|
"Preserving the future,
one seed at a time." ™
 Indicates
New Variety for 2009
|
NOTICE
The
following varieties will not be available for the 2009 season:
Table King Acorn, Bush
Table
Queen Acorn, Bush |
Find Your Hardiness Zone
 |
|
Winter
Squash
(Cucurbita spp)
[
Summer Squash ] [ Winter
Squash ]
|
Choose a
location that has warm, well-drained and fertile soil. Work in
plenty of well composted organic matter and mulch to conserve
moisture, as squash are heavy water consumers. Sow directly in the
garden after threat of frost has passed. Sow one inch deep in hills
or rows spaced twenty four to thirty inches apart. When laying out your garden, remember
to consider the growing habits of the varieties that you are
planting. Some bush-types are compact while some vining types
require a tremendous amount of space. Harvest time will also vary by
type.
Squash
are typically categorized as summer
or winter varieties. The
immature fruits of summer varieties are eaten fresh, while the
winter squash are harvested in late fall after they are mature and
the skins have toughened, stored in a cool, dry location, and used
into the winter. Click here for
harvesting and storage information.
[
Click here for basic seed saving tips
]
(Seed count varies by
type)
See also
pumpkins |
 Banana,
Pink Jumbo (C.
maxima)
115 days
— One hill will likely supply your needs. This vining
plant produces large (up to twelve inches by forty eight inches) fruit that are
almost cylindrical with a slight taper at the blossom end.
They can weigh up to seventy five pounds. You should harvest at
thirty or
less. The flesh is yellow-orange, dry, firm, not stringy,
and sweet. Good for pies, baking and canning. |
|
 Burgess
Buttercup (C. maxima)
100 days
— Good maritime variety. The fruits are very sweet,
fine-grained flesh, five to eight inches in diameter and range from
three to five pounds. They are shaped like a flattened turban with a
blossom end button. Under optimum conditions, these vines can reach
fifteen feet and set twenty or more fruits per vine! |
|
 Delicata (C. pepo)
100 days — An old variety released in 1894 by
Peter Henderson. Still a very popular variety as it has a fine, sweet
potato-like flavor. The fruits are three inches in diameter and six to eight inches long,
cream colored with green stripes from the blossom to the stem end.
|
 Hubbard, Blue
(C. maxima)
(about
5 seeds per gram)
110 days
—
Tough-skinned oblong bluish-green fruits weigh
ten to fifteen pounds, and the golden yellow flesh is dry with a great flavor.
Bred
from the original 'Hubbard Squash' and introduced by
James J. H. Gregory. |
|
Hubbard,
Chicago Warted (C. maxima)
(about
5 seeds per gram)
115 days
—
The vines are very vigorous and produce
dark-green, hard shelled, heavily warted fruits that weigh up to
sixteen pounds. With some care, they can store into late spring
and are good for pies, baking and freezing.
It was
developed by the Budlong Gardens of Chicago from the original
'Hubbard' and introduced in 1894 by Vaughan's Seed Store of Chicago.
|
 Hubbard,
Golden (C. maxima)
(about
5 seeds per gram)
105 days
—
This type of Hubbard squash has many of the
same characteristics of others but has a red-orange rind the tan
striping at the blossom end of the fruit. Great for canning,
freezing and is an excellent keeper. |
|
 Hubbard,
True Green Improved
(C. maxima)
(about
5 seeds per gram)
105 days
—
The
vines bear ten to fifteen pound, dark green skinned, golden-fleshed
fruit. Great for canning,
freezing and is an excellent keeper.
James J. H. Gregory introduced the 'Hubbard
Squash' to the seed trade. Originally brought to New England
from South America or the West Indies, the variety had been grown in
Marblehead as early as the 1830s. A neighbor to the Gregory's,
Elizabeth Hubbard (also known as "Marm Hubbard"), recognized the
properties of the squash and brought them the seeds saying, "it
was the best squash she had ever tasted in her life." |
|
 Long
Island Cheese (C. moschata)
(about
5 seeds per gram)
100 days
—
An heirloom pie variety in New York and New
Jersey, it is named after its resemblance to a ten pound wheel of
cheese. The fruits are flattened, ribbed, buff in color with
orange flesh. |
|
Sugar
Loaf (C. pepo)
100 days
— A delicata-type variety bred and released by
Dr. James R. Baggett,
Oregon Agricultural Experimental Station in 1990. The vines will run
about 12 feet setting fruits that are
smaller and shorter than a typical delicata, cylindrical,
green-striped on tan in color, with a sweet flavor and dry texture. |
|
 Sweet Meat (C.
maxima)
110 days — This old variety has
been a favorite in my family for generations. Introduced by the old
Pacific Northwest regional seed house,
Gill Brothers Seed Company
of Portland, Oregon. Our seed stock is a family hand-me-down
that traces its roots directly to
Gill's. This was a
favorite variety of both my grandfathers. The picture to the right is of my father's dad, here on our farm, saving seed in 1977. My mother's dad also faithfully provided space in his
annual garden in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range.
 The vines are vigorous and require a lot of space. The fruits
weigh ten pounds or more and are a bluish-gray color. Very hard
shelled, the flesh is a deep orange color, thick, very sweet, dry
and fine grained (stringless). They keep many months and can be
simply baked or made into pies. My mom bakes and freezes
leftovers for reheating later. |
|
 Table
Queen Acorn (C. pepo)
80 days
—
Table Queen is a green-shelled variety that resembles
an acorn in shape. They are about six inches in diameter at maturity. Very
prolific, a good keeper, and great for cutting in half and baking.
Introduced by the Iowa Seed Company in 1913. |
|
 Turk’s
Turban (C. maxima)
100 days
— This pre-1800 heirloom is becoming a very popular variety for
decoration because of its unique and colorful fruit. It resembles
a butternut but has a
cream-colored ‘turban’ that is colorfully striped with green,
yellow, orange, and red. The ten inch diameter fruit weigh about
five
pounds and are durable if not bruised. They are fair as a table
squash. |
|
|
 Waltham Butternut (C.
moschata)
(about
10 seeds per gram)
85 days
—
Light tan,
seven to nine inches long with a thick neck and a
small seed cavity. The flesh is a wonderful, bright orange.
An "All-American Selection®"
in 1970. |
|
|
|
|
Harvesting and
Storing
It is important to harvest winter squash
and pumpkins before they are damaged by the first frost of the fall /
winter season.
The first sign that the fruit is ready to
harvest will be visible shriveling and drying of the stems and leaves.
Additionally, the skin of winter squash varieties will typically be too
hard for you to be able to dent it with your thumbnail. You should
note that most pumpkins will have a tough skin but it may remain a
little soft.
Harvest the fruit by cutting them from the
vine. Be sure to leave one to three inches of vine connected to
the fruit. Before storing, cure the fruit.
Curing is best accomplished by allowing
them to remain in the sunshine for about ten days. It is the
sunlight that cures or hardens the skin. If there is a
chance of freezing weather, protect in a storage building and return to
the sunlight the following day.
If you cure the fruit and store them
properly, they will last well into the winter. The storage area
should be dark, about 50°F (10°C), and rather dry (>65% humidity). |
|
Security
