I have grown Lady Godiva. It is a C. pepo looks something like a Delicata, but poor quality flesh. Primary use is roasted pumpkin seeds. I tried it back in the 70's when it was first introduced. Have not considered it since. Tahitian is one of the big butternuts ( can reach 30 lbs), but I have not grown it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Naked seed pumpkins

I had a professor who grew it, back in the 80s. It is sweet. I even tried some raw, which was just okay. Personally I like a regular butternut, or my own Warsaw Buff Pie Pumpkin, better. They have a smoother texture. But the Tahitian Melon squash is a nice producer and it keeps super well. Just be sure you give it LOTS of ROOM!It needs something like 115 days to make mature fruit.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Thanks farmerdilla and macmex for the input.

I think I will go ahead and order seeds of these two squash, the Tahitian I'd like to try as sort of a challenge (I wonder how big they will get?) and Lady Godiva for roasting seeds, which I love. Does anyone know of a better "dual-purpose" squash with both hulless seeds and good quality flesh? It sounds like Lady Godiva would really only be worth it for its seeds.

Thanks again

Whoops, looks like I copied the wrong url. Ther are several "naked" seed types available. Among them Triple Treat( small halloween type pumpkin), Streaker, Eat All, Hull-less, Styrian Hulless, Trick or Treat, Snack Jack ...

I'm not a good judge on weights. But my estimate is that the Tahitian Melon squashes that my prof raised were probably over 20 lb each. I raised a Melon squash carried by Thompson & Morgan, back in 1984, which was about half that size and was dark green when harvested, turning dark orange/buff while in storage.

I used to grow Baby Bear, which is a small pie pumpkin, with orange skin, that also has naked seeds. It was good for everything (flesh & seeds) as well as being ornamental. But the fruit were smaller than I'd like, hence the quantity of both flesh and seeds were kind of low. On the positive side, Baby Bear had small, easily controlled vines.

George

In Amy Goldman's book there is a photograph of hulless seed squash/pumpkins - she comments that while most are only good for the seeds, Kumi Kumi (heirloom from New Zealand) has good quality flesh as well. I grew it and harvested quite a few (rampant vines though). They are small and I'm sorry I haven't cracked one open yet to sample either flesh or seeds! I read that they are triple use as they can also be used as summer squash when picked small and green.

Thanks everyone for the information.

Greenwitch, I think I will just try Kumi Kumi in any event. Sounds like a good bet. Gosh, the growing season here is just ending, and I'm already thinking about next year. Guess that's how it goes... I'm really excited about squash now though, always loved them, but never really tried anything too unusual, but this year the sweet dumpling, Queensland blue, unidentified orange c.maxima, and in particular my big max pumpkin of over 100 pounds have got me fired up.

I grew Tahitian in 2007. Half the seeds came from Sandhill however the germination was not high enough for a healthy germplasm (25-30). I needed the seeds quickly and Sandhill being somewhat slow, I ordered the rest from SOC. The Tahitian had good germination, however the leaves on the plants were not uniform and only two plants out of 30 produced Tahitian type squash. Several of the plants produced Tahitian squash that stalled half way through the season and did'nt produce finished seed. Some were football shaped. I would purchase enough seed from Sandhill or SSE. Here on the West Coast they grow much faster than the 140-180 dtm. They do make a Spectacular Pumpkin Pie, and homemade Pumpkin ice cream.