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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: realfood on November 06, 2009, 20:57:32
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This week I took the chance to compare the taste and textures of BonBon, Blue Ballet and Pink Banana Winter Squashes. They had all been grown, stored and cooked in the same way.
Bonbon came top of the list with extremely sweet and tasty orange flesh. I would estimate that it was sweeter than butternuts and perhaps 3 or 4 times sweeter than the other two. The flesh was finely grained and floury and suitable to use as a vegetable as well as in pies. It is not surprising that it was top in "Gardening Which" taste tests, as well as being an AAS award winner. The only downside is that it does not store as well as some others.
The other two had moist fibrous yellow flesh of average sweetness and flavour and were suitable for use in pies, soup and bread.
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Not varieties I have grown realfood... did they all do well in Glasgow? I've never managed to get Pink banana going here in the Midlands... :-\
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Very good to know, I'll target my Bon-Bons to be eaten next then... but be warned, the plant is an absolute thug, even by the standards of squash....
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Very good to know, I'll target my Bon-Bons to be eaten next then... but be warned, the plant is an absolute thug, even by the standards of squash....
What do you mean it's a thug?
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I just read up on BonBon in a catalogue and it called it more of a small bush than a long trailing vine type squash. Could the seed catalogue possibly have lied :o 8)
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just wondered if you tried delicata and how it compared to bonbon, delicata is supposed to be very sweet as well. I love my blue hubbards (think they are similar to blue ballards?) but they are quite big squashes.
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Very good to know, I'll target my Bon-Bons to be eaten next then... but be warned, the plant is an absolute thug, even by the standards of squash....
What do you mean it's a thug?
I lost a courgette plant and nearly lost two uchiki kuri plants (saved them enough to grow one decent fruit each) due to rampaging pair of bon-bon.... anybody calling that thing a "bush", to them I say "Pah, and thrice "Pah""
Some of it made it to over 15 feet away.....
chrisc
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Realfood, did you have them under glass? Or did you start them off very early? I've only ever managed to grow one squash outside in Glasgow - not just one type, but one squash!
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Realfood, I am interested to read your post. I have grown several different squashes this year and so far have eaten Blue Ballet and Burgess Buttercup. I didn't enjoy them nearly as much as my normal squahes, that is Crown Prince and Winter Festival. I am saving those as I know they keep really well and using up the newer varieties first. I am hoping Red Kuri will be an improvement on the other 2 when i try it during the week. My family all commented that they weren't as good as the old favourites so it is not just me being fussy!
I have a beautiful Jarrahdale to try too, courtesy of Duke.:)
Thanks
T.
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Very good to know, I'll target my Bon-Bons to be eaten next then... but be warned, the plant is an absolute thug, even by the standards of squash....
What do you mean it's a thug?
I lost a courgette plant and nearly lost two uchiki kuri plants (saved them enough to grow one decent fruit each) due to rampaging pair of bon-bon.... anybody calling that thing a "bush", to them I say "Pah, and thrice "Pah""
Some of it made it to over 15 feet away.....
chrisc
This is a quote from the catalogue:" 2005 All-America Selections Winner! 81 days. Cucurbita pepo. (F1) This semi-bush plant produces high yields of 4 lb green buttercup squash. The deep creamy orange is extremely sweet, "Sweet as Candy". Suitable for small gardens as vines spread only 8 ft. Excellent storage variety. A winter squash variety. Disease Resistant. pk/10 $3.00"
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We had the Hooligan F1 Hybrid this weekend , stuffed with chilli and sundried tomates, they were gorgeous, but like the others very invasive into other plants
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This is a quote from the catalogue:" 2005 All-America Selections Winner! 81 days. Cucurbita pepo. (F1) This semi-bush plant produces high yields of 4 lb green buttercup squash. The deep creamy orange is extremely sweet, "Sweet as Candy". Suitable for small gardens as vines spread only 8 ft. Excellent storage variety. A winter squash variety. Disease Resistant. pk/10 $3.00"
They lie like dogs then.... the only sqaush I grew this year that I woudl categorise as "bush" was Festival and that's still afailry big plant, about the size of a biggish bush courgette....
