Cucurbita maxima
Pumpkin, winter squash, giraumon: do not confuse it with the jack-o’-lantern pumpkin, its cousin with stringy flesh, better suited to Halloween carving than to the plate. The pumpkin is recognizable by its soft, flared stem, and its thick, sweet flesh makes it one of the best winter-keeping squashes in the vegetable garden.
Characteristics:
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Thick, sweet flesh: deep orange and much finer than that of the jack-o’-lantern pumpkin.
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Large fruits: flattened and ribbed, they easily reach several kilograms.
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Long storage life: several months in a cool, well-ventilated room.
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Undemanding: it grows well even in moderately enriched soil.
Precautions:
- As with all cucurbits, a fruit with a very bitter taste may contain cucurbitacins, which can irritate the digestive system. Always taste a small piece: if the bitterness is pronounced, discard the entire fruit.
Sowing advice:
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Position: well exposed, in full sun.
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Soil: deep and well drained. It tolerates poorly enriched soil, but adding mature compost significantly increases fruit size. It dislikes stagnant water around the crown.
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Method: sow either under cover, in a pot filled with compost, or directly in the ground, 2–3 cm deep, placing the seed on its edge. In regions with harsh climates, sowing in a nursery allows you to plant out young plants as soon as the last frosts have passed and bring the harvest forward before the return of cold weather. See how to sow your seeds.
Planting advice:
- Transplant after the frosts, spacing plants 1.5 metres apart: this is a very vigorous trailing plant. A thick mulch retains moisture and keeps the fruits clean.
Care advice:
- Water generously at the base, without wetting the foliage. Slide a board under each fruit to keep it away from damp soil.
- Limit the plant to 2 or 3 fruits if you want large specimens, pinching out the stems after the last fruit.
Harvesting advice:
- Harvest before the frosts, when the stem is dry and the skin can no longer be scratched with a fingernail. Leave 5 cm of stem: if cut flush, the fruit rots quickly.
- Leave the fruits to dry in the sun for about ten days before storing them. Their flavour improves after one or two months in storage.
Beneficial companion plants:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its large yellow flowers are a major source of pollen and nectar for bees and bumblebees, opening from sunrise.
- Its immense trailing foliage covers the soil all summer, suppressing weeds and protecting it from drying out.
Uses:
- In soup, gratins, mash, sweet tarts or jam. The seeds can be roasted and eaten as a snack. Once cut, cover the cut surface with cling film: it keeps for a good week in the refrigerator.
Saving your own seeds:
Take seeds from a fully ripe fruit, rinse them and dry them flat for several days. Cucurbita maxima does not cross with zucchinis (C. pepo) or butternut squash (C. moschata)—but it does cross with kabocha squash. See how to store your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, test them for germination rates, and carefully sort and package them without any chemical treatment. Our belief: to give gardeners back the ability to sow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
The generous, easy-to-grow winter-keeping squash.
