Hi
Marrows are something Ive never grown before usually because we have an abundance of courgettes however I read somewhere that they store well. Can anyone advise of a decent variety that will store and possibly grow quite large (might as well put one in the local show ::) and if so where do you get the seeds from non of the local retailers stock marrow seeds. In fact the local shops seem to be low on seeds in general - gardening must be getting popular again
I added the Jeannine bit to get her attention she is the squash goddess
I think I have some Spanish marrow seeds left, no variety name just Marrow!! It has deep green skin with stripes but the flesh is a lovely ornge colour PM if you want some. long keeper.
Well I never thought I would be considereda goddess, squash or otherwise
Marrows, well I shall surprise you, I never grow them anymore and to me they are just big courgettes.
I do grow a few summer squash, courgette types plus a few patty pans but my main passion are the winters. As courgettes my personal opinion is that marrows don't rank high among the others for taste.
I am told marrow can go either way,I have eaten it young as a courgette as I said and I have had it when big and I find it watery.
I am told it keeps well but there are things that taste better to me so I don't.
So I can't help you at all.
There may well be types out there that are scrummy but I don't know them.
XX Jeannine
Marrows DO store but only, I reckon, a couple of months.
Watery? Know what you mean if they're boiled, but baked or roast - when fully ripe - they are great!
Tim I have steamed, boiled, roast ,baked and stuffed, they are still soft to me compared to the winter squash, I guess we are all different and this is a good thing, I hate cooked celery too unless very tiny, and I love beetroot. It is very difficult to share a taste with someone else.
XX Jeannine
Marrow expert? No, well, only in terms of accidentally letting courgettes grow on! ;D
As concerns storage, though, I recently discovered we've still got one from last year! I sort of forgot about it in the bottom of the cupboard :-[ seems ok still, but has now gone completely yellow :-\ I was thinking to cut into it this week actually and bake it if it looks ok. I shall report back in due course.
Marrows are a type of squash but they have rather watery flesh rather than the firm flesh of butternut squash.
Like all members of this family, to store them you have to wait until the skin is well ripened and hard. This rather gets away from the point of a marrow where most of the pleasure of eating is in the skin!, especially stuffed.
If you are determined to store a marrow, the why not ripen a few courgettes as they are as good as any. Last year at the end of the season I threw a lot of old courgette plants onto the compost heap including some rather large ones that had formed marrows. Much to my surprise, in February when I turned the heap, several of the marrows were intact and I had to smash them up with a spade.
The answer is probably that they need to be kept in a moist, frost free environment, ideally a compost heap!
If you want further information see my page:-
http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Vegetables_courgettes.html
To be honest, I've grown several different types over the years and there is no real difference unless you go for a specialist type. I've had as good results with cheap a packet from Woollies as I have with a major seed supplier. Go for it ;)