Some of us get really excited about giant pumpkins at this time of the year, and I’ve tried over the years to join in and to use the beautiful orange flesh from Halloween carving sessions to cook up into soups and pies.

This has been to no avail, alas, but not because pumpkins themselves are intrinsically inedible, nor because I’m that much of a bad cook (we’ll gloss over that). No, it’s because the giant Jack-o-lantern pumpkins are too fibrous, disappointingly watery and so sadly only fit for Halloween hollowing (and then the compost heap).

Luckily, however, there are lots of delicious pumpkin varieties available – both to buy and to grow, and the ever reliable, if harder to carve, winter squash is in season for much of the year now.

Pumpkins and squash are in the same botanical family (Cucurbitaceae) and it can be hard to tell them apart. I’m not sure it matters unless you’re a botanist, except that it’s useful to know the difference between soft-skinned summer squash (including courgettes), and the winter types, which ripen later and have a much tougher outer skin.

Pumpkins and squash come in all shapes and sizes, and many are beautiful enough to just sit about as ornaments or still life subjects – for months on end if you so choose, because they store so beautifully (but think of the dust). They are also really easy to grow.

How to grow pumpkins and squash

The seeds of cucurbits are reassuringly large and easy to handle, but because of their size, each one will need its own 9cm pot to grow in. If you can bear to be cruel, sow two seeds per pot and then pull out and discard the weaker seedling.

Seeds can be sown directly into the ground, but are not hardy and may rot off or be eaten by pests before they can germinate. They are more reliably sown under cover in mid April and then planted out into their final positions once the danger of frost is passed.

That final position might ideally be a dedicated pumpkin patch, or at least somewhere that gives them enough space to grow (when I say grow, I mean rampage untrammelled over everything). Mini pumpkins and some of the smaller squashes will climb up sturdy obelisks or arches, but larger varieties need space to ramble along the ground, as their fruits are too heavy for the stem alone to support.

You may see pumpkins and squash being grown on large compost heaps (the garden at Great Dixter has a magnificent pumpkin heap). This suits them very well, as they need rich deep soil – and the warmth of the heap will also help with growth and ripening. You can also make a mound of compost on the ground and then plant into that for a similar ‘heap’ effect. The distance between each plant should be at least 60cm, to allow for all the rampaging.

Three in a bed

If you are short of room, or want to maximise vertical as well as horizontal space, there is a way to grow three tender crops – squash, beans and sweetcorn in one space. This ancient American Indian technique called the ‘Three Sisters’ relies on the tall growing corn to act as a support for the climbing beans, the beans then help to feed them (with the special nitrogen fixing nodes in their roots) and the pumpkin or squash plants create shade and suppress weeds with their large spreading leaves.

It’s not the tidiest way to grow them (think three straggly sisters entwined together on a bad hair day), but it has been tried and tested as a companion planting technique for thousands of years and, if nothing else, definitely saves space.

Feeding and watering

Most vegetables that produce fruit – tomatoes, aubergines, sweetcorn – and all the cucurbits need plenty of food and water in order to successfully flower, set seed and swell into juicy edibleness.

Try to keep the monstrous plant from The Little Shop of Horrors in your mind (‘FEED ME!’) as you mulch the ground around squash and pumpkin plants with compost or well-rotted organic manure, water well in dry spells and, if needed, feed with potassium rich fertiliser once the plant is flowering.

The fruits are produced all along the rambling stems and will go on appearing as long as the plant keeps growing. I tend to pinch out the growing tip once I can see about five fruits appearing on each stem. This is not compulsory, but it diverts the plant into producing a few good sized fruits rather than lots of smaller ones.

Harvest time

Make sure that the developing fruits are cushioned as they get to maturity – either with mulch, or a light bed of straw. This will stop the side or base of the fruit coming into contact with damp ground and rotting. It will also help air to circulate and aid the ripening process.

Pumpkins and squash should be ripe by the time the foliage starts to die back in early autumn. Leave them out in the sun for as long as possible, as this will ‘cure’ the skin and enable the fruit to last longer in storage.

Bring inside before the frosts arrive, cutting each fruit off from the main stem, but leaving a long stalk if you can, as this will also help prolong their shelf life. As mentioned, they’ll keep for ages, providing they’re stored in a dry place.

For the tastiest results

As mentioned, huge monsters are best saved for lanterns, as it seems to be the smaller pumpkins that are the tastiest. The sweet nuttiness of pumpkins and squash is enhanced by roasting.

Bake them whole in their skins, and then scoop out the flesh, mash and mix with seasoned butter. Or chop thinner skinned varieties and butternut squash into smaller pieces, roast in herby oil (scatter sage or oregano onto the roasting tray).

I tend to stuff the little ones and bake them whole, use firm fleshed butternuts for risottos and pasta dishes and the larger pumpkins for soups and for purees to put into baking.

Best culinary varieties

Uchiki Kuri – also called Red Kuri/Red Onion Squash, is medium sized and an attractive deep red colour. A good all-rounder.

Marina di Chioggia – suspiciously weird and blue on the outside, but with tasty orange flesh.

Crown Prince and Queensland Blue – more blue/green skin with orange flesh. Great roasted.

Sweet Dumpling – smallish with cream and green striped outer skin, with firm orange flesh, excellent for baking. Delicata is also good for baking and stuffing.

Butternut squash – widely available and actually these are my favourite and (mercifully if you end up with a glut) home grown ones taste even better once they’ve been stored for a while.

TEST The fruits are produced all along the rambling stems and will go on appearing as long as the plant keeps growing

The fruits are produced all along the rambling stems and will go on appearing as long as the plant keeps growing

TEST Jack-o-lanterns

Jack-o-lanterns

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