Pumpkin 'Wrinkled Butternut'
The most popular heirloom pumpkin in Southern Italy, huge butternut pumpkins over 6kg are great fun to grow and won't fail to impress in the vegie garden. Resembling a violin in shape, deeply creased and wrinkled skin covers the fine flesh. All seed is conveniently held in the base so they are easy to prepare and provide loads of deliciously rich, dense flesh that is perfect for soups or baking.
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.