Naked-seeded pumpkin Lady Godiva BIO - Cucurbita pepo

A pumpkin grown for its seeds - hull-free and ready to eat. Lady Godiva is a pumpkin variety with seeds that lack a hard hull, so once removed from the fruit and dried, they can be eaten straight away - raw or roasted. The plant has a bushy growth habit and spreads only a little, while producing abundantly: the supplier reports more than 10 fruits per plant. The fruit skin is smooth and straw-yellow with broad green stripes.

At a glance

• Growth habit: bushy, slightly spreading
• Fruit: straw-yellow with green stripes, hull-free seeds
• Sow in pots: late April - May, at 20–22°C
• Sow outdoors / transplant: after the last frosts, from May 15–20
• Harvest: August - October, before frost
• Location: full sun, humus-rich, fertile soil
• Difficulty: easy
• Seeds per packet: 12

What makes this variety special

Most pumpkins are grown for their flesh, with the seeds as an extra. Lady Godiva is the opposite: its flesh is pale orange and average in quality, while the main harvest is its green, hull-free seeds. No shelling is needed; simply rinse and dry them.

Its bushy growth habit means it takes up less space than trailing varieties, though it still needs plenty of room. The flowers are also edible. A few plants can provide enough seeds to last all winter.

Growing step by step

Sowing in pots (late April - May): Sow one seed per pot, about 8–10 cm in diameter, at a depth of 2–3 cm. Seeds need warmth to germinate (about 20–22°C), and seedlings emerge after 10–15 days. Do not overwater the growing medium - excess moisture can easily cause the sprouts to rot.

Sowing outdoors: From the second half of May, after the last frosts, seeds can be sown directly in their permanent location, 2–3 per planting spot, then thinned to leave the strongest plant. The harvest will be slightly later.

Transplanting (after May 15–20): Transplant seedlings after the last frosts, spacing them about 1–1.2 m apart, preferably into holes filled with compost. Pumpkins like a sunny spot and soil rich in organic matter.

Care: During dry spells, water generously at the base of the plant. Pruning is not necessary. If the plant flowers but does not set fruit, this may be due to a lack of pollinators or hot weather - flowering plants that attract pollinators nearby and mulch can help in both cases.

Uses

Harvest the fruit toward the end of the season, when the leaves are drying and the stem is dry, always before the first frosts. The seeds continue to ripen inside the fruit, so it is worth storing the pumpkins for a few weeks and removing the seeds later, for example in November. Once dried, store them in airtight jars in a dark place. They can be eaten raw, roasted with a little salt, or added to salads, bread and muesli.

Gardener's tip

About the producer

The seeds come from Semailles - a small-scale Belgian producer of organic seeds based in the province of Namur in Wallonia. Semailles offers only open-pollinated varieties (no F1 hybrids), including many traditional and collector's varieties. Some seeds are propagated on its own fields, while others are produced in collaboration with organic growers in Belgium and France. All batches are certified organic (BE-BIO-01 inspection).

Specifications