Ornamental fruits of the fall

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

	TRR photo by Charlie Buterbaugh Dr. Tom Zitter shows a pumpkin with marks of the most common cucurbit blight, powdery mildew. (Click for larger image)

LONG EDDY, NY — It seems odd that so few people know what a cucurbit is.

The chance that you haven’t picked one up this fall is slim. Like many others with a fastidious eye for cucurbit quality, you may have also examined its condition, brought it home and, after a few turns, positioned it in a worthy place for others to admire.

The cucurbit contingency is a family of vegetables better known as gourds, including cucumbers, melons, squash, watermelons, and the wildly celebrated pumpkin.

Roughly 7,000 acres of pumpkins are grown annually in New York State for the Halloween market, according to Dr. Tom Zitter from Cornell University’s department of plant pathology. America’s best-selling pumpkin is the Howden, first cultivated by John Howden, who also created the Howden Biggie.

Zitter attended a twilight meeting at Andersen’s Maple Farm on October 9 where he and Peter Andersen explained to local farmers the challenges they have encountered while cultivating pumpkins. Andersen received a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grower grant last year to grow pumpkins and squash in compost mounds, a departure from conventional field crops that require yearly tilling and disruption of soil.

Andersen said one of the objects of the grant was to attempt earlier yields than conventional tilled crops allow. He was able to plant seeds in his black soil compost mounds on May 22, whereas he could not plant in his tilled fields until June 28. Seeds germinated much faster in the mounds, and he said his conventional-till pumpkins are still two weeks behind.

“This is a tough market, and farmers have to get people thinking about pumpkins early. Late August is optimal,” Andersen said.

Heavy rains throughout spring and summer of 2003 caused significant problems like accelerated native bluegrass and ragweed growth, and Andersen said only 10 percent of his harvest yielded beautiful, saleable pumpkins.

	TRR photo by Charlie Buterbaugh (Click for larger image)

“The quality of the pumpkins I grew in conventional till was actually better this year because excessive moisture caused significant weed pressure in the compost mounds,” he said.

One major problem with the pumpkin market is buyers’ tendency to only appreciate the ornamental quality of pumpkins. Andersen encouraged farmers to find a niche, one of the only ways to survive as a small-scale grower.

“People don’t know the difference between a Halloween pumpkin and an eating pumpkin,” said Irene Andersen, Peter’s mother.

Zitter recommended that farmers identify recipes for cooking smaller, sweeter pumpkins for customers, though he said decoration will likely remain the mainstay of the market.

Andersen began painting pumpkins with Halloween images a few years ago to attract more customers and increase his profit.

While the Sullivan County Farmers’ Market concluded last weekend, Andersen said he would be in Liberty on Friday, October 17 at 3:00 p.m. to sell more pumpkins, squash, maple syrup, grapes and fresh ground beef from his Hereford cows.

For more information call Andersen’s Maple Farm at 845/887-4817.

For more information about pumpkin production and grant applications call Cornell Cooperative Extension at 845/292-6180.