I think the longest I’ve stored them before eating was 6-7 months. I had one that I never got around to eating that didn’t start shriveling for 18 months. No idea if it was still edible at that point though.
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, it’s very informative.First year growing Candy Roasters. 5 seeds covered a 1/4 acre when left unmaintained. Climbed and brought down some large Devils Walking Stick Trees. Pretty incredible plant. Probably close to 50 squash. Biggest so far was 15lbs. Still have a lot to learn with harvest times, but fun growing them still.
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5 seeds covered a quarter acre? Holy smokes. What kind of soil do you have? Those look incredible btw.
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These were planted in a appx. 15 year old debris pile I found in the middle of a large pine planting. I cleared and mounded all the bigger stuff and pushed in the seeds at the base of the mounds and they just went wild. We have sandy soils but there was a lot of organic matter an fungi in the top few inches because of the debris pile. Also we had a lot of rain at the right times this year.
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I am not surprised. At my in-laws place I planted a butternut in a raised bed and let it trail on the ground with a couple of drip line. It took over probably 150 sqft and so far we’ve harvested 13 fruits and still 15-20 yet to harvest.
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just got some seeds for these from baker creek. going to plant them at the base of my compost pile and let them cover the lawn back there next spring. how do you guys preserve your extra once they get toward the end of their storage life? freeze?
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This is my first year growing them. I’ll experiment a bit.
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I keep them on the counter where it’s cool and dark, they last months there. if any start to look aged I chop and freeze them for later.
don’t think this guy will be ready by frost but I did get two from this vine this year so far. pink banana though, related to candy roaster I think
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I’ve been harvesting Zephyr for nearly 2 months. This one does not give up. It doesn’t seem to be attractive to squash bugs, borers, or cucumber beetles. I picked this one after reading about how its lineage makes it unappealing to cucumber beetles which transmit bacterial wilt and hampered my cucurbit cultivation in the past.
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Zucco longo di napoli. Few more left i have to find but about 175/200 lbs here.
Lotsa ham, apple and squash soup going in freezer it looks like.
Butternuts coming in monday.
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Amazing size, very nice.
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Thanks. They did really well on aged chicken manure only.
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That makes sense for squash and other fruiting vegetables.
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Why i use a poop tray - essentially a scoopable litter box - in my coop. Manure has a bit of sand on it but not mixed with any bedding.
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If you don’t already, check the planting areas every couple years for phosphate buildup. Depending on crop and locale, some growers substitute a mild nitrogen source every 5 to 7 years.
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Ty 
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Be sure to try candy roaster pie or tarts. Just look up a recipe for, “old fashioned georgia candy roaster pie”.
Tastes like a custard pie.
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Last night tried another, “Thelma Sanders sweet potato squash”. Fully tan color now and a wonderful squash. I’d put it up there with the candy roaster for sweet flavor.
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the name is great even without knowing what it’d be! I think I’ve got a few good blue Hubbard that will make it before killing frost, not the flavor of a candy roaster or delicata but they hold well for so long in the basement storage bin
I did aged horse manure this year, I’ll be throwing alpaca manure in next month to build the new bed shapes, by spring it should be really good in the soil I think.
all squashes seem to love manure of any kind really. all kinds of squashes.
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