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Hooligan!! Great name! My fave this year was a Dutch crookneck, sweeter than the butternuts I grew and spectacularly long, I hope I have more seeds!
Thanks for the tip, I'll give bonbon a go next year.
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This is a quote from the catalogue:" 2005 All-America Selections Winner! 81 days. Cucurbita pepo. (F1) This semi-bush plant produces high yields of 4 lb green buttercup squash. The deep creamy orange is extremely sweet, "Sweet as Candy". Suitable for small gardens as vines spread only 8 ft. Excellent storage variety. A winter squash variety. Disease Resistant. pk/10 $3.00"
They lie like dogs then.... the only sqaush I grew this year that I woudl categorise as "bush" was Festival and that's still afailry big plant, about the size of a biggish bush courgette....
I grew Festival last year and did not find it sweet and also it was stringy compared to butternut but made a nice Fall decoration- what did you think of your Festival?
After your Bonbon taste test (what a great idea , wish more testing like that were possible) I'll give Bonbon a whirl next yr. Am building a slanted frame for it this week from some hand-me-down lumber!
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THe one festival I've eaten so far was very nice.... and not at all stringy....
chrisc
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I had a look at several of the seed catalogues and they usually describe Bonbon as semi-bush but then go on to say that it spreads up to 3 m or so. I have grown Bonbon for 2 years and both years it trailed for 3 m.
I have grown Festival in the past and it can spread up to 2 m in a long growing season. I remember it as being sweet with a good texture and worth growing, but not as good as a butternut.
Tulipa, I hope you will tell us in due course how Red Kuri compares. I think that Red Kuri and Uchiki Kuri(very similar), are sweeter and have a better texture than than Blue Ballet and Pink Banana, but I will need to check that later this Winter with another taste test.
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Number 1 for me is the delicata family streets ahead then followed by most of the Ausatralian blues.
If I could grow just one.. oh heaven forbid,, it would be the delicata family,I say family cos wether it is Deliucata, Sweet dumpling or Sugar Loaf they are all good as one another.
Having stuck my neck out I feel sure I will find some means of growing the 146 other varieties I currently have in my collection !!!!!!
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Number 1 for me is the delicata family streets ahead then followed by most of the Ausatralian blues.
Jeannine - which of the Australian blues would do well in the UK, south-east, if any? Thanks.
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Jeannine..... you didn't write a book called "The Compleat Squash" did you?....
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Earlypea - I grew Australian Blue this year (for the 1st time) and have to say it is delicious roasted, nice and firm and not stringy at all. I'm sure Jeannine will have others to recommend though! :)
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I see that I still have some posts to answer.
The key to growing Winter squash this far North in a cool Summer climate, is to sow early and plant out early June with cloche protection for the first month, until they start to flower.
Have a look on my web site under Winter squash for the details of my method.
Pink Banana fruited using the above method, but it is one of the more difficult varieties requiring longer to mature. The plants seemed to be robust.
I grew Cornell Bush delicata but only got one fruit with difficulty. It hated the very wet August we had. I have tried Sweet Dumpling in previous years with no success.
For the North of the UK, it is important to try varieties that have a shorter time to reach maturity. This list from Cornell University is a good start for information on time to maturity. http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/mainSearch/showAll.php?ID=54&sortBy=overallrating&order=DESC&searchIn=1
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Hi Earlypea, I grew many of the blues in Yorkshire just steer clear of the very big ones, they were fine there except when we had a very wet summer and the growing season was short. The delicata family were never a problem for me
I do start mine very early and move them on to big pots( gallon size at least) so by the time they go out they are really strong and well ahead. Also sometimes I would black plastic the soil a couple of weeks before and plant through .
Chrisscross.. Ha ha,no I didn't write the Compleat Squash but I do highly reccommend it bearing in mind that Amy Goldman who did write it has acres of land,unlimited space, lights etc and does not have to contend with the UK weather,so it is not always possible to follow her growing advice, but the book is an excellent read with some super photography.
XX Jeannine
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Chrisscross.. Ha ha,no I didn't write the Compleat Squash but I do highly reccommend it bearing in mind that Amy Goldman who did write it has acres of land,unlimited space, lights etc and does not have to contend with the UK weather,so it is not always possible to follow her growing advice, but the book is an excellent read with some super photography.
