Allotments 4 All

Aargh.  Am trying to finalise seed order.  Hate this as I want to grow everything...  >:(

Anyway, I've grown pink banana squash successfully even in difficult years and once in a pot where I got one big fruit.  I like the taste.   I tried blue banana only once when it was a very bad year and got nothing from it.  However, in theory, blue banana has a better flavour?

Pink banana seems quite widely available these days whereas the blue I can only find at Real Seeds.  I have had some really great varieties from RS but also some quite duff ones too so I'm not sure how much I trust their opinion.  I'm wondering if pink b has more vigour?

I only grew summer squash last year (I've actually got some pink banana left in the freezer from 2008!!) but I want to grow more winter ones again this year.   I just can't make up my mind...  Do I go for a safe bet or take a risk?

I'm thinking one plant each of waltham butternut, bon bon and blue (or pink) banana.

Views on the bananas or indeed any winter squashes from all you enthusiasts very gratefully received.  I wish I had the space some of you lucky people enjoy!

Unfortunately I have only tried blue banana so I can't compare.

Also, out of the 4 seedlings (realseeds), 3 produced green bananas, and only one produced blue.

All were as vigorous as an average pumpkin.

Further complication: I was growing them for immature fruits (courghash? squagettes?) and though they all had very good flavour (better than a courgette) I didn't leave any blue ones long enough to get a ripe fruit.

I didn't want ripe fruit of course, but I got stuck with a green one - and the flavour was so good that I was eating it raw in preference to carrots.

I'll definitely be very happy to grow both green and blue ones this year - and leave some to mature too.

So - it's all very circumstantial but considering how cheap the seeds are - I think you should try it and do us a proper comparison next year...

Cheers.

someone grows pink banana here i'm sure because they've posted pictures of it. At least that was what I thought they were pictures of ;D

Bon Bon is very easy, reliable, vigorous, prolific, tasty etc, except i've not worked out how to cook it properly except for soups, the flesh is so dense. I will grow it next year though

I've not had much success with butternuts. I'd say they're actually not easy for us to grow. Quite how they came to be the general squash of choice I don't know.

Our best squash is the one from seeds of italy, that they used to call I think Tondo Americana, but they now call Pumpkin Padana

If you're stuck for space, grow them up a trellis, though the Padana is probably too big for that

I have grown both blue banana and pink - and got 3-4 medium or 1-2 large specimens from them. Lovely taste, lots of volume and lovely colour inside.

aj - did you notice any difference in flavour between the pink and blue?

Bugloss2009, BonBon is easy to cook. Cut into 4 segments, remove seeds and micro in an open container for 10 to 15 mins until the flesh is soft. Scrape the cooked flesh off the skin with a spoon. I use this method for all my squash.

I grew blue banana and got about 4 or 5 squashes from 3 plants. They are about 12" long and taste similar to butternut, but there wasnt as much flesh on them.

Won't bother with them again as most of the fruit shrivelled up and rotted before it got a chance to mature. The Waltham butternuts from Real Seeds were brilliant though, producing loads of huge squash.

Quote from: Morris on January 17, 2011, 18:28:28
aj - did you notice any difference in flavour between the pink and blue?

Well, they both tasted of squash.....difficult to say as I wasn't looking for any difference and they were both eaten in different dishes.

Why don't you grow both, I've got seeds of pink banana, I'll send you a couple, and you can buy blue banana? Or do you have to choose purely because of space?

Thanks, pigeonseed, that's a really kind offer to send seed.

But you're right, I can't do a trial, I haven't the space.  I'd rather have variety, so am aiming for three plants, one of each type. 

Growing in the garden instead of an allotment means everything I grow has to count - especially squash as they take up so much room.  I like trying new and unusual things and it is always a tussle between reliable favourites and new ones.  I applied to the other half for planning permission to dig up the lawn (more) and he said he would be very sorry to be living in an allotment  ;) I think it would be lovely!!

I think I will go for the pink; I know I will get a massive yield for soup, and then the smaller ones can be for roasting, casseroles etc.  The blue, although Amy Goldman and Real Seeds say it tastes better than the pink, seems a bit iffy as it did fail for me, and the verdict on here is mixed. 

Now I just have to decide whether I try Waltham butternut (I've never grown butternut because you can buy them and they are more tricky), or yet another one of many possibles.  Decisions, decisions.

aj - thanks for info, I guess there can't be a marked flavour difference then!

The best squash year I ever had was when we cleared a new border and I filled it with squash to cover the ground.  I had a mountain on the lawn at harvest time, it was fanastic.  Mind you, we didn't eat them all, there were too many and when I found mice had tunnelled into half of them I was actually relieved!

If you have a lawn, then why not plant your squash in the border near the edge, and let the squash just grow over the lawn? What else does it do all summer apart from grow? May as well let the squash ramble over it and just mow round them for a few weeks.

aj:  ;D ;D ;D

Unfortunately, I know what would happen - the mower, which is usually pushed by my other half, would 'accidentally' run through the squash!  I have to dash out and make sure any floppy plants are propped up when he is mowing or they get chopped!

I don't want to make him sound mean, he is a lovely man - he just doesn't want the garden to look like the good life (for those that remember Tom & Barbara)! He prefers to have somewhere he can sip a nice glass of wine and enjoy the view, and doesn't share my opinion on the beauty of vegetable gardens.

You can grow them up bamboo wigwams, and underplant with lettuce or coriander or radish. Or as bugloss says, trellis. Get more veg in per square foot that way!

I'm with you, veg gardens are very pretty to sit in. Especially if there's lots of height to the planting so you feel lost among greenery. That's what I like anyway...

I was lucky, before I got my allotment my OH let me plant most of the back garden with squash and tomatoes and even potatoes!