Sweet Meat Winter Squash

110 days — This old variety has been a favorite in the Dunton family for generations. It was introduced by the old Pacific Northwest regional seed house, Gill Brother's Seed Company of Portland, Oregon in 1947. Our seed stock is a family "hand-me-down" that traces its roots directly to Gill's. 'Sweet Meat' was a favorite variety of both of Mike Dunton's grandfathers. Mike's mother's father also faithfully provided space in his annual garden in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range near Colton, Oregon.

The vines are vigorous and require a lot of space. The fruit 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 after being harvested. The 1947 Gill Brother's catalog stated that they, ". . . kept six squash in good edible condition from crop to crop." In a later paragraph, they return attention from the plant description back to its unusually long-keeping quality and state, ". . . the flavor and sweetness increases with age for at least six months from harvest."

The fruit can be simply stored and baked, or processed by canning or freezing. Victory Seed Co. founder, Mike Dunton described, "My mom used to bake and freeze the squash for reheating later. We also cut them into cubes and freeze the raw meat in freezer bags for use in soups and other recipes. 'Sweet Meat' has a very sweet, fine texture and is excellent on its own, added to recipes, or even baked as pumpkin pie. Can you tell that it is a favorite of ours?"