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How do I know when to harvest these?

Plus - should I be cutting off the leaves to ripen those on the pale side? I ve already stopped them growing further along my path

I usually leave them on the vine until the vine has died off. They should be that dark beige colour when you harvest them. But get them in before any frosts are likely. I won't be picking mine for another couple of weeks yet.

Dont remove them all ....but I would definitely take off a couple like you say to let the light in on the unripe areas of the fruit . Mine are scrambling up my runner bean frame...I think they like to climb ! and the Pumpkins just always want to escape  , wherever I plant them !  Debs

Ideally you're told to wait til the stem gets dry. But one year we were to be away awhile in the fall and I had to pick some with green stems that still had faint green streaking. I washed them all in dilute bleach and put them under the porch protected from frost to age a bit after I labeled the ones that had that tinge of green just to see how they'd keep compared to the drier, aged ones. They all did fine through the winter!  That said, ideally, to be sure, let them dry on the vine and pick before any frost warning. I drill a hole in the stem and hang from wires in the basement for good air circulation

I've harvested all my squashes this week. On the Butternuts the foliage had completely dried up and turned brown. The Crown Princes foliage was all mildewed and dry too so they were cut and the Festivals were picked a week or two ago. This year is the first time I've had my squashes ripen so early. They are all 'curing' by my patio windows.

Loving the photo Tricia 

Ah, nothing as satisfying as seeing a nice harvest picture.

I've picked about a third of ours as when the foliage dies back, and become visible they tend to "walk" grr

Lovely photos both!  Mine are still out there but with this weather I doubt there will be much more growth for this year.

Ohh mine are all still out there as they are green and fairly small.   I hope they continue to swell as I have a decent crop this year.  Hope they turn out as well as they have in the pics above

I have 2 baby butternuts that I can see. (smaller than my fist, and green) I too am hoping the weather will hold out for them to get bigger and ripen :)

Those photos are wonderful! I

Thanks all

A color coordinated squash/kitchen picture!

mine is all bigger than usually   seen  in   shops but green stripey never  grown them before so will they turn beige when ripe

we picked 16 ripened ones yesterday and they are now in slatted shelves in a ventilated perspex greenhouse. Plenty of others left ripening on the plot. Winter storage is going to be problematic this year, I like them indoors in north facing rooms or just had a thought as we have a small freezer in the garage which will keep the chill off during normal frost, maybe in there until deep winter. Just got to clear some space and can move the slatted shelves when needed. They are lakeland shelf storers which expand, so ultra useful

Yes, storage is a problem for me too. I wouldn't use the garage - mice decimated all my stored squashes three years ago  - and I would be a bit wary that mice would find entry to my GH too. (It also gets quite warm in winter when the sun shines.) I'm thinking of using one of the drawers under my bed in an east facing non-heated bedroom. My north facing indoor porch is only big enough for maybe 4 of the Crown Princes - but I have seven of them plus 3 Festivals, 10 Butternuts and three pumpkins to find space for!

Don't forget that they need checking at least once a week for deterioration - once they start they are mush very quickly.

Tricia 

Harvested mine at the weekend. A lovely crop of 10 weighing in at an acceptable 25lb, with the largest being 6lb 4oz.

I have 16 in store now and 7 left on the plot for another week or two. I found a load of string bags under the stairs and they are ideal for the largest squashes, the others can go into onion nets. They are now hanging on hooks in the garage, surrounded by fresh air. I store about 16 year on year and haven`t had any bad episodes re keeping but I do check them from time to time

Most of mine are tromba d'albenga but I do have a Napoli which weighs in at 14.5 kg about 32 lb.  Because it is dark green I did not notice how big it was getting.