What’s happening to our pumpkins?

Veteran Narrabri vegetable grower Ian Schweitzer is intrigued.

“I read the item in The Courier last week about the locally grown pumpkin which seems to be a hybrid of Jarrahdale and Jap,” he said.

“I was very interested because I understood that Jap (Kent) pumpkins and Jarrahdales were not in the same family as each other – but we just don’t know.

“I have produced a hybrid as well – a combination of Butternut and Jap – it has the shape of the Butternut but the colour of the Jap.

“I was surprised,” he admitted.

“I bought Jap seeds, planted them in September-October, and this is what came up.

“The pumpkins have cropped prolifically, like butternuts.”

Ian is going to experiment with the next crop, planting Butternuts and cross polinating with Japs, and vice versa, and ‘see what I get’.

“I will also plant some seeds of the hybrid which has grown and see what comes up,” he added.

We could be seeing the first of a new variety, the Narrabri Pumpkin. There is a huge range of hybrid veges available – this could be another.