Seminole Pumpkins lite. They can also be dark green
Cucurbita muschata: Seminole Pumpkin
Unlike watermelons which are from Africa, pumpkins and their kin are North American natives. When Panfilo de Narvaez was on an expedition in 1528 near what is now Tallahassee, Fl., he saw Seminole Pumpkins under cultivation. They still grow in the wild in many states, Florida north to Pennsylvania. They might have even been in Massachusetts when the Pilgrims arrived.
Let me quote Dr. Julia Morton, the larger-than-life grand dame of edible and poisonous plants in the southeastern US:
“A mainstay of Florida Indians and early settlers, the Seminole pumpkin is botanically identified as a form of Cucurbita moschata Poir., the species embracing the Cushaw or winter Crookneck squashes. It will spread over the ground, drape a fence or climb trees; needs to be fertilized only at planting time; requires no protection from insects. The fruit, variable in form and size, is hard-shelled when mature and keeps at room temperature for months, is excellent baked, steamed or made into pie. The Indians sliced, sun-dried and stored surplus pumpkins. Very young, tender fruits are delicious boiled and mashed; the male flowers excellent dipped in batter and fried as fritters. Thus, the vine produces three totally different vegetables. This is an ideal crop for the home gardener. The portion of the vine which has borne will die back but vigorous runners, which root at the nodes, will keep on growing, flowering and fruiting, yielding a continuous supply.”
The Indians not only cleared land for agriculture but they took advantage of the Seminole Pumpkin, which is a vigorous climber. They would plant it as the base of a dead oak tree and let the vine climb the tree and fruit off the ground. The plant would then grow all over the hammock reseeding itself. The natives were, actually, more ingenious than that. A hammock is a hardwood island in a swampy area. They would girdle the trees on the inner part of the island killing them but turning the inner part into a small field protected by a wind break and prying eyes. Getting the pumpkins down was no issue with a lot of young braves wanting to prove themselves. Uninjured, a Seminole Pumpkin will store for several months even in hot weather if it has good ventilation.
The pumpkin is round, lightly ribbed, around three pounds with tan skin or mottled and green. The sweet flesh is deep orange and dry. Highly productive, it is resistant to insects and disease. The fruit is actually more closely related to butternut and calabaza than the common Halloween pumpkin.
The botanical name, Cucubita moschata (kew-KUR-bi-ta MOSS-kuh-tuh) means Musk-scented Bottle Gourd. Moschata is also where we get the word “musk” from. Cucubita was what the Romans called the bottle gourd.
Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile
Green Seminole Pumpkins
IDENTIFICATION: Vine, soft-hairy, creeping, leaves ovate or nearly round or sometimes triangularly lobed, toothed, six inches to a foot long, soft, limp. Flowers funnel-shaped, crinkly, yellow, five lobes, three to four inches wide. Fruit comes in many forms, round, oblate, pear-shaped, short-necked, ribbed, orange when ripe with orange-yellow flesh, central cavity more or less filled with soft, fibrous pulp and flat, elliptic, white seeds, to three quarters of an inch long.
TIME OF YEAR: Fall and winter
ENVIRONMENT: Hammocks, everglades, abandoned camps
METHOD OF PREPARATION: Numerous: Boiled or baked, used as a vegetable, dried and ground into a flour for bread, young shoots and leaves cooked as greens, flowers with pistils removed cooked and eaten. They can also be stuffed. Seeds edible, can be roasted or hulled and ground into a gruel.
How long does it take until the crop is ready?
Less than 120 days.
I live between zones 9a and 9b – very hot and humid. I have been unable to grow cukes and squash because of powdery mildew. Would I have better luck with seminole pumpkins?
you should have better luck growing this. You should also try Burr Gherkins (in place of cucumbers) and chayote.
I had a volunteer start in my front yard in North Florida in early June. Without any input from me, it has thrived – I just harvested 11 large pumpkins, and there are many green ones forming. Heat, humidity, rainless weeks, bugs – nothing bothered it. The bees and other pollinators loved it
Where can I find the seeds for the Seminole pumpkins?
Southern Exposure carries pure Seminole Pumpkin seeds. Hurry and purchase them, ’cause they will probably be unavailable before Winter’s over.
Me too, where can I find the seeds please?
Which spelling is accurate for the Seminole pumpkin? Curcurbita Muschata or Curcurbita Moschata? Or are they interchangeable? Would love to have a source for the seeds regardless of it’s scientific name ;).
with an O, Moschata.
http://www.southernexposure.com/seminole-pumpkin-3-g-p-166.html
Here’s a place to order seeds.
