A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds

by Amy Goldman, photographs by Victor Schrager

 

 

You can bet your Blue Hubbard (more accurately, as this book shows, Gill's Blue Hubbard) that this is the most ravishing and comprehensive collection of pumpkins, squashes, and gourds ever compiled. The text by heirloom plant authority Amy Goldman is both systematic and a thing of beauty, not only showing how all these plants relate to each other, but also distilling their character. A ghostly marshmallow! Effervescent confetti! A cavity with seeds! The photographs by Victor Schrager are among the most memorable I've seen of any botanical subject, precisely evoking the personality of each cucurbit. And there's more: history, recipes, culture, seed-saving instructions.