Harvesting the Winter Squash
Now that it’s fall, it’s time to pick the winter squash here at my farm!
I have three large pumpkin and winter squash patches that are planted in early June every year. My gardeners and I plant lots and lots of seeds - many from our favorite seed companies, and some from interesting and tasty fruits I’ve enjoyed in years past. By late September, they're ready to be harvested. Yesterday, Ryan and my outdoor grounds crew picked lots of cucurbits, including acorn squash, carnival squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, and delicata squash.
Take a look at our bounty and enjoy these photos.
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- This year, we planted a patch just for winter squash in the back of one of my vegetable gardens. It is a spacious area that receives lots of full sun. The large leaves cover most of the cucurbits as they form, so it is hard to see the beauties underneath.
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- Winter squash is actually a term describing a number of different cultivars of squash varieties, all of which belong to the Cucurbita genus. Winter squash is harvested once the squash is fully mature. Always choose those that are rich and deep in color. The skin should be dull and matte. Shiny skin on squash may indicate it still needs time to develop.
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- Winter squash come in so many shapes, sizes, and colors including this crooked neck variety, a type of butternut.
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- Winter squash is ready to harvest when the foliage on the vines begins to wither and turn brown. This happens by late September to early October here in the Northeast.
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- Once the fruits are cut, they’re gathered by type and then carefully placed into crates.
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- The spaghetti squash is a classic pasta alternative. The flesh has the best noodle-like consistency and is a popular favorite. The skin is ivory, changing to pale yellow when the squash is mature. Bake it like squash or boil and fork out the flesh and top the “spaghetti” with your favorite sauce.
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- Butternut squash, sometimes known in Australia and New Zealand as butternut pumpkin or gramma, has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of pumpkin. It has tan-yellow skin and orange fleshy pulp. Although technically a fruit, butternut squash is used as a vegetable that can be roasted, sautéed, toasted, puréed for soups, or mashed for casseroles, breads, muffins, and pies.
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- Green acorn squash is small to medium in size and has an ovoid shape lined with deeply furrowed ridges that taper to a point. The smooth skin or rind is light green when young and transforms into a deep green when mature. The flesh is moist and spongy with a hollow center that contains stringy pulp. When cooked, its yellow-orange flesh becomes tender and offers a mildly sweet and nutty flavor.
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- My family loves winter squash, so I grow enough to last us through the winter season.
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- Ryan cuts the squash carefully, always leaving at least two-inches of stem attached if possible. This squash is called delicata – cream-colored fruits with dark green longitudinal stripes and flecks. It is very sweet and excellent for stuffing and baking.
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- A garden situated in full sun with warm, well-drained, fertile soil that’s slightly acidic is the ideal spot for growing squash. Ryan is amazed with the many fruits there are to pick.
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- Carnival squash has colorful patches and flecks of dark green, light green, orange, and yellow. They’re a popular specialty market variety. These fruits average about a pound each. Hot weather promotes more green tones and less yellow and orange – we had a lot of hot, humid days this summer.
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- Squash usually grows two main vines that head off in opposite directions. Each of these vines produce a secondary vine, which also produces fruit.
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- While almost all squash vines can stretch to cover many square feet, they vary in the number of fruits they grow. Acorn squash, for example, can produce up to 24-pounds of fruit per vine, while butternut only delivers around six-pounds per vine.
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- Ryan is very careful when handling vines as they can easily crack or break. Small fruits also need to be protected from impact when transporting.
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- Winter squash contains an impressive amount of immune-supportive vitamin A and vitamin C, as well as dietary fiber, manganese, copper, potassium, folate, manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin K, vitamin B3 and omega-3 fatty acids.
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- These are ‘Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Squash’ – so tender, sweet and delicious. The fruits are light beige, deeply ridged acorn squash measuring about eight-inches with thick, orange-gold flesh. An heirloom originating from Missouri, this truly exceptional squash also stores very well.
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- This is a mix of squashes. The blueish ones with tapered ends and bumpy, blue-green, hard shells are Blue Hubbards. They are medium-dry, and medium-sweet, with yellow flesh.
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- My longtime housekeeper, Laura Acuna, loves squash and came out to see all the varieties in this year’s bounty. Ryan wipes down every fruit with a damp towel to cut down the risk of rot during storage.
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- We have lots of delicious winter squash. Storage life varies by squash type. Acorn squash stores the shortest amount of time – about four-weeks. Spaghetti stores four to five weeks. Butternut can store up to six-months and Blue Hubbard up to seven-months. Just be sure to store squash in a cool, dry spot at 50 to 55-degrees Fahrenheit with relative humidity of 60 to 70-percent. All these crates are in my carport.
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- There are so many ways to prepare winter squash – savory soups, sweet desserts, and steamy side dishes are just some. I can’t wait to enjoy them. What are your favorite winter squash recipes? Share them with me below. Tomorrow, I will share images from our huge bounty of picked pumpkins and gourds!
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