Pumpkin 'Lakota'
These bright orange tear-drop shaped pumpkins have striking dark green markings and sweet 2-5kg fruits. Not too big for table displays, so store them in the open and make a feature of your crop until it's time to cook! An American heirloom with a long and complicated past, the original seed was sourced from Missouri Valley in Nebraska, and after many years of trading and breeding, the resulting Hubbard cross combined the shape and flavour of these wonderful eating pumpkins, with the colourful skin of the original seed. The resulting pumpkin was named 'Lakota' in honour of the native tribe from that region.
Pumpkins are the easiest of the curcubits to grow, they are big feeders, so dig in plenty of well rotted manure where they are to grow. They germinate easily in warm soil, gardeners in cooler areas can start their seedlings in pots in a warm spot and plant out after risk of frost has passed. Pumpkins need plenty of water as they grow, mulch well to conserve moisture and eliminate weeds. Harvest pumpkins when the stalk attaching it to the vine turns woody and corky. Cut (not tear) the stalk from the plant. Never lift the pumpkin by this 'handle' as if it breaks off the pumpkin will go mouldy within days.