Every year I go on the quest for little boo’s, the popular itty bitty white pumpkins that go with everything autumn. If you saw my home decor post HERE you know this year I found them! Although they are affectionately called little boos they are actually just little white pumpkins. It got me thinking about gourds and pumpkins and the next thing you know I am sharing here with you.
One thing I discovered is some decorative pumpkins are edible, who knew? Oh, you did, there in the back, waving and saying ” I knew, I knew”. Awesome, next time please come with me. I think if it has the word pumpkin attached it is edible.
I tried to educate myself a bit on the different varieties of decorative pumpkins, squash, and gourds. As you know, I believe you are never ever to old to learn something new. The main distinction between squash and gourds is that squash is grown and harvested to eat, while gourds tend to be grown for decorative purposes.
The word pumpkin is actually a “general term” used for winter squash, and winter squash doesn’t actually grow in the winter. I said we’d learn things not understand them, giggle.
Below is what I believe are accurate identifications of the little pumpkins in the photo we often use in our autumn and Thanksgiving holiday decor. If you see one that isn’t correct please let me know.
#1 sweet dumpling
#2 patty pans
#3 little white pumpkins ( picked while small)
# sugar pumpkins
#5 crown of thorns
All squash is part of the Cucurbitaceae family. More commonly known as Cucurbita pepo, vegetables” round, with smooth, slightly ribbed thick skin, and the interior contains the seeds and pulp. Feel free to throw the words Cucurbita pepo and Cucurbitaceae around a bit today. Find ways to add it to a conversation. But, in your heart, you know the itty bitty white decorative pumpkins are “little boos” ( wink).
Most pumpkins are edible, gourds are not! You can find a million different ways to add knobbly bumpy and colorful gourds to your autumn decor and of course little boos and little pumpkins too, on my Autumn Home board on Pinterest.
Have you been using little boos in your autumn decor?
I look forward to seeing you back here on Thursday for the best darn blog link up party in blog land. The Vintage autumn decor giveaway has ended please watch your email for a message from Katherine or Katherines Corner.
I am absolutely in love with the white baby boo pumpkins. I have quite a few faux boo pumpkins, but have decided (since I have found seeds) that I’m going to grow my own next year, as well as gourds. I container garden, but I tend to get a better yield this way than I ever did when the plants were in the ground, most probably because I dote on them. This is a lovely post. I enjoyed it.
Be still my heart! I love them all!
I loved this post about baby boos! I especially loved that picture with all the little pumpkins… it is so fun seeing the differences right next to each other! I’ll be featuring you tomorrow!
Hi Katherine! I love baby boo pumpkins ~ at least that’s what they were called out in California. Nobody seems to have them here in North Central Texas except maybe Whole Foods. I did find bigger white pumpkins and brought a couple home along with a bunch of colorful other ones. 😉 I’m actually going to change my inside decorating this week… decided to redo it just because!
Happy fall to you and thank you for sharing the pumpkin names. Love the tic-tac-toe effect!
Barb 🙂
Hi Katherine, I enjoyed your post and lovely pictures about little boos. I love the pale colours and miniature size – so dainty. In Britain, we’ve started to see smaller decorative pumpkins in the last couple of years, and I put some on my outdoor plant pots last autumn, which was nice. I’ve never used them for inside decor – but you’ve inspired me to do so – thank you!
I loved learning about the “little boos” here today as my girls and I just love them, too. So thanks for sharing and wishing you a very, Happy Tuesday now xoxo <3
I didn’t know they were edible either.
Crown of Thorns is a wicked cool little pumpkin.