Heirloom, Open Pollinated, Non-hybrid Squash Seeds from the Victory Seed Company

Winter Squash
(Cucurbita spp)

[ Summer Squash ] [ Winter Squash ]




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Find Your Hardiness Zone

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 - Victory Heirloom Seeds

Burgess Buttercup (C. maxima)
100 days — Good maritime variety. The fruits are very sweet, fine meated, five to eight inches in diameter and range from three to five pounds. The 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. Introduced in 1894.

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.

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.

Annual Ritual - Grandpa D. Saving Seed - December 1977

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 King Acorn, Bush (C. pepo)
85 days — The plants are more compact than 'Bush Table Queen' and produce two pound, glossy dark green, acorn-shaped fruits with a small seed cavity and pale orange flesh. Produces five to eight fruits per plant. An "All-American Selection^®" in 1974.

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.

Table Queen Acorn, Bush (C. pepo)
80 days — The fruits are nearly identical to the standard variety but the runnerless plants, up to thirty six inches in diameter, make it ideal for small spaces. Three to eight fruits per plant. Introduced in 1948.

Bush Table Queen Squash

Turks Turbam Squash - Victory Heirloom Seeds

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).

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