XX Jeannine
... you left off that she's stark staring buggo about squash too :D. UK weaterh (certainly where I am) isn't topo bad for squash, last frost early May First frost late October/early November .... every year we tend to get one rubbish month, one good month adn two OK months in the summer, so it's only late-season stuff like Butternuts that we're left praying on... by september I knoew I had a good crop of everything bar butternuts and a decent September brought those in.... I doubt I'll grow butternuts again and I'll be experimenting with a bunch of others next year, keeping Winter Festival as the one from this year that did well....
chrisc
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I have carried out a further taste test using my last 1 year old, wrinkled butternut Harrier, Fairy and Uchiki Kuri.
Harrier was still sweet and tasty with dryish flesh, Uchiki Kuri not as sweet but tasty moist flesh, Fairy very average taste with watery flesh.
Fairy is actually quite large, slow to set fruit and rambles for 4 or 5 m, and I do not think that I will grow it again as there are better squashes.
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Chris cross, I have never been fond of the Butternuts but I think they were the first to find there way to the UK so they became popular.When I lived in Yorkshire I managed to grow almost all of the squash that I planted unless the season was bad, My personal belief is that they really want to grow and given the correct needs..they will.
XX Jeannine
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I used one of the red kuri last week half in acasserole and the other half in soup. Both were delicious. I do like butternut roasted .
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Just eaten a Tondo Padana. Very nice. Lasted most of a week.
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Chris cross, I have never been fond of the Butternuts but I think they were the first to find there way to the UK so they became popular.When I lived in Yorkshire I managed to grow almost all of the squash that I planted unless the season was bad, My personal belief is that they really want to grow and given the correct needs..they will.
XX Jeannine
Yeah, we brits can be an odd combination of adventurous and conservative......try the new thing and then it quickly becomes the unchallenged norm .... I think thats what happened with butternut ....
chrisc
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Had a roasted Bon-Bon tonight. One squash made enough to fill an oven tray that pretty much fills the oven shelf it's on ... we ended up eating quite a lot of it so there's less roasted squash soup as a result. Flavour is very good, it's a pretty firm flesh, minimal fibre and it roasts well at gas mark 6/7 having shaken the 1" cubes (or thereabouts) in a bag with some olive oil. It's quite sweet, you'd have no trouble using it in a sweet pumpkin recipe....
Having to reconsider my decision not to grow it next year now.... I wasn't happy with its growth habit, it's an aressively growing trailing vine, though it does climb.... hmm......
chrisc
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Ate my second Fairy squash today and have to say that it was better than the first one I tried. This time the flesh was moist rather than watery. The reason is probably that this fruit had longer to mature on the vine than the other one that I tried.
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Today, I did a taste test on Red Kuri and Crown Prince. Crown Prince sweeter with firmer flesh, but Red Kuri had more flavour. Crown Prince has much more useable flesh.
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I grew several different pumpkins and squashes and my favourite tasting one to date is Tondo Padana. Seems to keep well even when cut.
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Digeroo, I suspect that it would not be suitable for me in the North as it seems to need a long time to grow, but it looks very pretty. How did it compare with the other Winter Squashes for ease of growth?
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After hearing about Amy Goldman's book The Compleat Squash I'd hoped to get one through Amazon. A new copy is $148. and used was still over $100! Needless to say, I'll continue using Jeanine as my reference source! ;D
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I grew several different pumpkins and squashes and my favourite tasting one to date is Tondo Padana. Seems to keep well even when cut.
Ooh... I'm trying that one next year... probably got the seed from you in fact :D.....Someone grew them on our site this year but had their crop stolen :(
chrisc
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How did it compare with the other Winter Squashes for ease of growth
I found that Tondo Padana grew very well. I think that each plant only produced one large fruit each and the plants were quite large. I just put in the plants and they rambled about the place. I am planning to grow one up an apple tree next year. But since the Red Kuri only produced one small fruit each. Turks Turban very good grower but fruit quality poor. The odd thing about Tondo Padana is that it seem to be able to hide huge fruits, it was not until autumn that I realised how many huge pumpkins I had. One was hidden in the beans and another couple under the artichokes.
