Pumpkins We Grow

A selection of the varieties we have planted! Keep an eye out for the tastiest varieties, or just see if you can identify what you’ve found in the patch. Please bear in mind that the growing conditions vary from year to year, so not everything planted will be present in large numbers every year.

Autumn Crown

Bred specifically for the UK climate, Autumn Crown Squash combines the colour of a butternut type along with the familiar shape of Crown Prince. These are pale orange coloured on the outside but have deep orange flesh inside. This variety of squash has an excellent storing quality and produces a gorgeous aroma similar to that of a melon when cut. Delicious when roasted and makes tasty soups.

Baby Spaghetti Squash

An early maturing mini spaghetti squash variety with a semi-vigorous plant habit. It matures around 2 weeks earlier than standard larger varieties. The fruits are uniform egg shaped 400-600 gram each yielding 15-20 per plant

Bambino

A round, slightly flattened variety with a bright orange skin and slight grey covering.  The fruits reach 5-10 kg with a crisp orange / Salmon flesh.  Great for carving and excellent flavour for culinary use.

Big Max

The pumpkin of choice for large Halloween Jack O’Lanterns producing smooth light orange skinned fruits splashed with pink up to 100lb and 70inches in diameter, if restricted to single fruits and provided with ample moisture.

Blue Hubbard

One of the finest, most reliable and delicious storage winter squash varieties available. This reliable old variety produces 15-30 lb. fruits on vigorous vines with sweet, bright orange and fine textured flesh.

Blue Kuri

Blue Kuri are unusual fruits with a blue-grey skin and deep orange flesh. The fruit and seeds can both be eaten, and this is considered one of the tastiest varieties by many.

Bon Bon

Bon Bon is a Buttercup type producing a flattened globe vegetable with dark green stripes and yellow flesh of outstanding flavour. Bon Bons can grow up to 16cm wide and reach weights of 1.8-1.9kg! It is simply beautiful cut into slices and steamed gently until tender. It is also delicious when roasted and can also be used to make tasty soups.

Bush Baby

Bush Baby is a winter squash with small light grey fruits with orange inner flesh.

Butterbush

Butterbush F1 fruits are smaller pale skinned fruits with deep red/orange flesh, growing to around 1kg in weight. They store well after harvest if kept in a frost free area. Butterbush is a butternut squash.

Butternut Chieftain

An excellent compact growing variety producing 4-5 fruits per plant of up to 1kg each. The fruits have higher sugar content with finer and firmer flesh than Waltham Butternut, with excellent storage characteristics.

Butternut Hunter

Bred specifically for the UK climate this variety delivers outstanding crops over a variety of UK summer conditions. Up to 4 weeks earlier than American hybrids with fruits averaging 1kg with very high yields per plant.

Butternut Waltham

This fine Butternut type is by far the most popular and widely grown winter squash. Light tan-coloured with small seed cavities and thick, cylindrical necks without crooks, it yields heavily showing remarkable uniformity with fruits avg. 9″ long, avg. 4-5 lb.

Casperita

A hybrid ‘Munchkin’ type producing small, white pumpkins, typically 750 grams in size. Fruits feature excellent skin finish and strong handles. Fruit diameter 12-14cm in size. Recommended cropping of 5-10 fruits per plant.

Celebration

Acorn shape with a multi-coloured skin and deep orange flesh (750 gram). Prolific cropper on a strong plant. Very good eating qualities. Good storage.

Connecticut Field

One of the largest carving pumpkins which can be traced back prior to 1700 and is one of the oldest Heirloom pumpkin varieties.  The vigorous sprawling vines produce large bright orange round fruits that are flattened on the ends – ideal for Halloween Jack O’Lanterns. 

Cornell’s Bush Delicata

Cornell’s Bush Delicata has a beautifully sweet and nutty flavour which makes it ideal for must uses such as roasting, baking or soups. It produces narrow, elongated fruits with cream/ yellow coloured skin with dark green thin stripes along the ribs. To eat, simply half the fruit, scoop out the seeds and cook. The skin is also edible.

Crown Prince

Steel blue-grey skinned winter squash with bright orange dense flesh and a sweet nutty flavour, averaging 3-4kg (6.5-9lb) in weight.   Also known as “Sweet Meat” squash it is regarded as one of the best for roasting and soups alike.   The storage potential is excellent: it can be kept for over 3 months in a frost-free area with good ventilation.

Delicata

If you have never eaten a Delicata squash, this is one to try. The vivid orange flesh colour indicates it is rich in Vitamin A. The sweet flesh is fine textured without coarse strings, butter and brown sugar are optional when eating because it is so sweet.

