I planted a lot of squash this year, but I keep meticulous notes, and I know I didn’t plant this one. Does anyone recognize it?
The fruit pictured is 12" long and almost 5" wide, gently ribbed with a tiny bit of green streaking right at each end. It seems to be a winter squash, not summer.
The plant is semi-bush. It’s definitely vining enough to travel, given it has blocked a section of the next row over, but still compact enough that I didn’t catch on about it being different until it got pretty big. The leaves (see the pic below) are pretty distinctive, which I hope helps. The leaf stems are about an inch thick and a few feet long each, while the main trunk is about twice that and very sturdy. Like I might need to use loppers and cut it out in sections in the fall.
It’s in the winter squash section so I’m thinking the seed just snuck in with one of those packets? If anyone can tell me what variety it is I’d be much obliged… It’s the most vigorous plant in my veg garden, even though it’s only made the one fruit so far. Thanks everyone!
It’s a Cucurbita pepo.
Looks to me like a Summer Squash (Zucchinni type) x White Acorn Squash.
There is not strong destinction, all winter squashes can be eaten immature & vice versa. Tasting good as a winter squash strongly translates into tasting good as a summer squash too!
That’s the biggest clue it’s definitely a Hybrid cuz it sounds a lot like Hybrid Vigor working in your favor! Give it a taste, try eating the flowers, tender greens/vine tips, Both ripe & Immature fruit & see how you like it.
If you notice any bitter flavors, it’s poisonous as the toxin cucurbitacin is loud & obnoxiously bitter. This means if your plant doesn’t taste bitter, it’s safe to eat.
it reminds me of this guy from last year that I had. I’m pretty sure it was a banana or candy roaster cross with some kind of blue, I did not intentionally plant anything described this way.
however my partner saves seed and I have started to also so it’s most likely a cross from the year before, in which 4 varieties of banana/roasters were planned near each other and so it may have Hubbard in it. the size is bigger than it ever looks in a photo.
did you save any seed? could it have gotten mixed in?
yes and the squash we planted from the mix of roasters and banana are the sweetest I’ve ever eaten. pumpkin pie with barely any sugar needed, it’s so sweet. roasting it is like candy, I’m sure that’s why the name.
Nice, I’m excited to eventually grow it myself.
Super excited to cross it with my Grocery Store Acorn Squash which also taste super sweet (Sweetest of both species crossing makes Insane level of sweetness???).
Do the Candy Roasters also make a good tasting summer squash?
Have you tried the male pollen flowers? Do the tender greens/leaves/vine tips taste good?
I like the male flowers stuffed with a little ricotta and egg yolk. then pan fried
I haven’t eaten any of the greens yet nor any as summer squash, I’m trying to keep crossing them all to get them as sweet as possible and to store well. size is secondary! so I’m letting most get mature to get the seeds. I have another patch I’m watering only once every week or two, to see how hardy against drought they can get. eventually I’ll try to mix those with the sweetest ones from my regular patch.
Nice! This sounds a lot like Landrace Gardening.
I’m also trying to breed the sweetest tasting squash. I wonder just how sweet can squash get? Does roasting them till they get dry & cripsy make them taste even sweeter (Due to less moisture content concentrating the flavor)?
it does! also cooking down as soup makes them too sweet! I can’t do candy soup haha
yes I’m working on a landrace of just this kind of squash, hoping for sweet, long storage, dry/drought growing, that can ripen in my area’s season length.
too sweet? I don’t understand nor comprehend such a concept .
I never tasted something so sweet that it tasted bad, perhaps I really am a sugar addict
When something tastes too spicy, it hurts, burns, running nose & eyes beome watery.
When something taste too bitter or sour, instant reaction of disgust & spitting.
When something taste too sweet. what’s the reaction? I don’t know…
Awesome! Makes me hapy to see landrace gardening has spread far and wide among different forums.
I’ve learned that harvesting immature fruit at a certain point can reduce the days to maturity for a landrace. Lofthouse was forced to due to short season but now his squash ripen ~10 days shorter than how they started.
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