One of the oddities of the horticultural world is how plants can start in one geographic area, be adopted and adapted elsewhere, and return home in the form of a new species. Such is the story of Cucurbita maxima, var. “Rouge vif d’Etampes,” a pumpkin — pumpkins are native to the Americas — with a fancy-sounding French name. Surprising! When did the French begin to embrace the rustic pumpkin in the first place?
Let’s start with a look at the name: It translates roughly to “bright red from Etampes.” (Etampes was a medieval town just south of Paris where this variety was first grown for market.) The surprise for me was learning that this variety was developed in France. Since pumpkins (Curcubita species) are native to America, I naively assumed that any developments in pumpkins had occurred here.
A little dive into history reveals that pumpkins were brought back to Europe in 1493 by Christopher Columbus on his return from his explorations in the New World. There has been plenty of time in the intervening five hundred years for hybridizing to happen “across the pond.” And so it was that in 1883, W. Atlee Burpee introduced the French pumpkin variety Rouge vif d’Etampes back to America.
It gets better. This spectacularly-colored, deep reddish-orange, slightly flattened pumpkin was apparently the inspiration for the pumpkin in Walt Disney’s “Cinderella” movie. And it doesn’t just look beautiful. The sweet flesh is perfect for pies and is the standard for French soup stock.
Rouge vif d’Etampes has the same basic requirements for growth as any pumpkin: warm soil for seed starting, a sunny location, well-drained soil, plenty of room to sprawl (seeds should be planted six to eight feet apart). Consistent moisture is essential, especially during the fruiting stage. Provide these basics and enjoy the brilliant color and also the delicious flavor of these large fruits.
It seriously does amaze me that five hundred-plus years ago pumpkins traveled from the New World to the Old. Then, 395 years later, a pumpkin transformed by its time in France returned to America and became the model for a key element in an American version of an Old World fairy tale. In a way, the story sounds like the stuff of fairy tales.
Update: Last week, reader Carl Specht wrote to me to share a water-saving tip in response to my recent column of tips for conserving water. Carl wrote: “You ask for ideas on saving water. I have always been a stickler for conserving as I was brought up when things were not so plentiful. What I did this year to save water when watering with a sprinkling can, I took an old water hose that I no longer used but could not throw away. I figured out how long it would have to be to irrigate my plants, then drilled small holes in the length I needed to lay around the plants.
“I plugged the end of the hose that does not attach to the spigot, and it worked fine without spraying all over the place. I would turn the water on for approximately ten minutes every other day and it did a fine job — no overuse of water because the hose was right where it had to be.”
Thanks, Carl, for adding drip irrigation to the list of water-saving techniques and practices.
An update on rainfall: over the past week and a half, I collected a total of just around 0.60 inch of rain. A friend reported an inch total in her rain gauge, so I know that some areas got more. Any little amount is welcome for sure, but we still have a way to go.
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Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. Direct e-mail to [email protected], or send mail to P.O. Box 80, Kimberton, PA 19442.
