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My brother and his family have a farm market in Charlevoix, Michigan. They grow strawberries, raspberries and blackberries that you can pick yourself as well as vegetables, herbs and cut flowers that they sell at their farm market.
This past fall my son was visiting the family ‘up north’ and brought back some pumpkins for decorating. This particular pumpkin was a lovely blue-green with a good looking stem that was a real attraction on the front porch nestled in with the pumpkins from my compost heap (long story).
Before our unusual cold snap in December I put it in the garage for safe keeping while I thought about cooking it. In January I saw this lonely pumpkin sitting in the garage and decided to cook it up. So, I proceeded to just toss the thing whole into the oven rather than taking a chance of cutting off my arm trying to hack through it. I’m guessing it was about 8 lbs or so. I had to take out one rack so it would fit and at the last minute I decided to poke some holes in the top just in case it blew. Have you ever had a baked potato blow up in your oven? Me too and it isn’t pretty and this cucurbit was so big…it could take out the entire oven door!
It took about an hour and a half at 350 degrees before it was tender when tested with a knife. I hauled it out and let it cool. I should have put a tray under it as it bubbled some onto the oven floor (next time). It was so easy to cut in half – like butter. Next I scooped out the seeds and put them into a colander for later. The flesh was deep orange and sweet. This can’t be a pumpkin; it has too much color and flavor I thought to myself. 
I made a couple of pumpkin pies and divided the rest into quart size bags and sent it on to the freezer. The pies were a hit, everyone raved about them. Later I called my sister-n-law Sue and asked what kind of pumpkin she sent to me.
She confirmed my suspicions, although it is called a Jarrahdale Pumpkin, it is really a winter squash, Cucurbita maxima; an Australian heirloom variety grown for its unique blue-green skin and its deep orange colored flesh, perfect for pies.
I am planting this old fashioned squash who tries to pass for a pumpkin this year in my garden.
Seeds are available at Johnny Select seeds http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-6153-jarrahdale.aspx
Cici’s easy pie crust
In a pie plate combine:
1 cup unbleached flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons Flax seed (whole or ground slightly)
A pinch of sea salt
½ cup oil
Mix with a fork until well blended then add:
¼ cup milk
Mix well then with hands pat out crust to fit pan
To cook a Jarrahdale Pumpkin: Place whole squash in oven, poke some hole in the shoulders. Place cookie sheet under to avoid oven cleanup. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or so – until it is tender. Cool then cut in half, scoop out seeds then scoop out orange flesh. Freeze any leftovers.
Home-grown squash pie
In food processor add:
2 eggs
½ -3/4 cup sugar
Blend then add:
1 ½ - 2 cup jarrahdale pumpkin, cooked
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ cup milk
Blend together and pour into un-baked pie crust
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, turn down oven to 350 and bake
Additional 45min to 1 hour until knife comes out clean. Enjoy!
Every year it is fun to see what springs up from the compost pile…squash, potatoes, melons, arugula, dill, just about every herb, vegetable and flower has lived in the compost pile at one time or another.
This year pumpkins took a turn and when I returned from Europe I found pumpkin vines had found their way up and over the fence, up and around the cedar trellis in the herb-kitchen garden, over the rosemary and through the tomatoes and basil plants. I arrived just in time to tame the beast before it took over the hops arbor!
It was hard to get upset with Ms. (or Mr. call it what you like this plant has both female and male flowers) Pumpkin plant; after all she did leave several off-spring of the loveliest soft peachie-orange color with a pleasant round fruit that looks like a Sasquatch (squash family?) had lightly trodden on during the last full moon.
What kind are they? Who knows…the original was a bluish green color with a similar shape when I bought it from a local farmer then later tossed it in the compost pile. It would be safe to say that it grew in the field next to some other kind of pumpkins or winter squash since this year is the same shape but a different color.
Pumpkins, gourds and squash all belong to the same plant species (Cucurbita pepo) which means they may cross…not the first year but if you save the seed or in my case allow those seeds to grow the second year in the compost you could get some surprises. Sometimes these changes are good and sometimes a little funky with different shapes, colors or warts.
If you have heard the rumor that anything in the curcurbit family can cross-pollinate including squash, pumpkins, gourds, melons and cucumbers that is just an ‘old wives tale’. We are talking about three different plant species, cucumbers (Cucumis sativus), melons (Cucumis melo) and squash, pumpkins and gourds (Cucurbita pepo). While the bees can carry pollen from flower to flower, the flowers only accept pollen from their own species.
Now, aren’t you glad we had this talk? You can sleep better knowing your cucumbers will never cross with those rascally gourds growing on the same trellis (as in my case) or your zucchini will never run away with your cantaloupe. 
I am thankful for my gift of pumpkins (12 total) in the compost heap since the baby rabbits I allowed to grow in the bean patch repaid my kindness by eating all my pumpkin plants in the vegetable garden. I think I understand why Mr. McGregor was so upset with Peter Rabbit and his kind!
Kiteley's Farm Market in Charlevoix, MI offers the usual suspects when it comes to produce and sometimes they offer some of the more unusual veggies for the daring or budding gourmet.
This is the first year they have grown these little rascals and Sue couldn’t wait to show me. I of course an enthusiastic audience; I mean just look at these, what is not exciting about them? Cut them in half and they look just like a tiny watermelon without the seeds of course.
The flavor is intense and sweet; just what you would expect from a radish parading as a itsy bitsy water melon. Cut them up and serve them with a dip, slice and pile them on a sandwich or shred over a salad for a color burst of flavor and texture. Sauté the greens with a little garlic and as you thin the crop use the young micro greens (with bulbs attached) in salads. 
This variety of radish is best grown in summer and fall and reaches a mature size of 2-4” in about 50 days. Harvest before the bulbs get old and woody. For a continual harvest, sow seeds every 2-3 weeks. To keep the greens flea beetle free, Sue covers the seed bed with a row cover.
