Butternut Squash Harvest: Part 1

Our favorite vegetable during the winter is butternut squash. Some keep a whole twelve months in our basement, no refrigeration, caning or processing needed. We usually peel them, remove the seeds, cut them into one inch square pieces, and steam them until they are easily mashed. The seeds make a great snack when tossed with spices and roasted, or they, along with the peels make interesting food for chickens. 

First 2015 Harvest of Butternut Squash: 679 Pounds!

This year I grew more than usual, planting them outside the fence along the length of the upper garden and one row inside the lower garden next to the sweet corn. We encourage the vines to climb on fences, corn stalks and other plants so that the fruit grows cleanly. We also urge the vines to spread into the lawn because there squash fruit don't get as muddy as those that mature on top of grass mulch. The vines started dying a few weeks ago so today I harvested those who were mature, totaling 679 pounds. There are probably another 150 pounds of less mature fruit, that are pale and have green stripes running down necks. Most of these younger ones still have vines with green leaves so should continue maturing to a rich, more orange color. There is no hint of frost in the 10-day forecast so it's worth given them a chance to lock in more sugars.