ive never seen anything in my 53 yrs. grow like that thing did. i must have cut it back hard 15 times. i guess all the composted chic, goat, and rabbit manure really got it going then every 3 weeks i mixed up 2.5 gal of jacks 20-20-20 and gave it and the 3 watermelon vines some extra throughout the summer. no wonder why the Cherokee cherished this squash.
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They are one of my favorite squash! I just roast mine and eat it with butter / oil, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, or with some butter, pie spice,and brown sugar. Also makes a killer pie as previously mentioned. Ive stored them up to 8 months after being cured.
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I’ve grown candy roasters a number of times over the years. They are definitely the smoothest and the sweetest squash I have grown. Much of the time I think they are a little too weakly flavored for pies. Last year I had some butternut squash that I thought was too strongly flavored, so I mixed them 50/50 in pie, which was perfect for me. I guess it is subjective.
The first couple years I grew them, many were 3’ long. Since then they have been mostly around 2’. It seems like there are different strains of candy roaster out there, which, in addition to environmental factors, might explain some variations in size and flavor.
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Compared to Libbys canned pumpkin or generic brand, i find it way better for a pie in both flavor and texture. Maybe it’s just me but thats my preference.
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I inscribed this one, I think it’s showing signs of ripening with browning of stem, skin firmness and some light corky/russet ting in patches
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that’s the state in which i harvested mine. i haven’t eaten one yet but my aunt has and she said it was very good. still have 11 growing on the vine about half are the size of my 1st batch bigger ones around 18- 20lbs. you guys get any frost over there yet? got into the upper 30’s a few times here.
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No frost here, we haven’t gotten below 40s
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hello big fella. there’s two banana and a candy roaster hanging like this. going I don’t get bombed while picking tomatoes under there
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had 3 like that hanging off the dog pen fence. finally ripped free and fell 3 days ago. squash and vine still ok and growing. the 80’s this week should help them and my watermelons to finish growing. 11 left in there. been having to water as its been very dry the last 3 weeks.
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I brought mine in, we have eaten a couple already and even without curing find them to be very high quality, easy to peel and process. No stringiness, very sweet good flavor and medium dry texture. Vines were quite productive, weight averaged around 12 lb, ranging from 7-20 lb per squash. It’s a winner!
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i pulled 13 more off of mine 2 days ago with frost threatening. still havent tried them myself but others i gave them to, really liked them. i have 3 the stems broke off of, i need to put to use soon. easily the most productive plant I’ve ever grown. i got squash stashed everywhere.
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kept 2, gave away the rest, we can only eat so much of it. plus we’ve got cushaw and blue Hubbard and triamble and futsu and mashed potato squash to get through too
here’s my window pile for the year.
the big mystery guy on the bottom left is getting opened around the first week of November. I need to know what it is
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