Q: Several local stores are selling sugar pumpkins. I have never heard of this kind of pumpkin. I was told it is good for making pies or using as a small jack-o'-lantern. I bought a few, and I want to plant the seeds to grow more of them for next year. Is this a good idea?

A: You can save the seeds, plant them and grow them, but you may not have as good of a pumpkin as these sugar pumpkins. I have grown and prepared sugar pumpkins, jack-o'-lantern pumpkins and the Dickinson pumpkin — which is very similar to the pumpkin found in cans of pie filling — and you may be disappointed with the taste of the sugar pumpkin.

There are several varieties of pumpkins in each of the above categories. Some are hybrids, and some are old heirloom varieties. Unless you buy the pumpkins at a farm stand, you are not likely to know what variety you are buying. The named hybrid varieties will not come true from seed. In other words, the crop produced next year from the vines won't look or taste like the parent crop. If the seeds or plants are labeled as hybrids, you may get good crops, and you may not. If the crop is labeled as an heirloom, you will get crops next year that match this year's crop if there were no other varieties nearby that could have cross-pollinated your plants to produce those seeds.

All pumpkins and several squash varieties can be used in pies, but they vary in cooking quality. The typical processed pumpkin found in cans is a tan-colored squash shaped like a football, not an orange jack-o'-lantern pumpkin. The most common processed pumpkin is the Dickinson pumpkin. It has a brown skin and a much thicker bright orange flesh than the jack-o'-lantern. It is also drier and less stringy than the jack-o'-lantern. It is easy to process and tastes good.

The small sugar pumpkins are not very sweet or tasty to me. On the plus side, they don't have the watery and stringy consistency of jack-o'-lanterns. Butternut squash and buttercup squash can be used as an equal substitute for pumpkin in pie recipes. They are much easier to peel and process than sugar pumpkins.

Pumpkins are good to eat and a good source of vitamins. They are a variety of winter squash like butternut and acorn squash. Winter squash are left on the vine until they are mature and have a hard rind, and they are usually baked for eating. Winter squash, like pumpkins, can be stored at 50 degrees until next spring. For best storage, they should have a 3- or 4-inch piece of stem and not have been exposed to a frost. Summer squash like zucchini are picked off the vine while they're still green and have a soft rind, and they can be eaten raw or cooked. They do not store well and are eaten fresh.

If you want to decorate a pumpkin but also save it to eat later, you can use tempera paint or markers to make designs on the outside without cutting it open.

To cook a pumpkin, remove the rind by peeling, and then boil the flesh until it's soft. Drain the pot, and mash the pumpkin until it is soft. It can then be frozen. It will last for months. But you will taste the difference if you use fresh pumpkin in a recipe.

Small pumpkins can be eaten as a vegetable — steamed, boiled, or battered and fried. They can also be sliced and eaten raw with dip as an appetizer. The University of Illinois Extension website has information on how to select and cook fresh pumpkin. Besides the standard recipes, like pumpkin nut bread and roasted pumpkin seeds, there are many others, such as pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin apple soup.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at [email protected]. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.