Pumpkin

A couple of pumpkin vines sown by early June cover the porch in October and the pie plate in November. Full-size types get real ground; only pie and mini types tolerate a bag.

Growing

Direct sow in ground in late May or early June, or start in pots three weeks ahead; either way the vine wants ten feet of running room and full sun. A shovel of compost in the hill at planting carries it most of the way. Once two or three fruit set per vine, pinch the growing tips so the plant finishes what it started. Slide a shingle under each pumpkin to keep the ground side sound. Cut with a long handle once the rind is hard and fully colored, before frost, and cure in the sun for a week or two. The vines drink hardest while fruit is sizing; shorted in August, a porch-sized pumpkin finishes as a softball.

Varieties

New England Pie is the small dense classic for actual pie; Winter Luxury has the silkiest flesh going; Howden if the porch demands a big one.

Pests

The squash trifecta applies: vine borer at the stem in early summer, cucumber beetles on seedlings, squash bugs by August. Row cover early, foil at the stem base, and egg-cluster patrols keep a couple of vines healthy without spraying anything.

In the kitchen

Pie types roast and puree into freezer bags for the holidays. The seeds toast with salt the same afternoon the jack-o-lantern gets carved.