What varieties of squash are you growing this year?
 

I planted a 25 foot row of squash this year, I have high hopes of not having to buy any squash until next year. I've planted:

Tondo di Toscana
Romanesco
Candystick Delicata
Hokkori 133
Kurinishiki
Zucca Butternut Rugosa
Terremoto
Papavero
Oregon Sweet Meat

Delicata.
So yummy oven roasted. Had it for the first time last fall and fell in love.
It's not all awesome though, had some from N.Y. at a farmstand it was beautiful. Had similar looking from the grocery store and gagged on it.
The skin is kind of weird and crunchy when roasted, but that flavor....

I saw a blog that talked about Carol Deppe's varieties, it said that her Candystick was reminiscent of Medjool dates (!!!) Good to hear that it has a good reputation, Nematode.

I've got to find a way to rig up protection this year from the neighborhood peacock. He's so bold, when I was stringing up my tomatoes and had the chicken wire lifted, he tried helping himself, right next to me!

Growing

Rugosa Friulana (summer squash)
Butternut Rugosa (summer/winter)
Kikuza (winter)
Blue Kuri/Blue Hokkaido (winter)

Only 1 plant of each, though, as I have limited space and have to grow up trellises. Except for the Rugosa Friulana--I sowed 2 of those.

[QUOTE=Nematode;652528]Delicata.
So yummy oven roasted. Had it for the first time last fall and fell in love.
It's not all awesome though, had some from N.Y. at a farmstand it was beautiful. Had similar looking from the grocery store and gagged on it.
The skin is kind of weird and crunchy when roasted, but that flavor....[/QUOTE]

I'm growing delicata again this year, too. Last year, my one plant bore 17 or 18 squash (I think 5-7 is normal). I probably shouldn't have fed it Mater Magic. It took over part of the lawn, strangled a few eggplants, and pulled down a 4' pepper plant. That plant was a giant pain in the rear, but it was kinda worth it. This year's seems better-behaved, but it's still early... Good luck with it!

Butternut Rugosa
Magda Cousa Zucchini
Jaune et Vert Patty Pan
Potimarron
Chirimen
Terremoto

Fred, do you grow Chirimen a lot? How is it? I wanted to grow it this year but it was a toss-up between it and Blue Kuri. So I'll probably grow it next year.

Patty pan assortment
Butternut
Yokohama
Chioga Sea Pumpkin
Mammoth Table Queen
Delicata
Sweet Dumpling
Blue Hubbard
Spaghetti
Some type of squash from India (my cousin received them from his doctor friend)

Zucchini:
Black Beauty
Golden
Cocozele

This has been a dangerous thread to read, so many new varieties I want to try now.

I grow Chirimen every year. Due to it's soft, dark and bumpy skin it is difficult to make into soups, without alot of work removing the skin.

However, the skin is edible and the flavor is really top notch. If Chirimen had lighter skin, I think it might take over the world, because you could easily puree it into a great soup (without the dark flesh making the soup a muddy grey).

The soft skin does make the variety good to use for roasting, though. Strips of the flesh roasted in the oven are out of this world. The skin caramelizes.

This is not the most asked for squash, but the customers who want it are very cultish about it. I too, am a member of the Chirimen cult.

[QUOTE=gorbelly;654693]Fred, do you grow Chirimen a lot? How is it? I wanted to grow it this year but it was a toss-up between it and Blue Kuri. So I'll probably grow it next year.[/QUOTE]

Blue Kuri is great too! It's advantage being that hard skin which gives it a 6+ month shelf life at room temperature.

Good flavor too.

[QUOTE=Fred Hempel;654666]Butternut Rugosa
Magda Cousa Zucchini
Jaune et Vert Patty Pan
Potimarron
Chirimen
Terremoto[/QUOTE]

Where does Terremoto come from? It means "earthquake" in Italian...

Has anyone ever grown/tried Galeux d'Eysines? What does it taste like? Is it easy to grow?

Butternut and Bush Buttercup. I absolutely want to grow more - summer squash really - but I get tired of battling SVB. Green-striped cushaw is a great one, with thick, hard stems.

Galeux D'Eysines is fantastic. Amy Goldman, in her book, says the flavor is awful, but I strongly disagree. I think it is a fantastic pie squash. Very sweet flesh.

I have people who bug me for it every year.

[URL="https://store.growartisan.com/product/terremoto-squash--baia-nicchia-farm-land-race"]Terremoto[/URL] is a landrace of tri-lobed squash we developed (Triamble and Galeux D'Eysines are both in there).

We called it Terremoto because 1) the skin of the pink and blue types is so hard it could conceivably withstand an earthquake, and 2) the pink type lasts well over a year, and the blue often over 2 years -- so it is the perfect squash to put in your "earthquake" kit. In only need to be replaced every year with a new squash.

We have had market customers buy Terremoto for display, and after a year they eat the squash (and buy a new one for display).

Like Triamble, the flesh of Terremoto is very dense and on the savory side.

[QUOTE=Fritz77;655425]Where does Terremoto come from? It means "earthquake" in Italian...[/QUOTE]

Thx, Fred. Chirimen is definitely on next year's grow list! I hear it's very productive as well.

I've been looking up some of the varieties people mention here and wondering about[I][B] Chirimen.

[/B][/I]Fred, I found two very different looking Chirimen, is it the variety from [URL="http://www.kitazawaseed.com/seed_042-187.html"]Kitazawa[/URL]
[IMG]http://www.kitazawaseed.com/graphics/plant_images/240x240/042chiri.jpg[/IMG]


Or [URL="http://sustainableseedco.com/heirloom-vegetable-seeds/pe-t/squash-heirloom-seeds/winter-squash-seeds/chirimen-squash-seeds.html"]Sustainable seeds[/URL] that you like to grow? Both are called Chirimen.
[IMG]http://sustainableseedco.com/images/D/Chirimen.jpg[/IMG]

I have used Kitazawa.

