October 25, 2010

A Rainbow of Pumpkins with Speckles, Stripes and Warts



As a child, I thought all pumpkins were mid-orange in color with blocky-rounded shapes. Boy, was I wrong! Last Friday we took the family up to Knapps Farm in nearby Greenbluff, WA. While the children enjoyed the straw bale maze, miniature horses, blackberry picking, and Punkin' Chunkin' (shooting pumpkins out of a giant rocket launcher), I busily snapped photos of the amazing variety of pumpkins, squash and gourds. Centered in the picture above is a blue 'Marblehead' pumpkin.



Since I'm obviously not a pumpkin expert, I'm not sure if all of these squash are classified as pumpkins. For more information on pumpkin and squash varieties, see this website.



There were many types of cute miniature pumpkins for sale, like the white ones above.



Some of the orange pumpkins showed different shades that reminded me of a sunset or a bonfire. There were plenty of warts on display.



The blue pumpkins were my favorite. I looked for blue pumpkin seeds last winter and couldn't find any.



These 'Turk's Turbin' pumpkins were amazing! The variety of vivid colors and the unusual shapes reminded me of a circus.



Above is 'Rouge vif D'Etampes', also known as the Cinderella pumpkin.



This blue cinderella-shaped pumpkin was my favorite, and I found out its name: 'Jarrahdale'. Armed with this information, I'll be able to find seeds and grow some in our garden next year. Stay tuned next week for pictures of the warty, wacky squash we found at the farm.

9 comments:

  1. I love the different pumpkins, each with their own personality. What a great collection of them and wonderful photos.

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  2. Hi VW, what character those pumpkins have. I am familiar with the large number of heirloom veges that exist from my Diggers Club catalogue. http://www.diggers.com.au/freecatalogue.shtml
    Not knowing otherwise, we used to think pumpkins had to orange, and tomatoes had to be red! Hope all's well, catmint

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  3. VW this IS PERFECT !!
    We need to get to our little market square in town and see what unusual ones that are there hopefully! .. One year we had a blue one on our front step in a display .. it was oval like a UFO .. it was wonderful ... then some one had to steal it and I was LIVID !!!
    I try to get past that though and just remember how beautiful it was !!
    I love all of your pictures they are so detailed and the colours have come out wonderfully : )
    I see that bonfire or sunset in that pumpkin too! .. : )

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  4. I love all the varieties available~They are so cool~I can't think of anything more fall festive then a display of traditional and the very different! gail

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  5. What an array of pumpkins. There are so many interesting ones. Maybe they have always been around and I am just learning of them but I love the shapes and textures. I saw a peanut pumpkin and thought it was the strangest thing, one of those so strange its cute moments. LOL!

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  6. I wonder who discovered that pumpkins and squash were actually edible?

    These are all so pretty! My dad grows the ones with bumps and warts.

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  7. Aren't pumpkins delightful in all their bumpy glory? They just say "autumn' and "warm fires" to me. Stew on the stove and muffins in the oven. Oh, whoops, got carried away. I bet you'll be able to find seeds for a lot of those varieties.~~Dee

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  8. I love Pumkin and Squash. I don't eat them often enough, yet when I do I always wonder why I don't, sweet and earthy.

    Great photo subjects too!

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  9. I think back when we were kids about the only kind growers thought about were the typical orange ones. No longer. Now it seems that the more fancy the better. We love it, don't we?

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