Here's a link where you can get this seed. I'm not positive why they have been dropped from many catalogs. But if I had to take a guess, I'd say that it was because they take a long time to mature. When we lived in Northern Indiana, back in the 80s, one of my seminary profs grew these every year. But in order to get mature fruit he started his plants indoors, before the danger of frost had past. Does your mother also live in Afghanistan? What is your climate like?

George
Tahlequah, OK

Here is a link that might be useful: Sandhill Preservation Squash

There seem to be quite a few seed sources found by googling "Tahitian Melon squash". I am still trying to find the difference between it and the "Neck" pumpkin. Hopefully George knows. This article may be helpful on the history of the cultivar.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tahitian Melon Squash

I've grown the golden cushaw, which I believe is another name for neck pumpkin. The main difference between it and the melon squash was in the plant, which was no where near as rampant. Golden Cushaw did produce very well and I'd say its fruit quality is much the same as Tahitian Melon squash.

I grew Thompson & Morgan's Melon Squash in 1985. It was truly a rampant grower and produced an extremely heavy crop. We were happy with the fruit quality, though almost any butternut would have a slightly higher quality than either the Golden Cushaw or Tahitian Melon Squash. By "higher quality" I mean a finer texture. The flavor is probably about the same.

I believe there are actually a number of "melon squashes" out there. The seed I purchased from Thompson & Morgan, in 1985, produced two variations. One was dark green skinned and straight necked, turning burnished orange in storage. The other was buff colored and crooked necked. I like it better, but that was purely on account of personal taste regarding the appearance of the fruit. I'd say that the quality between the two was the same.

That's a great article Farmerdilla!

George

George, I have grown Golden Cushaw. It is a big squash, but grows in a club shape, which why is someone probably thought it was a Cushaw, almost no neck. Wheras the neck pumpkin has a very pronounced neck. reminescent of a gourd.
Golden Cushaw {{gwi:100448}}

Thanks for the responses!

@macmex Oops, nobody lives in Afghanistan. When I was trying to select the country, it kept resetting to the first option on the list, which was Afghanistan. But we live in zone 6 or 5. The climate she previously grew them in was MUCH plant friendlier than this, so I doubt we'd get the same success up here. But she wants to get the seeds so she can try anyway, probably starting them indoors.

Unfortunately my mom said that she already tried that source which you've linked, and nobody has yet replied to her email, after several weeks. Maybe they will eventually though.

@farmerdilla She was doing the same thing (googling), but none of the sites really came through. She said she placed orders at sites that said they had it, only to find it was backordered, etc. Thanks for the info link! I'm going to give it to her.

As I understand it, the reason why she wants the squash is because of its shape. Apparently the squash grew a long neck, and all of the seeds were in that neck, leaving the body almost pure "meat". This made it easier for her to separate desirable and undesirable elements of the squash while harvesting and using.

I'm not sure if the shape was similar to the one in the posted image, so I'll send this thread to her so she can see it for herself. Maybe she'll have some additional thoughts. Thanks!

In light of Farmerdilla's comments & photo, I have to say I grew the Neck Pumpkin, only I got my seed from Sandhill Preservation Center (before it was a company), and I believe they called it Golden Cushaw.

Don't despair with Sandhill Preservation Center. They are a family owned business and at this point, only "Mom & Pop" are manning it ;) In the next couple of weeks their new on-line catalog will be on-line and your mom will be able to order from them. They don't take on-line orders. But one can make out an order on paper and mail it in. They are not always able to respond to e-mails. Their web site should tell you when to call if you want to speak with someone. Also, January is the time to request a hard copy catalog. You could even do that now. They only do one or two mailings of the catalog per year.

The neck pumpkin and Tahitian Melon squash will have the seeds in the bulb end leaving the neck with nothing but pure flesh.

George

Concue with George, Sandhill is good, but they don't do e-mails well. One of the best places to find obscure cultivars. They are not always right, but about as accurate as any. There is one more to throw into this mix, the Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck

In 1960 I planted three Tahitian melon seeds in sandy soil to which I added alfalfa pellets. They grew like crazy here in central Texas. The fruit were alleged to weigh 16 pounds. Mine were more like 22 and kept very well in the well house until April. The next year the seed catalog claimed the weight at 22 pounds. You were only offered 3 seeds per order.
I saved seed, but it wasn't the same, and that was the only
squash type for miles.
In the late 90's I ordered again, but out of three seeds only one was viable, but it spread all over and kept rooting and took over the whole garden. I suspect it may be a hybrid, all be it a wonderful hybrid. I never got it to breed true!
Any thoughts?
My computer was out for many years and was only able to Google a site this year, and sure as shootin', the were out!

Hersh,

Order some seed from another source. I'm positive that Tahitian Melon Squash is not a hybrid. Sounds like your provider didn't follow good practice for producing seed. Three seeds! Give me a break! You should receive at least 25.

George

On second thought, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Three seeds is fine, if the price is accordingly adjusted.

George

If you just want a squash, which has seeds only in the bulb end, any of the Butternuts or cushaws will fit that description.

Hersh, This was mentioned further up in the zombie thread but the Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck is a very similar cultivar and may actually be another name for the same. You may have more luck searching for that one.