squash is happening finally

[rxkeith]

summer squash has been tough to get going this year. weather has been a factor.
only two varieties producing so far is golden zucchini, and a volunteer, not even a variety, but
a plant that came from a white scallop squash, and has hybridized to produce a white warty turban type
shaped squash. we have eaten that a few times, and it is good. a striata di italia, and a long of palermo have
both decided to live. no production from them yet, but they should produce a late crop i hope.

winter squash
tetsukabuto, have to double check the spelling is a massive plant, and is producing a good number of squash.
gary was keen on this one, so i am anxious to try it. i will be saving seeds. it is a hybrid, so no telling what the
progeny will be like. also in the mix is gills sugar hubbard, sweet fall, and a hubbard hybrid with little gem that
was a good taster from last year. the sweet fall is from saved seeds from a semi isolated plant from last year. if
they grow true, i will send in some seeds to the swap.
i have four hills of scarchuks supreme growing. plants are loading up. i know what to expect from them. yum
also thelma sanders sweet potato is growing. saved seeds, so there could be some hybrids out there. one squash
is looking abnormally large and ribbed. some others are looking like scarchuks without the green stripes.
in my wifes garden a few buttercup are growing.the seeds were ten years old. they got a late start, so i don't if i will get
mature squash before i run out of good weather.
that is all for now.


keith

[pepperhead212]

I just counted 13 full sized polaris butternut squash on 4 plants today, with many more of all different sizes. Not to mention countless male blossoms, which I didn't harvest yet, but I might still. Most of those full sized ones are almost totally colored (though still green stems), and only a few with a hint of green still. That one I harvested about a week and a half back had damage - I think I hit it with the weedwacker when it was much smaller, but I got a lot of meat out of it, despite the damage, and not mature.

[rxkeith]

one of those squash that looks like a hubbard is yellow with pale white speckles, and green on the end.
might a one of the hybrids that are orange and green,or..... it could be a sweet fall hybrid even though i think
the sweet fall grown last year might have been far enough away. that one will be in the ten to fifteen lb range when mature.
i have some pure white squash that look like scarchuks without the green stripes. the stem is typical of scarchuks. a sport or a hybrid
with thelma sanders.

my wife is concerned that my experimentation with hybrid squash will morph out of control. i assured her it won't,,,,,,this year.
my way of thinking is something good plus something good will give you a new something good.
anyway, whats life without some surprises to look forward to.


keith

[rxkeith]

that yellow hubbard type squash has gotten even bigger. it has to be in the 30 to 40lb range.
i have grown sugar hubbards to 15lb size, and this one is at least double that. its the only squash on
this plant so all the energy is going into it. i will have to cut it in pieces in order to cook it. being that big,
i hope it tastes decent. i am anxious to try tetsukabuto. that will happen very soon.
nothing like the anticipation of trying something for the very first time.


keith

[rxkeith]

welp, i tried the first two winter squash from the garden.
tetsukabuto was the first choice. gary really likes this one
i was not overawed with it. its early yet, and those first squash you try aren't always at their peak.
its dark green skin contrasts with a deep golden orange color to make it look delicious. this first one
had some sweetness to it, but as you got away from the core, it lost flavor. this squash was on the dry side.
i do hope taste improves because there are several more out there.

the second squash was a mutant thelma sanders sweet potato from self saved seeds.
normal thelma sanders look like a buff colored acorn squash that some one pulled the end of, and stretched
it out a bit. this one looked like a really big hersheys kiss with fluted sides. it had one of the hardest, and thickest
skins i have ever come across. i had thought about going looking for an axe or hatchet to cut it. i finally got it.
the light gold colored flesh was moist, and sweet. not a knock out, but certainly acceptable.
i plan on trying a scarchuks supreme next, and one of the less mutant looking thelma sanders, and leaving the hubbards
go until its time to get them in.

the squash were baked at 350 for about 45 minutes face down in a small amount of water in pyrex dishes.
gary, tell me the tetsukabuto get better than this.


