Continuing with our winter squash favorites series! Another pumpkin like variety, this one’s another favorite of ours. Moranga pumpkin!
While this winter squash isn’t quite as productive as the Galeux D’Eysine we featured previously, it’s characteristics definitely make it worth growing for us. A native of Brazil, the Portuguese name for this squash is “Abobora Moranga” which simply translates to “pumpkin squash.”
The color of this squash alone is exceptional, typically varying between orange, pink, blue and green in a moddled pattern. It’s definitely a “looker,” probably being one of the most visually appealing winter squash in our repertoire.
Despite being native to much warmer regions of South America, this squash fits right at home in our subarctic garden. Typically it produces one or three full size pumpkins per vine, each pushing 10 to 15 pounds. It has no problem producing full size squash within a 100 day season.
We often grow much of our winter squash based around flavor. The Moranga again excels in this area, being a tasty variety that works in pies, soups, stews and anywhere else you’d use winter squash or pumpkins.
We’ve found this one to be quite formidable for winter storage, which is one of the reasons we like it. Often, we see it last practically into the following spring!
We’ve been growing this variety for a bit over a half a decade now. While we might change it out eventually, we’ve ended up restocking the seeds. Sometimes if you enjoy something and it works for you, leaning into it is the way to go!
