Squash

 

Easy to grow, easy to store and yummy to eat, winter squash is one of my favorite crops to grow. My seeds had a low germination rate this year because of last year's short season - nine out of ten didn't even come up. Still we harvested about 1,100lbs of winter squash for winter eating and chicken feed, what a blessing!

 

Squash is divided into several different species, and varieties within each species will cross with each other. The two most common species are Cucurbita pepo and Cucurbita maxima.

 

C. pepo includes most summer squashes (including zucchini), acorn squash, small gourds and many pumpkins.

 

C. maxima includes some pumpkins, banana squash, buttercup, hubbard and turban squashes.  With larger leaves and larger seeds than C. pepo, as well as a longer storage life, they also take a bit longer to grow. This group needs to be cured for a week to ten days at 70-80 degrees before storage.

 

C. pepo Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin is one of my favorites. In my climate they can be anywhere from 2-15lbs. They have always been gone by February so I can't say how long they will store.

 

What is a pumpkin? Everyone knows what they are, but they really are not any particular species. Any winter squash that is somewhat round and orange could be considered a pumpkin.

 

C. pepo Bitterroot Acorn is a genetically diverse squash varying in color and in size (1 1/2-3lbs). Any that are left rapidly go bad in January.

 

C. pepo Costata Romanesca Zucchini is a favorite I've talked about before. In order to save seeds from summer squash, they need to grow as large as they will and harden like a winter squash. This one was hand pollinated and "seed" lightly scratched onto the surface while it was soft so we would know to leave it on the vine.

 

C. maxima Sweet Meat Squash is a delicious good keeper ranging from 8-15lbs.

 

C. Maxima Bitterroot Buttercup, another good keeper, is 2-6lbs.

 

C. maxima Australian Butter Squash is new to me. It grew 6-12lbs this year.

 

My favorite method of growing squash is to dig a long trench and fill it with compost. I plant the seeds 10-12" apart and 1/2" deep. Early in the season I try to keep up on the weeds, but healthy squash plants with soon smother most of them. Fruit that resists a fingernail scratch is ready to be harvested. They can handle a light frost, but be sure to get them inside before a hard freeze. Go over the field several times as the vines begin to die back - I always miss some the first time around. Store them in a cool, dry place where there is no danger of freezing. For me that is the barn, but I've heard of storing them under a bed. Check them often and remove any that begin to rot or get soft. These can usually be salvaged if you catch them quick enough and cut off the bad spots. Fruits that don't have stems, were harvested before they were ripe, or were exposed to too much frost will be the first to go bad.

 

What to do with them? All of the squashes I grow make delicious pumpkin pies, cooked at 350 until tender then pureed in a food processer. Several times a week we slice one in half, scoop out the seeds and bake at 350 until tender - 1-2 hours depending on size. Serve with butter and maple syrup or brown sugar. I also cook them for the chickens.

 

Saving seeds from squash is fairly easy. If you have only one variety within a species you can simply save the seeds you scoop out when you go to cook the fruit. If you have more than one variety within a species, you will need to hand-pollinate. In the evening tape shut the blossoms that are about to open, making sure to get both male (just a flower on top of a stem) and female (a flower on top of a tiny green fruit) flowers. The next morning remove the tape and rub pollen from the male flowers inside the female flowers and tape them up again immediately, making sure no bees get in there with pollen from another plant. Mark the squash you hand-pollinated. The seeds will continue to ripen inside a fruit for about three weeks after it has been picked.