keith

[rxkeith]

baked today,
two scarchuks supreme, delicious as always, and one what i believe to be a hybrid of thelma sanders sweet potato
and scarchuks. this one was plain white on the outside, shaped more like thelma sanders, with the same type of stem
attachment as scarchuks. i thought it tasted pretty good. more moist like thelma. texture was a little different, but i ate
an entire half, and won't mind eating the other ones still outside. this one was much better than the hershey kiss shaped mutant.


keith

[rxkeith]

today it was one of the mutants i baked.
the squash was one of the green with orange mottling type, slightly flattened, in the 5 to 7 lb range.
the outside skin had that bumping to it caused by sugars, i think it is. i sliced it open, and it was a deep
golden orange in color. i was optimistic.
baked until done, added some salt, and butter, and ate.
texture was on the dry side, good earthy flavor. it would have been a home run if it could have been just a tad sweeter.
definitely a keeper. i will save seeds on this one to carry the experiment forward. next years result could be completely
different. i had two big helpings.

i got some squash in yesterday, and was going to get the hubbards in today, but it rained all day, it never stopped.
they will be out there tomorrow.


keith

[AKgardener]

Wooo

[pepperhead212]

@rxkeith I've grown tetsukabuto twice, years apart, and it didn't get any better. I can only grow moschata squash, due to SVBs, and, while it was resistant to those, there was another bug, that chewed a hole in the squash itself, that never gets in any butternuts or other moschata variety I've grown. And there were only 2 fruits/vine. The texture and flavor really weren't that great, and I only grew it again because I got free seeds. I wouldn't even give the rest away, and if I ever get free seeds again, I'll toss them!

The best butternut I've grown is that Polaris F1 I mentioned, from Pinetree, which is productive and flavorful, and stores very well - I almost always have some from last year, when it's harvest time! Now I have 19 more ripe ones, and just cleaned out the squash row today.

[rxkeith]

cooked a gills sugar hubbard today.
we had too. when i picked the squash, it split at the stem end, so it wasn't going to keep.
it was good, moist orange sweet flesh. we ate our fill, and three 1/2 gallon jars filled up.
we may end up freezing some. we have been eating squash for a week.i picked the big un.
it is the size of a pumpkin. the skin turned from yellow to a light orange. i'm thinking it is at
least a 30 pounder. that is going to be a lot of squash to eat, and no clue how it will taste.
it is going to be awhile before i am ready to cook that one.


keith

[rxkeith]

all the squash is in. we had frost two days over the week end.
i weighed the monster, and it was 33 And 1/2 lbs. a couple of the hubbards were close to that, but not weighed.
i figure i have close to 300 lbs of squash in the basement. the hubbard types account for at least half of it.
tetsukabuto was second, followed by thelma sanders and thelma sanders cross with scarchuks, then scarchuks supreme.
buttercup did not take off soon enough to produce mature squash.
sweet fall from saved seeds must have crossed. none of them were that pale pink in color. should still be some good eating there.
over all it was a good year. i would have liked more scarchuks since we like it so much. still, we got about 25-30 lbs worth.
they will go fast.
looking forward to next year, and finding that right balance of what to grow. maybe less hubbard since they are so big, and more
scarchuks supreme. also have to determine what experimentals i want to take a flyer on.


keith

[pepperhead212]

Do you ever dehydrate squash, @rxkeith? Just an idea, since with those large squash you mentioned, there is only so long you want to be eating it, and only so much room in the freezer! I dried all 11 of those butternuts I had left over from last season, as I was getting the new ones! They reduce greatly - to less than 1 oz to a lb. Then it can be ground to a flour, and I take an ounce of the flour, and add 15 oz of water, which is like a pound of pumpkin, in a bread, or dessert.

