Pumpkin New England Pie

"NE Long Pie Pumpkin is a pie pumpkin that has 3-5 lb fruit; orange in color.

(102 days) Open-pollinated. Probably an old Native American variety, or selected therefrom. Various sources and strains have included Algonquin, Indian, Golden Oblong, and possibly St. George. The best pumpkin for Yankee pies.

Though widely grown in Androscoggin County, Maine, 80 years ago (an old-timer remembers them stacked up on porches like firewood), it almost became extinct. LeRoy Souther, of Livermore Falls, Maine, maintained Long Pie for more than 30 years and then brought seeds to cucurbit aficionado (and now JSS plant breeder) John Navazio’s Common Ground Fair squash booth in the late 1980s. Navazio exhibited one at the 1988 Fair, and then reintroduced it to commerce through Garden City Seeds in Montana.

3–5 lb fruits look like overgrown thick zucchinis to the uninitiated, but the telltale sign is an orange spot where the otherwise all-green elongated fruit rested on the ground. After ripening in storage, the whole fruit first blushes, then glows bright orange, signaling that its delicious smooth flesh is ready to be turned into incomparable pies. Your fork won’t know where the whipped cream ends and the pie begins!

Vines have enormous vigor and can achieve astonishing yields. Long Pies stored at 50° can keep all winter. Germinates poorly in cold soil. At the end of the season, small immature fruit make tasty “summer” squash.

Seeds are Organic from Fedco and grown with OMRI Certified ProMix Soil, Gnatrol, and Fish Fertilizer for nutrients. We have a great home-grown process to grow our plants. We are not a certified organic farm.

Plants will be available as 2.5" Pot. Plant Spacing recommendation is varied by grower for pumpkins, squashes, and melons. I think the bottom line is this. Squash vines need a LOT of space to roam. In backyard gardens that usually means letting them roam on the grass or running up a trellis/fence. If the squash is small to medium sized then feel free to let it climb unassisted. If the squash gets about the size of a pie pumpkin then they will need a sling to keep them from falling off their stems (search pantyhose watermelon sling). Most recommendations for growing squash is 3 plants per hill with hills 6'-12' apart. Wider spacing may allow for easier harvesting. I wouldn't plant anything between squash plants, let the vines roam AND feel free to try different spacing to test limits. You can cut the vines short, train them to go a different way, or maybe they will just thrive in a squished environment, this is a good place to try it out.

Plant outside after last frost when night time lows are at LEAST 50*F consistently otherwise plant will likely be stunted or perish.

Photo from: Fedco. This listing is for the plant meant for growing in your garden, not a harvested veggie, herb, or flower."

If you are looking for more cucumbers, squashes, melons, pumpkins, sunflowers, and nasturtiums then take a look at this option for more plants at a discounted rate. Click here for our "Large Veggie Flats"