Winter and summer squashes, 2026!

I see you get seeds from Common Wealth Seeds too….

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Only my second year growing their seeds, but I like them.

Edit: no one else has posted about this squash so here’s some info on it relative to the others I have growing now. Roasted up a mini paulista x king ka ae as discs like we enjoy. I’d say that it’s really hard to tell a difference between that, straight kka and tromboncino from a taste standpoint. Textures vary because the mini paulista cross has more of a seed area like yellow summer squash but it’s still firmer and more dense than a yellow summer squash and the area before the seeds is pretty identical in texture and density to kka and tromboncino. But, my Kka plant is not very productive and slow to get going. The mini paulista cross was direct sowed at the same time and is substantially more productive. I’m not sure I’ll grow it again though because they get really fat rendering them too big to make zoodled and so much is the seed cavity that doesn’t roast as nicely as the neck.

For reference, here’s what one mini paulista x kka looks like sliced pre-roasting. I think these would work really well in some italian-inspired layered dish with this, eggplant, tomatoes and herbs

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I can’t believe this. We went and pulled one of the sugar pumpkin vines because powdery mildew had taken it out and the pumpkin on it was ripe. There, 5’+ from the base of the plant, my kids saw a split and found a fat svb larva. On 8/22!! The svb here don’t play by any of the rules, it’s just insane.

I’m still finding SVB in mine too. I had to pick one of my pumpkins early because of them. It was bland because of that, but edible, and the dogs liked it baked and mashed.

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My late plantings of Long de Nice are proving as monsterous and productive as the Tromboncino I’ve grown. I have them in good soil at my community garden plot and it has pretty much taken over the bottom 100-150 sqft of my garden and the bottom 100 sqft of my neighbors garden who had finished a corn crop and said just to let them grow into that space. I have to keep pulling vines out of my blackberries and persimmons near it. Leaves are probably 2 feet in diameter. Here’s a couple of the immature ones - one just finished blooming and one that hasn’t bloomed yet. They can certainly be harvested larger than this for fresh eating, but there are so many that I just grab them small. There are 4-5 I’ve left to mature and those are probably getting close to 10lbs.

I also have a planting at the house in basically clay soil with some wood chips over it that runs under a couple apple trees and my sour cherries. These aren’t as vigorous due to the soil, though still fairly rampant. Here are a couple of squash that are about 5 days past flowering and are already probably 4-5 lbs.

When I harvest mature ones this fall I’ll report on flavor and texture. I chose the “French version of the Tromboncino” since it seemed reports of the flavor and texture of the mature fruit were better than those for Tromboncino but we’ll see.

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What is this magic community garden where 100-150sqft is only part of your plot, you’re allowed blackberries and persimmons, and you have perfect soil??

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Lol, I know I have it pretty good. It is an older community garden and I’ve been there for a while so was able to upgrade to a larger plot when it became available. I think my total garden space, which includes a path cutting across the middle is about 40X13. My neighbor who has been there for 15 or more years actually has one that is 40X26 as does the chief gardener and few others.

They only allowed fruit trees in the larger plots and stopped allowing them altogether a few years ago, but I got to keep mine since they were already planted. Unfortunately people didn’t keep them pruned small and it got out of hand. I keep mine fairly narrow and bring them back to about 8 feet tall each winter.

I definitely feel very fortunate to have the amount of space I do.

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Got my first candy roaster today. The stem just broke off as I lifted the fruit up to check the underside. Haven’t tried it yet.

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Wow, that’s really amazing. We don’t allow trees for similar reasons. They told me “nothing that would be too hard to remove when you leave”, which seems totally fair to me.

I’ve currently got a single 4x8 raised bed and am in the process of upgrading to the large 4x12, which is like 10% of your space!

We do have several benefits: 1) immediate availability (lots of people left when they had a few bad ground squirrel years a few years ago) 2) the plot is accessible via municipal trail, which means I can ride my bike there in <2.5 miles with maybe 4 short blocks of actual streets, tops

Edit: oh and I forgot 3) unlimited water, which is a big deal here where we haven’t had more than an half inch of rain—inch tops—since mid April and won’t until ~mid October (and of the half inch, it all came by May) Everyone I tell about the garden comments on unlimited water.

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I’m growing it for the first time this year. My wife’s fried had some seedling and gave me a tray of them. I planted a bunch, but one in particular seems to be doing very well. It spread over quite an area and interestingly, all the gourds have been produced on the ground, not on the trellis.

I probably let these get too big.

And yes, that is a cucumber (and a pepper) on the left, not a completely smooth Bitter Melon :slight_smile:

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Does Chayote/Chuchu/Mirliton counts? I’m growing these in Hertfordshire UK.

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Amazing! Congratulations! You can do so much good things with them… We love them! :face_savoring_food:

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By the way in some years when production declines you can eat the roots too like sweet potatos.

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Really? I had no idea! Thanks!

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I think this is another Tetsukabuto x Honeypatch cross since the stem is starting to dry while the squash has green skin. This plant has bigger leaves and fruit.

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I forgot to share my chayote!! Now I know why I see people growing the spiny type! They flower early!

I let a couple Goldini zucchini get big. For seed and for dehydrating to bulk up flour.

The Shishigatani looks like it is going to flower any day… I will cut out the zucchini.

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Technically these are 2025 squashes. From a compost pile volunteer plant last year, they were stored at room temperature since last fall. Finally needed to clear some space so cut them up and gave them to the goats. I did save some seed since that is pretty impressive storage (being in a dry climate probably helps).

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Occasionally this or that variety of maxima (like you have) or moschata squash is said to last a year in storage for a particular person or seed seller. It’s interesting genetics at work.

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I’ve had several moschata varieties that store 6 months.

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I’ve had seminole squash last a year plus as well as Tahitian Melon. I find for moschata (what primarily grow due to the resistance to squash vine borer) larger varieties seem to last better than smaller varieties. I’ll have about a half dozen big Long de Nice this year and it will be interesting to see how they last.

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