Pumpkins, Halloween, the Three Sisters Garden

Late October and the gardener’s mind turns to pumpkins, especially when they have children who are hoping for a jack o’ lantern ready for Halloween fun. Although it’s too late to grow your own for this year, it’s a good time to think about whether you could grow them for next year. They’re a fairly easy crop to grow and are tasty to eat, so worth growing regardless of Halloween.

We grow 3 or 4 different varieties of pumpkin on the allotment for colour and size. They have space there to roam and they’re interplanted with other crops, in the Three Sisters system (see below for link to this blog) and with other companion planting. Growing pumpkins need not take up acres of your garden; they will wind their way along the ground between other plants both edible and ornamental. Smaller trailing varieties can be grown vertically on trellis. If vertical growing isn’t possible, then there are also bush varieties, which take up less space on the ground than trailing; neon is a vibrant medium sized orange one.

Pumpkins

Pumpkins are members of the squash family, part of the larger cucurbit family which also includes cucumbers. All the squash are fruit not vegetables, and flesh, seeds and flowers are all edible. They’ve been eaten for centuries; 5,000 year old squash seeds have been found in Mexico; and squash can be grown in all the continents except for Antarctica. Pumpkins are a winter squash, the skins allowed to harden so they keep over winter. Summer squashes include courgettes and have soft edible skins; these don’t keep as well.

The Three Sisters Method of Growing

Both the North and South American Indians grew a lot of squashes; they had a cropping system called ‘three sisters’ where they grew squashes, beans and corn together for the benefits each gave to the others whilst growing. According to Iroquois legend, the three sisters, or plants, were gifted by the Sky Woman’s daughter, and gave agriculture to people.

This interplanting method of agriculture has known benefits. The maize provides support for the beans; the squash acts as a ground cover to reduce weeds and keep moisture in the soil; the beans provide nitrogen for the other two crops. The companion planting rather than pursuing a monoculture, or one species only, system also improves the condition of the soil by increasing beneficial mycorrhiza which encourages a symbiotic relationship between the plants roots and the surrounding soil.

What else can you use pumpkins for?

Pumpkins have other uses too. For example, they’re supposed to be good for reducing freckles. There is some doubt about this; some sources say it’s because pumpkin juice was used for eczema and freckles were confused with or thought to be linked to eczema. Other hold that because being outdoors in the warm harvest weather increased freckles and post harvest – when inside and eating pumpkins of course – freckles decreased and so the two things were linked.

However, it is worth noting that pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil contain vitamin E, which is good for the skin. Along with the fatty acids contained in the seeds they are likely to improve certain skin conditions; and if you don’t fancy smearing pumpkin seed oil on your face, you could just eat the seeds as a snack or cook with the oil.

For planting ideas to grow your Halloween pumpkins for next year, why not book an Initial Design Visit? Or if you would like help with learning more about your garden and gardening, why not ask about our bespoke Gardening Lessons, where your classroom is actually your own garden. We can help you learn gardening basics, and also show you how to plan an ornamental border or kitchen garden

And for further gardening advice and inspiration, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below and our monthly Tipsheet – You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook too.