This is a document all about growing Pumpkins. I am not going to be giving you tons of technical detail that you won’t want, but rather I am going to describe how to grow Pumpkins in a backyard garden as a hobby or local food source.
The first thing that you need to decide on growing pumpkins is what variety of pumpkin do you want? What is your intended use? Do you want ornamental pumpkins that look nice in a garden or pumpkins that work well in the kitchen. Do you have a specific pumpkin need, such as pumpkins specifically grown for pumpkin pie, or to use on Halloween as Jack-o-lanterns? All these questions lead us into our first topic.
What kinds of pumpkins are there?
There are several varieties of pumpkins which can be broadly divided up into two main categories: Ornamental and Food. Technically a pumpkin is a squash and is usually placed in the Winter Squash family, except of course pumpkins used for Halloween will be planted in mid-summer.
Ornamental Pumpkins include small decorative pumpkins, through standard Jack-o-lantern varieties, up through the giant pumpkins seen at state fairs and even used as boats in races! Some of these ornamental pumpkins are:
- Alladin
- Big Rock
- Big Max
- Charisma
- Cotton Candy (a white pumpkin)
- Full Moon (a giant white pumpkin)
- Howden
- Howden Biggie
- Iron Man ( a smaller sized pumpkin)
- Jack-be-Little (another small pumpkin)
- Lumina (white outside, orange inside)
All pumpkins can be eaten, but some are better than others.
- Amish Pie
- Baby Bear
- Baby Pam Sugar Pie (a good baking pumpkin)
- Cinderella
- Cushaw Green and Gold (good mashed)
- Fairy Tale ( a good pie pumpkin)
There are many more varieties that we have not listed here, see your local nursery or garden center to see what they carry.
Growing Pumpkins 
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