Comments on: Neck Pumpkin: A Home Kitchen Garden Marvel

By: admin

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:00:11 +0000

Cindy: Thanks for visiting! Amazingly, when I gave a neck pumpkin to my neighbor yesterday, she told me she’d never seen one! My neighbor grew up in central Pennsylvania and told me she loves squash. My guess: she never shops at farmers’ markets and farm stands. I’ve never seen a neck pumpkin in a grocery store.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:33:22 +0000

Wow! I didn’t realize I was so lucky to live in PA! I assumed everybody knew about these pumpkins! The trick to buying these – look for one with a substantial neck and small bulbous end. All of the flesh is located in the neck, while the round end contains the seeds.

By: bill bush

bill bush — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:38:53 +0000

My Grandma Lucy grew an equivalent plant called “cushaw” in western NC. The squash is striped in two-tone green, light and dark, like a watermelon, but is shaped more like a large straight-neck squash. A typical one is two feet long and ten inches in diameter, quite large. These will keep for some time into the winter. The pale green flesh is the sweetest of any squash I have ever tasted. Another old-time plant she grew was the “banana squash”, a reddish long vegetable similar to the cushaw, but I if I remember correctly it was a better winter keeper. It had yellow flesh and was also sweeter than butternut. I have seen seeds in catalogs, so they are evidently still available. Grandma kept the squash in a cave dug into the side of a hill in the pasture. The opening was kept covered with straw, and on the occasional warmer days of winter, she would pull back the straw and bring out what she planned to use during the next couple of weeks. The old house had a dug-out cold cellar underneath it, but that was full of her home-canned goods, so the squash and pumpkins went in the cave. No canning/freezing needed. I think I remember the onions being in the cold cellar.

By: Blue Hubbard Squash for a Small Kitchen Garden | Your Small Kitchen Garden

Blue Hubbard Squash for a Small Kitchen Garden | Your Small Kitchen Garden — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:48:37 +0000

[...] Closing down my small kitchen garden for the coming winter seems to have made me a tad crazy for winter squash. I harvested about 28 butternut squashes from my garden, and then went out and bought a neck pumpkin which you can read about here: Neck Pumpkin: a Home Kitchen Garden Marvel. [...]

By: Lori Heim

Lori Heim — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:03:18 +0000

I moved from Central Pa to Indiana 13 1/2 years ago and really miss being able to get neck pumpkins. They make the best pumpkin pies, cookies, etc. When I do get a chance to get one, I cut it into pieces, put it in a 250 degree oven for 2 or 3 hours and scoop out the soft pulp. I freeze it in 1 cup servings. Some people peel the pumpkin and cut it in pieces and cook it down like you would apples for applesauce and then freeze it.

By: Jennifer Hammer

Jennifer Hammer — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:21:55 +0000

Wow! Those are super huge and leave me so intrigued! I cant wait to read all you future posts on these bad boys! Curious as to how they may grow in California weather!
Thanks for the great read!
Jennifer (4bratz2luv)

By: gardenbre

gardenbre — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:15:52 +0000

love how the mama neck pumpk is nuzzling the little guys … I’m sorely tempted now to go get some and to pressure can a batch along with some of my pumpkins instead of freezing them … hmm

By: Gayla

Gayla — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:37:57 +0000

These look amazing. Are you going to freeze or can it for later pies?