Dill’s Atlantic Giant

The ultimate variety for giant pumpkin contests holding the world record at 1689lb. It requires plenty of space and a warm long summer to reach its full potential, but with care produces exceptional sized pumpkins.

Early White Bush Scallop/Patty Pan

A prolific variety, scallop-edged and flattened, this patty-pan variety is sweet, nutty and white-fleshed. Cultivation character and habit as per courgettes, fruiting all summer if picked regularly.

Early Yellow Bush Scallop/Patty Pan

A massively productive bright yellow summer squash variety producing an abundance of bright yellow, scalloped edged, tender ‘patty pan’ type squash.

Festival

A small-fruited very attractive squash, with a marbled colourful outer skin containing a sweet, nutty flavoured, pale orange flesh. The fruits store extremely well into spring and are ideal for roasting and baking.

Galeux D’Eysines

A rare old French Heirloom squash variety, producing flattened, round 10-15 lb fruit with a gorgeous salmon-peach coloured skin that is covered with warts as the fruit matures. The vines are medium sized, vigorous and set lots of pale yellow fruits which only obtain their stunning colour when fully mature. In France the sweet orange flesh is used in soups and also can be baked. Stores well.

Golden Nugget

Golden Nugget is very much like its name; its globe shaped fruit boasts a beautifully rich golden orange skin.

Golden Hubbard

Golden Hubbard Squash has a vigorous trailing habit producing large, slightly ridged fruits weighing up to 3kg. Beneath the skin there is an orange-yellow flesh of excellent flavour similar to the nutty taste of a sweet potato. The not so attractive fruits are very good for winter storage. Difficult to peel because of its bumpy skin, this variety is best roasted with its skin on.

Harlequin

Harlequin is a great new, green striped, acorn shaped hybrid winter squash producing 1 ‘ lb fruits in abundance on sturdy bush type plants. Excellent flavour and sweet flesh. It has good powdery mildew tolerance.

Honey Bear

Honey Bear produces small fruits that are just the right size halved for single servings. Honey Bear squash is dark green with orange coloured flesh. This acorn type squash is deliciously starchy and sweet which makes them ideal for baking with their skins on.

Honeyboat Delicata

A real improvement on the standard delicata producing heavy crops of what must be one of the sweetest squashes available. The fruits are super sweet with firm, deep orange flesh ideal for roasting or soup.

Hot Chocolate

A great novelty addition to a pumpkin display with its unique chocolate colour. Strong handles. Fruit typically 2.3-3.6Kg in size.

Howden

A typical variety to grow for Halloween, which reliably produces a large crop of uniform and symmetrical rich orange pumpkins with a thick flesh ideal for carving. Each pumpkin reaches up to 15 to 20 pounds and features a very thick, strong vine to provide a nice handle-like stem to hold onto while carving the pumpkins.

Jack Be Little

A unique truly miniature pumpkin variety producing tiny 4 inch orange fruits, with about 20 fruits per vine. Ideal for Halloween decorations. Can also be used as individual portions baked whole.

Jack O’Lantern

A long established favourite for the Hallowe’en market. Fruit size 4-7Kg. Medium orange colour and sweet flavoured flesh. Lacks the uniformity of hybrids so shapes and sizes can be varied.

Jumbo Pink Banana

Large, pink banana-shaped fruit, produced in abundance and average 15-20lb but can easily grow to 50-60lb (4ft long) during good summers with care. The fruits are fine flavoured, dry with sweet orange flesh and store well in a cool frost free location.

Knucklehead

An excellent Hallowe’en hybrid variety, with distinctive warts for added effect. Fruit size 5-7Kg; typically 30cm tall by 25cm wide. Matures from dark green to deep orange. Ideal for both carving and culinary uses.

Little Gem

Little Gem Rolet is a cricket ball size fruit with dark green skin. It is a very heavy cropper and is very early to mature with a good flavour. This squash has a high sugar content so caramelises beautifully when pan fried. Little Gem Rolet is quite popular in Europe, particularly in Germany and known as a delicacy in expensive restaurants.

Mammoth Gold

One of the largest Halloween lantern type pumpkins, ideal for carving, which averages 60 lbs., but can reach 100 lbs. under optimum growing conditions. Shape is an irregular globe, often flattening where it rests on the ground.

Marina Di Chioggia

This very old Italian Heirloom rustic variety originates near Venice and is considered the King of Italian Squashes. Large unique turban shaped deep blue-green 6-10lb fruit are produced on vigorous vines with a rich, sweet, deep yellow-orange flesh of outstanding quality.

