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Letter to the editor

Bored with the same old gourd?

Big, orange pumpkins are synonymous with fall, but don't be afraid to try a less familiar kind in pie or as a jack-o'-lantern.

By John A. Starnes Jr., Special to the Times
Published October 27, 2007

Just imagine a candle glowing inside a spooky blue-gray "Jarrahdale" pumpkin. Bred in Australia, it enjoys a growing reputation for wonderful flavor when cooked. The dense dark-orange flesh has all the flavor of the best butternut squash and makes a fine entree or pie. Be sure to save the seeds; it is still quite rare in America.

Celebrate life in Florida by using our own native Seminole pumpkin the same way. Early Spanish explorers noticed the vines climbing trees in the Everglades and learned from the Seminole Indians to savor the fallen fruit. I grow them almost every year and marvel at the rich dark-orange flavorful flesh inside. These grow in large numbers on a rampant, hassle-free vine. Perfect for smaller jack-o'-lanterns, they can be a wonderful first exposure to Halloween crafts for children and to successful Florida gardening if you save the seeds. Just rinse them in a colander, let dry for a week on newspaper in a cool room, and store them in a labeled envelope in your refrigerator drawers until spring.

Bred in Florida for Florida, "La Primera" is a tropical pumpkin with a unique oblong shape just begging to be turned on its side and carved into a dinosaur-head jack-o'-lantern. Put a bright light inside and you'll have a fire-breathing dragon. It is being grown heavily in Homestead, so look for one in grocery stores or at roadside stands. Its delicious dark-orange flesh provides very high levels of beta carotenes. If you decide to grow it, expect rampant vines 20 feet high. It is not for the faint of heart.

Check Jamaican grocers for wildly colorful imported Jamaican pumpkins: They create shocking jack-o'-lanterns, and scrumptious soups made with jerk spice, garlic and coconut milk. Imagine a jack-o'-lantern with dreadlocks made from loofah sponges.

For a lantern that will be the talk of the neighborhood, check roadside produce markets for a giant Blue or Green Hubbard. Shaped and ribbed much like the usual orange pumpkin, these can become monsters that win prizes at county fairs for unbelievable sizes and weights. Add their ghoulish blue or green colors, and you've got one scary jack-o'-lantern. Save the parts you cut out, and bake or broil them with butter, sea salt and garlic for a delicious side dish.

The seeds of all varieties of pumpkins are edible, tasty and nutritious. Did you ever price them at the health food store? I like to rinse mine, let dry a few days, then toast them in a hot skillet on a thin film of roasted sesame oil plus sea salt, and sometimes, some garlic powder. Stir them frequently until golden brown, let them cool on a paper towel, then enjoy a great snack.

John A. Starnes Jr., born in Key West, is an avid organic gardener and rosarian who studies, collects, cultivates and hybridizes roses for Florida. He can be reached at johnastarnes@msn.com.

Grow your own

Growing your own pumpkins each year is easy. In late March, dig a pit the size of a laundry basket in a wide-open, sunny spot. Fill it halfway with compost, stir in 5 pounds of dry dog food and a 20-pound bag of cheap white clay cat litter. Mix it all, then cover it with the soil you dug out. You will end up with a mound. Cover that with 4 inches of mulch, either coastal hay from a feed store or chipped tree-trimming mulch. Water very deeply and let it "ripen" for a week or two.

Use your hands to expose the soil beneath the mulch at the top of the mound in an area the size of a dinner plate, and plant six pumpkin seeds 1 inch deep. All the varieties discussed here will grow in Florida, but "La Primera" and "Seminole Pumpkin" grow best by far. Water well. When the seedlings are 3 inches tall, pull out the three weakest ones and sprinkle all over the mound a few handfuls of Sunniland Palm 8-6-6 fertilizer, or fish meal, or splash on a few gallons of water into which you've mixed 3 tablespoons of fish emulsion per gallon of water. By midsummer you will have rampant vines with huge golden-yellow blooms you can eat raw in salads and, by summer's end, pumpkins!

Seed source

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, www.rareseeds.com, (417) 924-8917

[Last modified October 26, 2007, 12:20:00]