Just read the BBC guide to growing pumpkins and they say to just keep a
couple per plant and grow them on until the outside is hard; pick before the
first frost.

Now this does sound very much like growing marrows.

However with marrows you can cut them young and eat the whole thing - just
like eating courgettes.

So can you do the same with pumpkins or are they inedible until they are
fully grown and bright orange?

Cheers

Dave R

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

On Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:59:14 +0100, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:

Just read the BBC guide to growing pumpkins and they say to just keep a
couple per plant and grow them on until the outside is hard; pick before the
first frost.

Now this does sound very much like growing marrows.

However with marrows you can cut them young and eat the whole thing - just
like eating courgettes.

That's because that's what courgettes are. I remember the
ever-patriotic C.E.Lucas Phillips writing, in _The Small Garden_, you
can buy special seed for courgettes, but the ones from English marrows
"are tastier." For a few years I used Green Bush Improved for
courgettes.

So can you do the same with pumpkins or are they inedible until they are
fully grown and bright orange?

They're still inedible even then. You put them on the roof to dry out
a bit. And they're still inedible. Not to mention dashed dangerous, as
you have to get into them with an axe, which few people these days
know how to use. In Aus, they used to panic around trying to find ways
of forcing pumpkins down us: the most bearable was pumpkin scones,
with lots of butter. Butternut are good, but I'd never even heard of
those till about 1973.

--
Mike.

On Sun, 24 Jul 2011 08:14:57 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:09:04 +0100, Mike Lyle
wrote:



I remember the ever-patriotic C.E.Lucas Phillips writing, in _The Small Garden_, you
can buy special seed for courgettes, but the ones from English marrows "are tastier."

Great little book, that. My first gardening book. Still on my shelf,
if a little worn and dog-eared now. Had to reinforce the spine and
re-glue the cover a few years ago, but still used occasionally. S/H
copies widely available.

I learned more from it than any other source. I wonder if I've still
got the shreds of my copy...
(He also wrote 'Cockleshell Heroes' BTW, the
story of the commando raid on shipping in Bordeaux using canvas canoes
in 1942).

We had that as "dorm book" at school. (I remember when the spare
canoes were sold in the _Exchange and Mart_ along with those folding
bikes on which the Paras had been intended to terrify the Hun.) On
reflection, it's rather disturbing that violence was the major subject
of our literacy in those days: English history, French Revolution, US
Civil War, Caesar's campaigns, the Greek-Persian Wars, etc during the
day, then Dam Busters, Popski, and the rest to soothe us to our
innocent rest. No wonder they gave us chapel twice a day: without
these brief inputs from the Prince of Peace, even more of us would
have ended up as psychopaths.

--
Mike.

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:59:14 +0100, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:

Just read the BBC guide to growing pumpkins and they say to just keep a
couple per plant and grow them on until the outside is hard; pick before
the
first frost.

Now this does sound very much like growing marrows.

However with marrows you can cut them young and eat the whole thing - just
like eating courgettes.
snip
So can you do the same with pumpkins or are they inedible until they are
fully grown and bright orange?

They're still inedible even then. You put them on the roof to dry out
a bit. And they're still inedible. Not to mention dashed dangerous, as
you have to get into them with an axe, which few people these days
know how to use. In Aus, they used to panic around trying to find ways
of forcing pumpkins down us: the most bearable was pumpkin scones,
with lots of butter. Butternut are good, but I'd never even heard of
those till about 1973.

So has nobody ever tried to eat a pumpkin when it was yellow and about the
size of a tennis ball?
Given that our one plant seems to be producing plenty of fruit and according
to the script you are supposed to discard all but two I may experiment
unless I find any reference to them being actively harmful.

I understand what you say about edibility - IIRC the US famed pumpkin pie
just uses the liquidised flesh as a base for much more interesting flavours.
It might make a good base for soups etc. though.

Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

On 2011-07-23, Mike Lyle wrote:

On Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:59:14 +0100, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:

So can you do the same with pumpkins or are they inedible until they are
fully grown and bright orange?

