New ‘Kin on the Block: the Gamble Creek Pumpkin
By Sara Stovall| Photography by Abbi Henigman| November 6, 2025
https://ediblesarasota.ediblecommunities.com/food-thought/new-kin-on-the-block-the-gamble-creek-pumpkin/
Gamble Creek Farm Manager Zach Rasmussen.
Has the perfect pumpkin been born right here in our backyard? Cultivated by the passionate agriculturalists at Gamble Creek Farms in Parrish, the Gamble Creek pumpkin isn’t just a tasty new squash. It’s a triumph for Florida growers, gardeners, and local-minded chefs—a culinary prize hardy enough to withstand the Floridian elements that grind other gourds into pulp.
This exceptional fruit was forged from two native legacies. The first parent, the Dutch Fork, is a baker’s darling, cherished for its sweet, succulent, and buttery flesh that practically cries out to become pie. It descends from a staple crop for the Cherokee and Catawba people, indigenous to the South Carolina Midlands. By the middle of the 18<sup>th</sup> century, settlers of the Dutch Fork region had become this heirloom’s main cultivators as Native Americans were dispossessed of their homelands.
About five years ago, Gamble Creek Farms ordered a ton (literally) of Dutch Fork pumpkins to satisfy its market customers’ autumnal yearnings for a proper pie pumpkin.
“My mom’s a baker, and she’s obsessed with Dutch Fork pumpkins, so of course we started saving seeds,” says Farm Manager Zach Rasmussen. Though it thrives in South Carolina, Dutch Fork proved to be no match for the Florida heat. Enter another indigenous champion: the Seminole pumpkin.
Florida’s “tree pumpkins” were cultivated by multiple indigenous tribes and first documented by the conquistador Panfilo de Narvaez in expedition notes from 1528. Renowned for its heat tolerance and disease resistance, the more modestly sized Seminole also boasts an incredible 12-month shelf life.
“From what I know currently, it’s the longest-storing food that man has,” Rasmussen says. “Sometimes I’ll have one last for 14 months, and I’m thinking, ‘How is that thing still sitting on the counter?’” But the Seminole’s toughness came at the cost of its texture, resulting in drier, more savory flesh—great for roasting, but not likely to get rave reviews around the dessert table at your holiday party.
Rasmussen posits that, centuries ago, an indigenous pumpkin lent its genetics to an old-school European variety to create South Carolina’s famous Dutch Fork. He decided to embark on an experiment in back-crossing, which reunites a hybrid with its parent to accentuate the parent plants’ desirable characteristics. Gamble Creek Farms raised Dutch Fork and Seminole pumpkins side by side, allowing the bees to take care of the first phase.
“We could have moved the pollen by hand from plant to plant, but the bees are so much better at it,” Rasmussen says. “And it was a win. That first year, we realized we got the pumpkin. It was the shape we wanted, and the yields were looking good. We then handled the whole selection every year. That means finding eating as many pumpkins as you can—some were a little richer, some had a bit more water content—and selecting seeds for the attributes we really wanted.”
The Gamble Creek pumpkin finally emerged as the best of both worlds. Its exterior inherited the unyielding resilience of the Seminole, and its practical characteristics are pretty stunning: a smaller, market-friendly size, and a shelf life that extends 10 to 13 months, matching the longevity of its indigenous ancestor.
But the interior is pure decadence, with the smooth, sugary flesh of the Dutch Fork. This genetic balance created a medium water content and richness, resulting in a pumpkin that makes both a magnificent pie filling and an exceptional roasted vegetable.
This powerful new crop has a destiny grander than commercial success. It’s a spectacular achievement, to be sure, but its creators haven’t sought proprietary rights or patents.
“That’s one thing we do try to avoid, because we want to be able to share it openly,” Rasmussen says. “We will always maintain open source, because Gamble Creek Farms is founded on an educational base. Sharing is the most important thing we do.”
Rasmussen dreams of the Gamble Creek pumpkin becoming a Florida heritage crop, grown in as many farm rows, backyard patches, and community gardens as possible. The Gamble Creek pumpkin is a resilient food meant to thrive for generations to come, a legacy belonging to the soil where it first took root.
