Free Shipping on Orders Over $ 100 *
client Service|Privacy Policy
Enter your email to sign up for our newsletter and save 25% on your next order
Squash newbies , this one ’s for you!Learn how to harvest , curative , and store crush with these seek - and - true techniques .
The following excerpt is fromThe Resilient GardenerbyCarol Deppe . It has been adapted for the entanglement .
Featured Image Credit : Johnny ’s Selected germ
‘Sweet Meat–Oregon Homestead’ is the squash to grow for a serious homestead food supply
Harvesting Squash
When we harvest , we do n’t need to break the fruit off at the stem , because if we do , the moist , juicy stem scar is vulnerable to cast and storage biography drops . Instead , wecut or break the stem in between the yield and vine so that there is a stub of stem on the yield . Some kind snatch up off easily ; most , however , must be switch off . Garden shear are the easiest path to do it .
Most people will tell you to reduce so that you stop up with a 1- to 2 - inch stub of stem on each fruit . I cut the stems to about to 5 inch long initially , then trim them to the concluding length of 1 to 2 inch after the fruits have been indoors drying out a few days . If the stem is shorter than 3 to 5 column inch , I rationalise the vine on each side of the stem .
Most variety show of squash should not be lifted or cover by the stem , because the yield will break off . However , some varieties do have sturdy enough adherence to allow handling by the root word . There are always periodic fruits whose shank got knocked off in the area . Eat those first .
‘ unfermented Meat – Oregon Homestead ’ is the squash to grow for a serious homestead food supplying
Curing Squash
Books and articles about squash frequently talk in terms of anoutdoor curing period . For instance , after describing cutting the squash rackets and leave stem stubs , the Johnny ’s Selected Seeds catalogue say : “ curative in the field to dry and toughen skins by exposing fruits to solarise for 5–7 day or so , covering in the evening if frost is likely .
An indoor method acting of heal is to expose squeeze to 80 ° F–90 ° F ( 27 ° C–32 ° light speed ) with ventilation for 3–5 day . ” The “ covering in the eve ” assumes that you have slue the squash and consolidated them in a spot at the edge of the field ( ready for loading into a cart or motortruck ) .
Curing: It’s All In The Environment
What mass actually do with respect to curing , though , has more to do with their region and the year ’s finicky weather . Here in marine Oregon , in squash - harvesting time of year , it is often raining . And when I am glean because a halt is threatening , I want the squash rackets safely out of the subject area .
I do n’t have any workable way of insure the amount of squash rackets we glean . I also do n’t have any place that has temperatures of 80 ° F–90 ° F for indoor curing , either . My dwelling house is usually 60 ° F–68 ° F that fourth dimension of year . That has to do for both people and squash . So the squash racquets are always bestow home at once and welcome in with the people .
Curing Periods
There is a curing menstruation , that is , a period after harvest in which the squash vine are tolerate to sit and after - ripen before being eaten . But the curing temperature and conditions are the same as the rest of the storage .
In other words , my approximation of “ curing ” just number to not feed the fruit until it has been stored a sealed amount of fourth dimension .
Handling Harvested Squash
I handle my squashgently . I never drop or toss them . Iplacethem . I place large , heavy squash such as ‘ Sweet essence ’ in a monolayer in the handcart or truck , and I use previous towels or sheets or rags between them to help cushion them for the ride home .
I harvest the diminished squash vine such as the delicatas and ‘ sunshine ’ into stack crates , stack them up and fill the crate . It does n’t seem to hurt most modest squashes to be in a crateful buried under a foot of other small squash . I invest squash in the crate so the deletion stem or any pointy remnant do n’t jab into anybody .
Squash Storage
People often suggest dampen the squash with water with some bleach in it . I do n’t do that . We all come in from the field dirty . My house is unsportsmanlike . What ’s a little crap among friends?Once home with my squash vine , I distribute them everywhere .
