If you want to make a really fab pumpkin pie — and have space for a container garden — grow Long Island Cheese Pumpkins! Although this eating squash has an East Coast name, it’s believed to be one of the oldest domesticated squashes and originally hailed from South America. Mojave desert gardeners have noticed that this pumpkin thrives in our hot, arid summers.
It’s famously a low water, high sugar, less-stringy squash that’s perfect for pumpkin pie. All you need is a deep container and seeds from Mojave-based seed sellers Mantis Planting. Make sure to water the roots deeply, but then just let the vines wander and bring a splash of green to your yard 🌱 It takes about 100 days until harvest.
City Cast Las Vegas co-host and culinary historian Sarah Lohman shares more on the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin and her very own recipe for baking the perfect pumpkin pie in a special holiday story for Gastro Obscura.
