Pumpkin - Potimarron (Hokkaido/Red Kuri)

DESCRIPTION

A country classic, the Potimarron has been popular all this time for a reason! With a thick layer of sweet, yellow fruit hidden underneath a stunning red and cream skin, this variety is locally celebrated for being a particularly delicious roasted pumpkin, which also makes a wonderful soup. Only about 25cm in diameter, this variety originating in Japan stores well and is a convenient size for making a few servings of a meal with no risk of wastage.

POT CARE AND PLANTING

Plants in the cucurbit family usually cannot be grown in a pot long term, as they have vigorous and extensive root systems and need a lot of water. They're best planted into a clear space in the garden that's at least 2m by 2m, or into a very large pot, leaving some room for the large stems to trail - transplant into a larger pot or a garden bed within 7 days. Soil level can be varied, but should be well below any actively growing leaves or flowers - planting a pumpkin in the ground slightly deeper than it is in the pot causes more roots to sprout from that part of the stem, which can make the plant stronger. Pumpkins in pots do best when set up on the grass or bare dirt so the roots can extend into the ground below.  

WATERING

Pumpkins are heavy water consumers, and one of the few vegetables that you may want to water twice a day during very hot weather - water them a lot longer than other plants in your garden (early morning and/or late afternoon is best in summer). It's very hard to rot the roots of a pumpkin plant, unless it's in a pot with a saucer or on a surface that doesn't allow drainage. Always point your hose or watering can at the base of the plant, avoiding getting the leaves wet - splashing water spreads diseases that pumpkins are vulnerable to, like fungus. If any leaves start looking mottled yellow-grey, cut them off and throw them in the bin, trying not to touch any healthy parts of the plant while you do it. Be sure to wash your hands with soap when you're done, to stop the fungus spreading to any other plants you touch. Lower leaves often get fungus, which splashes up from the soil - so it's not a bad idea to keep the lower part of the plant clear of leaves all the time, to reduce the chances of infection moving up the plant. If the whole plant remains wet for a long period of time, the larger and healthier leaves may start to turn white or grey - you won't want to cut them all off, because they can be fixed. Make a cup of chamomile tea with 1/3 milk. Put this liquid into a spray bottle and dilute it to 1-2L. Spray this medicine onto the affected leaves - this is another type of fungus, and the chamomile and the milk both work to kill it off very effectively. If you don't have both, diluting one or the other in water and spraying that solution is also effective.

SUN EXPOSURE

Pumpkins need as much sunlight as possible to flourish. I recommend planting it in an open and sunny area of the garden, in a spot where you don't walk often. At the end of the season when the leaves die down, you'll need this sunlight to mature the fruits on the vine, so make sure it's a very sunny spot.

COMPANION PLANTING

This mid-sized pumpkin can reach 3m wide and 1m tall. It can be used to shade other vegetables in the garden that need some shelter from the sun, and will grow well about 50cm away from most things, as long as they aren't going to be shaded too much by this rapidly expanding plant. Two plant families that can be planted close to pumpkins are maize and legumes, an ancient combination invented by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and referred to as the 'Three Sisters'. In this tradition, squash (and other cucurbits) shade the soil underneath corn, while beans (and other legumes) climb the cornstalks. The three support each other to produce more food than each could on its own, and pumpkins can be part of this relationship - sunflowers can also be added in place of some of the corn stalks. Avoid planting this gregarious plant too close to potatoes, as these vegetables compete strongly at the same level above and below the ground and don't play well together. Get the tastiest fruit by encouraging pollinators with any flowers, but especially yellow and orange flowers that resemble the cucurbit flowers, like nasturtium, tansy, and chrysantheumms - asters and apiums are great companions.

HARVESTING AND EATING

There's a specific way you want to go about harvesting pumpkins to get the best texture and flavour. You can pick a few flowers when they're young to encourage growth, harvesting both male flowers and tiny pumpkins with the female flowers still attached. These are delicious when stuffed with a cheesy filling, twisted closed, battered and fried or brushed with oil and roasted in the oven - just clear out the internal parts of the flower first because the pollen tastes bitter. When the fruits are developing beyond this stage, you shouldn't disturb them - leave them on the vine until it does start to get cold, and the frost kills the vine completely, leaving the pumpkins sitting on their own, absorbing the last nutrients from the plant. At this point, alternating between frosty nights and sunny days converts the starches in the pumpkins into sugars - but keep an eye on how moist the ground is underneath them in case they start to rot, especially since they're small. You might want to put a piece of cardboard under each one, or if the weather is really rainy, cut them off the vine, leaving at least an ich or two of stem attached, and lay them out on something that will drain freely - many people use corrugated iron sheets, including those on the roof, to age pumpkins in wet climates. When some of the pumpkins start to develop bleached spots on the underside, it's a sign that this process has been done well enough for all of them and you can now enjoy some really tasty homegrown pumpkin - store the rest inside, somewhere cool and dry. Rarely exceeding 25cm in diameter, they can be used like any pumpkin, sliced up and sauteed or added to stewed dishes, and have an edible skin. Where Potimarrons really shine is in the oven, roasted or baked, and when made into soup. Pairs well with strong flavoured herbs like sage, rosemary and thyme.

SEED SAVING AND PROPAGATION

Pumpkin seeds are super easy to collect, just set them aside when you clean them out of any fruits that you're eating. They are covered in slippery flesh, which can be totally removed by fermenting the seeds - use a spoon to scoop the flesh and seeds into a jar, fill to the top with water, and put it on a shelf in your shed or somewhere that the smell won't bother you for 3 days, lid off. After that, dump the contents of the jar into an old strainer and rinse thoroughly to reveal the clean pumpkin seeds that are less likely to go mouldy. Air dry these laid out on paper before storing them in an airtight container - cucurbit seeds are some of the longest lasting vegetable seeds, good for up to 10 years. Don't sow these seeds again until next year when the risk of frost has almost passed - you can start them inside in late October, but you'll need to wait until the very start of November to plant them outside, or the leaves will curl during the cold nights. Time your sowing carefully - they need to be moved out of seedling pots after no more than 3 weeks. Cover the seeds with 15mm of soil and keep moist and warm - squash will germinate after about a week. In Armidale, experienced gardeners know that frost tender veggies can't be planted until Melbourne Cup Day. Heavy frosts return here at Easter time, so your pumpkins will be finishing up around that time each year. Note: if there are other cucurbits growing nearby, the seeds you'll collect here may result in fruits with a slightly different look, texture or taste. This isn't harmful, and it's safe to try them. If you want to prevent this, there are techniques you can learn for breeding cucurbits 'true to type'.