Picks of the Patch: Check Out Some of the Unique Pumpkin Varieties Grown at Washington's Gordon Skagit Farms

Strolling through rows of dusky-blue 'Jarrahdale' pumpkins, ombré towers of mahogany-orange 'Daybreaks,' and clusters of blotchy 'Lunch Lady' gourds on a crisp fall day at Gordon Skagit Farms, it's easy to imagine one of the plump wares turning into Cinderella's stagecoach and rolling off through the fields. Located in Mount Vernon, Washington, about an hour north of Seattle, the 300-acre family farm specializing in heirloom pumpkins, gourds, and squashes brims with magical potential this time of year. "I love fall—the colors, scents, landscape, and folklore," says co-owner Eddie Gordon, whose grandparents bought the place in 1932 and whose parents grew a range of vegetables there. Today, he runs it with his older brother, Todd. One of his fondest childhood memories is of their mom, who still lives there at age 95, welcoming fall by pickling crab apples and baking pumpkin cake.

In 1969, Todd, an entrepreneurial teen, started selling classic carvers at a roadside stall. Back then, an ideal specimen was symmetrical and uniform in color: "When they were lined up in rows, they looked like basketballs," Eddie remembers with a laugh. The mini-business chugged along until 1994, when a friend mailed Eddie an article in Living about heirloom varieties. As he flipped through it, his mind raced. "There were all these different colors and shapes," he recalls. "I thought, What else is out there? That story started a revolution."

A year later, Eddie debuted his first heirloom offering—the scarlet 'Rouge Vif D'Etampes.' Only a few customers were interested, but tastes have evolved, and now people relish a kaleidoscope of specimens—the lumpier and bumpier, the better. For weeks each winter, over endless cups of coffee, he thumbs through seed catalogs, seeking the next star to add to his carefully cultivated roster—and he still gets a thrill every fall when he finds a unique specimen hiding under its leafy canopy.

That scrappy stand has expanded into a local institution. Each October, customers pack the parking lot to peruse thousands of pumpkins and gourds representing more than 110 cultivars. And Eddie feels the same pure joy he did as a kid. "I can still smell the earthiness of pumpkin and the heavenly spices," he says of his mom's cake from his childhood. "It takes me back to fall evenings with my family."

Bins of 'Howden,' a traditional orange carving pumpkin, await their short trip from field to farmstand.

Smooth or bumpy; symmetrical or oblong; sunny yellow, hunter green, or shades in between—these 'Lunch Lady' gourds grow in seemingly endless variations. Whenever brothers Eddie and Todd Gordon of Gordon Skagit Farms plant seeds for this ornamental variety, they never quite know what they'll get.

Eddie holds a 'One Too Many' pumpkin, cheekily named for its resemblance to a blood-shot eye. He focuses on displays and marketing at the family's farm, while his brother, Todd, handles day-to-day production and the wholesale business; their goods are sold in stores throughout western Washington.

Every morning from September to the end of October, workers pick a new batch of pumpkins by hand, so there's always a fresh selection. Blocky 'Queensland Blue' squashes and darker, rounder 'Jarrahdale' pumpkins are two of Eddie's favorite varieties.

Built in the late 1800s, the structure is original to the property and believed to be Scandinavian in design. The shop there sells locally sourced products like pottery and pastries, as well as mums, apples, honey, pressed cider, and fermented foods. The property also has a corn maze and a U-pick pumpkin patch. 

Here, you see a blue-green 'Triamble,' otherwise known shamrock squash; creamy-yellow acorn-squash variety 'Thelma Sanders;' and warty 'Jewel Box' pumpkin.

Ghostly 'Valenciano' is a smooth, white-skinned variety of pumpkin.

A 'Progress' pumpkin flaunts its curling black stem.

Australian 'Queensland Blue' squashes were first imported to the U.S. in 1932.

The lumpy 'Marina di Chioggia' pumpkin is also delicious to eat; the pale-pink moranga squash originally hails from Brazil; a North African 'Musquee de Maroc' squash often has a bell shape.

The compact 'Tonda Padana' winter squash weighs four to five pounds.

'Small World of Color' pumpkins can be pink, blue, white, or a mix; the warty yellow 'Lunch Lady' gourd is ornamental; 'Marina di Chioggia' can last six months.

The deeply lobed 'Fairytale' starts dark green and turns terra-cotta over time.

An ever-popular flat pumpkin, 'Daybreak' is known for its rich mahogany-orange hue. While this particular one is uniform in color, others can be mottled, with varying shades of green fading into orange. They can reach about 14 inches in diameter, and weigh 28 pounds on average.