Pics of West Indian Pumpkin grown in NJ.

[Alfredo]

Below are pics of the west indian pumpkin I grew here in NJ back in 2010.

westindianpumpkin2011.jpg One of the two West Indian Pumpkin plants I sowed into the raised garden bed that year. Leaves are already quite large. 2010

westindianpumpkintwo2011.jpg West Indian pumpkin starting to grow outside of the raised garden bed. 2010

westindianpumpkinthree2011.jpg

westindianpumpkinfour2011.jpg

westindianpumpkinfive2011.jpg

westindianpumpkinsix2011.jpg View from behind of raised garden bed with tomatoes and west indian pumpkin growing out of it. 2010

westindianpumpkinseven2011.jpg

westindianpumpkineight2011.jpg

westindianpumpkinnine2011.jpg

westindianpumpkinten2011.jpg Purple Basil grown with west indian pumpkin. 2010

westindianpumpkineleven2011.jpg West Indian Pumpkin starting to flower. 2010

westindianpumpkintwelve2011.jpg

westindianpumpkinthirteen2011.jpg Vines of the west indian pumpkin really starting to get quite long. 2010

westindianpumpkinfourteen2011.jpg

westindianpumpkinfifteen2011.jpg First fruit developing on the west indian pumpkin plant. 2010

westindianpumpkinsixteen2011.jpg

westindianpumpkinseventeenoct29.jpg View of the garden in fall, west indian pumpkin plants still growing strong, Oct. 19th, 2010.

westindiansept282010.jpg First West Indian Pumpkin harvested. Sept. 28, 2010.

westindiantwosept28.jpg

westindianmomsept28.jpg Mom holding the first West Indian Pumpkin harvested. It's quite big, 25lbs-30lbs. 2010
westindiancutsept28.jpg West Indian Pumpkin. Sept.28, 2010.

westtindianpumpkinoct29.jpg Another west indian pumpkin still on vine. Oct.29th, 2010.

westindianpumpkinoct29.jpg Two more harvested. 2010

lastharvest2010.jpg Last harvest of the West Indian Pumpkin. 2010

These are some pics of the cucumber I grew out in 2010:

cucumber2011.jpg

cucumbertwo2011.jpg

cucumberthree2011.jpg

cucumberfour2011.jpg

cucumberfive2011.jpg

Some lettuce:

lettuce2011.jpg

lettucetwo2011.jpg

~Alfredo

[peppero]

thanks for sharing those great pictures. i would imagine the pumpkins taste very good. jon

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by peppero

thanks for sharing those great pictures. i would imagine the pumpkins taste very good. jon

peppero (jon),
Yeah the west indian pumpkin is used often in Caribbean cooking (specifically for cooking with beans), so that's why I grew them out that year...I had enough pumpkin to give away to a couple other families as well...I diced it up and froze it to use throughout the rest of that winter/spring. Also makes a good mild tasting creamed pumpkin soup.

This year I'll be growing the Guatemalan Blue Banana Squash from Seed Savers Exchange. See how that comes out...Have you grown any types of pumpkin/squash?

~Alfredo

[TightenUp]

it seems you have quite the green thumb

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by TightenUp

it seems you have quite the green thumb

Hey TightenUp...Yeah I'm trying to get it greener everyday

Have you grown any pumpkin/squash?

~Alfredo

[TightenUp]

last year i bought a zucchini plant from HD and it produced pretty well for me. i went away for 2 weeks and wound up with 2 huge ones. couldnt give em away

they're not my fav veggie to grow but i'll prob pick up another plant or 2 for this upcoming season. maybe a green and yellow

[Zana]

These looks great. Where did you find the seeds?

How well did these keep?

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by Zana

These looks great. Where did you find the seeds?

How well did these keep?

Hello Zana,

Thanks. I actually just saved the seed from a west indian pumpkin I bought at a supermarket nearby that specializes in Caribbean produce/products. I wasn't really sure if the seeds were going to be viable...but they were. The west indian pumpkin stored well too, I thought at least, almost 2 months. But then I diced them up and froze it for later use in cooking.

The only other seeds I've been able to grow from store bought produce like that have been avocados (I have several avocados as houseplants lol....and a couple Citrus plants, one is in a bonsai style). Though I am going to attempt to grow a ginger plant later this year using ginger root(rhizomes).