They're still inedible even then. You put them on the roof to dry out
a bit. And they're still inedible. Not to mention dashed dangerous, as
you have to get into them with an axe, which few people these days
know how to use. In Aus, they used to panic around trying to find ways
of forcing pumpkins down us: the most bearable was pumpkin scones,
with lots of butter. Butternut are good, but I'd never even heard of
those till about 1973.

I won't bother asking you for your favourite pumpkin recipes.

I've never had any trouble carving them for decoration or cutting them
for cooking with a normal kitchen knife. I've never heard of anyone
having to use an axe.

"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...
Just read the BBC guide to growing pumpkins and they say to just keep a
couple per plant and grow them on until the outside is hard; pick before
the first frost.

Now this does sound very much like growing marrows.

However with marrows you can cut them young and eat the whole thing - just
like eating courgettes.

So can you do the same with pumpkins or are they inedible until they are
fully grown and bright orange?


Given the lack of enthusiasm for eating them, perhaps the best use is for
the production of seed?
We eat quite a lot of pumpkin seeds from time to time.
Anyone doe this?
If so, is it better to grow a lot of small pumpkins or a couple of large
ones?

Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

In article ,
Mike Lyle wrote:
On Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:29:43 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

I've never had any trouble carving them for decoration or cutting them
for cooking with a normal kitchen knife. I've never heard of anyone
having to use an axe.

Then your punkins weren't the real Aussie deal. But pray allow for a
little colonial poetic licence. In pumpkin-eating cultures, though,
they do mature in store, where they lose quite a bit of their water
content and intensify their flavour. You wouldn't want one of those to
fall on your head.

Pumpkins, per se, are a very odd form of Cucurbita pepo, and are
both soft and insipid. Queensland Blue squashes are a form of
C. maxima, and get MUCH harder even in the UK, and taste better
(but not as good as the best C. maxima). I could only JUST get
in using my strongest knife (which has a large handle and is very
sharp), and my wife would have had to use an axe.

On Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:29:43 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

On 2011-07-23, Mike Lyle wrote:

On Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:59:14 +0100, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:

So can you do the same with pumpkins or are they inedible until they are
fully grown and bright orange?

They're still inedible even then. You put them on the roof to dry out
a bit. And they're still inedible. Not to mention dashed dangerous, as
you have to get into them with an axe, which few people these days
know how to use. In Aus, they used to panic around trying to find ways
of forcing pumpkins down us: the most bearable was pumpkin scones,
with lots of butter. Butternut are good, but I'd never even heard of
those till about 1973.

I won't bother asking you for your favourite pumpkin recipes.

I've never had any trouble carving them for decoration or cutting them
for cooking with a normal kitchen knife. I've never heard of anyone
having to use an axe.

Then your punkins weren't the real Aussie deal. But pray allow for a
little colonial poetic licence. In pumpkin-eating cultures, though,
they do mature in store, where they lose quite a bit of their water
content and intensify their flavour. You wouldn't want one of those to
fall on your head.

--
Mike.

In article ,
Adam Funk wrote:

Aha, that's interesting. I guess C. maxima look & taste more like
C. pepo "pumpkin" than the other C. pepo varieties do?

Yes, but more so. They have harder skins, larger, rougher and harder
seeds, and are more starchy and less watery than C. pepo. In the
latter, rather like C. moschata (butternut), but are starchier and
less sweet. Queensland Blue doesn't seem to get as starchy as many
others, at least in the UK.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 2011-07-25, Mike Lyle wrote:

On Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:29:43 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

I've never had any trouble carving them for decoration or cutting them
for cooking with a normal kitchen knife. I've never heard of anyone
having to use an axe.

Then your punkins weren't the real Aussie deal. But pray allow for a
little colonial poetic licence. In pumpkin-eating cultures, though,
they do mature in store, where they lose quite a bit of their water
content and intensify their flavour. You wouldn't want one of those to
fall on your head.

