2019 Year of the Pumpkin: The Ultimate Heirloom
We’re pleased to announce that the National Garden Bureau has named 2019 the Year of the Pumpkin.
No garden is complete without these fine members of the cucurbit family, and Landreth Seed offers a first class selection.
Pumpkins and winter squash usually come with a really good story. That’s because most of them are heirloom, and their history can stretch back for centuries. Let’s start with one of our favorites, Landreth’s Cheese Pumpkin from our 1906 catalog, described as a true beauty prized for the creamy white exterior and thick orange flesh.
Well, to be fair, the story of the Landreth’s Cheese Pumpkin is now the story of the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin, its closest living relative and the seed we now stock.
An American Native
Pumpkin is an American native, celebrated as a symbol of Autumn and is prized for it’s excellent eating and decorating qualities. This old-timer was bred in 1807, named after the Long Island Sound where it originated and quickly became the standard in cookbooks and farmers almanacs for making the most delicious pumpkin pie of all. Often described as rich in color, creamy firm flesh, and very sweet. It would keep all winter in the cool dry cellar.
Yet despite its popularity in the 1800’s, seed began to disappear in the 1960’s until seed savers began to notice. We did too. The Long Island Seed Project is a regional seed bank that is built to preserve this variety, and we are proud to once again offer this unique pumpkin in our catalog, along with three other original favorites.
Create Your Pumpkin Story
At Landreth’s we make it easy for you to succeed, because we want you to have fun while you play in the dirt. Get ready to create your own pumpkin story. Push a seed in the ground, allow the plant to take root, then watch as the vines spread across the garden and start to form the fruit. Now begin to think about all the crazy things you can do with that pumpkin: carve it for a spooky jack-o-lantern or bake it into a pie.
Then send us your own story to share your memories – because that’s what we love most about gardening.
Long Island Cheese (White)
The closest living relative to our original Landreth Cheese Pumpkin, Long Island Cheese has a creamy white exterior with a thick orange flesh to give this pumpkin both a decorative touch with excellent flavor.
Cushaw Green Striped: 85 days
Once called Brother Jonathan, this large bottle shaped fruit with a slight crookneck, is creamy white with green stripes, and light-yellow interior flesh. A mammoth pumpkin that can weigh up to 40 pounds, this old-fashioned squash is photo worthy and when it gets to that size, it still tastes great.
Connecticut Field Pumpkin: 70 days
Large, rich, smooth orange yellow pumpkin, slightly oval or cylindrical, the Connecticut Field Pumpkin is an iconic pumpkin for porch or carving. it’s the field pumpkin you see that graces many pumpkin fields in large quantity.