Topic: Anyone for squash?

[sweet-pea]

I just had to share a photo of my sqhash and pumpkin harvest this year.  I have Marina di Chioggia, West Indian pumpkin, Delicata squash, Jaspee de Vendee squash, Butternut Squash, Trombolino squash, and loads of little Jack be little pumpkins.  I think I'm becoming addicted to them as I'm already trying to decide what new varieties to try next year :-)

[manicscousers]

what an excellent harvest, any tips for next year ?

[flowerlady]

Love the photo  ... but silly question what do you dooooooooooooo with all of them !!  ;D   ::)   ;D

The little chaps - do you bake whole - boil - stuff ?????   :-\

[saddad]

Great pic... which one is the Jaspee ?
 8)

[tim]

Mind boggling!!

[AbingdonBoy]

Hi All,

Well if we are sharing photos of squashes......

http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j177/abingdonboy/?action=view&current=pumpkintasticsmall.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1

Cheers,

AB.

[sweet-pea]

Love the photo  ... but silly question what do you dooooooooooooo with all of them !!  ;D   ::)   ;D

The little chaps - do you bake whole - boil - stuff ?????   :-\

Good question :-)  I've been wondering that myself!  I'm sure that I've read somewhere that you can microwave them.  I think I may just roast them en-mass and make soup out of them.

I wasn't expecting so many from 2 plants, next year I shall only be planting one  ::)

Manicscousers: As for tips for next year, I don't really have any, except I did bury a plastic bottle next to each plant to make it easier to feed and water them.  I also grew them through weed supressant membrane, but that was more because I wanted to make use of the area it was covering rather than using it for the purpose of growing squashes.
Next year I also want to try growing them up wigwams.

Saddad: The Jaspee are the round yellowish ones, theres one in the bottom left corner of the bottom basket.  I'm dying to try one as I've read you can eat them like melons.

abingdonboy: wow, I'm envious of all your butternuts, they are my favourites, I didn't get half as many as you.

[Larkspur]

sweet-pea, Jack be Littles can be roasted whole and eaten (the skin goes soft), roasted skinned and sliced in a little olive oil or used in curries. They are very tasty. I too had a glut of them off two plants but am enjoying eatng them. :)

[AbingdonBoy]

Hi sweet pea,

Thank you, it must have been beginners luck because this is the first year for BNS for me.  I have always shied away before, as i thought they were hard to grow.  I found quite the opposite, they were just as easy as my courgettes to grow, and all those were from 3 plants...

I fount the Atlantic giants much harder, they would get big and then just turn to mush...

For information - by BNS seeds were from Kings, planted early may, and planted out under a cloche in early June with plenty of manure.

Cheers,

AB.

[sweet-pea]

sweet-pea, Jack be Littles can be roasted whole and eaten (the skin goes soft), roasted skinned and sliced in a little olive oil or used in curries. They are very tasty. I too had a glut of them off two plants but am enjoying eatng them. :)

thanks Larkspur, when you say roasted whole, do you mean just pop the whole thing in the oven, or do you remove the seeds first?  I shall be trying that as I love roast squash.

AB:  I was a bit lazy with the manure this year and didn't bother with most of the squash plants, it was a bit of a rush to get them in before I went on my hols :-)  But if it will give results like yours I shall definitely be putting in more effort on the manure front next year.

[supersprout]

Wow sweet-pea, what a fabulous harvest! :o :D VERY envious, you won't starve over winter then ;)
Hope you are going to enter the first photo for the October competition - a work of art! 8) ::)

[cambourne7]

Wow thats impressive!

How much room did all that take up?

Great pic... which one is the Jaspee ?
 8)

3rd basket bottom left you can see the top of a Jaspee, big pic it looks like the ones behind the pumpkins with the green stripe in front of the big boys :-)

[sweet-pea]

Wow thats impressive!

How much room did all that take up?

I had a grid of 4x3 and 2 extra at the bottom, all planted 1m appart.  I was trying to make use of some space that would otherwise have been wasted as it's an area I haven't cleared yet, just covered it in membrane to kill the weeds until I have more time. I may not bother with the clearing now, just keep putting in  some maunre and planting :-)

[Biscombe]

I'm amazed (and very very jealous!!)!!! only got 8 butternuts this year!! are yours all good keepers?? What are the cream/green stripy ones called??

[sweet-pea]

I'm amazed (and very very jealous!!)!!! only got 8 butternuts this year!! are yours all good keepers?? What are the cream/green stripy ones called??

They are Delicata squash, think they are also called the sweet potato squash because of their texture and taste.  It's the first time I've grown them all so I'm not sure how long they'll keep for, but I think it should be for a decent amount of time.  I think I read somewhere that the Delikata may not keep as long, and I'm not sure about the little pumpkins either. The Trombolino is the only one I've really tried so far and it's really good roasted, more watery than a butternut and a bit sweeter I think.

8 butternuts is good though, don't think I got that many. 

[shirlton]

You have done really well with them. I hope to grow some butternut next year

[mc55]

Stunning - well done.  Don't they look amazing when they are all out together.

[Marymary]

Amazing harvest.  I was disappointed with my butternuts - again but I left the plants in & have one which has grown in the last 3 weeks, it's now quite a decent size & ripening nicely.  Glad I didn't pull them out in disgust.