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Someone on their internet blog posted their own squash taste test results: "The two varieties are Marina di Chioggia (green) and Australian Butter Squash. ( pale orange) but after tasting them neither matched for taste the favorites which remain: Buttercup, Butternut, Sunshine and Sweet Meat." Any comments on those?
I've never heard of any except butternuts.
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Buttercul is supposed to be very like its derivitive Bon-BOn.... and therefore very nice indeed.... I'd not have thought a MdC was ready yet.... they're a long-storage squash aren't they?.... dunno Sunshine and Sweet Meat.... Winter Festival is very nice IMHO, certainly as good if not better than butternut, and it's way easier to grow
chrisc
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Sunshine is a hybrid, 3 lb , fairly quick maturing, AAS winner 2004 so is probably good. Available in the UK. Sweet Meat is a very old variety, big and slow to fruit and probably not so suitable for the UK.
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Maybe you've discussed Tahitian Squash before, though I couldn't find it using Search, but on the internet it said Tahitian has the highest sugar level of winter squash. The drawback is it is a huge one, maybe 20 lbs, and therefore maybe not a good one for the UK, but then one post stated a farmer told them after cutting off a chunk you can rehang the remainder and it will "self-heal" and still last in storage. Sounds intriguing.
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Hmm... that's pretty bonkers, even for squash :D....
Up there with Galeux D'Eysines.... harvested when a fresh-looking salmon-pink rather camp objet, eaten when a warty horror and you have to expel the woodlice from the skin.... truly the squash of Dorian Gray.....
chrisc
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Spotted an interesting new variety to me, in the catalogues this year called Invincible. Claimed to be an improved Crown Prince type, but does not appear to be an F1. Has anyone grown it previously and what was your opinion?
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Hi Realfood, way back down the thread you asked about what i thought of Red Kuri, well I have finally eatern mine, good keepers, good taste, on a par with Crown Prince and useful in that they are a smaller size, but I still prefer the texture of Crown Prince for roasting. I haven't even started on CP yet, they keep so well!
T.
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I was searching for taste comparisons on the internet and found the following explanation why a grower stopped growing some of the F1 hybrids. Interesting that they had more problem with borers which are a problem here, maybe not where you are.
"Bonbon Buttercup - Smooth, deep green skin on rounded fruit that has a grey button at the base. Flesh is yellow-orange colored and fruits average 4 to 5 pounds. A new hybrid by Johnny's that is touted to have better taste and yield. Taste is sweeter after a few weeks of storage (storage must be on the dry side) BUT we were able to only coax one fruit from our plants. Most were destroyed by a combination of borers, squash bugs and climatic conditions. We had better results in 2007 while interplanting with nasturtium and radish. However, we found the open-pollinated Burgess Buttercup did at least as well as Bonbon. When in doubt, we prefer to use open-pollinated varieties. We also suspect that many newer hybrids are not as hardy for the conditions we put our crops through. Unlike hybridization trials, our fields are not sprayed to control all pests, weeds do appear in our fields and we do not tend to use plastic mulch and drip irrigation. On the other hand, the fruit were quite tasty - and they tended to grow the fruit out entirely. The Burgess would sometimes stunt slightly. Bonbon tended to have more problems with insects boring through the skin of the fruit..
Scarlet Kabocha ("Sunshine") - Small 1 to 2 pound fruits with bright orange skin and orange flesh. Smooth, sweet flesh is very tasty and a good meal for a couple of people (one fruit for two people). It can be used for baking, mashing or pies. Vines are shorter than many varieties, which might make it a good variety for people with less space to give for squash. BUT These did a little better with the borers and other problems, yet produced only a half dozen fruits for us. We will say that they taste excellent. We are noting that they store for a shorter period than other varieties and that they don't change taste as they store - so are good to eat immediately. We feel we have found open pollinated varieties that will do better and have excellent taste qualities."
Somebody else on the internet said there are more stem rotting problems with the F1s.
Another person said in general choose the darker skinned squashes which have darker interior flesh.
Another comment was in general don't choose shiny squashes because the duller ones were picked later and should be sweeter.
