Growing pumpkins

[jal_ut]

Squash patch.



Here is what came off it.

Sorry, I have probably shown you these pics before, but just want to emphasize why I say, "You can get a lot of food from squash!" We have bottled pumpkin, and frozen squash. The winter varieties will keep in your garage or basement for 3 or 4 months. Good winter food.

All of these were directly seeded about May 5 last year. There was also lots of summer squash harvested that are not in the picture.



This just one picking. I got about the same every week for several weeks. The summer squash are short vining types. They don't take up as much room, yet I plant 5 seeds in a small circle about 10 inches diameter and the resultant clump spreads to at least 6 feet wide.

[joed2323]

Wow thanks guys for the info

JAL_ut- I love zucchini/ bread one of my favorites.
Dumb question-but what does squash taste like? zucchini? I never had squash before Ive only grown zucchini.
Sounds like you guys love your squash...

Thanks for the pictures, now I'm truly jealous

[TheWaterbug]

Dumb question-but what does squash taste like? zucchini? I never had squash before Ive only grown zucchini.

Most of the "winter squash" we're talking about tastes very different from zucchini. Zukes and other summer squashes are (typically) harvested in an immature state, while they're still green and soft. Squashes like butternut, pumpkin, etc. are left to ripen until their rinds are really hard and it takes a sharp knife and hammer to cut them.*

I'd never eaten much squash until last season, but now I'm a fan

I grew butternut last year, and it's really good cut into cubes and roasted until soft, with some olive oil, salt, pepper, etc. It's nice and . . . buttery and nutty, just like the name. Texture wise, it can be almost like a baked sweet potato, but firmer. Think of it as more of a starch side dish, as opposed to a green veggie (which is where I'd put the zukes).

I also make soup from my pumpkins, and everyone really likes it, except my kid and my wife. But everyone else likes it.

The winter squashes also keep for a very long time if their rind is unbroken. I have a pumpkin on my window sill that I harvested in October, and it still looks edible.

*there are also lots of other "green" squashes, like pattypan, banana squash, etc., that are closer to a zucchini, but I assume you're not talking about those.

[TheWaterbug]

Most of the "winter squash" we're talking about tastes very different from zucchini. Zukes and other summer squashes are (typically) harvested in an immature state, while they're still green and soft. Squashes like butternut, pumpkin, etc. are left to ripen until their rinds are really hard and it takes a sharp knife and hammer to cut them.

Well, let me amend that, because I see that a lot of what's in jal_ut's pictures are summer squashes. The entire bottom picture (on the round table) looks like summer squashes that are zucchini-like in texture and flavor.

The tractor picture looks like it's mostly winter squashes, though jal_ut can say better than I

For me, personally, I like to eat winter squashes far more than I like summer squashes.

[jal_ut]

The tractor picture looks like it's mostly winter squashes, though jal_ut can say better than I

You are right. Pretty much all winter squash types. There is: Hubbard, Banana, a Hubbard/Banana hybrid, Butternut, Spaghetti, Acorn, and Delicata. The delicata are the small ones with green stripes on them.

[TheWaterbug]

I just ordered some Cha Cha (Kabocha variant) and Green Hubbard seeds, and I bought some Butternut seeds a few weeks ago.

I also bought some Jarrahdale and Lumina seeds for the pumpkin patch.

[jal_ut]

Can't seem to grow a squash this year. The early planting came up and promptly got frozen. So replanted and the plants are just now putting on their first true leaves. I don't think there is enough time left in this climate to make a crop.

[Taiji]

That's too bad. I think it was the same cold snap that got my tomatoes and peppers. Had to replant, gladly I had started some extra ones indoors. I've taken to watching the weather channel 10 day forecast; especially at the planting time of year. Though they can be wrong, it's usually relatively accurate. If there's a chance of frost showing in the next 10 days, I'll hold off on planting the heat loving stuff. But, it didn't help this time with the tomatoes and peppers! This freeze was at least 2 weeks after it shoulda been.

