Topic: Which squash shall I choose.

[Digeroo]

I have decided to treat myself to some seeds from Bobbys.   Mostly because Barbara Squash did well this year and their seeds are cheaper than elsewhere. 
What else do people recommend?  I like things with small seed compartments so more meaty.  So far have chosen Long of Nice.  (Have tried long of Naples but they were far too big.) 
And tasty they have to be tasty.  There are 35 Moschata squashes and I cannot decide which to choose.  And then there are 129 maxima.  Too much choice.

[Obelixx]

I like the little orange potimarrons/uchi kuri which are small and good in soups or roasted in chunks.   After that, butternuts, blue skinned and spaghetti.

[Plot 18]

I usually grow an Acorn squashes ever year, usually Celebration or Festival - they are quite sweet squashes, which is what I like.

One I tried this year and had a good yield was Burgess Buttercup, it's lovely and dark yellow/orange inside and makes a lovely thick soup :) Real Seeds say

Burgess Vine Buttercup
 Considered by many to be one of the best eating squashes ever, this vine produces heavy, 9 inch, round, dark-green squash with a lighter green 'button' underneath.
We like it because it keeps well but is easy to peel. All buttercups have dense rich flesh but the Burgess strain is even sweeter than normal.
This is a good choice for those with smaller plots as the vines are not too huge, but still make lots of squash just the right size for two or three people

You can get the seeds cheaper elsewhere, though.

[ed dibbles]

My current favourite is Flat White Boer. They grew varied sizes from relatively small to  large so overall probably too large for you. However the flesh is really dense when cooked, almost the consistency of cheddar cheese, with a superb flavour. I shall be growing these again.

Of the smaller ones, like Obelixx I grow uchi kuri as they are easy and reliable. For an early harvest beginning in august I grow the acorn squash Table Ace. They are ready seventy days after planting out.

I keep away from the butternuts because I find them more fiddly to grow and not significantly better flavoured than maximas or many pepos.

[PondDragon]

We're also very keen on Uchiki Kuri - the plants grow well and the taste when roasted is excellent. Very attractive as well. Typical weights in the 2-3 kg range, with quite a few smaller and a few over 3 kg. One decent sized fruit is enough for 2-3 meals for 3 people.

[Paulh]

I grow and like potimarron, Crown Prince and Black Futsu, and butternut Tiana. Is it correct that potimarron is a variety of Uchiki Kuri? Crown Prince are too large really, but the steel blue colour of the skin and orange flesh are wonderful, they taste good and keep well in the fridge when cut. Black Futsu was new for me this year - smaller fruit which start a black green colour, eventually becoming pale orange in storage. I'll grow those again next year as I have seed left over, but I'll look for more suggestions here too.

[galina]

I grow and like potimarron, Crown Prince and Black Futsu, and butternut Tiana. Is it correct that potimarron is a variety of Uchiki Kuri? ................I'll grow those again next year as I have seed left over, but I'll look for more suggestions here too.

They are not the same, but very similar to each other.  Buttercup is a favourite here, smaller, early ripening with thick, dense flavourful flesh.  I also like Queensland Blue and Sibley.  Sibley has a flavour of its own that I like, but tends to have a larger seed cavity.  Black Forest and the Kabocha squashes are nice too. 

I am looking at Mooregold Squash.  Has anybody grown it?
  https://www.bobby-seeds.com/Mooregold::95.html?products_id=95&language=en

[squeezyjohn]

I love buttercup ... most of the other varieties are so big that even if they store well, once you open them up you've got to eat squash for several days straight in a race to stop it going off!  Buttercup have delicious sweet flesh, the plants make numerous convenient meal-sized little squashes with sweet flesh that store well.

Having said that ... blue banana squashes are at the other end of the spectrum with equally nice flesh ... they're the shape of an airship, pale blue and massive ... it's definitely fun growing something so large and substantial.

[Vinlander]

I mainly grow blue banana - they are good and slightly easier to use over a long period because the cut end has less area than a slice from a sphere, so there is less for moulds to colonise. It's only a small (but significant) advantage because eventually the centre will get mouldy and it's game over.

Also it's definitely easier to peel a cylinder than a sphere (even though there's more peel).

I recommend raw squash grated with mayo as coleslaw - delicious and for me the best way to eat it - it's good on its own but even better with shredded cabbage - I like to use chinese cabbage too... Raw yellow, pink and white beets are good for adding a comforting earthy richness. Chard stems are too watery.

I sometimes just use 90% squash and 10% grated mooli - this gets back towards the classic coleslaw taste but uses the maximum amount of squash ASAP - useful in a glut or just to finish a big squash.

If you want to cook something orange then cook carrots instead - they taste better.

Cheers.

PS. never rule out any squash or pumpkin based on fruit from a single plant - they are notoriously difficult to breed true.
The good side is that if you grow only good strains your crosses will all be good too - some of them may even be better.
The bad side is that if your neighbours grow pumpkins for size competitions you might find that your own strain becomes less tasty every year.

