A stylish, well-groomed plot is every gardener’s dream!

But sometimes an elegant picture can be ruined by just one annoying detail. For example, an unsightly and unaesthetic fence. But this flaw can be easily corrected - just hide the fence with plants. Which ones?

For example, let it curl along the hedge... Trombone!

This is the name of the miracle pumpkin, which is both tasty and decorative! From a botanical point of view, this is one of the varieties of butternut squash that was bred in Italy. There he is known by the cute nicknames “the trumpet from Albenga” (Albenga is a city in Italy), “ tromboncino"(small pipe) and " zucchetta».

The most beneficial planting method for her is vertical. True, the pumpkin willingly spreads on the ground, but then it will spread out and cover with leaves everything that comes across it in the mud. But any, even the most unsightly picket fence, wattle fence, metal mesh fence, blank wooden fence or pergola is an excellent support for zucchetta. But keep in mind that it must be strong: Trombone is a fairly powerful vine, so a 5 m long picket section will only support one plant.

The Trombone pumpkin can raise its musical family to its feet only in warmth and with increased nutrition, so a prerequisite is plenty of sun and soil rich in organic matter. Well, the ideal option is a warm bed, generously filled with compost and flavored with ash. It is better to plant the plant in a permanent place with ready-made seedlings, protecting it from late frosts. A portable mini-greenhouse about 1 m long will provide excellent protection from them. Space for one plant.

There will be enough in it just until the time when the cover can be removed. It happens that the top of the emerging fetus narrows - this is a sign of lack of nutrition. Most often, this happens with the first ovary, if the root system has not had time to grow sufficiently. In this case, it is better to cut off the first ovary. If this happens again, add a bucket of compost to the base of the stem.

The liana needs to be shaped, but it will be less hassle if you put it in one stem. Help the pumpkin climb the fence, and when it has completed the climb, let it go over the top. The liana grows towards the light, so plant the plant so that it moves in the desired direction, meter by meter greening the fence - for example, from north to south.

A flower and side stem will emerge from the axil of each leaf. If the flower is female (that is, with an ovary), pluck out the side stem immediately.

If the plant is male (“barren flower”), leave the side stems - as they grow, they will hang over the fence.

Fruits will begin to form in the second half of summer precisely on these side vines, the length and quantity of which can be regulated by pruning and pinching. Do not allow the lashes to fall to the ground, then access to the base of the stem will always be open, and you will be able to dry the compost in time and mulch the ground with small weeded weeds, mowed lawn grass or last year’s half-rotted leaves. And if your “musical” pumpkin has chosen a picket fence, the holes of which allow light to pass through, then the stems will have the opportunity to grow in both directions.

Gardening with butternut squash

In the composition, where the main part is played by Trombone, the main colors are yellow and light green - the same as the flowers and fruits of our hero. To create a harmonious “accompaniment” in a given color tone, there are many candidates. These are green-flowered fragrant tobacco “Lime Green” and “Aroma Green”, and Langsdorff tobacco Lemon Tree, and graceful zinnia - “Lime” and “Envy”.

And also - amaranth "Emerald", dazzling yellow fine-leaved marigolds "Golden Gem", sulfur-yellow cosmos, graceful leia, celosia pinnate "Yellow Dragon", ursinia dill - "star of the fields" from South Africa.

Let's add a little fire to the main colors - Chinese lanterns, Profuzhen zinnia, cheerful orange tithonia, coreopsis tinkering "Bullfinch", nasturtium "Cha-cha-cha" and other red-orange varieties. And finally, let's play with the main theme of the trombone in contrasts, adding cool blue, violet and light blue shades - in morning glory gramophones, tailed spikelets of French lavender, in bells and divinely fragrant flowers of sweet peas "Kupani" or "Matukana".

To the “upper notes” of the trombones that climbed the fence, you can add the “lower register.” A worthy company for our pumpkin will be sweet tobacco, coreopsis, amaranth, cosmos, sweet peas, physalis - plant them as seedlings directly under the fence. It is more practical to plant lavender, bells and Carpathian bells, zinnia "Profusion", physalis, some low-growing marigolds and nasturtiums in pots: container plantings give more freedom for improvisation, allowing you to change plants, displaying them when they are in their best shape. From time to time, plants in pots can be moved to open sun, where they will improve their health and gain new strength to continue flowering.

Preparation of "trombocino"

We are accustomed to the fact that pumpkins are harvested when they are already ripe, but in Tromboncino, unripe ovaries are more often eaten. The most delicate taste is found in young ovaries with flowers preserved at the top of the fruit; this is a real delicacy! They are eaten without removing the skin, both fresh and boiled, stewed or baked.

