All hail the great pumpkin for Halloween

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As the movie industry continues to promote and profit from the darker side of Halloween, I much prefer the lighter side. It’s also a great time to see so many homes in our neighbourhoods doing some really creative displays for families to enjoy, even weeks before the trick-or-treating.

For me, it’s all about the evolution of the pumpkin as it changes its prime role of keeping evil spirits away.

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Pumpkin spice lattes now appear in early September on coffee shop menus. Most Thanksgiving dinners end with pumpkin pies and the baking industry has created so many fabulous desserts with some form of tribute to the pumpkin that it’s hard to choose a favourite.

The most significant change, however, is its value in home décor.

Miniature pumpkin varieties are beginning to push gourds to the sidelines. Flat, deeply indented varieties like Jack Be Little and Jill Be Little, Crunchkin, and Pixie are all extremely hard-skinned and finish about 10 centimetres wide and five centimetres tall. Their white counterparts like Baby Boo, Casperita, and White Gooligan also make great table-toppers. There is also a very dark green, almost black, mini called Midnight but the showstopper is white-and-orange-striped Li’l Pump-Ke-Mon. When used together, they create beautiful tablescapes, windowsill decor and fruit bowl displays that last for months.

Emulating the fabled witches’ warts, there is a whole series of rather novel warted varieties. Warty Goblin and Mini-Warts have perhaps the most warts; it can be hard to see the pumpkin for the warts. Scarface is a big nine-kilogram with “in-your- face” warts, and Specter is its eight-kilogram counterpart. Popcorn is a new buttery cream-coloured variety, which is the most attractive of the warted types, but brown Grizzly Bear and cream-coloured Bad Jelly are also notable warted varieties.

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The popularity of whites is waning just a bit but there is a profusion of new varieties. The smallest is a pure white round half-kilogram called Tiny Beauty, but my favourite is another pure white called Snowball. Also weighing half a kilo, Snowball has an exceptionally long and strong handle end and is one of the first to be picked up by consumers. Blanco, at two kilos, and Crystal Star, at around 11 kilos, are also nicely shaped, pure whites that look great. Flat White Boer is a stackable variety that has also become very popular.

Yellow pumpkins, which really add to the colour range, have bumped up in popularity this year. One of the first deep yellows, Sunlight, a bright, two-kilogram, Mellow Yellow, at five kilos, has a softer tone, and golden-hued Lemonade, a large eight kilo, rounds out the yellows.

Surprisingly, blue green is the new “hot” colour and there is a wide range of varieties available. Blue Doll, with its flat, heavily indented centre, was one of the first introductions and is a fairly light blue.

Jade Knight is a similar, but smaller variety with deep ribbing, and more of a jade green colouring.

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Perhaps the most famous of the blues is Jarrahdale; its deep ribbing and perfect form has made it a must-have.

All these varieties have deep yellow or orange flesh and are among the most flavourful of all pumpkins. A squat, knobby, green variety, Kabocha, is also very popular.

Pink is unusual for pumpkins, but it certainly spices up your colour range. Porcelain Doll, and its smaller sister, Porcelain Princess, have a rosy tone that makes them very attractive in fall decorating. Still in the pink spectrum, One Too Many has a whitish background covered with distinctive red veining. These varieties are all delicious for pies too.

Not to be outdone, some winter squash varieties have joined the fall décor trend. One of the newest is the dark tan-coloured Autumn Frost. At 1 1/2 kilos, they’re short, plump and delicious, and are chosen firstly for décor value and secondly for flavour.

Pumpkin-shaped Grey Ghost, indeed a ghostly grey colour, is around five kilos and rivals the Hubbards for flavour.

A favourite for raviolis and gnocchi, Marina Di Chioggia, is a bumpy-skinned dark green jewel for any fall décor.

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Another pumpkin-like squash, the one kilo grey-brown Futsu, is perhaps one of the most striking varieties. You’ll fall in love first with its unique colour and again when you taste its sweet, fragrant flesh.

If you’re in a produce store where many of these varieties are available, pick some up to enjoy in your fall culinary adventures and save the seeds to plant in your garden next year.

All these pumpkins and squash are fun to grow and even more exciting to use in your fall décor, and finally, to enjoy in your baking.

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