Some of you highly recommended Crown Prince but I'm not finding that here- perhaps it goes by a different name in the states.
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I am very glad to say that as yet, we do not have borers or squash bugs in the UK!! And long may that continue!! The only pests that have occasionally attacked my squash have been the occasional slug when the squash have been just planted out, and red spider mites in hot, dry, conditions on the underside of the leaves.
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I am very glad to say that as yet, we do not have borers or squash bugs in the UK!! And long may that continue!! The only pests that have occasionally attacked my squash have been the occasional slug when the squash have been just planted out, and red spider mites in hot, dry, conditions on the underside of the leaves.
Lucky you! Fortunately they don't seem to bother butternuts. I'll be trying some of the F1's this summer and see if they can hold their own against borers. I cannot grow zucchini because the borers always get them just when they look ready to produce. Come out in the morning and the whole plant has collapsed flat!
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I grew BonBOn this year in the UK. Two or three decent fruit per plant but it's an aggressive vine on my plot, swamped a courgette and both my Uchiki Kuri planst (one of them) overgrew a couple of spuds, killed a tomato (before the blight got the rest of them) and swamped a Winter Festival before turning up 15+ feet away on a fence (the other plant). Fruit are a bit big for me, about 4Kg each, but flavour is excellent.... I'll be trying it again this year up a trellis as two of the fruit were set on the fence and it clung on to that cheerfully. Willb e able to compare vs Burgess Buttercup, which by all accoutns it resemles in form very closely.
chrisc
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John Miller just pm'd me that "Confection"
is related to "Crown Prince" (a smaller version). I'd already ordered one called "Winter Confection" but have no idea of its parentage. Too bad the seed companies just invent new names, but don't give that info.
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The naming of varieties, and the different names in different countries is a real pain! GA I have a couple of spare Crown Prince I could send if you want to give them a go - they (IMO) are really great. I still have 1 on a windowcill, and it still looks fab, and I'm expecting it to taste great :)
1066
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The naming of varieties, and the different names in different countries is a real pain! GA I have a couple of spare Crown Prince I could send if you want to give them a go - they (IMO) are really great. I still have 1 on a windowcill, and it still looks fab, and I'm expecting it to taste great :)
1066
Thank you so much! I'm hoping this will be a good year for taste testing a whole variety of squash. We might turn orange-skinned in the process if the weather is good!
What would you like to try in return? I'll PM you what I've got.
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Hi All
I bought a lovely squash Munchkin from the supermarket (I blush) but my pumpkins (hubbard squash) were all eaten months ago. It was absolutely wonderful (sweet and nutty) but it is a very small pumpkin so would be a good meal for one greedy person.
I have saved some seed so fingers crossed will be able to grow some this year. I always grow my pumpkins/ squash on top of some of my compost heaps which I have filled with raw horse compost topped off with potting soil. It seems to work well and acts a bit like a hot bed. Always have good results and makes the compost heaps look lovely as well.
There is a squash/courgette seed swap being organised at the moment on the Swap Forum so go over there and we can all have a lovely swap trying out the new varieties. I am really looking forward to trying the Bonbon. I love hubbard squash but always grow the South African variety - lovely.
Regards
Jitterbug
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Remember to check any Winter Squash that you still have in store, every week in case the skin on some start to breakdown.
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We are having a "break down" as I type... my squash were in our "frost proof" museum, but a committee member moved them into the big greenhouse, they would probably still have been OK but they left the door open for 48hours at the start of the cold frosty/snowy period before Xmas... the veg spag collapsed almost straight away but the toughies are going now... we have made three gallons of soup and several loads of Pumpkin "curries" but still have @ 10kg to process...
One could get slightly miffed... :-X
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That's sad, Saddad. It seems there are so many ways for a squash crop to meet disaster it makes one wonder why we keep at it. At least you have the soup to enjoy.
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Grannie Annie, Crown Prince is available this side of the pond. It's ancestry by the way comes from the Australian Blue group likewise Jarrahdale,Queensland Blue,Triamble,etc. Originally went to the States from Australia. in the 30s. Other names for Crown Prince are Crown,(the original name) then Improved Crown,Select Crown , then the hybrid Crown Prince came along. Although I am very fond of Delicata squash overall my fave family are the Australian Blues, they have come a long way since they left Oz, all but Jarrahdale is an excellent taste and they keep longer than most of the other squash groups. It is a fact that many of the Australian Blues have several names, also they have never been record breakingingly popular in the US.
