Cucurbits
Cucurbita-You say pumpkin. I’ll say squash. You take the high road and I’ll take the low road. We’ll both be right. It seems in the United States, pumpkin is a kind of squash-in Australia, pumpkin applies to any squash. We deem pumpkins, of the jack-o-lantern shaped varieties, a squash. It is a common vegetable eaten in New Zealand and Australia, in their soups, salads, stews, ravioli, and mashed with sauted onions. Now, not only is the pumpkin a squash, but they are actually classified as fruits. Other fruits mistaken for vegetables are tomatoes, cucumbers (a cucurbita), pepper, gourds, avocado.
The Cucurbitaceae family has the most species used as human food. Within this family, the genus Cucurbita is the most important. Five of its species have been domesticated in the New World and cultivated for thousands of years by American peoples. The main ones I was interested in learning about is the difference between, both Cucurbita moschata, Calabaza and Seminole squash/pumpkins, winter squashes. There are summer squashes, harvested while the skins are still soft and fruits are small. They are consumed immediately and require little or no cooking. Winter squashes, are harvested at the end of summer, cured to further harden their skins, stored to eat later, requiring a longer cooking time. Squash is native to North America and considered one of the “three sisters” cultivated by the American Indians. They taught the pilgrims to plant corn, then, let the beans grow up the stalks for support, and planted the squash/pumpkins on the ground to be shaded by the cornstalk. These vines provided ground cover to keep out the weeds. And don’t forget that the Indians planted fish under the seeds to fertilize the plant.
Growing a Northern pumpkin is difficult in our soil and climate. Sensitive to nematodes, they like our warm weather because they are intolerant of cold weather. But, the seeds need to be coated with a fungicide to prevent rotting, and planted before July 4th for Halloween sales this happens to be our rainy, wet, fungus producing time. A real bum deal for pumpkins. I found out I was wrong in believing that Calabaza and Seminole squash/pumpkins were one and the same. They both thrive successfully in our hot, miserable, humid summer months, and in our soil, well and beautifully, as long as you have the space dedicated to it. They will smother other plants. With monoecious (bearing separate male and female blossoms on the same plant) blooms, you only need one plant. The plentiful male blooms are recognized by their longer stem and single calyx, while the female bloom has the embryonic fruit visible at the base of the short stemmed female flower. It doesn’t hurt to keep the vine clipped, or tip pruned. Just look for the female blooms, because the first blooms are all male blooms. Their blossoms can be battered and fried, or stuffed, and the seeds make great snacking after roasting in an oven.
Having been a member of our local Caloosa Rare Fruit Exchange, I was mostly familiar with the Calabaza, which means pumpkin in Spanish, squash/pumpkin. Mainly called, Cuban squash, here, it is grown in Central and South America, Cuba and the Caribbean. It can be planted in zones 9b-11 and up to zone 7, if started after all danger of frost is gone. It takes 125 days to ripen. The vine grows up to 60 feet, developing many male blooms before the female ones appear, with the squash forming on the female bloom before the blossom opens. The bloom is yellow and the fruit is a deep orange, which tastes like the sweet potato or butternut squash. Their shape can be round, oval, or pear shaped and are surprisingly pest resistant. They may be green or pale orange when ripe. With its hard skin, they will keep for almost a year. You may even need a saw to cut it and it may weigh up to 50 pounds. Raise it like the butternut squash it tastes like. There are many recipes in the local Caloosa Rare Fruit “Tropical Rare Fruit Cookbook” for cooking it.
Now the Seminole pumpkin that was cultivated by the Seminole Indians in the 1500s, keeps for a year at room temperatures, is smaller, about 7 inches, or 2 to 4 pounds, buff colored when fully ripe, but they can be eaten when green. The vine spreads , putting down roots every place it touches the soil, and will not die until a killing frost. A winner in hot, humid, disease-prone areas, it is resistant to vine borers. It just needs plenty of room and water, a natural in our rainy season, and takes over 100 days to ripen from seed. Early European explorers found them to be an unusual sight, hanging down from our moss covered trees. If Seminole pumpkins were planted in late March, one could have two crops a year, one in June and another in September. And one fruit is a perfect serving for two people.
The traditional names for this season’s full moons are, September/Harvest Noon; October/Hunter’s Moon; November/Beaver Moon. Our American Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday in November, where as the Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Mon in October. Their Fall starts earlier there. With all the rich colors of this season, reds and golds, our tables filled with plenty of food, cooler weather, we need to pause and give thanks to God for his providence and artistry. I just love the fall season!
Joyce Comingore-Master Gardener; Past-President of the James E Hendry Chapter of the American Hibiscus Society and National Board Member; member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral.