HEIRLOOM ORANGE IS BEAUTIFUL NOW

Heirloom pumpkins are particularly beautiful, with their fascinating shapes, odd textures, and gorgeous shades of orange. Many heirloom pumpkins are from France and date back 100's of years.

Heirloom pumpkin flesh is delicious for pies, breads, cakes, and soups. Their seeds roast up to a delicious iron-rich snack, their blossoms provide a delicate vessel for stuffings, and their flesh can even be dried and ground into flour.

These pumpkins are high in fiber, antioxidants, and Vitamin A.

1. ROUGE VIF D'ETAMPES PUMPKIN

These bright orange-red pumpkins are known as "Rouge Vif d'Etampes." The name comes from the meaning “rouge vif” which in French is “vivid red.” Also known as “Cinderella” pumpkins, they are slightly sweet and make a great ingredient for pumpkin pie.

The variety dates back to the late 1800’s, when they were the most common pumpkins in the Central Market in Paris.

2. MUSQUEE DE PROVENCE PUMPKIN

Musquee de Provence (aka Fairytale) pumpkins look like they belong in a Renaissance still life painting. This heirloom variety hails from the south of France.

Deeply fluted, with voluptuous lobes, this pumpkin is sublimely picturesque. Its skin is a beautiful, rich brown color when ripe, while its flesh is deep orange. This variety can grow up to 20 pounds in heft, as it tends to be quite dense, which results in a very fine flavor.

3. LONG ISLAND CHEESE PUMPKIN

The Long Island Cheese is another deeply fluted sculptural pumpkin. This heirloom variety has smooth buff-orange colored skin and a "cheese wheel" shape.  It is very heavy for its size, with thick, sweet flesh. It makes for a beautiful still life and an awesome soup.

4. RED KURI SQUASH

Red kuri squash is an heirloom thick-skinned pink colored dandy with a delicate and mellow chestnut-like flavor. It is a cultivated variety of the species Cucurbita maxima.

While it is mainly known as a Japanese vegetable, it is generally believed to originate in Mesoamerica, as all pumpkins and squash have.

It is primarily grown in Japan, California, Florida, Southwestern Colorado, Mexico, Tasmania, Tonga, New Zealand, Chile, Provence, and South Africa.

5. QUEENSLAND BLUE PUMPKIN

The Queensland Blue is an Australian heirloom variety of pumpkin introduced to the U.S. in the 1930's. While the outside is a haunting blue color, the inside is a beautiful orange. It’s a lovely color combo.

6. BLACK FUTSU PUMPKIN

The Black Futsu is a rare Japanese pumpkin, named for its blackish green skin. It’s orange flesh has a rich taste, reminiscent of hazelnuts. It is a prized heirloom, with deep ribbing and a gnarly texture. Just gorgeous. It makes a beautiful addition to a harvest still life.

7. GALEUX D’EYSINES

This French heirloom is beautifully flawed. The warts on its skin, at first blush, are grotesque, but upon holistic view, offer a gorgeous texture, as if the pumpkin was sculpted out of chiseled stone or grabbed by barnacles. In fact they are caused by sugars in the pumpkins’ skins. It has a velvety smooth flesh, making perfect soups and sauces.

8. BLUE HUBBARD SQUASH

The Blue Hubbard squash dates back to the early 1900’s. This variety looks like an alien life form, due to its ghostly outer hard-shell color, with its freaky shapes and textures. It can grow up to 40 lbs in weight.

The flesh is a beautiful golden orange -- sweet and fine-grained, making it a winner for pies and soups.

9. FRENCH CHEESE PUMPKINS

Heirloom hybrids can be beautiful too. The Long Island Seed Project crossed Long Island Cheese Pumpkins with large mottled grey-green Calabazas with the ribbed Musque de Provence.

10. FRENCH POTIMARRON & SHISHIGATANI

This beautiful group of uniquely-shaped heirloom squashes were gathered and arranged by the Petaluma Pie Company. The exquisite French “Potimarron” tastes like a cross between a pumpkin and a chestnut, as its name reflects.  

The Shishigatani, a Japanese Kabocha heirloom pumpkin tastes more like a sweet potato. They are all perfect ingredients for the bakery’s artisanal pies.

If you’ve fallen in love with heirloom pumpkins like we have, you’ll want to round out your experience. Beyond eating, they make beautiful still life settings for your table. Bloggers  Cream and Flutter created a gorgeous display for their fall wedding, for example.

One of our favorite botanical gardens, Longwood Gardens, presents an annual display of over 100 different orange pumpkins, squashes and gourds every October.

If you want to plant some for yourself, look for heirloom varietal seeds that have never been hybridized.

Read more about Beautiful Orange, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 Beautiful Fast Orange Cars Now and Spectacular Orange Pyrotechnics From Below & Above Now.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Orange in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 11.02.14. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Photo: Courtesy of Jacques Briant. Rouge Vif D’etampes Pumpkins.
2. Photo: by Hutchinson Farm. Heirloom Pumpkins.  
3. Photo: Courtesy of Renee’s Garden Seeds. "Rouge Vif d'Etampes."
4. Photo: by Peppergrasss. Musquee de Provence.
5. Photo: by Mary Lise Parsons. Long Island Cheese and Musquee de Provence Pumpkins.
6. Photo: Courtesy of Harmony A La Carte. Red Kuri Squash.
7. Photo: by Bryant Olsen. Queensland Blue Pumpkin.
8. Photo: by Matt Knox. Black Futsu Pumpkin.
9. Photo: Courtesy of Keen & Fitting. Galeux D’Eysines Pumpkins.  
10. Photo: Courtesy of Mas Dudiable. Blue Hubbard.
11. Photo: By Sheila in Moonducks. Blue Hubbard Squash.
12. Photo: Courtesy of Long Island Seed Project. French Cheese Pumpkins.
13. Photo: by Geneva Anderson. Locally grown heirloom squash.  
14. Photo: Courtesy of Cream and Flutter. Heirloom Pumpkins.
15. Photo: by Economist at Home. Heirlooms at the Farmer’s Market.
16. Photo: by Usually Melancholy. Gourds.