Maybe your longer day length will help make up for the shorter season. And, hopefully the first frost will be later.

[jal_ut]

In this high desert country I have seen frost every month of the year. Most years we are frost free from early June until late August. One never knows. A freak storm can come through and freeze you. We just plant in good faith and hope. Most years we get a crop.

[jal_ut]

It has been a weird season here. Seems to be running a bit cooler than normal. The warm weather stuff doesn't want to get going. No blossoms at all on squash nor cucumbers. The corn is just starting to tassel. We will see how it does. Beans just starting to bloom. Here it is mid July and only six weeks till first frost time.

[jal_ut]

No squash! The apples did well, so I sit here and eat apples and visit forums and play on the internet. This morning 32 degrees F and sunny. Three inches of snow on the ground. The only thing growing in my garden for the next three months is ICE.

[Taiji]

Me, lotsa squash, not one apple. Beginning to think my apple tree might be one of those that only bears every other year. Sure miss those apples from last year!

Only just had first frost at my smaller, lower elevation garden 2 days ago. Sometimes it makes it to Nov. 1, but this year much longer. Tomatoes are wilted down and done; next step: annual rye.

[jal_ut]

joed2323, Those two big pumpkins in my picture are a cross of some kind. If I weighed them, I don't remember. (CRS Disease! Can't Remember Stuff.)

May 5 is pumpkin planting date here, or as soon thereafter as weather and soil condx permit. Yes, I plant seed directly in the garden.

My garden gets watered once a week with a sprinkler irrigation system and I add some fertilizer.

[jal_ut]

That is the way gardening goes. You just plant and hope.

Oh, lots of things have been tried to cover up the plants when a frost is expected. Hot Caps. Visqueen. (polyethylene plastic sheeting) Paper. etc. I have seen some pretty impressive tunnels built to cover the plants.

[imafan26]

I thought I would add to this discussion, to select varieties that suit your climate and taste. You have mentioned already if you have a short season, you need to select early varieties. Squash can take a 100 days to mature and they do swallow up space.

Some of the pumpkins like kabocha and butternut, produce a lot of fruit, but all of them do not mature. I only average three Kabocha and butternut from a vine. You need to be on the lookout for vine borers if they are a problem in your area and fruit flies in mine. I prefer to plant gourds because for the space they take up, they have a higher yield of 12-20 squash per vine. I also know how to cook that and most people here know how to use it so it is relatively easy to give it away. I love butternut, but not many people here know how to cook it. Zucchini just doesn't grow like it used to. Chayote is a weed here, it doesn't take much care and it is a perennial in my climate. I can grow see gwa (luffa) and it produces well, but there aren't that many takers for the fruit. I did grow a pumpkin, I picked it in June but it rotted before halloween. Small pumpkins are better for pies, the big ones are dry. I grew Tahitian squash one year, it took over my back yard and tried to take over the neighbor's. I never did figure out when to pick it. It was huge and productive. I haven't found seeds since.

[applestar]

They list them at Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Do they ship to Hawaii? I really wanted to try it, esp. since its a C.moschata, but 120 days is too long for my area.

Tahitian Melon Winter Squash 3 g [53613] - $2.75 : Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Saving the Past for the Future
https://www.southernexposure.com/tahitia ... -1388.html

Tahitian Melon Winter Squash 3 gCertified OrganicEspecially well-suited to the Southeast
$2.75

(C. moschata) 120 days. Long-necked butternut type has one of the highest sugar contents of any winter squash. The sweet, fine-textured neck flesh is excellent for pies and soups. Large (10-20 lb) fruits keep well for 9+ months. Pkt.
Item # 53613

[jal_ut]

When I was a youngster I would help Dad plant the garden. When it came to squash and cucumbers, he would take the shovel and dig a small hole and I would toss in about 5 seeds then he would drop the soil in the shovel on it and take a step forward, always stepping on the spot where the seeds were to pack it down well so the breeze didn't dry it out, then do it again. The seeds would come up and go out like the spokes of a wheel and make quite a squash patch.

[jal_ut]