Heirloom Pumpkin Varieties & Other Squash Part 2

Olive Squash or Courge Olive Squash
Cucurbita maxima

This may be considered the French equivalent of the Hubbard squash, and from a botanical standpoint, the two are closely related. The true origin of the Olive Squash is unknown, although Vilmorin was the first to offer it in Europe. W. Atlee Burpee of Philadelphia began offering seed in 1884, and Tuisco Greiner (1890, 257) listed it as a variety recommended for kitchen gardens. Its popularity in this country has been mixed, doubtless due to competition from so many other squashes better suited to our cookery. Perhaps it is just the dull color of the skin that Americans are not accustomed to, yet each squash yields an abundance of beautiful, thick, yellow flesh that is both sweet and flavorful. It makes excellent puddings and preserves.

The shape is similar to that of the courge de l’Ohio, but more slender and tapered at both ends. The French claim that the squash resembles an unripe olive (hence the name); if so, then a very young olive must be intended. None of the specimens I have grown ever looked like olives (I have even used French seed), but the skin is indeed close in color to the camouflage green used by the U.S. Army, and this might be construed as an olive shade.

Actually, the squash is quite striking in the garden because the vine leaves are very pale green, which creates a nice visual contrast. Furthermore, Greiner was correct in recommending this variety for small gardens because the vines trail close to the ground and are not long and tangled like the Hubbard. The fruit is also small in scale, measuring no more than a foot long and 6 inches in diameter. The squash can weigh anywhere from 6 to 10 pounds, but weight can suffer measurably if the growing season is dry. These squash must be kept well watered.

Pattypan or Cymling Squash

Like the summer crookneck, this squash originated among the native peoples of the eastern United States, for it was known from Virginia to New England by a number of local names in various Indian languages.

Both the yellow and the white varieties date from pre-Columbian times, although the white has gradually supplanted the yellow over the past century and a half. In England, this squash is known as the custard marrow, in France as the patisson panaché.

The old name cymlin or cymling was given to this squash in the seventeenth century, owing to its similarity in size and shape to the English simnal cake, a fluted cake made during Lent. One of the oldest depictions of the pattypan squash appeared in Matthias de l’Obel’s Plantarum seu Stirpium Icones (1591). The fruit looks very much like the pattypans of today. The fact that this East Coast squash appeared in European botanical works prior to white settlement in the region suggests intriguing precontact seed exchanges that have not been given much notice by plant historians.

Aside from the yellow and white bush varieties, there was also an old warty yellow variety that grew on trailing vines. It was given the now archaic scientific designation Cucurbita verrucosa, and appeared under that name on Bernard M’Mahon’s seed lists as early as 1806. It is believed to have been a cross between the yellow pattypan and the summer crookneck squashes, dating from the middle part of the eighteenth century. It was well known in American horticultural circles by the 1790s.

The plants are bushy, with large leaves on 30-inch stems that require plenty of space between the hills. The fruit matures in about 55 days and produces profusely until frost. Constant harvesting will promote a continuous supply of new squash. The fruit can be eaten young or when light green, or harvested when it forms a hard shell. This can be pared off with a potato peeler.

The mature fruit varies in size, some measuring 7, others as much as 9 inches across, and often weighing 7 or 8 pounds. The skin color of the white variety is dull white and somewhat velvety; the yellow variety is more of a waxy lemon color. For seed-saving purposes, let a hill produce mature fruit and leave the fruit on the plants until they begin to die. It is important that the seed be allowed to mature in the squash to ensure better rates of germination. The mature squash can be stored in a cool dry pantry and will keep for several months.

The Improved Variegated Custard Marrow was mentioned by Fearing Burr (1865, 202) — but not in flattering terms — and illustrated by Vilmorin (1885, 266). It appeared in the Album Vilmorin (1858, 7) as the patisson jaune et panaché and is believed to date from the early 1850s. It is a French cross between Yellow Mandan and the white pattypan squash, a cross that I have successfully recreated in my garden several times. The fruit and plants are much smaller than other pattypans. In storage, the squash turns a rich lemon yellow. It is best harvested in the green state and prepared like zucchini.

The earliest known American recipe for pattypan squash appeared in The Virginia House-Wife (1824, 134). In that recipe, the squash was boiled and then pureed. The following recipe, from Mrs. Charles H. Gibson’s Maryland and Virginia Cook Book (1894, 72–73), was also typical.

Cymlings Recipe

Gut them in quarters, wash and boil them in salted water until tender, when done put them into a cullender and press out all the water. While warm add a small piece of butter, and season with a little more salt and cream. Put them in a covered dish, and before sending to table sprinkle a little black pepper. These are very nice fried like eggplant.