The flowers are also edible. Just before use, the stamens must be removed from male flowers, and the pistil from female flowers. The larger the fruit becomes, the harder its bark, the longer it will be stored.

And you don’t have to cut the whole huge pumpkin! Cut off just enough for the dish you are preparing. The cut will heal, and the remainder of the pumpkin will remain on the stem until next time better than in the refrigerator.

Of the entire pumpkin family, butternut squash is the most delicious and sweet. It is distinguished by its juicy, fibrous pulp, which has a pleasant aroma and orange color. Thanks to these properties, butternut squash varieties are very popular among gardeners.

In addition to excellent taste, many of the best varieties of nutmeg pumpkins have a long shelf life and a high content of vitamins and microelements. Butternut squash fruits vary in shape, but many have thin skins that are easy to cut off.

Unlike the variety, butternut squash seeds and flesh can vary in color. If we compare others, nutmeg varieties are thermophilic, so they are grown in the southern regions.

Butternut Pearl Pumpkin

Nutmeg Pearl is a mid-season variety that takes about 110 days to ripen. Pumpkin fruits have a round-cylindrical shape with a bright color, its pulp is juicy, thick and soft, and its peel is thin. In order for the Muscat Pearl pumpkin to produce a good harvest, it is necessary to create the most favorable conditions for it, the humidity should be 60-70%, and the air should warm up to 180-200 degrees. The Muscat Pearl pumpkin variety is a fairly powerful plant that produces 4-7 lateral shoots. Its leaves are distinguished by white spots, dark green color and pentagonal shape.

Nutmeg pumpkin vitamin

This variety is late, since the period from germination to the first harvest is 140 days. Ripe fruits have a characteristic brown color with small splashes of yellow and greenish shades. The shape of the nutmeg pumpkin has ribs with an oval or cylindrical shape. The flesh of this variety is crisp, juicy, sweet and bright orange in color. The average weight of one pumpkin is no more than 5 kg; it is stored well and does not require special conditions.

Pumpkin Muscat de Provence

This variety is medium-late, as it takes 110-115 days for the fruit to fully ripen. Regarding the shape, the Provençal nutmeg pumpkin produces round and slightly flattened fruits with characteristic grooves; the average weight of the pumpkin is no more than 4 kg. If the seeds are planted at a great distance from each other and the soil is fertilized, the fruits can reach 8 kg. The pumpkin pulp is dense, bright orange in color, and contains a lot of sugar and carotene.

The fruits can be stored for a long time, since the Muscat pumpkin of Provence is resistant to disease. On average, its shelf life is 4 months. The fruits of this variety have an attractive presentation and excellent taste. In cooking, Muscat de Provence pumpkin is used to make juices and purees. The variety is heat-loving, therefore not suitable for planting in cold areas; the stems of the plant are thick, but fragile, creeping.

Pumpkin Guitar

This is a mid-season variety that takes 110-120 days to grow. The fruits have an elongated shape and bright orange pulp, which has excellent taste. With good care, Guitar pumpkin produces fruits weighing up to 8 kg, which are stored for a long time. On average, the length of the Guitar pumpkin is about 70-80 cm, but on fertile soils this figure reaches one meter.

The surface of the fruit is smooth and the peel is thin; the pumpkin pulp occupies 90-95%, which distinguishes this variety from others. When the fruits are ripe, they acquire a bright orange color.

Pumpkin Trombone

The fruits of this variety have a bizarre, twisted shape and are very long. Their flesh is bright orange in color and has excellent taste. The fruit can be stored for more than a year and does not lose its nutrients. Trombone pumpkin takes about 110 days to fully ripen. The pumpkin skin is thick and the flesh is very aromatic. On average, the weight of the fruit is up to 8 kg, but with good soil - up to 18 kg.

In cooking, a lot of dishes are prepared from this pumpkin - these are cakes, puddings, candied fruits, and pastries. Trombone pumpkin is also used to decorate suburban areas, as its shape is unique. To obtain maximum fruit weight, it is necessary to provide the plant with fertile soil and leave no more than one ovary on each vine; the rest are removed. The length of the fruit of this pumpkin reaches 50 cm.

Pumpkin Miracle-Yudo

This is a unique vegetable that can be consumed raw. It contains a huge amount of carotene and sugars. The fruits are oval in shape and reach 6-8 kg. The pumpkin peel is orange in color with a characteristic mesh pattern and a gray coating. The flesh of the vegetable is bright orange with red veins. In winter, Chudo-Yudo pumpkin is perfectly stored and used for preparing various salads, juice, and casseroles.