~Alfredo

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by TightenUp

last year i bought a zucchini plant from HD and it produced pretty well for me. i went away for 2 weeks and wound up with 2 huge ones. couldnt give em away

they're not my fav veggie to grow but i'll prob pick up another plant or 2 for this upcoming season. maybe a green and yellow

Ah zucchini huh...I've never tried growing any of the summer squash...I should try them though...I don't remember seeing any of the summer squash varieties being sold as transplants in my area...but maybe because I don't normally look for those types of squash. I'll have to check.

~Alfredo

[lakelady]

Alfredo your plants look so happy and beautiful! That lettuce looks delicious too, I can never wait long enough for mine to fully form heads ha!

I've never heard of that pumpkin. Two years ago I made gnocchi from the Rugosa Violina squash I grew, and it was excellent. I'm going to try growing it again this year, it's very dry and sweet, my favorite winter squash.

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by lakelady

Alfredo your plants look so happy and beautiful! That lettuce looks delicious too, I can never wait long enough for mine to fully form heads ha!

I've never heard of that pumpkin. Two years ago I made gnocchi from the Rugosa Violina squash I grew, and it was excellent. I'm going to try growing it again this year, it's very dry and sweet, my favorite winter squash.

Thanks lakelady (Antoniette)...where did you purchase that Rugosa Violina squash seed from? ~Alfredo

[lakelady]

Alfredo, I purchased the seeds originally from Baker Creek, and saved some. Let me know if you'd like any, as I'll be growing it again this year. Truthfully, I am now spoiled for any other winter squash, they pale in comparison to the flavor of this one for me.

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by lakelady

Alfredo, I purchased the seeds originally from Baker Creek, and saved some. Let me know if you'd like any, as I'll be growing it again this year. Truthfully, I am now spoiled for any other winter squash, they pale in comparison to the flavor of this one for me.

Hey lakelady,

Just wondering how your Rugosa Violina squash is growing so far this season?

~Alfredo

[lakelady]

Alfredo, I am so disappointed in my squash this year. Rugosa Violina has NO flowers but is growing well. I do not understand. Then my "mess" over in the other garden, has the Chiogga squash and that is loaded with flowers (3 plants) but all males I cannot see any females. Okay, so the cucumbers and squash are all tangled together as the cukes I planted seem to be much longer vines than expected and the squash doesn't want to run over ground but keeps trying to wrap tendrils on the cuke trellis. I'm still hoping something comes of both of these though.

Wonder how I can get the Chiogga to produce female flowers ugh.

How is your garden doing?

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by lakelady

Alfredo, I am so disappointed in my squash this year. Rugosa Violina has NO flowers but is growing well. I do not understand. Then my "mess" over in the other garden, has the Chiogga squash and that is loaded with flowers (3 plants) but all males I cannot see any females. Okay, so the cucumbers and squash are all tangled together as the cukes I planted seem to be much longer vines than expected and the squash doesn't want to run over ground but keeps trying to wrap tendrils on the cuke trellis. I'm still hoping something comes of both of these though.

Wonder how I can get the Chiogga to produce female flowers ugh.

How is your garden doing?

Hey lakelady,
Sorry to hear the Rugosa Violina isn't flowering yet...have you applied any type of fertilizer to help it along possibly? I usually add some "Garden-Tone" organic granular fertilizer from Espoma to my squash plants once they're growing and that seems to help them. My 2 types of squash, Nutterbutter Winter Squash (type of butternut squash) and Guatemalan Blue Banana are both growing well. The Butternut is already flowering, and the Guatemalan Blue Banana is growing quite big...should start to flower soon. So your squash and cukes are growing together and getting a little tangled? That happens sometimes...hopefully they'll just act as a natural mulch for each other's roots against any heat waves. That happens with me and my morning glories, I'm always pruning them back off of my other vegetables/bushes...ok so sometimes I let them loose on bushes, but only if it's one of my plain green evergreen bushes and I want to introduce some color . I'm growing cucumbers and summer squash too, but I tend to always start those seeds late as I'm more into growing the tomatoes, winter squash, peppers and beans. I really should start both the cukes and summer squash earlier, and maybe start the cukes indoors just to get them growing earlier.

This year I've really got into growing beets, I've grown several Early Wonder Beets and they're very sweet, great for juicing...I'm also growing Bull's Blood Beets but those aren't ready yet as I staggered my timing of sowing the different types of Beets to have a wave of harvests with them hopefully. I'm going to post some pics of my squash plants here so you can see how they're faring so far this year.

~Alfredo