New in the Nursery: Pumpkins from Auction

Every fall, Melissa Lowrie, our senior green goods buyer, makes her way from Philadelphia to Lancaster County, PA, to take part in a yearly pumpkin auction. She selects the most unique, beautiful, and most quintessentially terrain varieties she can find in a rainbow of hues, an array of textures, and a multitude of sizes. It’s an event that’s become a tradition here, and each year we eagerly anticipate the first truck full of pumpkins arriving at our nurseries. We’re sharing a few select favorites with you below!

Blue Hubbard + Jewel Box: The Blue Hubbard is one of the best pumpkins for making pie since it’s so sweet and nutty (think sweet potatoes). The Jewel Box is fairly new to the scene in the past few years–it takes on a beautiful iridescent and almost pearly sheen and has a bit of a rainbow glow to it up close. For me, it’s the starting point for this pallet of muted beige and moody blacks that I’m really into this year.

Grizzly Bear: Smallish and beige with monochromatic bumps, this novelty variety is newer to the market in the past few years. I’m really loving this paired with iridescent-but-muted Jewel along with some of the darker varieties for a modern look.

Marina di Chioggia: I love the knobby, rustic texture and beautiful range of color on this one, from bright green to a dark chalky charcoal. The Marina di Chioggia is also a great one for pies, with its deep orange, sweetly fleshed fruit, though it's just as delicious grilled with olive oil or as a filling for ravioli for a more savory approach. These beauties date back to Venice around the late 1600s and are still beloved in Italy today.

Fairytale: Fairytales come in all sizes and a range of color from dark green to hazy blue, but I really loved the striking, dusty caramel of this crop. They’re a French heirloom variety that are deeply lobed and grow to be quite large.

Excited to find your own favorites? We’re unloading new crops of cool pumpkins every week through the season! Stop by your local terrain nursery for the full lineup!