I happen to be from a pumpkin-eating, pumpkin-indigenous (but
otherwise colonial) culture, and I've never seen them growing high
enough off the ground to fall on anyone's head.

Does "pumpkin" also mean "durian" in Australia? ;-)

On 2011-07-25, wrote:

In article ,
Mike Lyle wrote:
On Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:29:43 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

I've never had any trouble carving them for decoration or cutting them
for cooking with a normal kitchen knife. I've never heard of anyone
having to use an axe.

Then your punkins weren't the real Aussie deal. But pray allow for a
little colonial poetic licence. In pumpkin-eating cultures, though,
they do mature in store, where they lose quite a bit of their water
content and intensify their flavour. You wouldn't want one of those to
fall on your head.

Pumpkins, per se, are a very odd form of Cucurbita pepo, and are
both soft and insipid. Queensland Blue squashes are a form of
C. maxima, and get MUCH harder even in the UK, and taste better
(but not as good as the best C. maxima). I could only JUST get
in using my strongest knife (which has a large handle and is very
sharp), and my wife would have had to use an axe.

Aha, that's interesting. I guess C. maxima look & taste more like
C. pepo "pumpkin" than the other C. pepo varieties do?

On Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:25:31 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

On 2011-07-25, Mike Lyle wrote:

On Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:29:43 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

I've never had any trouble carving them for decoration or cutting them
for cooking with a normal kitchen knife. I've never heard of anyone
having to use an axe.

Then your punkins weren't the real Aussie deal. But pray allow for a
little colonial poetic licence. In pumpkin-eating cultures, though,
they do mature in store, where they lose quite a bit of their water
content and intensify their flavour. You wouldn't want one of those to
fall on your head.

I happen to be from a pumpkin-eating, pumpkin-indigenous (but
otherwise colonial) culture, and I've never seen them growing high
enough off the ground to fall on anyone's head.

Where there's a handy flat roof, they're often parked up there to
matu the nearest example to UK may be Malta.

Does "pumpkin" also mean "durian" in Australia? ;-)

By mentioning that single Word of Power, you've suddenly converted me
to punkinophily!

--
Mike.

"NT" wrote in message
...
On Jul 23, 9:59 am, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:
Just read the BBC guide to growing pumpkins and they say to just keep a
couple per plant and grow them on until the outside is hard; pick before
the
first frost.

Now this does sound very much like growing marrows.

However with marrows you can cut them young and eat the whole thing - just
like eating courgettes.

So can you do the same with pumpkins or are they inedible until they are
fully grown and bright orange?

Cheers

Dave R

Last time I grew them I ate one underripe, at about half usual size.
Perfectly edible, but the more I ate the less I liked it. I forget
what sort of pumpkin it was, it was green rather than orange.

Pumpkin pie is lovely, though tbh I prefer a mix of carrot, swede and
yogurt in pumpkin pie than real pumpkin.


NT

****
Thanks - at last someone who has tried it!
However it doesn't seem to score well on taste whatever the state of
development.
*****

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

On 2011-07-25, wrote:

In article ,
Adam Funk wrote:

Aha, that's interesting. I guess C. maxima look & taste more like
C. pepo "pumpkin" than the other C. pepo varieties do?

Yes, but more so. They have harder skins, larger, rougher and harder
seeds, and are more starchy and less watery than C. pepo. In the
latter, rather like C. moschata (butternut), but are starchier and
less sweet. Queensland Blue doesn't seem to get as starchy as many
others, at least in the UK.

McGee describes C. pepo as summer squashes (incl. zucchini) and
pumpkins; whereas C. maxima refers to winter squashes. The latter
keep longer and are more suitable for storage (on flat roofs whence
they can roll onto the heads of passers-by). Wikipedia also indicates
that "pumpkins" in Australia are different from "pumpkins" elsewhe

In Australia: Specific cultivars of squash, that seem to have many
features of the winter squash, except having distinctive dark green
exterior and bright orange interior, are called pumpkins and sold
and used as pumpkins.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikiped.../Winter_squash