Pike’s Peak or Sibley Squash

Like the banana squash, which originated in Mexico, Pike’s Peak is brown-seeded and therefore is definitely of Native American origin. However, its early history is folkloric. It was said to have been raised since the 1840s by an elderly woman in Van Dinam, Iowa. She had lived most of her life in Missouri, the presumption being that her seed came directly from Missouri Indians. More likely the seed came from Mexico, and the squash developed its peculiar varietal characteristics in the United States.

For many years, the squash was well known in Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa, where seed remained in circulation among truck farmers. In 1887 the squash was released commercially by Hiram Sibley & Company, a Rochester, New York, seed firm. It is considered one of the most distinctive squashes of its type and was given considerable notice in the American Garden (1888, 62; 1889, 181).

The vines attain a length of 12 to 15 feet and closely resemble those of the Hubbard. The squash ripens in 120 days, the same time as the Hubbard, but the fruit size is more like the Quaker pie pumpkin, about I foot in length and 9 inches in diameter. The fruit skin is smoother than the Blue Hubbard and Marblehead, yet almost the same color. In storage, the skin changes color to a pinkish buff, somewhat akin to the blue banana squash. The flesh is fine, moist, and pale orange in color. It is an ideal storage squash because the flesh becomes drier and richer, thus reaching its best stage for culinary uses after January 1.

Potiron rouge vif d’Etampes Squash
Cucurbita maxima

This pumpkin is known by a variety of names in American seed catalogs, perhaps the most common being Red Etampes, or more recently, Cinderella. It should not be confused with the French butter pumpkin or potiron jaune gros, which was introduced into England in the 1820s and the United States in the early 1850s. It was golden yellow in color. The Red Etampes is a bright brick red. On the other hand, Red Etampes was developed out of the old butter pumpkin, so the two varieties are closely related. The vines of both are nearly identical, except for leaf coloring.

W. Atlee Burpee of Philadelphia is credited with introducing this squash to American gardeners in 1883. It was cultivated in France almost fifty years prior to that, and proved extremely popular in Paris. There are two variant forms, one with smooth skin, which is considered the true type, the other with cracks and netting that is considered a partial reversion to its butter pumpkin parent. Regardless, I have grown both forms and have observed that they produce a large number of deformed fruit. Among some of my Mennonite friends who raise this squash for market, an entire field may yield only a dozen perfect specimens. The reason for this is not clear, although I suspect that seed purity has been compromised over the years, particularly in areas where the giraumon turban is also under cultivation.

The fruits ripen in 130 days on vigorous vines reaching 18 to 20 feet in length, without a question a true field pumpkin. The fruit often measures 18 inches in diameter, is extremely flat and somewhat sunken at the stem end, and weighs 30 to 35 pounds. The blossom scar leaves a small button of corklike material, usually surrounded by a ring of the same growth, one of the telling characteristics of this vegetable. The flesh is thick and a deep yellow color, but the flavor is lacking. The seed mass is difficult to remove. I recommend a grapefruit spoon.

This squash was popular in Paris during the nineteenth century because chefs discovered that it made an excellent base for soups, the flavor being so mild that it did not overpower other ingredients. Furthermore, it yielded a thick stock of a decidedly yellow color rather than an orange-red one, which was considered more visually pleasing. Jules Gouffé’s soup recipe in Le Livre de cuisine (1868, 48–49) is typical for the period.

Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Take 2 pounds of yellow pumpkin; take out the seeds, and pare off 1/2 inch of the rind; cut it in pieces 1 1/2 inch square; put in a stewpan with 1 ounce of butter, 1 pinch of salt. 1 ounce of sugar, and 1/2 pint of water. Simmer for an hour and a half, and drain in a colander. Put back in the stewpan and add 1 1/2 pint of boiled milk — otherwise, if unboiled, the milk is liable to curdle. Boil for a minute and pour in the soup tureen in which 1/2 ounce of bread has been sliced. Serve.

Quaker Pie Pumpkin
Cucurbita moschata

The Quaker Pie Pumpkin was introduced commercially in 1888 by W. Atlee Burpee & Company of Philadelphia. It had been growing for several years before that in the garden of a Quaker family living in Washington County, New York, hence the name. This squash never gained the widespread popularity of other fall storing varieties, and thus has always remained rather rare. Yet, unlike many squash of this type, it produces fruits with little variability, a feature that should recommend it commercially. In fact the fruit is small, no more than a foot long and perhaps 8 inches in diameter across the middle. In spite of their small size, these squashes are dense, weighing from 10 to 12 pounds, and there is not a lot of waste.