By the way, The spaghetti squash that was lost, they are known for short times for keeping.
XX Jeannine
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Yes my Marina Di Choggia has finally succumbed,, and will be souped this week. The Ausie Blues and the Crown Prince and the Uchiki Kuri are still going strong :)
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One of my turks turban started to go and i made a lovely roasted squash last night, had to stop myself from eating it all, the two i have left are still going fine
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Grannie Annie, Crown Prince is available this side of the pond. It's ancestry by the way comes from the Australian Blue group likewise Jarrahdale,Queensland Blue,Triamble,etc. Originally went to the States from Australia. in the 30s. Other names for Crown Prince are Crown,(the original name) then Improved Crown,Select Crown , then the hybrid Crown Prince came along. Although I am very fond of Delicata squash overall my fave family are the Australian Blues, they have come a long way since they left Oz, all but Jarrahdale is an excellent taste and they keep longer than most of the other squash groups. It is a fact that many of the Australian Blues have several names, also they have never been record breakingingly popular in the US.
XX Jeannine
Thanks Jeannine for the clarification. Do you know how resistant to borers the Australian Blues are?
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I have no idea as I have no experience with them, by the way if you need any new types I am cutting mine down as I have more than I will ever use but I don't think I have Crown Prince,let me know if there is anything else you are looking for.
How hot is it were you are? Or Zone ? Are you able to grow some of the long season ones.
XX Jeannine
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I know Veg Spag don't store as well... but the ones that are in the shed by the house and not frosted are still fine... :-X
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The only ones I've had problems with (starting to go near the peduncle) have been the butternuts.... but they were lifted ahead of a frost warning and IMHO neede another couple of weeks.... but it was October... Winter festival still good, as are the two Uchiki Kuri and the sole remaining Bon-bon and un-named pumpkin....
chrisc
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I had to eat my one and only Cornell's Bush Delicata, as the skin had started to break down.
A wonderful aroma while being microwaved, quite different from other squashes, filled the whole house for hours! The taste was sweet and flavoursome but not a lot of flesh which was dry. Not as good as BonBon in my opinion, and was more difficult to get to set fruit.
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Has anyone tried musque de provence. I bought a slice recently & it was lovely.
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The only ones I've had problems with (starting to go near the peduncle) have been the butternuts.... but they were lifted ahead of a frost warning and IMHO neede another couple of weeks.... but it was October... Winter festival still good, as are the two Uchiki Kuri and the sole remaining Bon-bon and un-named pumpkin....
chrisc
Our butternuts (5 left) are still hanging in the basement without any problems that I can detect. I'd washed them all down with dilute bleach before hanging to deter mold. Have you tried that?
Some of these were picked with slightly green stem and some faint green stripes due to frost warning. I was wondering how long those would last before rotting but so far so good.
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I had to eat my one and only Cornell's Bush Delicata, as the skin had started to break down.
....... and was more difficult to get to set fruit.
I tried growing this last year and didn't get any fruits, hoping for better success this year. But thanks for the description! (And nice to know of someone who was successful)
1066
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Has anyone tried musque de provence. I bought a slice recently & it was lovely.
delicious isn't it! I'm growing it for the 1st time year, so will find out what home grown versions taste like :)
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Today, the last of my Bonbon squashes had to be eaten, and I was able to do a direct taste comparison with the remains of my delicata squash.
The delicata was good but Bonbon had a more intense flavour as well as being sweeter, drier and easier to grow in the North of the UK.
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lost another red kuri today, ate a couple of hooligan, very sweet and no problem with them at the moment :)
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which of the Australian blues would do well in the UK, south-east, if any? Thanks.
Here in Britanny I grew Queensland Blue last year and got several well sized fruit. The taste is so yummy, not too sweet, nutty and tender non-stringy flesh.
