4 species of squash

[elkhound]

field report and garden observation...along with my opinion...well in above video david talks about covering up nodes..well this patch was trying to get out of its perimeters so i tried moving a few vines early on. well even short vines when i started to fold them inwards inside area had already sent down a tap root. often 2 inches and side shoots as well. it was like a screw holding vines down. i am now of the opinion after seeing this throughout patch its a waste of time to cover the vine and maybe..just maybe doing more harm covering the vine with dirt?i have not gotten rain for awhile now and worried about production. so far first to bloom has fruit half size of soccer ball.i think they are the small sugar pumpkin.the others are just now showing hint of blooms coming on and entire patch is going to overtake tomatoes and more.they are going outside fence even.

 

[Amish Heart]

Yep. Mine look like that and are about 3 feet tall. It's a real easter egg hunt finding the summer squash right now. I thought I gave them tons of room, but no.....

 

[joel]

 

[Peanut]

This fall's crop of pumpkins are in at the produce stand. They have the wildest looking squash. Took these today. One was called "wart squash", another "brown grizzly bear".

 

[LadyLocust]

Thank you for posting in this thread. I've been thinking of it and need to watch that first video so that by spring I can grow a squash that won't cross with the neighbor's giant pumpkins that they grow every year.
I would like to try mashed potato squash, delicatas or cushaw. I already know spaghetti squash will cross with the big orange orbs!

 

[elkhound]

harvest results..i pulled these this afternoon from garden.

first bucket full

second bucket

 

[joel]

elkhound,
WOW! Nice crop.
Which do you like best taste wise & how to you store them, whole in cool place, freeze, dry or canned?

 

[Bacpacker]

Very nice Cushaws and Butternutts. What are the Orange ones? Looks like a birdhouse gourd as well

 

[elkhound]

Very nice Cushaws and Butternutts. What are the Orange ones? Looks like a birdhouse gourd as well

i only grew the 4 species in picture on page 1. south anna butternut,small sugar pumpkin,strawberry crown and cushaw. i only had a couple seeds of strawberry crown and i thought i didnt get any. vines died early and i seen first fruit rotted in garden real early. i found 3 off in bushes so i got seed now.the ones that look gourdish are butternuts that were still green and growing.i pulled them but found out something..they are super soft..the hard stems on other ones poked holes in a couple. thank goodness there were not to many. i left a couple to harden off instead of pulling them.i seen a few with slim necks on butternuts but i think its just from drought. i seen one that was ribbed on bottom a bit i am sure its seminole dna coming out as the south anna is a stable cross of those two. but i think some genes surfaced which is fine it was only on one. this still is a pretty new heirloom cultivar to my understanding.

orange ones are small sugar pumpkin.

i have cooked one butternut and it was real sweet...tasted like sweet potato to me.

@joel just going to leave them whole and use as needed.

edit to add...this little patch of pumpkins was pretty easy to grow. after the planting i hit it with tiller 2 or 3 times and then vines were out in walk area of rows so that was end of that using tiller. i had ragweed pop up and hit them early on and hoed around hills once getting everything else and it was very little.the growth on these just out performed everything and really smothered everything out.after first tilling and hoeing that was it. i might have spent a total of an hour of hoe work..but doubt it was that long on these 2 rows.even after plants died back hardly any weeds grew and i can still see over 90% of dirt now.the south anna were most vigorous and even though at hill planting they died where the vines cork screwed into ground they just kept growing and growing and growing all across garden and even outside it.

praise Yah for great harvest ! halleluYah halleluYah !

 

[winds-of-change]

It sure is squash season. I’ve been buying squash and eating them baked and making squash soup with leftovers.

 

[Bacpacker]

Our butternuts are really sweet this year. Our neck sizes on them vary from almost as thick as the bottom to long and slim.

 

[joel]

I have late winter squash that may not make it.

 

[elkhound]

field report.... south anna butternut is the best butternut i ever had...cushaw is fantastic...growing both of these again for sure. strawberry crown was just ok...not fond of stringing texture of it....its better than new england pie/small sugar pumpkin....the pie pumpkin just flat out sucked..not sweet and to stringing.

 

[LadyLocust]

field report.... south anna butternut is the best butternut i ever had...cushaw is fantastic...growing both of these again for sure. strawberry crown was just ok...not fond of stringing texture of it....its better than new england pie pumpkin....the pie pumpkin just flat out sucked..not sweet and to stringing.

Thank you EH! I like these kinds of reports. I like cushaw too. I'm not a pumpkin, as in pumpkin pie fan so like this info.

 

[joel]

Every time I here about someone planting Winter squash, I think of my BIL.
He has done a lot of different business & made money on each one, now he is retired.
He runs a small fruit & vegetables stand & a few plants.
One person ask what month to plant WINTER squash, Oct. or NOV.?
He thought that the winter squash grew in winter.
True story.

 

[Amish Heart]

That's common, and at one time I would of thought the same.
Our butternut and pumpkin were awesome tasting this year. Can't remember the kind of pumpkin, but they were large sized and were old Dollar Tree seeds.

 

[joel]

That's common, and at one time I would of thought the same.
Our butternut and pumpkin were awesome tasting this year. Can't remember the kind of pumpkin, but they were large sized and were old Dollar Tree seeds.

