Small pumpkin varieties are trendy

The yellow hundredweight pumpkin is probably one of the best-known types of pumpkin in our region. Do you remember sweet and sour pumpkin compote from school meals? But as the name suggests, this vegetable monster can easily weigh 15 to 50 kilos. If you don’t want to spend days preserving it like in grandma’s day, you’re better off choosing a Hokkaido pumpkin. But even the small Japanese pumpkin usually weighs between 1 and 1.5 kilos. And after cooking, there are leftovers for the fridge.

Single pumpkins instead of just large fodder pumpkins

Farmers like Stefanie Ranke from Schäferhof in Lenzen have listened carefully to their customers and recognized the problem. Instead of just growing large pumpkins as feed for the sheep, she also grows her so-called single pumpkins. One pumpkin is just enough for a plate of food. These varieties grow in the fields in Lenzen:

Sweet dumpling: It is also called microwave pumpkin

The small sweet dumpling pumpkin has a hard shell with a soft core. It tastes slightly nutty, with aromas of sweet potato and chestnut. To use in the microwave, cut off the top, hollow out the core and place it in the microwave for about 10 minutes. It becomes a complete meal when you fill it. Stefanie Ranke liked to fill it with minced meat like a pepper and prepare it in the oven.

Jack be little: The miniature Halloween pumpkin

It looks like a really big one, but it also fits in one hand. The 150 to 350 gram mini pumpkin is particularly suitable for roasting or baking in the oven.

Bush Delicata: Can be eaten raw and with the peel

It is not only particularly pretty to look at. Its particularly nutty, sweet taste is ideal for cakes, pastries and desserts. When ripe, it weighs between 500 and 700 grams. It also tastes good raw and the peel is also edible.

Zaphito: A pumpkin with pea flavour

It looks like a large pea and tastes like one too. “I love peas, but I don’t like shelling pods.” “This pumpkin is the solution,” says Stefanie Ranke, it’s her favorite pumpkin.

Jens Lindner from the “Alte Dorfschule” restaurant in Karcheez gave her a great recipe tip for the Zaphito: cut off the top and hollow out the pumpkin, fill it with beans and bacon, put the top back on and bake it in the oven. “It goes great with mashed potatoes and shaved Parmesan,” she says, laughing. Another special feature of the small pumpkin: it is harvested young and not fully ripe.

What kind of pumpkin is this?

Have you been paying attention? Which pumpkin is on the cover photo? We cannot answer that question. Because the farmer from Lenzen did not plant it like that. Perhaps Jack be Little and a Hokkaido pumpkin have crossed? No, they are close enough together in Lenzen. Or is it simply a Hokkaido that has grown too small?

Anyone who wants to try the small pumpkins can drive to Lenzen from next week. In front of the manor house there is a small stand with pumpkin varieties from the farm and a cash register of trust. On October 3rd the Schäferhof will be at the arts and crafts market in Klein Hundorf with furs, wool, sausages and pumpkins.