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I'd 2nd antipodes on the Queensland Blue, and also add in Crown Prince. Both did well for me in the SE and both have stored well, and as antipodes said tasty but not stringy :)
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I was just writing up the results of my last year's Winter squash trial results when I noticed that Fairy F1 squash is actually in the Cucurbita Moschata family. That is the same family as Butternuts, rather than the other Winter squash which are derived from Cucurbita Maxima or Cucurbita Pepo.
If that is the case, then Fairy is easier to grow than the other butternuts that I trialled in Glasgow.
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There are several other moschata, even from the neck group that are easier than butternuts ... have a look for Squash64's lunga di Napoli and Tromba di Albengo.... The Lunga espcially, she had one last year that outweighed all my butternuts put together, other moschata you might try would be Musquee de Provence, Sucrine de Berry and Futtsu Black. I mention these cos I saw them all go through the squash seed swap I organised
chrisc
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Thanks for that information, Chrisc. There is a slight problem for growing Musquee de Provence and Futsu black in Scotland, as they take longer to reach maturity.
This week, I have carried out another taste test using the remains of my last BonBon, and last Blue Ballet and the remains of the Delicata.
As expected, Bonbon had most sweetness and depth of flavour. Blue Ballet had medium sweetness and good depth of flavour( this sample much better than my previous blue ballet). Delicata had not as much of either sweetness or taste.
It is only by tasting them on the plate at the same time that you can rate them.
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I'm going to try putting mine under fleece for their first week or two outdoors this year, all of my squash plants (especially the butternuts) sulked for a month after planting last year and it wasn't like June was that bad....
In Scotland I'd guess you might need to do the same for a bit longer.... but even so I guess some of the long season squashes will be a struggle.
chrisc
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My head is spinning reading this thread. I really want to grow wintersquash for the first time and from all your description I think Crown prince sounds like a good match. Maybe I'll put a thread for a swap.
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My head is spinning reading this thread. I really want to grow wintersquash for the first time and from all your description I think Crown prince sounds like a good match. Maybe I'll put a thread for a swap.
I'd recommend Winter Festival as a good choice for a first-time grower. The plants are fairly well behaved, they flower and set prolifically and early, the fruits aren't too huge so coping with them in the kitchen is easy, they ripen early so no worries about extra ripening off the plant after harvest, they taste good too.... and they're quite pretty fruit too. Seeds are easily available.
chrisc
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Wilder and Chris,
I grow both Crown Prince and Winter Festival and find they are the best combination. CP are very big and need a couple of meals planning round them, and Winter Festival compliment them by their small size if you only need a small amount of squash, they both keep very well, my Festival are just beginning to show signs of needing eating up, and CP I haven't even started eating yet. Both have good flavour for roasting or soup. If space is at a premium then Festival take up a bit less and can be trained more easily. Wilder they are fascinating to grow and quite addictive!!
T.
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excellent feedback guys, thanks.
I've now got the fourth bed almost finished, (all that bare soil!!) I'm just itching to plant. Will cover with something to keep it warm and weed-free and dream of squashes. I adore eating squash and just this week bought a lovely Butternut Cuchina (sp?) in Sainsbury's that tasted wonderful.
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I have some Winter Festival to try this year, so looking forward to them - are they a trailing type? i.e. could I grow them up a trellis?
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You could try to get a crop of broad beans through there, or early peas, plant them gap[s in the planting so the squashes can go in at 3-4 foot spacing..... if it doesn't work out then at least it was agreen manure.....
chrisc
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Just to let all you squash fanatics know, I have now updated my Winter Squash page with the taste descriptions and photos from last summer's crop. The page is www.growyourown.info/page127.html
And yes, I am still buying new Winter Squash varieties that I think may do well in Scotland!
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Lovely photos Realfood - it makes them ALL look so tempting :)
What's on the list for this year?!
1066
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Hi 1066, yes, I am pretty sure they are trailing and will grow up a trellis. Enjoy! :)
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Hi 1066, yes, I am pretty sure they are trailing and will grow up a trellis. Enjoy! :)
Thanks Tulipa this will help with the space issue ::)
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If you want to taste a Crown Prince Squash before you grow them, I saw them for sale today in Waitrose for £4.25. They were grown in Dorset. First time that I have seen them for sale.