time to harvest my winter squash

[johnson1942]

well a light frost nipped 2/3rds of the leaves on the squash so tomorrow im going to start bringing them up to the deck to cure. i dont know why but squash is my favorite thing to grow. even have three of them ive never seen before on one vine. i think they didnt cross with the others but some how some seed mixed in with some other seed at the packing house. they are mixed in with a vining korean summer squash and they look something like a oriental winter squash for that type of catalog. if they taste good i will save the seed and try them again next year. my pink bananas are the biggest. lots of bush acorns this year and they are bigger than usual. also lots of butternuts. have one big guatamalan blue that cross breed with something else and is a lot bigger with blunt ends than the other blues. amish pie produced poorly, wont plant that one again. now to cure them and then the taste test. ill share seed of any of these if some one like me really likes winter squash to grow. that is our breakfast all winter long.

[GSM]

Can you say a little more about "curing"? I had not heard of this before.

Thanks.

Any chance of some pics of the crop?

[Reg]

How do you fix them for breakfast ?

[OnHoPr]

Just had a Buttercup for supper. My favorite is Sweet Dumpling then Acorn then Buttercup. Win Place & Show. It can be hard to find Sweet Dumpling though.

[johnson1942]

i brought 100 winter squash up onto the deck this morning. i have about 15 or so bigger ones out their and my son is going to help me carry those. the top leaves of the squash were killed by frost, time to bring them to the deck to cure. dont let them touch each other. let them dry and harden up the shell of the squash, some even color up to a different color while they cure. leave them on the deck untill they are completely hard and dry on the out side. if a frost is predicted for that night, cover them with old blankets so they dont get frost bit. when they are cured put them in a dry basement. some say it has to be cool down their but mine isnt and they store well. if one should develop a spot on them eat that one, cutting out the soft spot. you will lose some but most will do well. i have bush acorn, bush buttercup, butternut, guatamalan blue, pink banana and amish pie. their are also a couple knife river landrace and baby blue hubbards. their is one big married to another squash that is 1/2 gauatamalan blue and who know what else the bee brought to it. when you plant winter squash it is very good to start the plants in the house in a big soil pot. about 3 to 4 inches across. 2 or 3 seeds to a pot. these plants will give you more squash and bigger squash per plant. if you dont do that do as the nativeamericans do. put the seed in a damp papertowel, wrap them up and put them in a quart jar and put a loose baggey over the top. set them in a dark place and check them every day and keep them just damp. when they sprout let them grow a little tail and them plant this sprouted seeds which show the most vigor, 3 to a hill. keep the slugs and mice and rabbits off of them and when they get going they will do well. if you have trouble with squash bugs killing your plants go to baker creek seeds and get their landrace knife river squash. they seem to handle the squash bugs and still produce. they are a hardy early sweet tasteing squash. because they are a landrace they grow in differnt shapes. they all taste good and save the seed from any of them and they will grow every year for you. now this is how i cook them so we can eat them for breakfast. i lay one in the oven and cut a small plug out of the top of it. i fill the hollow cavity of the squash with apple juice through that hole. i then bake them at 350 untill the start to wilt on the out side. the inside should be cooked then, let cool down. cut in 1/2 and take out the seeds. scoop out the moist squash and put it in the food processor. mix a little brown sugar in with the squash. also a pinch of salt to help with the sweetness and flavor. then with the processor mix well untill it is smooth with no srings in it. some squash have strings and some dont. it makes no diff. as the food processor smoothes it all out and together. put that mixed squash in a big pot on the stove and at a low heat, simmer for alittle while. when it is all cooked together put in tuppa ware containers and put in the fridge to cool. to eat put some in a bowl with milk over it and if more brown sugar is need sprikle some on top. a good healthy breakfast. my wife and another nurse in her office who is native american have that for breakfast at the office every day. this is a native american breakfast and is it good. their are two things the nativeamericans cant get enough of and that is venison and winter squash. they all were raised on both of them and it also is very very healthy for you. their are many other ways to prepare winter squash but this one is a good one. if you are out for pure flavor raise the guatamalan blues. if you like them big and sweet with out any strings grow the pink banana. if you like them small and easy to pick and hundreds of them on the vine grow the acorn bush and make sure you start them in the house so they get a good start in the garden. bush butter nut is also a good choise for texture and flavor. the big blue hubbards really produce but are too big and not very sweet. sweetmeats is also a good choise for flavor, they grow in a damp cool climate. nothing like squash. for you that are into survival and doing your own thing, winter squash will keep you alive but not only alive but very very healthy. the northern indians that farmed live on squash all winter when their was nothing else to eat and the other food run out. they made soups out of it and also ate it baked and also ate the roasted seeds. i would post some pictures but my wife is going to college again as well as working full time so she may not get to it and i dont know how. you southern gardeners try the various cnady roaster squash that you can get seed for off of the internet. they all are good and are quite sweet. again if your in a hard to grow area for squash, try the knife river landrace which was a gift from the arikara natives. its a short season up their and it is quite hardy. have fun

[Reg]

Am going to try that one for breakfast !!!! Have some butternut's out in the garden that need picking.
Thanks !!
Reg

[MaryB]

Only acorn this year for me because it is my favorite. Set fruit late so don't know how many will be ready by first frost in a month or so. Have 3 that I could pick any time but leaving them on the vine until it cools off more and my back room drops below 60.