Perhaps part of the reason for its lack of popularity lies in its color. The skin is creamy white, overlaid with a darker cream lace pattern not often shown in old illustrations. The flesh of this squash is also white and very fine-grained. When cooked and pureed, it resembles mashed turnip in appearance. Unfortunately, in the Vegetables of New York: The Cucurbits (1937, 35–36), the squash is incorrectly described as having stringy, insipid flesh of a pale orange color. I can only surmise that the authors tested this squash with impure seed, for I grew the Quaker pie pumpkin many years ago from seed obtained from a family of Quakers in Iowa — Newlins by name, who owned a small seed business — and my squash grew true to the original strain. A check in several seed catalogs, including Maule’s Seed Catalogue for 1898 and Dreer’s Garden Book for 1924, confirmed that the original introduction was white-fleshed. It also had a slight coconut flavor, like the old pineapple squash. I would think that the unusual flesh color would recommend this squash today, with so much interest now in creating an American food identity.

The squash grows on very long vines, usually 15 to 18 feet in length. This is rather large for small gardens, but since the leaves are small, the vines are not as invasive as some varieties. The leaves are also quite decorative because they are profusely marked with gray patches. More impressive are the flowers, which are extraordinarily large, some measuring 8 inches across when in full bloom. I cannot think of a more ideal source of squash blossoms for stuffing.

Summer Crookneck Squash

The yellow summer crookneck is one of our oldest documented varieties of squash. According to correspondence between Philadelphia Quaker Timothy Matlack and Thomas Jefferson in 1807, published by Edwin Morris Betts in Jefferson’s Garden Book (1944, 341), the yellow crookneck squash was native to New Jersey. It was a variety preserved as an heirloom by the Cooper family of Camden, who had cultivated it for nearly a hundred years. There is no reason to discount Matlack’s story because the Coopers were actively engaged in horticulture and were well known in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for their Cooper’s Pale Green Asparagus, considered by many the finest variety in colonial America. The Coopers were also responsible for preserving Willing’s Barbados Pepper, which came into my collection from the late Mary Larkin Thomas. In any event, if we accept Matlack’s explanation, then the summer crookneck is the only squash that can be traced directly to the Lenape peoples who once inhabited the Delaware Valley.

The summer crookneck grows on a bush rather than on a trailing vine. The leaves are large, five-lobed, and grayish green. The mature fruit measures 8 to 9 inches long and ripens from soft yellow to yellow orange. The skin surface is heavily warted. If this squash inadvertently crosses with squash in the vicinity, the warts are one of the first features to show up in subsequent seasons. The interior flesh is yellowish white, although there are now varieties that are solid yellow, but these are a later development. For culinary purposes, the squash is harvested very young, while still tender.

To yield viable seed, the squash must be allowed to ripen until the skin is pale orange and woody like a gourd. It is also advisable to let the fruit mature in this condition on the plant for two weeks so that the seed can undergo its final aging process. This precaution will ensure a larger proportion of viable seed the following season.

Tennessee Sweet Potato Squash

This squash is descended from the old potato pumpkin of the Upper South and Middle States. According to Thomas Jefferson (1944, 154), the variety was introduced in the late 1780s from Jamaica with the slave trade. Although eaten by whites, this squash was especially popular among the black population of the Old South. Its name is due to the fact that the taste of the flesh closely resembles that of a sweet potato; thus it served the place of sweet potatoes until they came into season. The oldest published American recipe for cooking potato pumpkin appeared in The Virginia House-Wife (1824, 132). The pumpkin was harvested young, when 7 or 8 inches in diameter, pared, and stuffed. It was then baked either in a pan or in a large tin mold so that it could be turned out and served like a molded pudding.

The Tennessee sweet potato squash may descend from an early variety known in the 1840s as the Green Striped Bell — indeed, that is one of its former synonyms — but thus far no firm evidence has surfaced to connect the two. W. Atlee Burpee of Philadelphia began offering the squash known today as the Tennessee sweet potato in 1883, and to date, this appears to be the first use of that name. Origins aside, this is one of the most popular heirloom varieties in the South due to its fine texture, its rich flavor, and its excellent storing qualities.

The squash ripens in 110 days on long, vigorous vines measuring 15 to 18 feet, with large, dark green leaves. I would advise planting it in an area of the kitchen garden off to itself or between teepees of pole beans, for it requires space and does not thrive if there is too much competition from other vegetables. The fruit, however, is not large, measuring 12 to 15 inches long and perhaps as much as 10 inches in diameter at it thickest point. In weight, individual fruits range from 12 to 15 pounds, similar to many Hubbards. The skin is ivory yellow with yellow-green markings that change to a mustard color in storage. The seed cavity is large, the flesh greenish white.

There are a number of lesser-known varieties worthy of note, among them the Wickersham sweet potato, the Choctaw sweet potato, and the Florida sweet potato, which are still available through Seed Savers Exchange.

