I start my winter squash in cups early, they can’t go out until May. my summer squash I usually start a few early and the rest directly in the soil
this year I’ve got
candy roaster, black futsu, Seminole pumpkin, triamble, field pumpkin, “Cinderella”, sweet meat
and then
crookneck (in quantity, we eat these daily all summer), white pattypan, 8 ball zuke, tromboncino
I’m looking through my seed to see what others I may try.
has anyone started their squashes yet?
the big hits for last year were the candy roaster and futsu. we did not finish our Hubbards harvest, some are still here in storage. we are all the sweet meat squash though, I made soup and there’s still a bit in the freezer
I have been planting the larger ones in the front yard, where there’s nothing but a few trees and some wildflowers. last year I did get all my Hubbard that way. this year the pumpkins may all go out there. here’s a very old photo of jarrahdale in the front area
I have a lot of spaces out front for bigger plants like these. in my back garden there’s more other things to grow and I had to really rearrange to get some melon patch built last year. if a plant is compact I favor it
that’s what I do with most winter squashes including futsu
jarrahdale being a pumpkin seemed more watery to me, futsu had more solid flesh, and more nutty flavor, a bit less sweet. jarrahdale keep a bit longer though
Thanks, for this year I am thinking about to replacing waltham butternut with Black Futsu, my space allows only one large squash variety. I get anywhere from 6-8 fruits from waltham netting 30-40 lb, I am wondering if similar yields can be achieved with Black Futsu.
they’re a lot smaller in size, I prefer them because of this as it’s just the 2 or 3 of us (if my stepson is here it’s 3) so a larger squash is too much for a meal
Bumping this up because today I am agonizing over which to transplant. My garden keeps expanding, but I have such a fondness for squash that I never seem to have enough space. Definitely putting in Black Futsu. I also trellis everything up cattle panel, but this year some I will have spilling out into aisles (mulched).
For winter squash I can really only grow C. moschata types due to our huge squash vine borer issue around here. I’ve tried delicata and some others but by the time the first squash is just sizing up the vines are riddled with borers and just give up. I could do a lot of spraying I guess, but I’ve settled on just growing moschatas. This year I’m growing Autumn Frost (a hybrid), which is delicious and productive. It doesn’t keep as well as some large butternut types (like Tahitian melon), but is tastier than regular butternut. Last year I grew Mrs. Amersons which was great as well. Both Mrs. Amersons and Autumn Frost have large rampant vines like most butternut types.
For smaller butternut with shorter, almost bushy vines, I grow Butterscotch (another hybrid). They are small enough that I can grow them under the tomatoes without having to do too much beating back of the vines. These are super tasty, rich and sweet and a good size to share with 2-3 people, but unfortunately, like any smaller butternut I’ve tried, they really only keep a few months. So we’ll eat these first and then move on to the Autumn Frost.
I also planted a few old seeds I had for Shishigatani squash, an heirloom variety from the Kyoto that dates back to the Edo period. I had grown it several years ago and still had a few seeds so I thought I’d see if they were still viable and it looks like a couple have come up. I have seen it referred to as type of Kabocha squash and it is used in many similar ways, but Kabocha is a c. maxima that will be killed by borers here while Shishigatani is actually c. moschata so I can grow it without the borers destroying the vines. When I grew it last time, I really enjoyed the sweet nutty taste. Here is more info on this particular type:
For green summer squash, I’m growing Fordhook, Alexandria Lebanese (a cousa type), Costata romanesco and Elitie hybrid. Elite hybrid has a short time to production so it should be the first to produce, but will eventually be taken out by the borers. The other three all are large robust plants that have a thick stem that means they can last longer under the borer barrage before they are taken out as well. I think I’ll try drying some of the Costata Romanesco monsters this year to use in soups and pasta throughout the year. My neighbor is Italian and raves about the variety specifically for drying.
Besides those, I’m growing Kikinda bottle gourds (similar to a longer thinner cucuzza), python snake gourds, fuzzy melons and three types of bitter melon. All of these are relatively immune to our heat, humidity and pests, so they keep me happy when the borers and squash bugs are attacking the others.
I have ready to be planted, some of which I’ve grown before:
Potimarron
Porcelain Princess
Porcelain Doll
Musquee du Maroc
Musque de Provence
Honeybaby
ButterKin
Centercut
Autumn Crown
Marina di Chioggia
Kabocha
Jarrahdale
Galeux d’Eysines
Black Futsu
Long Pie
Candystick
I am trying to be conservative although we do love squash both for eating and decor!
I’m growing the one from Baker Creek that they charge a ridiculous $5 for 5 seeds. I’ve had two packets (the first one I bought and the second one was a gift) and the seeds seem to be pretty beat up and I’ve only gotten one seedling each time. Last year I let one mature to get seed and had 100% germination from my saved seeds, so I wound up giving a bunch of seedlings away. The vines often seem pretty weak to start, but are okay once they get going. They are fun to grow and very good eating in stirfry, etc. But they aren’t super productive. It does look like some other vendors have this variety as well now for a better price, but here is a direct link to the ones I bought. https://www.rareseeds.com/bean-snake-indian
They aren’t nearly as long, but I have heard that the “regular” varieties are much more productive, particularly some of the hybrids. Once I work my way through my saved seeds I may try one of these:
Yeah, I wondered about your location. The vines do seem to take a while to start producing, but I wasn’t sure if that was a day length thing or just how long they take to mature.
I have just harvested them young for stirfry when the seeds aren’t really developed and then when they were full matured, so I’ll have to harvest one somewhere in the middle this year to try the seeds when they’re tender. The red seed sacks around the mature seeds are pretty tasty as well - sweeter than I expected.