You can get them from Echo Farm in North Fort Myers also. http://www.echonet.org/content/SeedBank/561
I’m in Sarasota and I tried them this summer. Planted in March? May? Grew like crazy but almost all the fruits got end blossom fruit rot so I started eating the flowers (not fried, in tortillas with beans, etc.) The one pumpkin I did get this summer was at the front edge of my yard where it got a good breeze and open spaces. I’ve now got three more coming along (Nov) so the productivity gets a little better once the humidity drops. I’ll try them along the west and more open edge of my yard next year. There are a few things that grow like crazy in the heat–Boniato (Cuban sweet potato) is one. You can get slips from Echo Farms or email me 🙂 I plant ’em in March. Yardlong beans are also a good summer producer 🙂
Kim, were the pumpkins that got rot on the ground or suspended?
Could these be grown in NY state read about them in BMW magazine for growing within a three sisters garden.
In the summer, yes.
They average 95 to 100 days to mature so as long as your weather stays warm long enough they will grow.
Hi there! I was recently given a Seminole pumpkin from my grandmother, who has been growing them for years and had no idea what they were. I found your blog post when I started researching them, and I really enjoyed it! I did a blog post about Seminole pumpkins, and linked back here to your site. Just thought I’d let you know in case you were interested! Thanks for the great information!
Best,
Natalie
http://oystersandpearls.net/seminole-pumpkin/
Baker Creek heirloom seeds also sells these seeds. I was very glad to read this post since I just ordered some Seminole pumpkin seeds. Are these self-seeding annuals (in the south) or are they perennial?
http://www.rareseeds.com
They are a “long lived Annual” in the south. If the temps are good they will keep trying to grow and spread, but it needs to re seed to come back.
I recieved 3 pumpkins that I eventually identified as at least majority related to this last year while down in lower Georgia. Gave one away, baked one, and saved the largest one which is sitting near me as of this date. Saved seeds from last year and this spring potted the seeds in 3″ peat pot and Miricale grow early April here central Missouri. Took awhile before they came up but when they did, all came up evenly and healthy. Set out 6 of them in mid May, eventually blossoms came and came and came (not thick, tho). Tried hand pollinating; saw no results. Squash bees started coming around in early morning; mid July about to rip them out! Reached for my hoe, saw a small pumpkin. Okay, let them live. Have harvested 12 so far 4# up to about 8#. Accidentally chopped some vines and 4 or 5. right no, there are 2 dark green 7 – 8 # pumpkins down there yet and before the hard freeze other nite, 5 blossoms.
A bit bland flavor-wise, after baking, but sliced the meat off the rind and fried it with bit of sugar and cinnamon… um, good.
Definitely long storage keepers.
I live in hot dry central Texas. Planted the seeds in a 3 sisters garden back in April. All seeds came up.. Hot & dry watered them a lot!! Non wod them did anything.. But then came July.. One plant survived.. It spread, retooled & grew like crazy.. Thought I only had 2 pumpkins about October.. Then I just let it go.. it’s mid November we’ve had our first freeze I seen a bunch more out there the last few weeks.. They were all green.. Freeze killed the vine.. I went and dug through the weeds. Have about 6-8 more pumpkins different size. I’ve read you can eat these green as baby squash so I’m looki g for a recipe.. Deffinetly growing these next July again.. Seeds were from baker creek. Plants did magnificent after july(our winter squah planting date)
Two very well respected websites state that the Cucurbita moschata is introduced in Florida and the United States. However, these pumpkins were already being grown in Florida when the first Spanish explorers came. So why are they considered non-natives? I thought the differentiation was about before or after European contact.
First, botanists can disagree. Second, they could have been introduced from South America or the like by traveling natives.
This little fellow just popped up on my property in Loxahatchee, Fl.; probably from bird droppings. I didn’t know what it was, so I left it alone to see what would develop. I was surprised to see it was a melon like object, and 1st thought it was going to be a Halloween type pumpkin, but the bright green fruit started turning yellow, while it was way too small to be a Halloween pumpkin, so here I am trying to identify what type of pumpkin I have growing on my property. It looks very much like the Seminole pumpkin. I am going to try baking one like a butternut squash and will steam one to see how they turn out. The vine runs like crazy. I never thought about elevating it, but since the melons are so small, I think I will give it a try.
I just heard about Seminole pumpkins yesterday! I’m really interested in growing them. Will they grow in South Florida? From what I’ve heard about them it seems that they probably will. If so, when should they be planted? I’m also confused because it seems like they are perennial in frost free climates. Or are they just a long lived annual?
You plant them in the spring when the weather has turned good for the rest of the year.
I was just given some more Seminole pumpkin seeds–my plants last year never produced any fruit and I was told you have to help them pollinate. I live in South Florida zone 10–it’s now the first part of May—when should I plant them as I’d hate to lose them again–I really want to try them as food, as I love squash and pumpkin
Plant them now. We are way past any possible cold weather in your area.
I just planted a Seminole pumpkin under my live oak tree. Is this a good idea? It’s not a huge tree. Probably about 5 years old. It is in good health. I another if the pumpkin will kill it.
I think the oak is made of study stuff and the Seminole Pumpkin is of little threat.
The Seminoles planted them under DEAD live oak trees. I doubt your plant will get enough sun if the tree is alive and shading it!
