Long Pie Culinary Pumpkin - Organic

Cucurbita pepo
(102 days) Open-pollinated. Probably an old Native American variety, or selected therefrom. Various sources and strains have included Algonquin, Indian, Golden Oblong, and possibly St. George. The best pumpkin for Yankee pies.

Though widely grown in Androscoggin County, Maine, 80 years ago (an old-timer remembers them stacked up on porches like firewood), it almost became extinct. LeRoy Souther, of Livermore Falls, Maine, maintained Long Pie for more than 30 years and then brought seeds to cucurbit aficionado (and now JSS plant breeder) John Navazio’s Common Ground Fair squash booth in the late 1980s. Navazio exhibited one at the 1988 Fair, and then reintroduced it to commerce through Garden City Seeds in Montana.

3–5 lb fruits look like overgrown thick zucchinis to the uninitiated, but the telltale sign is an orange spot where the otherwise all-green elongated fruit rested on the ground. After ripening in storage, the whole fruit first blushes, then glows bright orange, signaling that its delicious smooth flesh is ready to be turned into incomparable pies. Your fork won’t know where the whipped cream ends and the pie begins!

Vines have enormous vigor and can achieve astonishing yields. Long Pies stored at 50° can keep all winter. Germinates poorly in cold soil. At the end of the season, small immature fruit make tasty “summer” squash. ①

This item is certified organic

1723 Long Pie -

Item	Discounted From
A: 1/8oz for $3.65		New catalog listings coming in late November
B: 1/4oz for $5.95		New catalog listings coming in late November
C: 1/2oz for $10.50		New catalog listings coming in late November
D: 1oz for $17.00		New catalog listings coming in late November
E: 4oz for $42.00		New catalog listings coming in late November
K: 1lb for $122.00		New catalog listings coming in late November

Additional Information

Cucurbita pepo

One of the oldest domesticated species. Pepo derives from the Greek pepon, meaning ‘ripened by the sun.’ They have hard 5-sided ribbed stems, and fruits are usually ribbed. They also include summer squashes and small gourds, as well as some pumpkins.

Pumpkins

100–280 seeds/oz. ⅛ oz packet sows 3–8 hills.
Days to maturity are from direct seeding.

Botanically, there are no such things as pumpkins. But we know one when we see one. “Pumpkins” listed here are three species; Cucurbita pepo (mini pumpkins, small pie and some jack-o’-lanterns), C. moschata (cheeses) and C. maxima (jack-o’-lanterns, decorative and culinary).

Culture: May be direct-seeded or transplanted. Direct seeding: Sow 4–5 seeds per hill when weather has warmed after danger of frost. Allow 4–6' between hills. Thin to 3 best plants. Use row covers and low tunnels to hasten maturity and reduce insect damage. Transplanting: Start indoors three weeks before setting out. Do not disturb the roots. Transplant bush varieties 18" apart, vining varieties 30" apart. Tender, not frost hardy. Heavy nitrogen feeders. Excessive heat and/or drought can prevent blossom set, reduce yields. Pumpkins can take one or two light frosts on the vine. To improve flavor and storage, field cure for at least 10 days after harvest, covering if hard frost threatens. Store under proper conditions, at least 50° and 60–70% relative humidity in a place with good air circulation. Do not pile up pumpkins. Inspect periodically and be sure to use damaged, stemless or small fruit first. Minimum germination temperature 60°, optimal temperature range 70–90°.

Saving Seed: Saving pumpkin seed is challenging! We list three species of the genus Cucurbita: C. pepo, C. maxima and C. moschata. Varieties of the same species will cross readily, but crossing will not occur between the different species. You must isolate varieties of the same species by half a mile if you want true-to-type seed. This is difficult for most gardeners—you may have to communicate and collaborate with neighboring gardeners, or exclude insects from blossoms and hand-pollinate. If you can pull off the variety isolation, processing the seeds is easy: rinse seeds from the guts of fully ripe and cured pumpkin. Dry and store.

Diseases: BR: Black Rot, PM: Powdery Mildew

Pest: Striped Cucumber Beetle
Cultural controls: use tolerant or resistant varieties, rotate crops, till under crop debris soon after harvest, use floating row covers until flowers appear, use plastic mulch, perimeter trap cropping (Black Zucchini and Blue Hubbard make particularly good trap crops), use yellow sticky strips, hand-pick early morning when beetles are very sluggish.
Materials: Surround, Pyrethrum (PyGanic).

Pest: Squash Bug
Cultural controls: rotation, till in cucurbit debris before winter and plant a cover crop, boards on soil surface near squash will attract bugs overnight which can be killed, avoid mulching. Squash bugs lay their brown-brick red egg clusters on the underside of the foliage, often next to the central vein—destroy egg clusters on undersides of leaves.
Materials: Pyrethrum on young nymphs, AzaMax.

Pest: Squash Vine Borer
Cultural controls: butternut squash is resistant, maximas & pepos susceptible; rotation, plow in squash vine debris soon after harvest, use floating row covers, watch for wilting plant parts and destroy borer within.

Disease: Powdery Mildew
Controls: Use small plots to slow spread, plant indeterminate (viney) varieties, control weed competition.
Materials: sulfur and whole milk, mineral or other oils in combination with potassium bicarbonate.

Disease: Bacterial Wilt
Cultural control: Striped Cucumber Beetle is vector—control it; choose resistant varieties.

Germination Testing

For the latest results of our germination tests, please see the germination page.

Our Seeds are Non-GMO

All of our seeds are non-GMO, and free of neonicotinoids and fungicides. Fedco is one of the original companies to sign the Safe Seed Pledge.