There is some variability in the fruits (between the two photos), but most have tended to look more like the Kitazawa photo.

Also, the Sustainable Seeds photo, seems to in part reflect that the fruits lighten in color for a month after harvest. Eventually they fade from very dark green to almost fully tan, with varying amounts of spotting evident.

Thanks, they looked so different to me, interesting that they fade to a tan color. Are they good keepers?

No.

What we have found is that there is a window of peak flavor between 3 and 5 weeks post-harvest. Flavor gets better for about a month, and then starts to decline after 6 weeks.

The soft, edible skin is also correlated with poor long-keeping, but good flavor. We try to eat and sell most of this variety within the window when they are best, and we keep other squash for later in the winter.

Thanks Fred, I think I'll have to put it on my list for next year.

I am growing Blue Hubbard & Spaghetti squash as well as BlackBeauty and Golden Zukes. Golden Zukes are prolific!!!

I wamted to grow Neck Pumpkins (aka PA Dutch squash) but ya cant buy seeds up here, and Mike/Victory Seeds and Mike/Ohio Heirloom Seeds do not carry it. :cry:

[QUOTE=Fred Hempel;655423]Blue Kuri is great too! It's advantage being that hard skin which gives it a 6+ month shelf life at room temperature.

Good flavor too.[/QUOTE]

I'm looking forward to them. The immature fruits are very pretty! The first one is about ready for a sling (I'm growing all my vine squash up trellises because of limited garden space).

I was worried about pests, as it's a C.maxima, but I haven't found any borer eggs on it. I've been checking daily and spraying BT every few days on the base, so keeping my fingers crossed. The squash bugs and cucumber beetles have been moderately interested in it, but they haven't destroyed it the way they did one of my Rugosa Friulana bushes. The BK is my largest and most vigorous vine so far, as the moschatas are slower to get going (though some turn into rampaging monsters late in the season!).

I'm a big fan of the Lebanese summer squash that Jeanie Anne suggested. Sweet mild and soft and very productive! I didn't know I that I truly liked winter squash until this past year.

I was hooked on winter squash as soon as I cut open a heavy blue pumpkin that I purchased in October for decoration and saving seeds for sharing. I roasted and froze 5 bags! Prior to this I had grown traditional small pumpkins for show, acorn squash and spaghetti squash. The taste of those never wowed me, and I only got one or two per year. Either they got disease or if they managed to survive but not mature save for a handful, and I sadly neglected them cause they weren't faves.

I'm following this and the Lofthouse thread, but I'm really not familiar with any of the varieties mentioned here. What would be close in flavor to that amazingly sweet blue pumpkin (it looks like Blue Doll). I don't have a high tunnel and I'm in Zone 5 do dtm is a concern.

I still have not been able to grow a winter squash plant - much less get a squash from one. We have an infestation of squash bugs and borers here every year. Using dish-soap water only works on the ones you can see.

However, I do want to grow some yellow crookneck or straight neck summer squash in 2018.

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;675171]I still have not been able to grow a winter squash plant - much less get a squash from one. We have an infestation of squash bugs and borers here every year. Using dish-soap water only works on the ones you can see.

However, I do want to grow some yellow crookneck or straight neck summer squash in 2018.[/QUOTE]

We have infestations of the same pests up here, Salt, and the only winter squash I can grow is butternut because their vines are resistant. The early maturing varieties usually give us a decent crop before the plants are killed.

Tetsukabuto (F1) Hubbard Squash

Tormato gave notice in the MMMM this variety is a very large plant. Indeed it is. It has left the squash bed, growing through the tomatoes,expanding into the lawn, and is now covering the porcelain garlic. I need to harvest this garlic now, before the squash is mature.

How can I move several vines growing in one direction, some with small (about a golf ball) fruit? It is growing on black plastic but attaching to the garlic and all sorts of random weeds breaking thru the fabric. Last resort is to prune, but would that kill the entire plant?

- Lisa

In the containers I'm going to try two varieties this fall. Dark Green Zucchini and Early Yellow Straightneck. I haven't had any luck in the past, but soil problems will cause that along with squash bugs. In the containers, yeah maybe? I hope so as I look beside the keyboard to see the seed packs.

[QUOTE=greenthumbomaha;741100]Tetsukabuto (F1) Hubbard Squash

Tormato gave notice in the MMMM this variety is a very large plant. Indeed it is. It has left the squash bed, growing through the tomatoes,expanding into the lawn, and is now covering the porcelain garlic. I need to harvest this garlic now, before the squash is mature.

How can I move several vines growing in one direction, some with small (about a golf ball) fruit? It is growing on black plastic but attaching to the garlic and all sorts of random weeds breaking thru the fabric. Last resort is to prune, but would that kill the entire plant?

- Lisa[/QUOTE]

You should be able to move the vines around without a problem, just nip the tendrils that are coiled around the garlic and slide the vines about as you move along the garlic rows. As long as you are careful you should not break off the new fruit.

I would not think that pruning would kill the plant unless you get a disease of some sort in the cut. You will find that the plant will out out one or maybe two new leaders near the cut. We often prune runners if they are getting uncontrollable or if we want to prevent late setting fruit that we know will not mature on what we grow.

Thank you, Whwoz. I usually grow bush squash, or winter squash not quite as sprawling. I too get a useless rush of late setting fruit on melons in the summer heat, but sadly squash bugs generally take care of that situation for me. I once saw a video, peas perhaps, if the tendril didn't find something to attach to it would wither and die, and not grow the vine properly. I am all set to go but the heat may limit what I can get done this weekend.


- Lisa