[johnson1942]

learned something im going to try about watermelons and winter squash off of the internet. watch your watermelons and winter squash closely and as a squash or watermelon form, cut the vine going away form it off. more energy into the squash or watermelon. your should only have one squash or melon per vine that comes off of the mother plant. it makes sense. ive noticed that my squash had ten foot vines after the squash and nothing on them. if i had cut them off after the melon or squash they would have been bigger. also i started carry the bigger squash to the deck. did three and that was enough for to day. the young strong son of mine tomorrow is going to help. that big amish pie squash is very dense and big. i suspect very tasty also. those amish know what they are doing in gardening. i see lots of baby blue hubbards and knife river landrace out their, beside and good amount of pink banana. they use the pinkbanana for baby food squash because it is so tasty. got lots of those. i called my wife who is in denver with the grandkids and she said good, we and her friends will have good breakfasts all winter. makes every one happy.

[gwpercle]

Speaking of Winter squash, last year I grew some Cushaw squash. They are an old heirloom variety that are no longer grown commercially. My grandmother would make pies , cook the flesh down with brown sugar , butter and cinnamon or cook savory just like squash.
My favorite way is sweet and pies. It's like a cross between sweet potato and pumpkin. The old timers grew them because they have a long shelf life, just put them in a cool dry place and they last.
A lady at the local farmers market made pies, cushaw being a good seller,(you had to get there early to get one) but she was having a hard time finding them as the old farmers were passing on and few people grew them any more.
I decided to grow a few vines, easy as pie to grow. The things grow 10 to 20 pounds each,
after harvesting I kept two and brought her 10....she was so happy to get them, said she had a place to store them until needed...I get free pies now, did that work out well or what.
An excellent squash if you want to try something different. Taste good and stores well.
Gary

[JWFilips]

I had a good harvest of Park's BonBon ( Excellent flavor; taste like roasted chestnuts if you bake them in the oven)
3 plants in my enclosed garden yielded about 14 big squash however chucks chewed into a few that were close to the fence. 4 plants in the unfenced garden yielded 16 however between some of the young wood chucks & turkeys I only got 7 from that bunch Some of those has some pecking & chewing damage but I cut that off and peeled the rest and chopped them up & froze them to use in stews & curries

[William Yanda]

When I was a kid our neighbor gave us some Green Hubbard seed. Slightly smaller, less stringy and dryer than the Blue Hubbard. Wish I could find some seed again.
Bill

[JWFilips]

Hubbard:Cucurbita Maxima: all nice dry flesh squash: Most folks don't know that Misses Paul's Pumpkin pies are made from Red Hubbard Squash!
Not Pumpkin but then again Pumpkin is squash! I know all this c...rap because one is named after me : curibita filipskii _ long story!

[johnson1942]

cushaw and green hubbard seed are available at bakercreek seed (rare seeds) on the internet. knife river landrace is avialble their also.

[GSM]

johnson1942:

Thank you (and others) for the info on squashes (squashii?) I had no idea about the curing or the history about some of the varieties. You and the guys on the apple thread are making me envious. The grocery store stuff looks nice but is generally as tasty as a salt free saltine cracker. Too hot down here for apples or many squashes. Good for hot peppers though

Appreciate the information you posted. A bunch.

[johnson1942]

if you live in a hot southern area review all the rare seeds that baker creek seeds have. some will be for your area. also try the south west native american seed sites, their squash is used to heat and some can handle less watering. their is a you tube video of a squash show in calif. over 300 types are shown. some will fit your area.

[MaryB]

My squash has really taken off now that it is cooler! I hope they have enough time to ripen fully! Last year I had a few heirlooms from the CSA farm I help at in exchange for some free veg. Galeux D' Eysines Squash was a real surprise! I used it for pie it was so sweet on its own. Listed as a squash and not a pumpkin but it subs very well for the latter. http://www.rareseeds.com/galeux-d-eysines-squash/ the warts are sugar forced out of the skin!

[johnson1942]

thanks for telling me mary b, never new that about the warts. i know extra sweet watermelons will split and extra sweet peppers have bug problems but never knew that about winter squash. i just put a quatamalan blue in the oven. my wife is comeing back from denver today after watching the grandkids. she will love the idea of squash for breakfast at work tomorrow. also made her some cream of broccoli soup home made and cream of asparagus soup home made to take to work and share with her friends. she eats good and so do her friends.

[MaryB]

I have an acorn squash from the garden today and rib tips thawing. Going to braise/roast the rib tips in kraut and bake the squash with butter and brown sugar. That is some good eats!Mashed potatoes on the side with lots more butter!

[johnson1942]

good american meal. those acorns are really good. very easy to grow.

[William Yanda]

Thank you (and others) for the info on squashes (squashii?)

Grammarians, feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but I think the plural of squash is squash, like the plural of moose is moose.