Pretty but paucity of pumpkins
I like to grow winter squash. In fact I like to grow them more than I like to eat them, though they are a useful crop. Unfortunately, despite being easy to grow, they usually take up a lot of room. This can be a problem in small gardens. But their vigorous growth can be useful too and they can be used as temporary ground cover in summer. And so it was that I planted some in a rough area that is barely cultivated. It was dug over, adding compost, in winter but is not really ready for permanent planting because it lays wet in winter. Regulars readers may remember me christening it the ‘bed of death’ because of the number of plants that have died in it. The winter squash have done reasonably well though are not as vigorous as I might have hoped. As well as spaghetti squash, which is not really a winter squash, I grew a new (to me) pumpkin called ‘Miss Sophie Pink’. It has small fruits, though they are a bit smaller than I expected, and should be a unique pink colour.
I have to say that they are not very ‘pink’. I have yet to eat one but that is because the crop is very small – just one per plant. I think this is because of the cool, wet summer. They have flowered quite well but few have set and I know that bees have been abundant. But although the crop has been poor the plants have astonished me with their beauty. I did choose this variety because it was supposed to have yellow leaves. But I was not expecting such a beautiful plant. Even better, it seems to be unaffected by mildew that has discoloured the neighbouring spaghetti squash and the courgettes.
The plants are trailing and have crept over the winter-heathers and look really spectacular. I won’t let them damage the heathers but I like the contrast at the moment. Will I grow it again? Well I didn’t sow all the seeds so probably yes. But it will depend on how the pumpkins taste I suppose. But I think I will grow it on the semi-wild bank next year where nasturtiums have taken over this year so they can scramble at will and where the soil is a bit better.
The Biking Gardener 
We have inclined towards small fruits in latter years choosing varieties which are recommended for culinary rather than decorative use. We enjoy pumpkin soup especially and also like them as a roasted vegetable.
I agree that the smaller-fruited kinds result in less waste. I would be happy with roasted squash every night in winter but not everyone in the household does – and I am not talking about the cat!
Back before so many other towns designated themselves as such, Half Moon Bay was one of the two original towns that were the Pumpkin Capital of the World. It is right up the coast from here, in San Mateo County. I went to school with the Pumpkin Queen of 1985! The annual Pumpkin Festival is quite an event, although tourists do not seem to notice the lack of culinary pumpkins. Most pumpkins that grow in the region are for Jack O’ Lanterns! Few actually get eaten. They get carved for Halloween, and then discarded afterward. It is such an odd waste; but at least everyone enjoys it.
That is great that you can say you knew the Pumpkin queen! It is a shame that pumpkins are carved and then discarded but most are varieties with thin flesh, grown for this purpose rather than for culinary use.
Well, the ‘other’ Pumpkin Capital of the World’ (at that time) grows pumpkins for culinary application. (Nowadays, several towns consider themselves to be ‘the’ Pumpkin Capital of the World.) It is odd that culinary pumpkins from the supermarket were grown somewhere else.