A former runner variety, Pomme d’or Golden Apple Pumpkin is a miniature squash! Its round, yellow fruits, like tennis balls, are neither too big nor too small. Just the right size actually to whip up a one person filler.
Description
the golden apple squash spreads its long branches in the sun, on the ground. But if it encounters an obstacle, it does not hesitate to cling to it and scale it with its propellers.
Its round, rough, lobed leaves are characteristic of the Cucurbitaceae family.
Vigorous, each plant produces fifteen to twenty round, firm-to-the-touch fruits about the size of a tennis ball (6 to 8 cm in diameter). Green when growing, they take on the approach of autumn a yellow color that intensifies at maturity. Certain fruits that until then blended into the decor of the foliage now stand out.
Their yellow-orange flesh, sweet, fibrous and mildly aromatic, offers light notes of artichoke. No exaggeration.
When and How to Sow It?
From mid-April, in a bucket, pushing 1 to 3 seeds shallowly into fine, moist soil. Germination is fast, count between 5 and 10 days depending on the quality of the seeds. When the young plants have 4 or 5 leaves, only the most vigorous one is preserved by cutting the base of the others with scissors.
Sowing in open ground is done during the months of May and June, at the rate of 3 seeds, in soft and rich soil.
golden apple squash is afraid of wind, cold and rather unsettled weather in late spring. The use of protective covers for the first 3 or 4 weeks of cultivation or immediately after transplanting makes it possible to limit excessive temperature fluctuations between day and night. Bells are also a natural barrier against the appetite of slugs. You just have to remember to open them for ventilation if the days are hot. Once growth starts, nothing can stop it. gold. Not even slugs!
Where To Install It?
Plant the seedlings in soft, rich, warm soil. The best part, in my opinion, is last year’s compost pile, which it colonizes beautifully as long as it is bathed in sunlight. Make sure this location stays perfectly in the sun out of season, the golden apple squash enjoying the mildness and light of the months of September and October to fully complete the ripening of its fruit.
What Interview?
Size is not necessary. No more than watering beyond the first weeks in the ground. the golden apple squash makes it on its own. And very well indeed! Its stems root in contact with the soil, which enhances both its vigor and drought resistance. Weeding is also not necessary, except at the beginning of the crop, only to monitor slug attacks.
When To Harvest?
Do not harvest it before September, or even October, but absolutely before the first frosts. The fruit should be very yellow. So their color is the best indicator. Cut the stem cleanly, with pruners, keeping a 2 to 3 cm piece. If the weather is fine, let golden apples dry a full day in the sun before bringing them inside without brutalizing them. The retention will only get better.
Can You Collect And Save Your Seeds?
Of course, but all pumpkins are easily hybridized among themselves, which sometimes holds nice surprises. If gold is the only VARIETY OF SQUASH you grow in the vegetable garden, then it is no problem to collect the seeds from a ripe fruit and dry them. Otherwise, it will be best to pollinate a female flower by hand and identify the seed-bearing fruit to preserve the characteristics of the parent plant, because hybrids with courgettes, Siamese gourds, etc. are possible.
Who Are The Enemies?
Slugs of course and powdery mildew at the end of the crop when the cool nights return. The foliage is covered with a white veil and then dried. No treatment is needed at this stage as the pumpkin continues to ripen quietly.
How To Cook The Golden Apple?
gold is a variety intended primarily for stuffed recipes. Filled with porcini mushrooms, cabbages, but also purees, gratins, veloutés or pies, the recipes are many, each more delicious than the next. Something to vary and above all to please the appetite of the most greedy! In this other video, discover my recipe for Golden Apple Stuffed Zucchini. Delicious as a side dish with rice or wheat!