[rxkeith]

nope, never dehydrated squash before. how do you do it?
slice it up raw, perhaps? we just cook it, and eat it till we have had it. then we freeze the rest of it.
winter is when the freezer starts to empty out. home grown chickens start getting used. berries, and
vegetables get used, and the ground beef. some of that empty space is taken up by soups, when i get
into soup making mode which for me is a winter time activity.


keith

[pepperhead212]

I just dehydrate it raw, peeling and de-seeding it, and put it in the dehydrator, pretty packed on the trays, as it shrinks greatly - lb reduces to just under an ounce. I never used the dried cubes in soups or curries, like I do eggplants, because I'm afraid they will be more likely to fall apart.

[rxkeith]

i baked the monstah squash today, the 33lb plus one.
i was forced to. there were some soft spots starting to develop, so it had to be cooked.
i had to use nearly every pyrex in the house to cook it, and was unable to fit it all in the oven
at one go. it took awhile. its all finally done. the big question was how was it going to taste. this
was a one of a kind squash, a hybrid of some of the previous hubbard type squash i have grown.
it has orangy orange flesh, somewhat moist, and tastes very similar to a sweet potato. there might
be some starchiness there, but all in all, it tastes good. it would have been a disappointment if i would
have had to feed it to the chickens. i give it about a 7 out of ten for taste.
i have two platefuls of seeds drying under the wood stove. probably too late to send some into the swap.
if anyone is interested in some seeds, let me know other wise i will grow a hill next year, and see what shows up.


keith

[rxkeith]

i may have been too modest in my evaluation of the monstah.
my wife gives it a nine in taste.
it is possible this is a cross of sweet fall, and one of the hubbards from last year.
i had planted sweet fall from saved seeds, and did not get the sweet fall i had last year.
its either that or an ongoing mixing of genes from two hubbards over the past three or four years. at any rate it is
a good tasting squash. i wouldn't of minded more than just one.


keith

[rxkeith]

we took a crock pot full of the monstah squash to church for the meal after the service.
it was empty when we came home. one of our church members asked my wife what we had
put in the squash.
nothing, she said. its just squash.
really? that was really good.

i guess its a nine after all.


keith

[Tormato]

i baked the monstah squash today, the 33lb plus one.
i was forced to. there were some soft spots starting to develop, so it had to be cooked.
i had to use nearly every pyrex in the house to cook it, and was unable to fit it all in the oven
at one go. it took awhile. its all finally done. the big question was how was it going to taste. this
was a one of a kind squash, a hybrid of some of the previous hubbard type squash i have grown.
it has orangy orange flesh, somewhat moist, and tastes very similar to a sweet potato. there might
be some starchiness there, but all in all, it tastes good. it would have been a disappointment if i would
have had to feed it to the chickens. i give it about a 7 out of ten for taste.
i have two platefuls of seeds drying under the wood stove. probably too late to send some into the swap.
if anyone is interested in some seeds, let me know other wise i will grow a hill next year, and see what shows up.


keith

It's now a 9? Any squash that tastes good without adding anything, is what I'm always looking for.

Yes, it's too late for the swap, this year. But, I'd like to trial it in 2024.

[rxkeith]

gary,
i will send you some seeds. they need another week or so to dry.
keep in mind that this is a hybrid of some sort, and the progeny
could be all over the place. that said, i am already thinking on how many seeds
i want to plant this year. might need to find some tulle bags, and do some hand pollinating.
my wife sees this mushrooming, but if the results are good, what the hey. all the mutants so
far have been decent to very good in flavor. cheaper than owning a boat, i tell her.


keith

[Tormato]

gary,
i will send you some seeds. they need another week or so to dry.
keep in mind that this is a hybrid of some sort, and the progeny
could be all over the place. that said, i am already thinking on how many seeds
i want to plant this year. might need to find some tulle bags, and do some hand pollinating.
my wife sees this mushrooming, but if the results are good, what the hey. all the mutants so
far have been decent to very good in flavor. cheaper than owning a boat, i tell her.


keith

Take your time to dry them. I don't plant until late May.