Cucurbita maxima
Origin: Unknown
Improvement status: Cultivar
Seeds per packet: ~20
Germination tested 11/2025: 83%
Life cycle: Annual
This lovely giant pumpkin has somewhat murky origins, but we're sure it's going to be popular anyway. Introduced by our friends Erica and Mike of Nature & Nurture Seeds outside Ann Arbor, Michigan, here's what they say about it on their website:
"This giant, edible pumpkin is fun to grow and children love it! Plants have large, prolific rambling vines that, at maturity, produce huge (up to 2’ diameter), round, bright orange pumpkins weighing up to 90lbs. Mike is always experimenting in the kitchen for farm lunches so he sliced and browned young squashes in the oven with olive oil and salt, and our interns couldn’t stop raving about it - it tastes, looks and has a texture reminiscent of mozzarella cheese. Janice Leach of Why Not Pie says that mature squash make excellent pumpkin pie. This pumpkin is easy to grow just be sure to give it enough space! When growing we like to let one or two pumpkins stay on the vine to get big and we pick the rest of the squash immature (when 3 – 12” diameter) to enjoy roasted. This squash had a case of mistaken identity. We have changed its name from “Wisconsin Cheese” to “W.C. Giant Pumpkin” because of a mix-up with the seeds that were originally given to us and mislabeled “Wisconsin Cheese.” This squash is not in fact the “Wisconsin Cheese” variety but is some sort of giant pumpkin, possibly “Weeks' North Carolina Giant” but there is no way to know for sure. We love it anyways and know that you will love it too!"
We always enjoyed growing Weeks' North Carolina Giant Cantaloupe, so if this is indeed a giant pumpkin from that defunct seed company, we're extra excited to be offering it. Our seed comes from our friends Dylan Bruce and Cody Egan of Driftless Seed Supply in Wisconsin.
GROWING TIPS: See description above. Best to direct-sow once soil warms in the spring, around the same time you might plant sweetcorn.
