A couple of people have told me that it's delicious but I've never eaten it so I'm tempted to have a go at growing some. I've never done it before and know absolutely nowt about 'em (like most veg really ;D)
Can you tell me when they should be sown, what conditions they like and give me any other hints, tips and advice that I might need.
Cheers
FA x
Have a look at this: http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Vegetables_squash_butternut.html
Quote from: Fat Andy on April 23, 2009, 21:43:07
A couple of people have told me that it's delicious but I've never eaten it so I'm tempted to have a go at growing some.
If you have never tried it before... it may be worth buying one to try first before you give it all the room on your plot. Mashed, boiled, roasted, stews. Most are trailing types that can grow up to 35-40ft long apparently. I am trying Harrier F1 this year. It is a bush variety that has a maximum spread of 3ft and only grows about 18" high. Its yields are apparently 4-5 per plant. It is also one of the fastest maturing varieties from seed to harvest in as little as 85 days ::) As it is supposed to mature a month earlier than others... if the weather is not so good this year it will have the extra month to ripen fruits. Ensure you harvest all fruits before the first frosts at the end of autumn.
Sow the seeds as per pumpkins. When they are ready for planting out, dig a whole and put in 2-3 good shovel fulls of manure and put the plant in the centre before covering the surrounding area with soil. They are very thirsty plants that will do well in a sunny spot. Try to avoid shaded areas. They store well, for up to 5 months.
we still got some in store!! ;)
From what I can gather, all squashes can climb so you can save space by growing up and arch/canes, which is what I intend to do this year. When the trail they take up a lot of room - possibly 5ft in some cases. I put some seeds in 3 weeks ago on a window sill propagator and have potted on to larger pots to harden off for the next week or so and I hope to plant them out in a week or ten days or so - I am hoping it is not too early! If they are ok I might do some more soon to stagger the harvest. Well, thats the plan!
I've found butternut squash to be reluctant to grow unless its pretty mild - but we are further north than you (Otley, West Yorks). Last year outside they just sulked until September when they decided to start growing, but it was too late to produce anything and the frosts ended any hope.
I am growing it just like pumpkin, but inside the greenhouse this year and let them wander around the floor.
I started some off a couple of weeks ago and will be planting in a bed in a week or two.
well worth growing nothing better than roasted squash with cous cous and other selected veg chicken breast on a griddle pan after being marinated over night in the fridge in a piri piri sauce (Nandos) and fresh lolo rosso fresh onions fresh pepers tomatoes from the vine all warm and juicy on one condition it all comes from the greenhouse or garden
My mouth is watering thinking of it im hungary now and have to wait till 21.00 before i finish
Hi Andy, :)
I grow mine on mounds about eighteen inches high to avoid stem rot in a really hot and sunny spot. The mounds for this year are prepared with leaf mould and my best compost mix. I don`t put them out of the greenhouse until they are big and starting to flower so they are better able to survive attack by slugs that will just eat through a small stem overnight.
I put a slate on a slight slope under each fruit as it forms.
They are very good cooked with ginger, cinnaman and nutmeg as are all squashes. They can be deseeded and roasted in the skin and scraped out after cooking which is a lot easier or cubed into stews and veg mixes.
I harvest more than I can eat so I also include them in chutneys.
Best of luck, Col
mine are grown on a bed of about 10x15 have dug in approx 2 ton manure covered in weed suppressant fabric and has been warming nicely over the last fortnight there in the green house as of today about two inch tall first true leaves only on most of plants will be growing a total this year three crown prince (Pumpkin) three butternut and three gem squash these will be planted out approx a meter apart each plant will be placed in the ground with a piece of plumbers pipe 32 mm into the ground to water the roots thus preventing watering around the stem trying not to get stem rot
these will be planted out in may after growing on in the greenhouse for a while to establish a good root system
I grow my squash in root trainers and this year reduced the variety to 20. I have planted the first 64 out in the ground, nice size plants and have protected them from the wind with windbreak mesh, they have now been out for a week and not only looking good also growing well.
sooooo.... if i bought a rose arch and put it next to the muck heap thats covered in couch, covered said heap in black plastic and planted a bns plant thru that, to trail over the arch.... would i need to support the fruits? im trying to k.o the couch but still want to grow as much as possible, and am pg so anything thats minimal dig and not too close to the ground....oooh...... would soo love to grow butternut squash! how long do they keep for?? i love soup :)
sorry lol all excited now! were starting all the beans peas and sweetcorn off this weekend, along with courgettes and potted carrots..... were chitting the spuds we got from the gardeners world offer (kids excited we can grow spuds after all!) and im after ideas... were growing fruit aswell so squash would be most welcome :)
sounds good loopy lou plant through the liner or plastic will be fine need food and water them as they enjoy both yes you will have to tie in as they grow
My BNS seedlings are looking rather sickly and havent grown in the last week or so. Would really appreciate some feedback on what the problem might be!
Planted in the middle of March in B&Q compost and have been on my windowsill at home, first in a seed tray then repotted into 3" or 5" pots. Once repotted they grew quickly, but in the last couple of weeks have stopped growing at about 3" high, and their second leaves seem very small and stunted. These small leaves are brown round the edges and feel papery. I think they have had enough water, and were fed a couple of days ago with B&Q plant food (all I had in the house, but it does say OK for veg!). Today I noticed that the big leaves are going yellow round the edges.
The yellow leaf edges look like maybe they have had too much sun, but I thought they liked sun? The room they are in is unheated and gets direct sun for about 3 or 4 hours in the afternoon. Or is the compost/plant food to blame?
Thanks
Cath
they NEED FULL SUN ! as much as possible ;)
Quote from: lewic on April 24, 2009, 19:39:38
My BNS seedlings are looking rather sickly and havent grown in the last week or so. Would really appreciate some feedback on what the problem might be!
Planted in the middle of March in B&Q compost and have been on my windowsill at home, first in a seed tray then repotted into 3" or 5" pots. Once repotted they grew quickly, but in the last couple of weeks have stopped growing at about 3" high, and their second leaves seem very small and stunted. These small leaves are brown round the edges and feel papery. I think they have had enough water, and were fed a couple of days ago with B&Q plant food (all I had in the house, but it does say OK for veg!). Today I noticed that the big leaves are going yellow round the edges.
The yellow leaf edges look like maybe they have had too much sun, but I thought they liked sun? The room they are in is unheated and gets direct sun for about 3 or 4 hours in the afternoon. Or is the compost/plant food to blame?
Thanks
Cath
I'd suggest they've been sown too early too..... doesn't look like they're getting enough light...... I'll be starting mine off next week, along with the gherkins, borlotti and canellini beans, popcorn and sweetcorn.... all of them are frost sensitive, they all like a lot of light and none of them appreciate root disturbance or getting pot-bound....
chrisc
Sown mine as well as the sweetcorn today, first time I've tried them in rootrainers so it will be interesting to see how they get on.
Lewic where are you keeping your squash at night, are they warm enough? They don't cope terribly well with swinging from very high to low temperatures, and shouldn't really need feeding yet. The other problem might be over watering perhaps?
Thanks for the tips
They are all on my windowsill at home, dont have central heating or anywhere else to put them. So the temperature probably does fluctuate a lot!