The average weight of a pumpkin is 5-8 kg, but with well-fertilized soil it reaches 20 kg or more. The color of the peel, which distinguishes this variety of pumpkin, appears only after the fruits have fully ripened, that is, at the end of the growing season. In addition to cooking, Miracle Yudo pumpkin is widely used in medicine; its pulp is an excellent diuretic, increases the elasticity of blood vessels and cleanses them, removes toxins from the body. In addition, pumpkin has a beneficial effect on the body in case of hypertension, heart disease, cholecystitis, and helps fight obesity.

Pumpkin Barbara

Of all the nutmeg varieties, Barbara pumpkin is considered the highest yielding and can also be grown in many regions of our country.

It is adapted to any conditions and is a universal hybrid. Over a long period, the plant sets fruit and is perfectly resistant to disease. Pumpkin has an attractive color, has a hard peel and early ripening, so the time from sowing to the initial stage of peel formation is only 45 days.

Ripe fruits begin to be harvested after 85 days. The fruits differ from other varieties by longitudinal dark green stripes. The average fruit weight is about 2-6 kg, but with fertile soil, pumpkins reach 15 kg. The pumpkin pulp is of medium thickness, light in color and has excellent taste.

New butternut squash

The nutmeg pumpkin group includes a lot of varieties that can be large-fruited and medium-sized, with hard and soft skin, with a long and medium shelf life.

But in any case, the fruits have an excellent taste, high nutritional value, and are stored well. Butternut squash fruits can be elongated or concentrated in one direction. Pumpkin seeds come in a variety of shades, ranging from dark yellow to brown.

Most varieties of butternut squash are heat-loving, but there are also universal varieties that are adapted to colder climates. To harvest on time, some of the mid-season ones are planted with seedlings and harvested before the first frost. These pumpkins finally ripen in warehouses, cellars or basements. Of the latest new products that the nutmeg pumpkin received, a description of the variety is presented below.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter

This is an early ripening variety of nutmeg pumpkin, which was bred in Germany. Its seeds are planted as seedlings and a month later transplanted into open ground, when the soil warms up to 15 degrees. Pumpkin fruits are pear-shaped and weigh up to 4 kg. The peel of the fruit is cream-colored, and the flesh is bright orange, dense, very juicy, and has a nutmeg aroma. In cooking, pumpkin Peanut oil is used to prepare many dishes, juices, and casseroles.

Pumpkin can be stored for quite a long time without losing its taste. Its pulp contains a large amount of carotene, which is 2-3 times higher than carrots. Pumpkin variety Peanut butter is often used to prepare dishes from the diet menu, because the product improves metabolism, removes toxins from the body, restores metabolism, and helps strengthen the immune system. Pumpkin is readily used in restaurants for preparing salads and desserts.

Pumpkin Nut Butter

This variety is classified as mid-season, as the fruit ripening period is 125-130 days. To obtain an early harvest, pumpkin seeds are sown under fluorescent lamps and a temperature of 25-30 degrees is created. It is worth noting that Pumpkin Nut Butter is unique. As the fruit grows, a piece can be cut off and used for its intended purpose; the rest of the pumpkin does not rot, but is covered with a new peel, continuing its growth.

As the plant grows, it produces long vines and sets many fruits. In cooking, pumpkin is used to prepare salads, cereals, soups, casseroles, eaten stewed, fried, baked, candied fruits and juice are prepared from it. Pumpkin fruits and nut oil can be stored for a long time and do not lose their taste.

In one article it is impossible to consider all varieties of nutmeg pumpkins. For example, there are also these: Butternut squash (walnut), Kuban pumpkin, Grand Slam.

I’m a lazy person at the dacha - I only grow “independent” vegetables. Pumpkin is one of them. He stuck the seeds into the ground—immediately or sprouted—and left. Until autumn. I’ll exaggerate a little - the pumpkin needs watering, but even when we visited the garden once a week, we grew it tolerably.
This year we sowed a variety of charming pumpkins weighing 1-2 kg, last year we grew a carriage for Cinderella, and my mother is growing a trombone pumpkin:


Pumpkin is a useful garden decoration.

So, pumpkin:
Minerals: Iron (Fe), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg)
Essential vitamins: E, A, C, D, F, PP, T, group B

Improves digestion, vision, contains a lot of fiber - helps those losing weight (22 kcal), suppresses the growth of tuberculosis bacillus, removes toxins, cholesterol, promotes blood clotting, strengthens the walls of blood vessels, normalizes blood pressure, has a diuretic effect, is useful in oncology, for insomnia, elevates tone, to some extent rejuvenates (strengthens hair and nails for the elderly, increases tissue regeneration), is used in cosmetics, anti-inflammatory properties help against wounds and acne.

