One Too Many Hybrid Pumpkin

So I've been really obsessed with growing pumpkins lately. I've been overwhelmed with the success we had with our small patch. The pumpkins grew beautifully and I couldn't have been more pleased. It has inspired me to start researching different pumpkin varieties. I've been stopping at various stands to look, feel and learn about the many interesting specimens. 

I've always been in love with pumpkins. They're magical, whimsical, large and odd looking, like something out of a dark and mossy troll forest.  There's just something romantic and fairytale-esque.

I'd like to start learning more about heirloom varieties and saving seeds to grow from year to year. Over the next few posts I'd like to share some of the varieties we grew this year, and a few that we picked up from different farmer's markets and orchards this autumn.

This first variety is unfortunately a hybrid. It's called One Too Many. I purchased it because I thought it was beautiful with its creamy skin and red veins and swirls. After we got this pumpkin home I read a little about how it was named. It was named after the way a drunken person's eyes look after they've had "one too many". This struck me as hilarious, and leave it to a pumpkin grower to have such a great sense of humor! I assumed that because it was in the "heirloom pile" of pumpkins (at this particular stand), that it would be an open pollinated variety. But I'm pretty sure it's not. 

Because it's a hybrid, this means that there's no guarantee that if I save the seeds from this fruit, that the offspring will look anything like it's parent. Actually there's no guarantee that the flowers will even be fertile.

But I'm going to try it anyway. Just to see what we get.

In future posts, I will have some examples of true heirlooms that should produce similar offspring.

I'll be sharing more photos on our Facebook page!

I also welcome you to give your opinions on some of the varieties. A couple of the species we have I'm not 100 percent sure as to what the correct name is. There's debate among different "pumpkin people" as to what some should be called. So like always, let me know what you think!

To learn more about different pumpkin varieties, visit the Iron Oak Farm Pumpkin Page.