Where to Store Squash
Every room , every empty table , every bookshelf is improved by a variety of squash rackets of many anatomy and colors . Two wall of a back elbow room lined with industrial - weight shelves take some of the bigger squash .
Other big squash rackets are line up on the base next to the wall all around the life room and occupy every empty turning point and replace every doorstop .
Squash, Squash, Everywhere!
Any orbit against the wall where you do n’t actually take the air should be lined with fully grown squash rackets along the floor . Furthermore , if you put tarp in the box out of the mode , you could make groundwork - gamy piles of delicatas there .
With this position , it ’s pretty easy to store a ton or two of squash indoors without much difficultness , even without the shelf . I station each big squelch so that whatever spot it sit on in the theatre of operations is now exposed to the air . The stacked crates of small squashes imprint a bulwark of squash .
Turning Squash
After my squash have been indoors for about three to five days , I turn each big squash so that a unlike part of the squash racquets touch the floor and the first speckle set about a chance to dry out . I also garnish the fore with sheers to the last length of 1 to 2 inches . And I rearrange the small squash in their crates and touch up the pile of delicatas on the tarps on the floor .
Storage Temperatures
idealistic temperature for storing squash beyond the initial curing stage is supposedly 50 ° F–55 ° F with a relative humidity of 50–70 per centum . My household conditions of 60 ° F–68 ° F and 40–70 percent are supposedly not idealistic , but they ’re close enough . And perhaps they are ideal . My squash storehouse as long as or foresightful than anyone else’s . The squash seem to care my methods .
When to Eat Squash
The dear squash flavour does n’t develop until the squash racquets has been in full cure or store the right amount of time before being eaten . in the main , C. pepovarieties require to sit in my theater for two calendar week after harvesting before they are prime . MostC. maximavarieties should sit at least a month . ‘ Sweet essence ’ is good with at least two months .
The squash can be eaten before , but they are n’t as odorous as they could be , and do n’t have as much flavour or as much complexity to the look , or as much aroma . C. moschatavarieties are said to involve two week to bring around , but I have n’t check that out in person .
Squash Flavor Profiles & Curing Time
It is clear that the curing time is temperature drug-addicted . When my elderly female parent was live , I kept the upstairs part of the house warmer , and the upstairs squash cure and were ready to eat faster . It took the pepos only about a hebdomad , and the ‘ Sweet centre ’ just a calendar month .
When a squash tastes somewhat stiff or else of mellifluous , it is commonly a curing problem . The squash was probably eaten before its prison term . When a squash is n’t stiff but has thinner flesh , less flavor , or less sweetness than expect , it is generally because it was picked immature or was poorly grown .
Recommended Reads
Cream of Butternut Squash Soup
Capturing the Crunch : How to Harvest and Store Cucumbers
The Resilient Gardener
Food Production and Self - Reliance in Uncertain Times
$ 35
Recent Articles
Foraging 101: Where to find your bounty
Do n’t make love where to protrude for scrounge wild plants ? Read on for the data you need to start foraging on your own : where to do it and how to be safe .
Farming Against Nature
When you ’re walking around the grocery entrepot looking at the vegetables , it ’s believably hard to conceive of that a century ago there was twice the amount of options .
Zesty & Simple: New Classic Rainbow Coleslaw
well-fixed rainbow coleslaw ! transmute your salad game with this colorful formula . It is astonishingly pack with flavor and is a great addition to your repertoire .
Types of Tomatoes: Deciphering the Many Varieties
If you love Lycopersicon esculentum , you in all probability already jazz just how many varieties of these summertime staples there are . But do you know what take a crap each one unique ?
Embracing Sustainable Food Production: Integrating Trees and Crops
add the long game of tree to your organization results in a cryptical and more reliable , resilient and profound front to your annual veggie output .
© 2025 Rizzoli International Publications Inc. All Rights reserve .
Rizzoli International Publications300 Park Avenue South , 4th FloorNew York , NY 10010United States
There are items in your basket which are ready to ship.
You ’ll need to checkout before adding this pre - order item to your basket .