To feel useful. You need to eat this pumpkin several times a week, no less. Previously, it was easier to steam turnips, but now we don’t know how to steam turnips or cook pumpkin. What I cook:

• Jam (gave a recipe in the topic about jam)
• Grated pumpkin pancakes (similar to potato pancakes)
• I add milk porridge to millet or rice porridge.
• Cream soup.

Cream soup.
I boil peeled vegetables in a small amount of water: pumpkin (the main part), potatoes, carrots. After draining the broth, add 10% cream and blend it into a puree soup with a blender. Place a piece of butter and herbs in a bowl of soup. Salt, of course. Consolidation!

This baggage is not enough for me. We need proven recipes, something tasty that children love. Pumpkin puddings, casseroles, pies and cakes are especially interesting. So far I’ve come across some overly complicated recipes on the Internet.

The best varieties of pumpkin and their cultivation (photo description)

Pumpkin is a grateful plant and can give even beginners a generous harvest. But in order to get not huge fodder pumpkins, but tasty and healthy fruits that will feed you until spring, you need to have some knowledge.

There are 3 types of pumpkins grown in Russia:

Hardbark pumpkin

The most early ripening and cold-resistant, fruits with hard bark. This type also includes zucchini and squash.

Large pumpkin

It has large fruits with non-lignified bark and very thick sweet pulp, round and oval in shape.

butternut squash

Heat-loving, with a very high carotene content, has the largest amount of sugars. The shape of the fruit is predominantly elongated, with an interception. The seed chamber is concentrated in one part of the fruit.

Pumpkin is a cross-pollinating plant, but there cannot be cross-pollination between these types, since the varieties are not susceptible to foreign pollen. But within the same species they easily interbreed. Therefore, zucchini, squash and hard-barked pumpkin, planted nearby, in subsequent generations give a variety of forms (pumpkin, pumpkin, etc.). If you want to get your own seeds, you need to keep this in mind.

My agricultural technology for growing pumpkins

You can sow seeds directly into open ground in the second half of May, but I prefer to grow pumpkin through seedlings, sowing on April 25-30. Sowing depth is 4-6 cm, and for nutmeg pumpkin - 3-4 cm.

Bush varieties are placed according to a pattern of 70x70 cm, long-climbing varieties - 150x100 cm. It is difficult for me to maintain such distances in a small area, so I plant them more densely. But nearby there is a chain-link mesh, along which the pumpkin lashes can easily climb. In addition, there is better lighting here. And I tie the set fruits on the net with twine, strengthening them so that they do not break off under the weight. Here, under the bright rays of the sun, my favorites ripen faster, becoming sweeter and gaining the full range of nutrients and vitamins.

Pumpkins grow very well on compost heaps, at the same time covering them with their giant leaves from drying out and improving their appearance.

Before planting, I add 5-6 kg of humus and 2 tbsp into each hole. spoons of organo-mineral fertilizer. After planting, I cover the pumpkin bed with non-woven material, which creates the most comfortable conditions underneath for young plants in the adaptation phase and the beginning of active growth. I'll take it off in a month.

I water only with warm water, constantly increasing the watering rate as the plants grow.

For adults it takes up to 10 liters. After the fruits reach their optimal size, I stop watering completely. I feed it twice a month, combining organic fertilizers (mullein - 1:5) and complex mineral fertilizers (1 tablespoon).

I maintain this diet in June – July. In August I use only potassium fertilizers in my diet. Thanks to this element, fruits ripen better, are stored longer, and become sweeter.

I usually harvest pumpkins at once - before frost (late September - early October). I carefully cut off the ripe ones with the stalk; without it, the pumpkins will not be stored. The ripeness of the fruit is primarily determined by it: if it has dried out and become corky, it’s time to harvest.

Also, a ripe pumpkin can be distinguished by the hardening of the bark and a change in its pattern. Nutmeg almost always has to be harvested when unripe. It is ripened during storage.

I store all fruits indoors. We use young and damaged ones immediately.

And feeds and heals

I can’t help but dwell on the usefulness and indispensability of pumpkin. After all, it contains all the substances the body needs: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, salts and vitamins. The low content of organic acids and cellulose in the fruit allows pumpkin to be included in the diet of patients suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Thanks to its richness in pectin, it improves digestion and gallbladder function, prevents obesity and the accumulation of excess cholesterol in the body.