Metro

Metro squash is an attractive butternut type. Being slightly smaller then most with an average weight of 1.5kg. Metros powdery mildew resistance helps support the improved sugar taste, making this variety of squash an increasingly popular choice with most gardeners. Metro squash is a delicious vegetable when roasted and can also be used to make tasty soups.

Muscade de Provence

An Heirloom variety from Southern France producing large flat heavily lobed fruits (8kg) that ripen to a rich brown. The flesh is deep orange, heavy with fine sweet flavour.

Ornamental Small Mixed Gourd

A stunningly colourful mixture of various shaped small varieties perfect for winter decorations when dried.

Patty Pan Greendisc

A high yielding scallop shaped patty pan squash with attractive medium green fruits with speckled stripey outer skins. Most tender when harvested at no more than 5-7cm in diameter.

Polar Bear

An extra-large white pumpkin, with fruit typically over 15Kg in size. Good white colour that is retained well after harvest. Vine habit. Upright shape to ribbed fruit. Best grown with one fruit per plant.

Queensland Blue

An Australian Heirloom variety, producing vigorous trailing vines with 3-5kg deeply ribbed attractive steel blue fruits. The bright orange flesh is sweet with almost treacle like hint when roasted and the fruits store extremely well for 4-5 months in cool, dark and dry conditions.

Rouge Vif D’Etampes

Introduced over 100 years ago and often referred to as the “ Cinderella” pumpkin. Vivid red-orange round, lobed fruits shaped like cheese blocks up to 18kg, of excellent sweet flavor, great for pies or roasting, are produced on medium sized bush vines.

Spaghetti Squash

A fantastic fruiting squash, growing on small to medium sized trailing vines, which produce numerous pale yellow oblong fruits of 8-10 Inches. Boil or roast the fruit whole for 20-30 minutes, remove the seeds, then fork out the spaghetti like flesh in long strands, serve with a sauce or season to taste. Delicious!

Strawberry Crown

A productive vining winter squash originating from Brazil producing 4-6 fruits per vine averaging 3kg per fruit. The squash have a round, ribbed, slightly flattened shape with a grey-brown colour maturing with a salmon / strawberry tinge in autumn. The flavour is rich, the texture is smooth, not stringy at all like some squash.

Summer Lemon Squash

One of the most productive summer squashes we have grown, delivering huge yields of lemon shape and sized squashes on trailing vines.

Sunshine Squash

Bright red skinned winter ‘Kabocha’ type 3lb fruits with sweet, nutty orange flesh are borne on medium to small semi-bush plants.

Sweet Dumpling

Sweet Dumpling squash has an unusual skin colouring of stripes of light and dark green which houses a flesh of creamy orange. This variety is hugely versatile for culinary uses as well as being highly ornamental, they are perfect for cooking whole or stuffing and roasting as an individual portion; with a tremendously sweet flavour. We recommend cooking with the skin on, as it can be hard to remove the skins when the squash is still raw!

Sweet Lightening

A stunning flatter dumpling style winter squash producing numerous fruits (500 gram) with exceptional eating qualities. Stores well.

Table King

Table King is an outstanding winter acorn squash and one of the earliest of the acorn varieties. Vigorous, semi-bush vines produce handsome, dark green acorn squash fruits in abundance . High quality, fibreless orange flesh is thick and flavourful.

Ten Commandments

An unusual gourd shaped like a crown with ten small finger like projections pointing inward towards the blossom end . Very ornamental with a great mixture of bright striped, mottled, multi-coloured fruits which grow up to 1 lb. Picked young, this variety can be used as a summer squash, but its main attraction is for winter / Xmas decoration.

Turks Turban

Plant produces high yields of 10″ bright orange squash type gourds with red, white, and dark green markings.

Uchiki Kuri

A bright and colourful Japanese Hubbard-type squash that has very attractive orange-red skin

White Baby Boo

The Baby Boo Pumpkin produces charming bright all-white miniature fruits, 3 in. wide, on trailing vines, averaging 10 fruits per plant. Miniature variety that is popular with children for Halloween and Xmas decorations and its white flesh can be used for cooking. 95 days from planting out.

White Casper

The best white pumpkin available producing good yields of 15 pound white pumpkins with less blueing than any other variety. The flesh is also very sweet making it perfect for baking or pies.

Zephyr

A unique summer squash (used like a courgette), the Zephyr produces vigorous crops of two-tone coloured 4-6in yellow squash with faint white stripes and light-green blossom ends. The squashes are crisp with an almost nutty flavour.