Pumpkins like warm soil (about 65 degrees F.), so start them outdoors in late spring; you can start indoors two to three weeks earlier if your growing season is short. For vining types (check the seed packet), build hills 6 to 8 feet apart. Start with five to six seeds per hill, planted 1 inch apart and 1 inch deep. If transplanting seedlings, set two plants per hill.

Bushing types can be set in rows 3 feet apart. Sow three to four seeds 1 inch deep and 2 feet apart, and then thin to one to two plants in each cluster.

Once the soil is warm, generally in late spring, start gourd seeds outdoors. You can start them indoors earlier, but plant them in peat pots as they don’t like their roots disturbed during transplanting. Sow seeds or set transplants 2 feet apart in rows 5 feet apart, or sow seeds in hills (two plants or seedlings per hill) 4 to 5 feet apart in rows 7 feet apart.