Turk’s Cap or Turban Squash

This is popularly known in France as the giraumon turban, and was illustrated in exquisite detail in the Album Vilmorin (1871, 25). This variety of turk’s cap squash was developed in France but was introduced into the United States early in the nineteenth century, perhaps as early as 1820. Unfortunately, it was never given much notice in American garden literature until much later, a telling sign of its original lack of popularity. Furthermore, this squash was sometimes called an acorn squash, especially in English garden books, owing to the acornlike shape of the cap. This has made it especially difficult to distinguish turbans from true acorn squash in early nineteenth-century records.

The Bon Jardinier for 1818 referred to this squash as a turban, and this is accepted as the source for the name. Thus it is safe to presume that the Vilmorins who published Le Bon Jardinier also had a hand in refining the variety as we now know it. Before 1818, there were several turban-shaped squash known to horticulturists, but most of these are now extinct because they were never considered worthy of culinary merit. Even the turk’s cap is grown today more for ornament than for cookery, because its light yellow flesh is rather tasteless. On the other hand, it is an excellent keeper. When care is taken not to damage the “cap” (where rotting is most likely to occur first), the squash can be kept in storage from September to the following June without deterioration.

The reason it keeps so well is its hard, woody rind, which is very difficult to remove. The simplest way to cook this squash is to cut it in half, scrape out the seeds, and place the halves in glass bowls with about 1/2 cup of water. Cover the bowls with cling wrap and cook in a microwave oven on high for 15 minutes. The flesh will scoop out like mashed potatoes and can be used as a thickener for soups, especially for split-pea soups, both green and yellow.

Fearing Burr (1865, 214–15) did not consider the turban squash fit for storage. But the two varieties he discussed differed considerably from the French one treated here. The turban squash of Burr was large and fleshy, and his Improved Turban, which he considered a subvariety, was even better suited to culinary purposes, although neither one was a good keeper. Seed for both of these old American turban varieties is difficult to come by today, which is why I hesitate to devote much attention to them. However, they are excellent heirlooms well worthy of revived notice.

The turk’s cap produces 8-to-10-foot vines with dark green leaves. Since the plants are small, they are excellently suited for small gardens, one reason for their continued popularity in France. The squash generally measures 7 to 8 inches thick and from 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Individual fruit may weigh anywhere from 8 to 10 pounds — most of it rind — ripening in about 115 days from planting. In short-season areas, where frost may be expected in early September, start the plants indoors in pots so that they are well advanced by the time they are set out on hills.

Yellow Mandan Squash
Cucurbita pepo

Mandan squash was introduced commercially in 1912 by the seed firm of Oscar H. Will & Company of Bismark, North Dakota. That strain was white, oblate in shape, and yielded fruit weighing 3 to 4 pounds on plants generally described as “bush,” even though they sent out vines of considerable length. In any case, the squash was said to originate among the Mandan Indians of the northern Great Plains, hence the name. In fact, Mandan appears to be a variant form of several similar North American squashes of great age. No one has effectively pinpointed their true origin.

The white-skinned Mandan of Will & Company became a well-known commercial variety, more round in shape than the yellow variety that I grow. Its creamy skin is dappled with deep forest green between green stripes. The flesh is a pale lime-white and makes an excellent summer squash when harvested young.

The authors of The Vegetables of New York: The Cucurbits (1937, 201) remarked that White Mandan was similar to two old Eastern squashes: Long Island White Bush, and Green Striped Bergen, the latter introduced commercially in 1841. Because of its bell-like shape, I have always assumed that my Yellow Mandan is actually a selection of Green Striped Bergen by another name. There are several reasons to support this, nineteenth-century iconographic sources aside.

The Yellow Mandan is not a yellow White Mandan. The flesh of the yellow is either pale orange or golden yellow (depending on soil), and the skin is a creamy yellow where the white is “sea foam white,” an old term for white with a tinge of green. Furthermore, the fruits of the yellow are smaller, weighing 1 1/2 to 2 pounds, or just about half of what one would expect of a true White Mandan. The yellow is also more fragrant when ripe and stores better. It can be pared, seeded, sliced like an apple, and dried.

Varietal distinctions aside, only Mandan and Yellow Mandan are presently available through Seed Savers Exchange; the others have vanished from seed lists altogether. It is an excellent squash for small gardens. The leaves resemble large grape leaves, and they hug the ground so that the vines do not compete with taller vegetables nearby. Thus, it thrives under the protection of corn or around the base of staked tomatoes. More important, the plants produce abundantly. I am sure that I have gathered at least fifteen squash from each hill, and this during the height of a drought that in my region wiped out the Jersey pumpkin harvest.

I dry this pumpkin in order to reconstitute it as paste or puree for my ongoing recipe project in American Indian cookery. Frankly, dried pumpkin is practical, since it stores easily and does not take up much space. Otherwise, treat the mature fruit like acorn squash. Incidentally, the young fruit, when about 2 inches in diameter, may be sliced and served raw with dips or cooked like the small ronde de Nice zucchini.

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