Pumpkin Harvest!
/We harvested another pumpkin seed crop today….and there were many unripe pumpkins.
marina di chioggia pumpkin seed crop ready for harvest
There were also many ripe ones! For five seasons, we have been selectively pollinating and saving pumpkins. We have selected for earliest to flower, fruit shape, flesh colour, storability, flavour and texture, overall yield and disease resilience. But this season offered an opportunity to select stock lines that mature quickly!
2023 marina di chioggia seed crop harvested.
Not every season is short and sweet like this one. We have harvested asparagus and artichokes in tank tops in October and we have had summer’s heat S--T--R--E--T--C--H well into Autumn. But this year, like last, the forecast indicated a cooler growing season.
We chose to grow two of the longest to mature pumpkins that we love - and then, because of cool spring temperatures, we sowed them 3 weeks later than usual. Our warm season was condensed...distilled...BRIEF!! And we have been watching and waiting for these pumpkins to ripen.
musquee de provence pumpkin seed crop nearing harvest
We harvested ‘Marina di Chioggia’ yesterday and while there were unripe pumpkins, there are also many ripe ones! The greatness of that is that some of our stock lines now have the added bonus of shorter time to maturity. These are the lines we will carry forward.
bringing in the seed crop
For those of us in places where climate and light only allow for a short growing season, we can sow these pumpkins, regionalized to our area, with more assurance of a harvest, even in cooler seasons. For those in warmer climates, it's still great news. You can be first at market with mature pumpkins... and tomatoes, zucchini, capsicums, cucumbers all of which also have been put through the cold season test TOO.
Where seed is produced and the breeding goals of the seed steward matter if earliness is important. In our southern Australia, temperate position, we definitely favour early maturity! Especially with long season crops like 'Marina di Chioggia' and 'Musquee de Provence' pumpkins. Each season we are choosing those that have the earliest flowers and those fruit that mature the quickest.
musquee de provence
We love the flavour and texture of both of these pumpkins - both unique and different - that's why we keep working with them. Through selectively saving the seeds from those that mature quicker than others, we secure our harvest and our food - These pumpkins both store for 6+ months- offering great diversity in our winter diet and filling the food gap we experience in early spring.
‘898 squash’ after seeds have been harvested
‘898 Squash’ is another hand sized squash from breeder Michael Mazourek. It still has the robust sweetness of ‘Honeynut’ but it was bred to store longer. We have continued Michael and Cornell University’s breeding goals, selecting for flavour (the Brix of the stock lines were carefully checked raw and roasted), size (smaller then ‘Honeynut’), shape (the elongated neck and bulbous seed cavity like a butternut), texture and yield.
These were harvested, cured and then we waited. Saving seeds from those that stored the longest. We grew those out the next year and did it all again!
As this pumpkin is still in development, we have grown it out again to evaluate ahead of offering the seed. It is available now!
Pumpkin harvest is always exciting! We are down to the last five seed crops left in the field to harvest and by this time next week, the remaining fields will be prepared and fingers crossed sowed with green manures.
