The skin color should fade from a bright green to a duller, greenish-brown shade, and the stems will become corky. The stripes will fade from light green to grey-green, and become narrower. Buttercup or kabocha squash with green stems, rounded contours, light green skin, and wide, light green stripes are still growing and should be left on the vine to size up.
In the photo above, the squash on the right is ready to harvest, but the squash on the left is still growing. Harvest butternut squash when the skin is too hard to dent with a fingernail. The skin should be a uniform tan color, although there may be some faint green stripes. The stems will turn from green to greenish-yellow or brown and become hard and brittle.
When you're harvesting squash like these, cut the squash from the vines with a pair of hand pruners, leaving an inch or so of stem. Lay them out on the ground in a sunny spot and allow them to cure in the sun for a few days. This is best done when squash are small and lightweight. Squash plants need pollen from the male flowers to make it to the female flowers before they can grow and ripen. If you often lack pollinators in your garden, consider interplanting flowers and squash to attract more varieties.
You can also let bee-friendly crops like cilantro, herbs, and kale go to seed before pulling spent plants. The easiest way to hand pollinate squash plants is to use a paintbrush, toothbrush, or cotton swab and gently transfer the pollen from the male flower which has a long, thing stalk to the female flower which has a swollen, budding fruit at its base.
Hand pollinating can help increase your yield, even when pollinators are present. To help your squash plants ripen the most fruit possible, begin removing fruits smaller than a baseball in early August. This will help your plants put their energy into ripening fewer, larger fruit and give you the most ripened weight per plant. You can eat those unripened fruit as if they were summer squash. Lastly, around the same time of year, clip the ends off those squash vines two leaf notes past the last ripening fruit.
Use only clean, sharp shears. To cure squash, leave outside in the sun after harvest for days. Perfect curing weather will be warm and dry. The best part! Harvesting squash is the grand finale of all your hard work. Now you can enjoy many months of squash soup and other goodness. Read on for answers to common harvesting questions to get the most from your crop. Summer squash can be eaten at any size, but winter squash are more particular. Too much chill will affect how long your squash will last in storage.
If all the vines are dead, the squash need to be picked. To harvest squash, cut the fruit from the vine or bush using sharp, clean pruners. Leave 2 to 4 inches of stem—and be careful not to break this off. The goal is to jiggle the stem as little as possible since the stem protects the squash from rot and pests and will help it last longer in storage. A broken stem leaves a wound that starts to spoil almost immediately. To prevent breakage, avoid carrying by the stem and handle carefully from the bottom.
The beauty of home grown squash is how long it lasts. Some varieties will keep until spring, meaning you can grow your own year-round supply of vitamin rich vegetables. If you have an early frost or need to harvest immature squash for any reason, they are still edible. While they may not have the rich flavour of a mature squash, they work well in soups, salads, and other dishes. If young enough, you can also eat the skins—just like a summer squash.
Yes, it is possible to ripen squash that you had to harvest before its time—as long as it is somewhat mature and has started to change colour. Remove dirt and debris washing if necessary and place in a sunny window. Turn periodically so all sides get equal exposure to sun. Immature squash are more susceptible to fungus and mould, so keep your eye on the fruit as it warms its way to maturity.
Gently rub off excess dirt and store until needed. There is some evidence that dipping in hot water to F for three minutes helps to sterilize the fruit, but squash must be completely dry before storing or you risk rot and pests. If you do decide to wash, avoid holding by the stem and wipe dry when finished.
Place in a well-ventilated area that maintains a steady temperature of 50 to 55 F 10 to 12 C with moderate humidity. Avoid storing on concrete floors or with apples and pears. Since different varieties of squash will keep for different lengths of time, be sure you check stored fruit for any rot or soft spots and rotate regularly.
Remove any that need using or store in fridge until you have time to cook them. Enjoy your freshly harvested or carefully cured squash using one of these fabulous recipes. Never tried growing squash before?
Let this be the year you start. Between summer and winter varieties, you can enjoy this delicious, easy-to-grow vegetable all year long.
Getting started growing squash Summer vs. In its simplest form, squash is usually divided into two categories: Summer squash grow quickly in about 60 days and are harvested throughout the summer while still young. Which type of squash to grow? Here are some of the most commonly grown squash varieties. When is the best time to plant squash? How much space do I need for squash? That said, there are some outstanding bush-type squash that can be grown in the smallest of spaces or in containers like fabric bags and still yield a respectable harvest.
For more information on the incredible diversity of winter squash, be sure to check out the excellent book, The Compleat Squash by Amy Goldman. Harvest at the right time, handle with care, cure the fruits, and store them properly. When harvesting winter squash, look for these five signs that the time is right:. Invariably, there are always a few fruits on the vines in late summer that are not yet mature.
To speed up their growth, I trim the growing tips of the vines back to the closest stem a few weeks before the first expected frost. Put them in the kitchen where they can be used as soon as possible. It may come as a surprise, but the first step to successful storage starts with harvesting winter squash the right way.
Careful harvesting can mean the difference between fruits that last for a month and those that last for a year. Watch Jessica harvest her winter squash for more tips:. Your just-harvested winter squash may look ready to eat, but to achieve peak flavor and sweetness, most types need to be cured first. Butternut squash, for example, reaches optimum flavor after one to two months of storage. But small-fruited types like Delicata , Acorn, and Spaghetti are fine to eat right away.
Curing is a simple process and not only deepens the flavor, but also thickens up the skins prolonging storage life. Properly cured winters squash can be stored for three to six months, with some types maintaining quality for up to a year. To cure, leave harvested fruits in a sunny part of the garden for seven to ten days.
The exception to this is if frost is in the forecast. Unlike summer squash that is harvested as the squash ripens throughout the season, a crop of winter squash generally ripens and is ready for harvest all at once — usually in late summer or before the first frost in autumn. When winter squash is ripe, the rind is hard and is scratched but not easily punctured by poking it with a fingernail, reveals the University of Illinois Extension.
The color of the squash is even and no longer shiny. To harvest winter squash, cut the squash from the vine with a sharp knife or pruners, leaving about 2 inches of stem intact. Avoid pulling the squash from the plant, as pulling may dislodge the stem. When the stem is inadvertently removed, storage time is decreased and the squash is susceptible to bruising and spoilage.
Store stemless squash in the refrigerator and eat it within a few days.
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