I'm actually surprised how good my own strains are - I can only assume courgettes and marrows don't interfere? Anyone know the facts on this? Surely if they interfered my own strains would rapidly start to taste like water... I really hate the blandness of mature marrows.

[Obelixx]

Our squashes have been really baked this summer so have very hard skins.  Impossible to cut and peel in the usual way so I've taken to dunking them whole in a pan of boiling water for 10 mins.  Softens the skins a treat and then easy to peel and cut for roasting, baking, simmering etc.

I grew some sweet dumpling this year - good size but the flesh was very mealy.  Maybe the drought?  Maybe the variety.  Didn't happe to the butternuts or courgettes.  Yet to try the blue one.

[John85]

Another way to soften the skin is to put them in the freezer for a day or two.Once they are at room temperature again they are easy to cut.

What cv keeps the longest without loosing his taste?

[PondDragon]

I'm actually surprised how good my own strains are - I can only assume courgettes and marrows don't interfere? Anyone know the facts on this? Surely if they interfered my own strains would rapidly start to taste like water... I really hate the blandness of mature marrows.

My impression is that the species (not varieties) tend to breed fairly true, so you wouldn't expect much crossing between Pumpkins (Cucurbita maxima) and Marrows (C. pepo) or Butternuts (C. moschata).

[Plot 18]

My impression is that the species (not varieties) tend to breed fairly true, so you wouldn't expect much crossing between Pumpkins (Cucurbita maxima) and Marrows (C. pepo) or Butternuts (C. moschata).

Acorn squash and courgettes are both pepo, which is the one that caught me out *sigh* as I do like an Acorn squash or two :)

Groworganic has a nice chart to show which ones are the possible exceptions to the rule (there are always some awkward beggars determined to ruin everything!)
http://www.groworganic.com/organic-gardening/articles/best-pumpkin-your-garden

[Digeroo]

This makes interesting reading.  The best keepers would be interesting too John85.

Some good suggestions here.  There is a hybrid Uchiki Kuri type called Fictor so I might give that a try.  Tried Uchiki Kuri my first allotment year but did not do that well, it was before I discovered that a wheel barrow of manure works wonders for curcurbits.

Most of my butternuts have only grown one fruit per plant.  Except the Trombo which have been brilliant.

I have also brought back some seeds from large green squashes from madeira they have a lot of neck.   Dark green.

[galina]

This makes interesting reading.  The best keepers would be interesting too John85.


Most of my butternuts have only grown one fruit per plant.  Except the Trombo which have been brilliant.

Yes Trombo is the easiest of the moschata squash family here too, lovely looking photo on another thread.

The longest storers are the ficifolia aka Sharks Fin Melon, second longest the Maxima, only slightly shorter the Moschata and the shortest storers are the cucurbita pepo.  The acorns and full sized marrows are also called autumn squash and don't store into winter.  Many Maxima store to May, Moschata store up to mid spring and Sharks Fin Melon up to two years!  There is always one or two that develop a soft spot and need to be eaten straightaway and others that seem to store forever, which means they all need to be checked over regularly. 

[Paulines7]

I grew Potimarrons and Barbara butternut squashes this year.  I did not have a good crop from the butternuts but the potimarrons were prolific and are keeping very well.

[Seacarrot]

I'm still eating my 1st ever Butternuts, & they are lovely.

I've also got 2 Crown Prince to try to get into and 2 largish Giraumon Galeuse d’Eysine to do something with....

I've already got quite a few seeds purchased from the Real Seed Company for next year, but I'm waiting for the Heritage Seed Library List to come out soon...

[galina]

I've already got quite a few seeds purchased from the Real Seed Company for next year, but I'm waiting for the Heritage Seed Library List to come out soon...

It is out already but we can't order until December. https://hsl.gardenorganic.org.uk/seedlist

[Obelixx]

In my last veggie plot I grew my squashes up rather than along.  This meant they took up less space on the ground and the fruits were up in the sun to ripen better and escape slugs.  This year, new veggie plot, more space, unlimited sun so they trailed.  No slug damage cos too dry but the best crops have come from a self sown butternut that escaped form the compost heap.  7 on one plant.

All the extra sun has made the skins very tough to cut but very good for storing.  I have taken to dunking them in a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes which softens the skin enough to cut and peel but doesn't cook the flesh or seeds.

Haven't decided what I want to grow next year so no sees ordered yet.

[Vinlander]

The first time I bought Blue Banana seeds, some of the plants produced green bananas/zeppelins with a pronounced scar & 'cap' (only slightly stripy) at the flower end like Turk's Turban has - presumably they had crossed with something similar.

They were at least as good as BB, so I tried keeping the seed and I'm sufficiently multi-cultural to call them "Mohel's Surprise" - but unfortunately they reverted to smooth blue in a couple of years.

Sadly I don't have any photos, and a mock-up would be easy but would probably get me kicked off the forum...

Cheers.