fruit of 4 to 7 kg, with smooth bright orange skin, deeply ribbed — exactly the format and shape you visualize when you think "pumpkin." Thick, sturdy stem that makes a natural handle for carrying. Moderately thick orange flesh, lightly fibrous — the variety has been selected more for carving than for cooking, but it remains entirely edible: in velouté soup, puréed for pie (a little more reduction and sugar than for dense-flesh varieties), or in oven-roasted cubes.
Above all, don't throw away the seeds — toasted in the oven with salt, they're the traditional accompaniment to carving evenings.
Grower's tip: 100 to 110 days is long for Québec, and the goal is to have fully orange-ripe fruits before the first October frosts. Indoor start 3 to 4 weeks before transplanting (no more — cucurbits hate long stays in a pot), or direct-sow late May / early June once the soil is well warmed. For well-round and symmetrical pumpkins, turn the fruits a quarter-turn each week as they grow — otherwise they flatten on the side touching the ground. Harvest before the first serious frost, when the skin is hard and no longer marks under the fingernail, keeping 8 to 10 cm of stem.
- Open-pollinated. Stable variety. Monoecious, bee-pollinated: crosses with other Cucurbita pepo (zucchini, spaghetti squash, acorn squash) — isolate for seed saving.
- Vine length: 3 to 4 m. Plan the space.
- Maturity: 100 to 110 days after transplant.
- Exposure: full sun.
- Rich, deep soil, heavy with organic matter. Space plants 1.5 m apart in all directions, or grow in mounds.
- Indoor start 3 to 4 weeks before last frost, or direct-sow in a mound in early June once the soil is at 18 °C minimum.
