Gourd standard
Rebecca Sterner, left, and Barry Sterner stand in their pumpkin patch at Rue & Sage in Moses Lake.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
The pumpkin patch at Rue & Sage in Moses Lake is a little barer than it was when it opened at the beginning of October, but there are sill plenty of pumpkins available in time for Halloween.
This winter luxury pumpkin makes even better pumpkin pie than the more common jack-o’-lantern variety, Barry Sterner said.
Some smaller pumpkins, like this silver moon variety, can be grown hanging on a trellis.
Barry Sterner holds a varietal pumpkin called a “Galeux d'Eysines.” The surface may look like it has some exotic disease, but it’s a natural part of the pumpkin. The variety originated near the village of Eysines in southern France. The word “galeux” literally means “mangy,” according to the Cambridge French-English Dictionary, but most seed dealers prefer to translate it as “embroidered with warts.”
Part of the fun of pumpkin varieties is the name, Barry Sterner said. This pumpkin, which looks like it has another pumpkin growing out of it, is called a “Turk’s turban.”
This variety is called a speckled swan, owing to its curved neck, and is especially popular for decoration.
MOSES LAKE — They’re everywhere this time of year, those round orange gourds. As soon as October rolls around, commercial pumpkin patches start doing a business as brisk as the weather. But home gardeners can grow the decorative – and often tasty – gourds as well.
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