Thanks for posting all this information about seminole pumpkins! I bought one at the farmers market last year and cooked it. Must have discarded the seeds in my compost pile in Micanopy, Fl. This spring beautiful vines started growing. They took over a hydrangea and an azalea hedge and are producing perfectly shaped pumpkins. Thought the flowers looked yummy, but haven’t tried them, yet. So glad to read that they keep well.
Last year I had tried to grow pumpkins from store bought seeds, but the vines just rotted away. But this year’s seminole pumpkin is growing without any effort on my side!
I plant these every spring in my Tower Gardens in central Florida. After they establish and root off the runners into the ground, I cut them off the Tower Garden. They continue to grow and flourish from about March until the first cold snap (December). ONE plants gets 80+ feet long and produces about 40-60 pumpkins. They are truly amazing! Takes a lot of water to get them started (thus why I start them in the Tower Gardens — I don’t have to remember to water) but once established, needs no watering, no fertilizing, and they have no bugs issues at all. Keep them on the ground and ants will help pollinate if your bees are lacking.
I had this hardy vine with lots of squash. Thought they were gourds.
Looked up pictures and they look like Seminole Squash. I came to this web site.
So I decided to cook one. I microwaved 1/2 on a plate for 13 minutes.
It was fabulous. I added a little butter. The pulp was creamy. There was no waste. I scooped the inside squash out and filled a casserole dish.
Now I am looking for recipes. My husband really enjoyed the dish.
I live in East Central Florida on the coast. My Seminole pumpkin squash vine produced one fruit in the fall, and when other fruit began to form, it fell off when it reached about golf ball size. The vine wintered over, and now we have the same problem again…sets on fruit, but it falls off. Does anyone know what could be causing this? Thanks.
Maybe it has a low salt tolerance?
Try manually pollinating them. If they don’t get pollinated they will start to turn yellow and then drop off the vine. I go out and manually pollinate every morning before work. A customer gave my brother some seeds a couple years ago from a garden in micanopy, he was able to grow a few and share with us. I saved the seeds and planted this year and have very healthy vines. All male flowers through the summer but once September came, fruit like crazy. Sometimes 4 or 5 each morning. Location is fort white, started them in raised beds of composted horse manure ,the original roots died off but they were already rooted outside the beds and now they cover approx. 30×30′ area. Easiest thing I’ve ever grown.
Did you ever resolve this, Laurie? I’m in the same location and having the same problem.
I just picked 4 from the garden. I planted them in March and the Congress are still growing and producing. I live v in Ocala Fl can’t wait to cook them.
Is this squash suited to northern short season areas with moderate temps?
I harvested 47 Seminole pumpkins from my 1st crop back a few months ago, now have about 15 on my 2nd crop for 2015 from the same main vine.
A relative gave me some seeds that I planted in May. I spaced the seeds, two to the hill, 8 feet apart. As of the 6th of July the the 6 plants cover an area 40 feet long, 10 feet wide and still going strong. I have counted 25-30 pumpkins with more coming every day. I also have several hills of crook neck yellow squash very close to the pumpkins, so I don’t think I will be able to use seed from this years crop to save for next year.
hello Bamajoey, any way that you can send me some seeds please?i live in south florida (33063)I would like to grow this plant, here its my email gloriahernandez28@yahoo.com, thank you so much
For those who let their vines just sprawl where they wandered, did the Seminole manage to keep weeds at bay or did you have to weed?
Southern natives grew them up dead trees.
How long does it take for Seminole pumpkin seeds to germinate? And what is the best soil to grow them in I live in West Central Florida we have a lot of sand as you will know? And what can I do to make sure I am successful and growing them?
Treat them like modern squash except they do well climbing trees… or clothes lines.
Are Seminole pumpkins the same as Buttercup squash? I had some very old (20 years?) Buttercup squash seeds, so I planted them just to see if any would germinate. What I got was Seminole squash, which look very different from the picture of the Buttercup squash that was on the seed packet.
Or maybe the Buttercup squash seeds weren’t viable, but a bird brought the Seminole squash seeds! I was traveling this summer, and when I returned, there were vines all over my garden, over the fence and up some trees! I just heard about Seminole squash, and that appears to be what they are.
So, any relation between the two kinds of squash, or is it just a coincidence that I planted one kind and got another kind?
I am wondering if I could grow Seminole pumpkins where I live in Arizona. May and June are usually hot and dry then in July and August we get some monsoon rains and humidity. Would I need to water them a lot to get them through the dry months?
As an aside, we encounter so many lessons, tips and tricks from native American’s cultivation practices. With such ingenuity and traditions of efficiency, how is there a disconnect with the difficulty to attract grocery store investment or sustained presence in native communities (Oregon & whereabouts)?
I’ve been doing some research about the history of the seminole pumpkin and find it interesting that you write, “They still grow in the wild in many states, Florida north to Pennsylvania.” I’m wondering where you heard or read about this. Do you have a source that I can investigate more?