What Is a Pumpk-ini Like? I'll Tell You

I harvested the pumpk-ini the other day, kept it in the fridge, and decided to cut it open this afternoon.

First of all, this is an accidental cross between a pumpkin and zucchini. It has characteristics of both. For most of the growing season it was green on the outside, just like a zucchini. It has the characteristic ridges of a zucchini along the length. Yet it was bulbous and not completely cylindrical. Toward the end of its growth it began to turn orange, like a pumpkin. But the orange skin was easy to pierce with a fingernail, like a zucchini.

So today, I cut it open. Here's the inside. It is pale orange inside, like a pumpkin. But it has a small seed cavity like a very mature zucchini. The seeds are large-ish like a pumpkin's. The texture of the flesh is on the soft side (easy to cut and pierce), like a zucchini. I tasted a small piece raw and it tasted like zucchini, very mild.

I cut it into lengthwise quarters and cut out the seeds and cavity. With the rest, I shredded 3/4 of it to use in zucchini bread, leaving the skin on, and sliced the last 1/4 to add to dinner's main dish. I froze 2 bags of shredded pumpk-ini to bake future loaves of quick bread. 

The sliced pumpk-ini in the teriyaki was tasty, and the skin was just slightly thicker and tougher than a regular zucchini skin.

The pumpk-ini bread was just like zucchini bread. It was soft, dense, and moist.

So if you're keeping score, pumpk-ini is like pumpkin with:

• mostly orange skin
• light orange flesh
• large interior seeds

The pumpk-ini is like a zucchini with:

• the exterior ridging lengthwise
• softer exterior skin, easily pierced with a fingernail
• small seed cavity
• soft flesh
• mild flavor

Like a hybrid, which it is and has:

• skin that is neither tough nor very soft, somewhere in between
• shape is neither round nor cylindrical

The little surprises in the garden make gardening fun. I've enjoyed watching the hybrids develop, wondering how they would finish up, how big they would grow, and what color their skin would become. It would be fun enough if all I got out of this was watching it grow. But to have it actually provide food for us -- that's a bonus!