Pumpkin seeds contain high-quality edible oil (up to 50%), are high in calories (100 g - 603 cal), and rich in lecithin (420 mg%). Preparations made from them have long been used against worms.

What can you make from pumpkin, other than the notorious porridge, which is number one for many and ends there? It turns out that there are a great variety of dishes: soups, main dishes, desserts, drinks... In short, gourmets will not be left out. Our family's diet includes pumpkin every week in the fall, winter, and spring.

About varieties

At the beginning of my gardening practice, I, like many gardeners, sought to get very large fruits. Varieties such as Titan, Goliath reached a weight of 32-33 kg, and 44 kg (2x22 kg) could be obtained from one plant.

But over time, I realized: the larger the fruit, the more difficult it is to achieve its ripening, and therefore its taste, dry matter content, and set of nutritional components. And ease of transportation and use matters. Now, growing giant varieties (Giant M'Soldomi, White-seeded Titan), I get 4-5 fruits of 8-10 kg from each plant, which I am very pleased with. But even against their background, last season I was simply amazed by the Mammoth King. His inexhaustible power and energy was admirable. And the result is truly royal: 15 fruits and 140 kg from one plant!

Read also: Crookneck pumpkin photo and cultivation

The best varieties of pumpkin

I would like to dwell on other first-class varieties.

Marina from Chioggia(Italy) - one of the most beautiful and unique pumpkins, a famous heirloom. The fruits are gray-blue-green, turban-shaped, with a bumpy-wrinkled surface, weighing 8-10 kg. The pulp is yellow-orange, very sweet. A rare perfect combination of appearance and taste.

Isshiki Kari and Hokkaido Orange(Japan) - two twin sisters from the land of the rising sun. They are productive and sweet, pear-shaped. Very convenient to consume: having a mass of 2-4 kg, they are portioned.

Triamble(Australia) - a very rare variety that has triangular fruits, like three leaves of a clover. This makes it quite decorative. Sea green skin. Fruit weight up to 10 kg.

Muscat de Provence(France) - a powerful variety that produces round-segmented fruits with bright orange flesh and a high sugar content. The weight of the fetus is about 10 kg.

Blue from Queensland(Australia) is the most popular variety in Australia, bred back in 1932. The fruits are shaped like a hat, deeply ribbed, blue in color, weighing up to 15 kg.

Spanish guitar– nutmeg, up to 1 m long. The largest of this type (up to 10 kg). The flesh is dark orange, sweeter than carrots.

Shortened interception– nutmeg, small in size (weighing 2-3 kg). The only one of this species can fully ripen before harvesting. The sweetest of all the pumpkins I've ever tasted.

Yugoslav finger fruit- a bush variety with fantastically shaped fruits: oval, with five pairs of finger-like protrusions (up to 3 kg).

Kavbuz Northern– a hybrid of watermelon and green pumpkin, with delicate pulp of excellent sweet taste. Ultra-early ripening, weighing 7-8 kg. During the ripening process it turns blue. And the stalk, drying out, turns... into a watermelon tail.

This list could be continued. Our State Register, alas, is not distinguished by the variety of varieties. Perhaps the inability of our gardeners to see all the beauty of world rarities, as well as to enjoy their taste by tasting culinary delights, does not allow pumpkin in Russia to gain new potential.

But I am sure that the gorgeous beauty, the mother of a huge diverse family, will still take her worthy, truly royal place in the Russian garden of today and the future!

It is customary to start a conversation about pumpkin recipes with pumpkin porridge. It is not in this selection of 9 top recipes, although I will definitely link to the classic recipe from another page. And I will definitely remind you of the well-known: pumpkin is a universal vegetable. In the strictest sense of the word.

You can make anything from pumpkin, from bread to candy. Pumpkin is stewed, baked, boiled, fried, and eaten raw in salads. They even eat flowers (stuffed). Not to mention the seeds.
Pumpkin makes fabulous cakes, pies and cookies. Candied pumpkin and dried wedges are delicious. And pumpkin pickled in jars for the winter is just as good as in jam.

It is clear that the pumpkin has a magical background, because it is not only “food”, but also the heroine of one of the most wonderful holidays. It contains carotenoids and a whole pharmacy. In a word, this bright beauty has an interesting “personality”. Therefore, let’s arm ourselves with forks and spoons, as well as an orange mood, and sketch out a small list of top recipes that can be prepared from pumpkin for your bon appetit.

Pumpkin pie

About pumpkin recipes with love, Magic Food.