I never heard winter squash as a child, they all were pumpkins. Late in teen years I as what was the different in summer squash & winter squash.
I was told summer squash will rot if you do not process it, but winter squash would last all winter like white & sweet potatoes & onions.
I now know that summer squash rots because it is immature fruit or not ripe.
Winter squash is manure squash with a hard shell & that is why it last so long( seven months for me, it was a little dry side, but good.)

 

[LadyLocust]

I never heard winter squash as a child, they all were pumpkins. Late in teen years I as what was the different in summer squash & winter squash.
I was told summer squash will rot if you do not process it, but winter squash would last all winter like white & sweet potatoes & onions.
I now know that summer squash rots because it is immature fruit or not ripe.
Winter squash is manure squash with a hard shell & that is why it last so long( seven months for me, it was a little dry side, but good.)

I understand what you wrote, but you might look at that last sentence. Auto spell pull a funny on ya

 

[joel]

For us composter all vegetables are manure even if they are mature. You know the cycle of life.

 

[Amish Heart]

We ended up with a good crop of butternut and acorn squash this year, and so so on the sweet potatoes. Will try all of those again and something new. Our butternut is lasting longer than our acorn, guessing the size may have something to do with it.

 

[Bacpacker]

My butternuts always keep better than Acorn do. I've tried 3 or 4 varieties and none keep like the Waltham butter nut does

 

[Amish Heart]

That's what I grew. Just got my seed order in from Bakers Creek and got more of the Waltham, Also ordered Table Queen Acorn (I grew last year), and a new to me variety called Illinois. Says it's an old heirloom widely grown in Southern Illinois. Pale yellow and keeps fairly well. Club shaped reaches 30 in long and weighs 18 to 25 lbs. My best summer squash last year were the white scallop (button or patty pan), and got in more seeds. A similar new to me one I got are from Germany, but named Gelber Englischer Custard squash. Looks like an orange patty pan, kind of. I'll plant pumpkins again this year. Squash are not that popular around here except for zucchini and pumpkin.

 

[Bacpacker]

We always have good luck with the scalloped squash and like it very well too. Butternut are my favorite, acorn a close second. I grew the table queen a couple times. They produced well, just don't keep very long

 

[LadyLocust]

So if I want to plant mashed potato squash (c. pepo), it will cross w/ pumpkins growing near me right? I don't want to waste seed money.
https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/squash/squash-winter-mashed-potatoes-hybrid-prod500136.html

 

[elkhound]

So if I want to plant mashed potato squash (c. pepo), it will cross w/ pumpkins growing near me right? I don't want to waste seed money.
https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/squash/squash-winter-mashed-potatoes-hybrid-prod500136.html

it will only cross with other pepos.

see post #2 for details.

 

[joel]

Keep varieties at least 1/4 mile apart if you are saving seeds for yourself and can afford an occasional unwanted cross. If you are saving seeds to sell, keep the plants a half mile apart or use a physical barrier like a hoop house or a row cover.

Or hand pollinate & cover bloom with a bag, much the way corn is pollinated.

 

[elkhound]

field report...from storage...cushaws are done. this week they started to turn and turn fast in fact.sugar pumpkin still ok but south anna butternut solid as rocks...they are the storage king of this garden experiment.

 

[elkhound]

field report...south anna butternut still filling in huger gap of spring time from last years harvest. the other 3 types i grew have been long gone. they are off the grow list for most part. south anna will be grown this year and only one other type...buttercup.

 

[joel]

I grew butternut pumpkins, thirty years ago & had a few in march, but they were dry or less wet.
Yours look like you picked them off the vine & cut them up.

 

[elkhound]

I grew butternut pumpkins, thirty years ago & had a few in march, but they were dry or less wet.
Yours look like you picked them off the vine & cut them up.

south anna is a cross between waltham butternut and seminole pumpkin. they crossed this in 2011 and then stabilized it into a 'new heirloom' they done this for seminoles disease resistance.

it was very moist and it stained my hands from color it is.

Edmund Frost of Common Wealth Seed Growers made this cross


https://www.seedwise.com/listing/268/south-anna-butternut-certified-organic


Latin Name: Cucurbita moschata


Days to Maturity: 110

Description:

High quality downy mildew resistant butternut squash bred for the South. We developed South Anna from a cross between Seminole Pumpkin and Waltham Butternut, and have been selecting for nine years for downy mildew resistance, productivity, flavor, brix, dry matter content, keeping quality, and general butternut shape. Exterior color is a deeper tan than most butternuts. The majority of fruits are 2-4 pounds, though they can range from 1-5 pounds.
South Anna will avoid the crop failure that can occur in years when downy mildew comes early, and provide a better quality harvest in years with average DM pressure. The healthier foliage leads to sweeter, riper fruits of a rich tan color. When used as a late planting, South Anna grows strong until frost, allowing for later harvests that will keep better into the winter and spring. Because this variety is somewhat indeterminate, we often make two harvest passes, separated by a few weeks. Strong, vigorous, fully vining plants.
South Anna is an Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) variety. OSSI is a movement to help protect seed from corporate monopolization. Read more at www.osseeds.org.
280 seeds/ounce. Grown at Twin Oaks Seed Farm.