Best Squash for Beginners

[Barnowl]

Does anyone have suggestion(s) as to the best variety of squash to grow for a first timer with limited space? Do any grow vertically?

[Barnowl]

[Rob08]

Gem squash can be grown vertically, and rareseeds also sells (or used to at any rate) dwarf/miniature hubbards squashes that could be grown vertically as well. 

[Barnowl]

Many thanks - which of those would be more like butternuts (which is the flavour I'm after) than courgettes (forgot they were squash too!)


Modified: Have just found the realseed squash page - pretty sure there's something there for me  :)    - thanks again Rob.

[Rob08]

Hi Barnowl,

Be careful of the rareseeds catalogue - it gets addictive quickly!   ;D

The gem squash has a rather unique taste and texture and the only people who really seem to  enjoy it are South Africans (there are a good few ways to prepare it so if you do decide to grow these let me know and I will forward some recipes).

The hubbard squashes would I guess be closer to the butternut in flavour but the texture is going to be different.  However, I suspect you can grow butternut up a trellis as well, just provide some support for the squash as they develop to take the strain off the plant.

[Emagggie]

I attempted to grow butternuts up a trellis this time. I only got 2 fruits from 2 plants. Don't know if it was the trellis they didn't like or maybe saved seed was not good. Anyhow, they climbed fairly well and I supported my 2 fruits with mesh bags tied to the trellis. Next year I'm going to try up and on the ground (and fresh seed  ;D) Futsu are sweet and will climb.

[Kea]

I would recommend Kaboucha squash e.g. 'Sweet mama' as having the best flavour and texture but they take up quite a large area but you can cut them back so they produce sideshoots instead of long runners. I just grow mine from originally one I bought in the supermarket now the seeds from the ones I've grown. If you want them to grow 'true' you need to buy seeds every year.

[dtw]

I grew butternut squash this year (I'm a newbie too) and they produced loads.
I 'directed' the plants in between sweetcorn plants.
They only stopped producing new fruits when the plants died off in the frost.

[Suzanne]

Best tasting squash IMO is Crown Prince - always get a reasonable crop and the vines haven't been too big.

[Barnowl]

Between the sweetcorn sounds a good idea - OH is always complaining that we get very little from them in relation to the space they take up!

Many thanks for all the advice  :) Think I'll try and a grow some small ones vertically and larger ones among the sweetcorn

[Larkspur]

Barnowl, a cracking (very) small squash is Jack be Little, never grown it as a climber but I'm sure it would. Produces about a dozen very small (by squash standads)fruits per plant mostly about the size of a large eating apple. Keeps well, tastes good and reliable in almost any conditions.

[Barnowl]

Thanks Larkspur : found that one at Chiltern seeds - I always think it's a good sign if they stock a variety.


I need more space !! :(

[real food]

My suggestion would be "Festival" as it is quick maturing, pretty, tastes good being sweet and nutty, and has superb storage life over the Winter. It is in quite a few of the seed catalogues. It is also easy to grow everywhere in the UK, even in Glasgow.
For beginners and those that live outside the South of England, avoid the Butternuts as they are quite difficult to get to storage size, and they are not as sweet as the traditional types.

[Jeannine]

Jack be Little grows beautifully up a trellis, the very best I find for flavour is the Butternuts varieties, Sugarloaf being my absolute first choice, I also like the Kuri family which will also trellis.They also store for months.

Take a look at Bakers Creek, they have a good descriptive site with many pictures, I have seeds of almost all their squash and suggest them very highly after dealing with them for several years.


XX Jeannine

[Barnowl]

Thanks RF and  Jeannine.

After much pondering I think I'm going to go for

Trellised:
Jack be Little and Uchiki Kuri

Under the Sweetcorn:
Burgess Vine Buttercup and  two out of:
Waltham Butternut or
Hunter F1 Butternut or
Sugarloaf (the only UK supplier I can find for Sugar Loaf is Seeds-by-Size - have put a request in.)

[Jeannine]

Hi Barnowl, Sorry but in my original reply I shpuld have said Butternuts are NOT my favourites. The Sugarloaf is a Delicata type,don't buy seeds of Sugarloaf I can give you some and may I suggest Hunter rather than Waltham   for a butternut if you like those,as Hunter is a faster maturing  squash which is a plus in the Uk.Personally I don't grow them as I have found better flavours in other squashes.PM me if you want the seeds, XX Jeannine

[saddad]

Crown Prince is a great storer.. we have kept them in a shed until May/June the following year...
;D

[Barnowl]

Thanks again, Jeannine, will PM you

Saddad, Crown Prince gets great write-ups and thanks for drawing my attention to it but the plan had come down to a buttercup, a butternut, and a delicata and Sugar Loaf got there first  :)

[real food]

There are three UK bred Butternut varieties available, that are claimed to be quicker maturing in the UK. They are Hunter, Harrier and Hawk. This month's Which report tested them but unfortunately, did not make it clear which varieties were the quickest to mature.
Two years ago, I trialled Hawk and got it to produce mature Butternuts in Glasgow. Next year I am trialling Hunter for a seed company, and will see how it performs.
Has anyone else had success with these three varieties in the North of the UK?